09/23/08

Annoying host..... stick to seating and serving

by eetoutnyc

Uhrg....the food wasn't bad, but seriously, the service?!?! I have been twice with my girlfriend and both times, the host was flirting with her so inappropriately it really annoyed the hell out of me and made the meal uncomfortable. He would stand there and stare at her across the restaurant thinking he was being cool and subtle but it came off as being totally offensive. She wasn't impressed either.

Take my advice Tournesol, be charming to both people in a couple becuase generally it's the guy who is paying for the meal.

04/18/08

Good Food, Terrible Customer Service

by LKYoung

Arrived half an hour early with my daughter as part of a party of 14 with a reservation for 8:00 PM. The tables that we would occupy were empty and they were not reseating waiting for our party. It was Friday evening, the end of a long day and a long week. Had been in my pumps since 7:00 AM. I asked if I could sit. "No." They would not seat me until all 14 had arrived. The tiny restaurant had two seats at the bar, both occupied. I promised the owner that my daughter and I would eat, even if the other 12 never showed up. He laughed. I'm sure that he thought that he was being charming. It was 8:20 by the time the entire party was assembled. Over those 50 minutes, I asked a total of three times to be allowed to sit down, and was refused three times. Again, for the entire 50 minutes, I was standing next to the empty tables which they had indicated would be for our party. The owner and waiters ignored me, but could not help jostling me as they went about their work, as the restaurant is tiny with no separate space to wait. The evening was cool, and I was unfamiliar with the neighborhood, so I waited. At 8:20, angry, exhausted and humiliated I was allowed to sit. The food was very good, but it sat like a rock in my churning stomach. This man should be a caterer and never allowed near living, breathing customers.

• Pros: delicious food
• Cons: total lack of concern for the comfort of patrons

03/18/08

incroyable...

by paulkunkel

Tournesol offers everything a bistro diner could want in an unlikely location (atop the Vernon Street number 7 subway station in LOC across the screen from an abandoned ruined industrial hulk. What can you expect?: fine (and large selection of) wine by the glass or bottle (I tried white burgundy, my dining companion drank merlot), excellent appetizers (I tried the foie gras which was wonderful, we shared a winter salad and we also tried the onion soup ... bubbly in a crock, rich and bracing, just like one would expect at an upscale restaurant in France or maybe the Quebec countryside), too many entrees to choose from (the dorado was fine, the lamb shank was even better, the steak frites at a nearby table looked 9 out of 10), and the desert was equally good (bread pudding in a thick pool of creme d'anglais ... I wanted to try the oeufs a la neige as well, but after all the above ... I was done). Remarkable food. Excellent ambiance. The restaurant was nearly full, but we were seated right away. And perhaps best of all, fair prices. I will try again (maybe I should phone ahead, cause I know it will be steak frites followed by those oeufs a la neige).

Need I say more?

• Pros: Food, ambiance, price
• Cons: None

12/21/07

Good experience in queens

by robynyc

First time I was going to Queens and a friend of mine brought me in this French restaurant . I am french and I know mostly all french bistro in manhattan. First I was surprised that we had to wait 15 minutes at the bar a wednesday night. The place was packed .After I understood why when they brought the food. Everything is homemade "except the bread" the waiter proudly told us. There is a big selection of wines.

And I don't want to talk about the desserts....Highly recommended. I will be back

09/07/07

:( Not a happy date

by velvetrose108

As soon as my date and I walked in we were greeted and seated. This was the only good thing. The waitress was totally annoying. She asked what kind of water we wanted and I said tap for me. Well, I got water and it was not drinkable. The water was HOT and I had to ask for ice. My glass was never re-filled either. No one came around to see if we were okay or needed anything. Ordered the food and as soon as it came so did the annoying fly. To make a long story short there is nothing special about this place other than the ambiance.The food and service is nothing to brag about. There are other resturants in the area where you really get your monies worth. Oh, by the way they only take American Express!!! Really who are we kidding.

