la Madeleine — Restaurant in Webster

I went in around 8:30 am. I was greeted by Ava. The interaction was fine until I noticed I was wrongly charged for an item. I ordered a French dip sandwich, caramel macchiato, blueberry muffin, crème brûlée, and some mini cookie pack that was at the register.

The cookies were priced at $2.99 but I was charged $3.99. When I brought it to Ava’s attention she said they put the wrong stickers on all the mini cookie packs by the register. I said shouldn’t you honor the price that it currently is labeled with. She then started to give me an attitude, rolling her eyes and asking me if I wanted to speak to the manager. I told her I don’t need to speak to a manager; I would just like my $1 refunded as my son was already eating the cookies. She then walked away and came back and was like I have a $1 here do you want it or want it back on her card. She was giving me an attitude but maybe today was not her day. So, I just took the $1 bill and waited for the rest of my food.

I took a sip of my hot caramel macchiato at the store and it was cold but didn’t want to interact with her again so I just took it and left.

I will start of by saying the blueberry muffin, French dip sandwich, and cookies were good. The caramel macchiato was cold so I just microwaved it and it was good. But the crème brûlée was horrible. I don’t know if it was the prior interaction about the $1 issue was the reason, but I received the most burnt creme brulee I have ever seen from this store. The whole top layer ( sugar part) was not caramelized. It was burnt a layer of black burnt sugar. The taste was horrible even when I tried to scrape it off. It was also so dense and didn’t taste like the usual crème brûlée that I buy when ordering from this store.

I’m trying to give Ava the benefit of the doubt because she might be having a bad day, but the interaction over the cookie price was not needed. If it says $2.99 they should honor the price and then remove the rest of the cookies from the front register until they print out the correct price.

Btw, She did remove the rest of the cookies but seemed annoyed and threw them at the...

My experience at La Madeleine was incredibly disappointing. My mother had been eager to visit this place during our vacation in Pasadena after hearing about it from a friend. Despite several family members warning us that the restaurant wasn’t great, we decided to give it a try to make my mom happy.

At first glance, the restaurant seemed cozy and inviting, but unfortunately, the service left much to be desired. It was, without a doubt, the worst customer service we experienced during our two weeks in Houston. From the moment we walked in, there was zero empathy or willingness to guide us through the process. The menu was outdated and worn, and we were confused about how to order since they offered à la carte options, a buffet, and a bakery. When we asked for help, the instructions were vague at best.

When it came time to place our order, we were directed to another staff member who was incredibly rude. She handled our payment, and we asked where we would get our coffee—whether we should wait for it there or if it would be brought to our table. Her response was dismissive, repeating over and over that the coffee "would come to us." I asked again for clarification, and she snapped back with an irritated tone, saying the same thing.

Once we sat down with our food, the coffee never arrived. When we asked the person serving the food about it, she said we needed to serve ourselves. The same rude cashier returned and curtly told us that black coffee is self-serve, as though we should have known that. I tried to explain that this was exactly what I had been asking earlier, but she became defensive and acted as if it was my fault for not understanding their process.

How could I possibly know how things work in a place I’ve never been before? I came here to give my mother a pleasant experience, not to deal with staff who lacked basic courtesy.

The food was mediocre, the place may have been cozy, but the atrocious customer service completely overshadowed everything. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. Save your time and money and go...

04/19/2022 - Ordered a napoleon pastry. It was soggy, lacked any fruit at all, and tasted like sweet cardboard. Napoleon pastries are supposed to be flaky with cantaloupe and honeydew in each layer. Instead, La Madeleine serves a mess. I would give this post-pandemic experience a 1 star. Disappointed as this store consistently has had tasty food and gone to extremes to satisfy its guests (see previous experience below). 12/24/2020 - New Experience. We ordered cookies, croissants and a Bosh da Noel to go over the phone days before Christmas. We picked it up Christmas Eve and the store was very, very busy as would be expected. When we got home, we realized the order was entirely wrong! There were about three times the number of croissants ordered, about twice as many cookies and no Bosh da Noel! We called the store - it was about 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve, and the manager offered, and did, personally drive to our house to deliver a Bosh da Noel to make the order right. THAT is customer service and exemplifies an attitude to deliver outrageously excellent customer service. Prior Experience: This store definitely needs to expand because there is not enough tables to handle the weekend crowd. If the fire marshal entered on a weekend morning, the store would be closed. Plus, the tables are too close together - feels like the neighboring tables are hovering over you. Not enough staff are on duty either so they are usually out of coffee and condiments and tableware. Management needs to look at the operations end of the business. But the food...