Et Voila ! — Restaurant in Washington

Waiter Was Professionally Condescending!

GREATER: Was very good and ensured to make our brief wait comfortable.

WAITER:

Seemed not interested to be working. Was very knowledgeable of the menu. But, attitude was one not tolerable for a customer service provider.

Just one example: (Our group was celebrating a personal life milestone of one of its members).

One of the members of our party asked what were the specials for the night.

ARE YOU READY FOR THE ANSWER!?

"Well if you want to hear them (with a look of disbelief while posturing his body and with a, why are you bothering me with this? What, you come here without knowing that basic information... and shaking his head briefly).

If someone doesn't want to hear the specials, the person wouldn't ask. Why treat a person, who is spending money at your place of business in such a manner?

Then almost every time we would ask a question he would answer in his condescending attitude with his body language backing up his discomfort.

Enough of the waiter, to avoid spoiling the evening.

FOOD

Everyone enjoyed their dishes. My dish was the Beef stew in beer.

Alone it was salty, in a high blood pressure way. But when the mashed potatoes were added, then the flavors came together.

The beef would melt in your mouth. And the different textures made sense.

I would definitely tone down the saltiness of the stew. Each dish has to be able to hold on its own.

Onion Soup, glorious. A sure winner.

BATHROOM:

Clean and well decorated. BUT, need to have someway to open door after you wash your hands.

To dry your hands, you use the Dyson blade dryer. But then you have to open the door with your hand. WTH?

Following your waiter's Condescending attitude, can't you understand that we are still living a pandemic and this has a simple fix?

RETURN FACTOR

80%

RECOMMEND A FRIEND FACTOR

50%

Even though the food was good I can't recommend a person since I fear that person could face the same condescending attitude from that particular waiter.

FINAL WORDS

Management, make sure your personnel wants to work, they are motivated to work. They are the face of your business. Thankfully, we all decided to not let this attitude destroy such an important night for one member of our party.

I want to go back to try again with a...

European fare is my passion. Having visited Bethesda's Bistro Provence, Great Falls LAuberge Chez Francois, Georgetown's La Chaumiere, to DC's Bistrot du coin, Le diplomate...etc I feel like I've had my fair share of visits to French influence/inspired restaurants. (**Recommend traveling to eat at the mentioned restaurants)

RESTERAUNT LOCATION: in the Palisades area. resteraunt itself very snug being that it is in DC and historically DC restaurants are small. Close to Sibley Hospital. you will need to find street parking.

RESTERAUNT SPACE: like mentioned, DC with it's history, buildings are small. There is space depending where you sit- more room towards the back and seems more for VIP/bigger parties. You could be seated right in the hallway where you could feel waiters zipping by you.

FOOD: Focus on the entrees although the appetizers beet salad, red cabbage soup were good. Hanger steak was good- keep on doing that Et Voila. Sauce is a good touch to the steak *The mussels. I was surprised by the pot it came in- good portion. Sauce was delectable-I chose their recommendation/special of mussels: moules mariniere and ate nearly all of the mussels dish.

• I GOT DIARRHEA*as soon as I came home. I knew right away it was from the mussels. I did not have any issues prior coming to eat dinner here nor do I suffer from stomach issues- nor was anything else consumed after dinner.

Yes, when eating seafood comes with risk so I was disappointed when it happened devils advocate, I could have gotten a bad batch/only takes one.

SERVICE: might not be friendly to some (one star off for this), but the staff does work hard and fast. I want to acknowledge this.

OVERALL: This restaurant is good for the local area This area is an upscale area knowing where it is located and the residents/ people that it attracts. Would I travel out of my way to eat here again- no. I do not think the food was such that one needs to traverse to dine here. Not just saying this from my unfortunate event.This resteraunt can get busy and feel tight so be prepared if one wants to come on...

We were out for a celebratory meal and encountered a mixed bag after multiple positive prior experiences at Et Voila!.

Service was rude, quality of food was mixed.

Upon arrival, maître d’ argued with us about table reserved for us after two prior phone calls. She rudely capitulated.

Appetizers: Waiter did not tell us there was a charge to split appetizers.

French onion soup and endive salad were scrumptious.

When requesting more bread and butter, waiter said there would then be an up-charge. Really?

Entrée: Grilled trout well prepared.

Hanger steak was atrocious. Asked for lean knowing that it had some fat, and was served the most fatty and impossible to chew piece of meat ever encountered. It was disgusting. In subsequent discussion with the waiter, he was rude, abrasive, argumentative and defensive.

After requesting an alternative, he reluctantly agreed to a hamburger. Warned there would be a significant delay before burger arrived. Waiter then briskly marched off mid sentence as I tried to state how to prepare.

After flagging him down again to request how it should be cooked and requesting a cheese other than American (at a Belgian / French restaurant, American cheese?!) — he said there were no alternatives. When pressed with incredulity, waiter acknowledged that there were alternatives but they would be accompanied by an up charge.

Given the up charge for extra bread and butter, up charge for splitting appetizers, up charge for changing American cheese — it felt like we were being nickel and dimed by Et Voilà!.

In general, a hostile and unpleasant experience. However, we still feasted in a celebratory experience notwithstanding the negatives...