Paradou

Recommends

bpc

Joined 11 years ago

a great place. paradou is a true find. i've been going there for several months and continue to enjoy it thoroughly. the menu is very interesting and tries very hard to stay true to its french/mediterranean infulences. the wine list is surprisingly extensive for a place this size and the vast majority of the wines are available by the glass. the service, a great point of contention amongst the reviewers here, is certainly unique. all of the waitstaff are certainly charaters and worth getting to know. can they cop an attitude? Yes. but this is new york. if you want attitude free service, the local diner is the place to go. most of the time, the waitstaff adds considerably to the paradou experience. and lest i forget, the garden...ah the garden. a true paradise. quiet, leafy, charming, romatic. paradou is a great place. not perfect, but what is.

Recommends

russe

Joined 11 years ago

a true escape. have been a paradou regular from vrtually the first week. it is definitely a refuge from the pretensious service and subpar food that i find in most restaurants located in "hot" neighborhoods. the food and wine while not inexpensive continue to be some of the greatest values in town. the garden is truly an enchanting place. you quickly forget youre in new york. the service, which, at times can be spotty (where is it not), is always entertaining. ive gotten to know the people who work there and the owner and they all view being at paradou with mesianic ferver. they truly care. this restaurant has been open for less than a year, so they are still working out some bugs. try to be forgiving of the imperfections, as they do get so many things right.

Recommends

hlemkau

Joined 11 years ago

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh!. It is the best little find in the city! Delicious well priced food. Sexy, quiet back garden. When the hits the restaurant guide books next year forget it. But for now... enjoy but shhh don't tell.

Recommends

christina_cam

Joined 11 years ago

provence by way of meatpacking. Paradou is a great local secret. great sandwiches and salads and an intreguing wine list. ask for the reserve list which is undoubtedly the best value-for-exceptional wines in manhattan.

hip location and clientelle without being posey. smack bang in the middle of the meatpacking district it has all the edge without any of the pretension.

best of all is the wonderful backyard garden with it's jack and the bean stalk cliff walls.

great for cosy intimate dates or with a racous wine-knowledged crowd.

Doesn't Recommend

mjgirl

Joined 11 years ago

HORRIBLE SERVICE!. I went there with a group of people and we sat in the tiny garden on very uncomfortable seats. the waiters were extremely rude and acted too cool to be serving. They acted as if a group of more than 6 were too annoying to deal with, so they didn't even pass the menus down nor the waters and never checked back to see if we needed anything else. The food was okay if not bland. Just bland panini sandwiches and crepes. The beet salad was pretty good. A very limited menu. Nothing great at all.

Recommends

catcusack

Joined 11 years ago

Para - Do!. This place is a little bit too tiny and the seats are so uncomfortable. But despite all of this, the atmosphere is cozy and the staff was very pleasant. At one point my friend knocked over a glass and broke it to pieces, and the waitstaff was so forgiving of it. Food was very good - and the chocolate was divine!

Recommends

kmc1571

Joined 11 years ago

Wonderful. The place is wonderful. It's tiny inside, but nice. The backyard is adorable, with flowering bushes and strings of lights overhead. Is it Le Cirque? No, and it's not meant to be, but it certainly doesn't look like anyone's garage, as the last review suggested. I've never had a bad meal there - the duck panini is my favorite dinner in the city. On the service side, some of the waiters are friendlier than others but, on the whole, it's one of the more welcoming waitstaffs I've encountered in the city.

Doesn't Recommend

funkygirlny

Joined 11 years ago

Innacurate description. We picked this place because it got good reviews on Citysearch. I wish we haven't, the place looks like grandfather's garage or a tools shed.

It has old cracking paint on the outside and is very narrow and small. Even though you can seat outside in the back, you get the feeling of being in an old backyard, not a restaurant.

If you're looking for a place that looks appealing, this is not the place to go. Moreover, when we came there was ONE couple in a whole place, but we were pretentiously asked by the staff whether we have reservations. In addition, the grandfather's garage insists on charging the same substantial prices as some really impressive in appearance restaurants. With all the choices of restaurants in Manhattan this will not be the one on my list.

Recommends

frayne

Joined 11 years ago

cute & romantic. i have eaten here twice. food was solid, but menu was a little bit limited. an interesting menu of different chocolates was a great way to end one meal. the garden is FABULOUS on a nice day.

Recommends

repgirl

Joined 11 years ago

new favorite. fantastic atmosphere - the garden is by far one of the best and most romantic in the city. the food was right on par with the atmosphere - fois gras is to die for. curently my new favorite restaurant in the city.