Rosallie Le French Cafe — Restaurant in Winter Garden

A Long Drive for a Major Letdown: Flies, Filth, and Failed Tiramisu

I made the conscious decision to drive an hour to Winter Garden specifically to visit Rosalie, lured by the promise of an authentic French café experience. Unfortunately, the reality was so far from the charming, elegant establishment I had envisioned that it felt almost comical by the end of our two-hour visit.

The first red flag was the disorganized line to order, which snaked through the seating area. While a line can sometimes indicate a popular spot, here it was a symptom of a deeply flawed system. The sole employee was juggling three roles at once: taking orders, preparing coffees, and serving pastries. This chaotic multitasking meant our wait to simply order was a tedious 20 minutes, long enough to watch every customer behind us eventually give up and leave.

During this wait, my attention turned to the pastry case. The desserts were displayed behind glass, but the entire front of the case was open to the elements. The main door to the street was also propped open, allowing a consistent stream of flies to buzz around the unprotected tiramisus and croissants. It was an immediate appetite-killer and a serious question mark regarding basic food safety standards.

After finally ordering, the same overworked but pleasant cashier handed us our drinks and desserts. She managed a Herculean task: balancing a huge, sloshing cappuccino alongside two plates of pastry, all for one person to carry. There was no tray offered. Navigating this precarious tower through a maze of cluttered tables to find a place to sit felt like an unsafe obstacle course.

Finding a table was its own challenge. Not a single one was clean. Every surface was littered with used cups, crumb-strewn plates, and staining coffee rings. With no staff in sight to bus tables, we had to clear and wipe down our own just to have a place to sit.

The food and drink themselves were profoundly mediocre. My French coffee was acceptable, but the tiramisu was a culinary crime. A proper tiramisu is defined by the rich, tangy depth of mascarpone cheese. This version had none. Instead, it was topped with a greasy, overly sweet Chantilly cream that left a heavy, oily film in the mouth. The ladyfingers lurking below had a suspiciously pale hue and a bland, watery soak—utterly lacking the robust coffee flavor that is the soul of the dessert. It was a 5/10 on a generous day.

The most telling detail of the entire operation was the dirty dish basket. For the entire two hours we were there, it remained completely overflowing, a precarious mountain of filth. This explained why every table was left dirty; there was simply nowhere for the staff (if they existed) to put the dishes. When we finished, attempting to bus our own plates meant playing a stressful game of Jenga, carefully stacking our dishes onto the teetering pile, hoping the entire tower wouldn’t come crashing down.

In summary, Rosalie suffers from a critical failure in management, staffing, and basic cleanliness. The lack of hygiene with the open pastry case, the absent service, and the subpar food make it impossible to recommend. My hour-long drive home was spent in disappointment, regretting not just the wasted time, but the memory of that greasy,...

Let me start by saying, this was our first time at this establishment. My husband and I woke up and he wanted to try a restaurant that was new to us. We've seen this restaurant several times when we're downtown Winter Garden and were excited to try it. We went in and ordered. The lady at the register looked as if she didn't want to be there and made us feel as if we weren't welcomed. We notified her that it was our first time there and she looked as if she didn't care. We ordered, sat down and waited for our order. As we were sitting little gnats were flying by our faces. The lady that brought the food to the table didn't have a Welcoming disposition as well. When she placed the plates on the table, the gnats were flying around our food and beverages. Our hot beverages were absolutely delicious but were NOT HOT at all. Only room temp. My husband ordered French Toast with scrambled eggs and bacon. The French Toast was delicious, the Bacon was fantastic and the eggs had no taste. Though they have shelled eggs, ordering scrambled shelled eggs is not an obtion, only poached. That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard from a restaurant. I ordered the veggie quiche with fruit parfait. It was flavorless as well. I wanted my husband to taste the quiche. As soon as I turned my plate for him to reach the quiche, he noticed a hair in the middle of my plate. He asked if it were mine. I laughed and told him, if the hair was straight and thick, it would've been my hair but the hair in the middle of my plate was thin and curly. We notified Lindsey of the hair and she was nice and brought a new order. Lindsey's disposition was very pleasant and welcoming. The new quiche was burnt on top and the bottom crust was doughy and not cooked through. Last but not least, before we left, a customer came in with a Beautiful black puppy. That dog was so adorable. Before the customer ordered, she picked her dog up and the ladies at the register/counter were pettng the dog, and the dog was licking their hands and they were all were extremely happy for the dog's presence. There was a guy behind the customer that was holding the dog. As soon as his hot beverage was ready, one of the employees that was petting the dog and letting the dog lick her hand, reached around, pick up the guy's hot beverage and handed it to him without washing her hands. That IS NOT acceptable in the food industry. Based on our experience, we will likely not return to this establishment but again,...

My husband and I stopped into Rosalies Café for the first time this passed saturday (sept 6) after going for a morning walk on the winter garden trail, excited to support a small business we’d seen raved about on social media. Unfortunately, the experience was disappointing from start to finish. We arrived minutes after they opened, doors were wide open making it a bit humid inside, we weren’t greeted (even tho an employee was adding pastries to glass case in front of us), employee at register was chatting with coworker and made us feel rushed at the counter (we were the only ones inside at that time) , and she gave us no guidance on menu even after saying it was our first time. merchandise and grab and gos were stacked on top of one another finding it overwhelming to navigate through and made it seem crammed/messy. For a small business, you’d expect them to be more intentional, humble, and welcoming.

We spent $47 on two lattes, one chocolate croissant, and one bacon egg & cheese croissant that cost $18.60 alone which we were hesitant to pay at first but wanted to see what the quality/value we were going to recieve for the price. The drinks were watered down and messy around cup, the sandwich was burnt on both corners and underwhelming in flavor, and the yogurt seemed just tossed on the side (not like other pictures we see now on google) wish we would had taken a photo. Nothing about the quality matched the steep prices.

Afterward, we looked on google and noticed other reviews mentioning similar issues recently (should have looked first vs. seeing how pretty it was on IG and saved some $), which made us feel it was important to share our experience too even tho we rarely ever leave reviews, so the owners are hopefully aware. The café is cute and Instagram-worthy, but the service, food, and coffee didn’t live up to the aesthetic—or the hype. Sadly, we left underwhelmed and may revisit in the future but based on our experience there is no rush or desire too at the moment, we really wanted to love this place but were sadly...