Les Halles

Recommends

Martrese

Joined 11 years ago

I'll Give 'em One More Shot. My friend & I dined at Les Halles for the firt time during Downtown Restaurant Week last Thursday. I was worried about all the bad reviews and tried to be impartial, hoping to be pleasantly surprised. Sorry to say, several factors left a lot to be desired. The wait for our table wasn't too bad, contrary to other's experiences, but the food was pretty yucky. The appetizer & dessert I chose from the prix fix menu were downright gross & I couldn't finish either. Maybe I've lost my flair for French food?? The steak entree probably would have been downright fabulous if the kitchen hadn't sent what should've been a medium/well-done steak out still mooing & bleeding. The place was packed & our server so busy that he didn't check on us once, otherwise I would've sent the steak back. . .I ate as much as I could. The atmosphere of Les Halles is quite lovely, however, envoking a warm French bistro with gorgeous light fixtures and high ceiling. Since I live nearby, I will probably give them another shot early on a weekend when they won't have the copious after-work crowd and I'll order off the a la carte menu. If my next (and possibly final) experience is any better, I'll report back. . .

Doesn't Recommend

gilgool

Joined 7 years ago

How many times can you mess it up?. I went to Les Halles expecting greatness.

Not only did that not happen, but also my friends and I were very disappointed.

We had lunch, I ordered the Onglet A L'echalote, Frites hanger steak, shallot sauce (the sauce was very good), but asked to substitute the side fries with grilled vegetables. The three of us asked for substituting the fries with vegetables/asparagus. The waitress, who took 10 minutes to come to our table, responded no problem.

The food came late, with the French fries for all of us.

We called the waitress again and she was not surprise to see their mistake, and than after another 10 minutes she brought the vegetable.

They charged each of us extra $4 for that! (In the menu fries are $5 and grilled vegetables are $5.50, so thats strange). After we told her that they didnt mention that it would be extra, she just did not say anything but thats our policy.

We also ordered a side of Macaroni and Cheese penne pasta & gruyere with or without prosciutto, we asked for "with prosciutto". It came 12 minutes after the rest of the food (maybe they thought it was our dessert?), of course, without prosciutto.

Guys, I dont like to complain, but how many times can you mess it up?

Doesn't Recommend

darabara

Joined 7 years ago

Useless Wait Staff. I have never witnessed such incapable, inexperienced, skill-less, bad-mannered, unaccommodating service EVER.

Don't go!! It's not worth it!

Doesn't Recommend

nellyrose

Joined 7 years ago

horrendous service.... I took two colleagues to this restaurant for lunch today and experienced the most atrocious, incompetent service ever. The restaurant was not busy at all, yet the server could not get our order straight and brought all three of us the wrong order. (She didn't even apologize for it) Then she overcharged us and didn't even think to take it off the bill. The wait staff is just plain clueless. The food was average and definitely not worth the grief and frustration of putting up with the service.

Doesn't Recommend

mopsadorcas

Joined 7 years ago

Good Food But Awful, Laughable Service. I went to Les Halles Downtown for lunch with two friends. The service was incompetent. We were all given the wrong food. This was later acknowledged by the waiter but neither remedied nor apologized for. Each of the three of us was overcharged on our bill, each in a different, quite creative way! We started to point out the overcharges to the clueless waiter, but gave up and thought it best to cut our losses, so we just paid and left, and then had a good laugh.

It is a restaurant neither I nor my two friends will ever, ever return to.

Recommends

lavend

Joined 7 years ago

Great Food and Accomodating. A couple of weeks ago my parents were in town and after a long day of shopping and jet lag we decided to stay in the neighborhood to eat dinner. Immediately we thought of Les Halles. My Fiance and I have been there on numerous occassions and always enjoyed the great steaks. Even though we did not have a reservation for that night and the resturant was preparing for a huge company party, the hostess made sure that we had a table within 30 mins. The hostess even offered to pay for our first round of drinks due to the wait. The cracked pepper steak is to die for. However watch out for the dirty martinis, too much dirty.

Recommends

terbo

Joined 7 years ago

creme brulee to die for. I went to this restaurant for lunch with a few coworkers and we all loved it. First, the service was great. We had a very nice, friendly waitress who took the time to suggest items. Next, I had a half order of the moules frites in the billi bi sauce, which was delicious. The mussels were plump and juicy, and the sauce was perfect. I know someone else mentioned it didn't have a lot of flavor but saffron is really meant to be a subtle accent, not overpowering. Regardless, it was fantastic. We ended the meal off with creme brulee and the tarte tatin. The creme brulee was PERFECT, the tarte tatin, however, I would pass on. I would definitely suggest this place for at least lunch.

Recommends

jfrench

Joined 9 years ago

Don't go here if you hate bad service. The food here is consistently pretty good. I love their moules et frites... all the sauces are parfait for dipping your fries in... They also have a good mac and cheese, frisee salad, and egg dishes (for brunch).

Unfortunately the service here is consistently bad. I frequently go here thinking the service might one day get better, but it has not. Even when the restaurant is not busy durring the weekend, or day times, the waiters are slow. Last time I went, my friend and I were charged prix fixe prices even though we didn't get the fixed menu. They always correct their mistakes, but the keep making them time after time. I would not reccomend this place if you are a stickler for service. If you don't mind waiting a while for decent food, check it out.

Recommends

aajjbb

Joined 8 years ago

let's be clear.... it's not like there's much of a choice in this neighborhood... i work right around the corner and we often go for happy hour. it is always packed and the service is usually slow as a result. however, the steak frites is excellent and everything else is usually pretty great too. standouts include croque monsieur, chocolate mousse, and the cotes du rhone they have by the glass (fantastic).

Doesn't Recommend

tragicallyhip

Joined 8 years ago

Lunch last week.... So where to begin?? Waiting half an hour past our reservation time? Only 7 places set for 8 diners? Only getting 7 of our 8 drink orders? One diner having to ask for cutlery four times? Someone breaking a tray of dishes not once, not twice, but three times? It felt like we were in some episode of I Love Lucy! One of our group tried to lighten the mood by applauding the clumsy wait staff (Lets here it for them ladies and gentlemen!) He got accosted by a waiter who yelled in his face, We take pride in our jobs. They take pride in such terrible service?? I would hate to have such low self esteem. As for the food, well my steak was chewy. My frites were limp and not fabulous. The champagne was good, but that can hardly be credited to this sad excuse for a restaurant.