• Pros: Ambiance
• Cons: No good service or food

05/28/07

Tournesol

by ddonato159

Recently I had dinner celebrating my parents (yes - both parents birthdays, born two days apart) with my son (8 years old - not a wild kid, but rather charming and kind). When I made the reservation, I told them we would be 4 people, 3 adults and one child, but not a baby.

When we arrived she wanted my son to sit in the inside chairs, therefore avoiding any hot dishes. He didn't want to sit in the inside, rather on the outside next to his grandfather. I told her he would be fine sitting on the outside. She seemed to have a attitude from the start.

It is clear that the restaurant is not a kid friendly restaurant. Major problem if they expect to accommodate the ever growing L.I.C. community - which seems to be increasing with children.

The service was below average. The service was slow. The waiter took my Dad's drink order and never asked the rest of us what we wanted to drink. He was finished with his drink before the waiter took our drink order.

The appetizers were delicious. The main meals were average.

But this was the ultimate "FRENCH ATTITUDE" - we were celebrating two birthday's. We brought a birthday cake. We were told by the waiter, that they could not allow that, but then she changed her mind, but saying she would have to charge us $3.00 per person to serve the cake. How dare they suggest such a thing. I have never experienced this treatment in any restaurant in New York City. And I have been to the best restaurants in the city.

Don't think I will be going back any time soon.

• Pros: Ambience
• Cons: Bad Attitude

03/30/07

Don't Bring a Date on the Weekend

by shazred

The reviews are mostly correct: The food is spot on, the atmospere is cozy and warm, the waitstaff are wonderful...but the wait for your table is ridiculous. Unless you stand in their face, they will seat others before you even if you have a reservation and politely protest. They have made me wait for a table for over an hour and a half on three seperate occassions - until finally I gave up and took my friends to the other lovely LIC restaurants. Be careful if they try to send you to their wine bar next door - you'll never get seated. They will happily forget about you at the wine bar and collect their money from you there. The food is wonderful, everything is great - if only they would have the same integrity toward their reservations as they do toward their food.

• Pros: food and atmosphere
• Cons: Absolutely unacceptable attitude toward reservations and seating

03/11/07

One of the best French restaurants

by reisb

I went to Tournesol for the fist time on my birthday. The food was amazingly delicious and well cooked. I ordered steak-frites, a dish of steak and homemade fries. The fries were crisp and the steak was not to chewy, fatty, or crisp. The dessert choices are good but it's better to get dessert outside of the restaurant. The food can get quite expensive. The ambience was great and i give this restaurant two thumbs up.

• Pros: Ambience, great food
• Cons: Price, gets very pricey

12/18/06

A sunny Parisian bistro brightens Long Island City.

by Contributor

The Scene
With its wicker sidewalk tables and floor-to-ceiling French doors, Tournesol brings a Left Bank flair just this side of the East River. Inside, it's a typical, tin-ceiling floor-through bistro, with a service bar to one side and matted Art Nouveau prints on cheery yellow walls. Local workers and curious city folks fill the long banquettes, nibbling on tiny olives and charred, chewy bread.

The Food
This is how your Gallic grandmother would cook for you. Friendly French servers (who think they speak English better than they do) describe the reasonably priced menu and daily specials: Nothing's too elaborate, but most everything is fresh and satisfying. Skip the frisee salad--the lardons, egg and croutons are over-cooked--and dive into a rich, thyme-heavy duck liver-Muscat paté, offset by sweet, caramelized chutney. Wine-braised beef cheeks are comfort on a plate, as are crispy-skinned roast cod, creamy cauliflower gratin and grilled scallions. Vanilla-flecked creme brulee is outstanding.

12/10/06

French restaurant and service

by kingfossilman

It's pretty good. Probably not deserving of all the praise on this site but you can definitely do worse. Prices are okay, but there is little variety on the wine list. Restaurant could stand to be a bit cleaner, as a decent-sized insect was spotted on the ground and then the table!

• Pros: Food, music
• Cons: Tables too tightly together, service a bit light