Le French Diner

"I’m in the middle of my dinner, and I have to say that this place is mesmerizing. It’s tight, but it’s cozy in all the right ways. The food has been fantastic and the chef is outstanding. If you have the time you need to come here."

"I dined at the bar with a party of 3, arrived at opening for dinner on a Sunday and didn’t really have to wait to be seated. Once seated we were asked to share one of the two menus our party was given, because the restaurant was ill-prepared to accommodate the full house. (probably 12 customers) The menu looked great, short—but in the kind of way that you know all the food is going to be high quality—and though none of us were famished at 5pm, we ordered three $40+ starters, planning to order more food as our appetites grew. The man taking our order made a big fuss over how we weren’t hungry and they had a lot of people trying to eat there that night (nobody was lined up outside). After some back and forth, he said this time was fine, so long as we ate and paid quickly. We asked if there was an amount of food we needed to order, or a minimum we needed to pay to dine at our discretion, he ignored the questions and just insisted that next time we come hungry. Then he asked for our drink orders… When 2 of our 3 said water was fine for now he said “ugh you guys are killing me.” We apologized again, asking if he had a recommendation or minimum in mind. “Guys, I can’t survive like this, sorry. There are other people waiting to order dinner.” Though he was wrong about people waiting to take the seats we vacated, he is ultimately correct. They won’t survive if they continue providing customer experiences like that."

"The setting is tiny, rustic, French. The dishes were simply prepared and all very good. Decent experience overall except for it was very cramped and we no sooner paid our check before we were asked to leave because people were waiting outside. It was off-putting, especially since we signed, and simultaneously ordered an Uber. Altogether we ordered five dishes, wine and dessert and only stayed for one hour and 40 minutes. If service was more courteous at the end, it wouldn’t have left such a bad taste in my mouth."

"This place was fine but not outstanding. I was expecting more after reading the reviews. I love French food and the food was good but beware that everything uses mayonnaise. I was surprised to find beef tartare mixed with mayo, a salad whose dressing clearly used mayo, a mayo sauce under the octopus (which was far too salty). With the egg, it was expected. Honestly, just an overuse of mayo when there are some many other delicious French sauces! I give the food 3 stars. I liked the atmosphere as it definitely does remind me of Paris, but as others have said, be prepared to wait for a bar seat. I recommend arriving at 5:30 when they open."

"One of the top French spots in nyc to try ! Everything we ate was 10/10 and the service was excellent. Definitely get the socca de nice and the grilled hanger steak which comes with gratin (best I’ve ever had). Can’t wait to come back and try other things on the menu :)"