L'Affriole

[Cheeselady]

We were in Paris last week and had made restaurant reservations in advance at several places, one of them being L'Affriole. When we arrived we were told that we couldn't be seated because the restaurant was "complet" for the evening. However, we were shown our name on the seating chart and it was acknowledged that we had made a reservation. We were treated very rudely and were given no reason for not being seated. Has anyone else had a bad experience there?

[ann]

If you do a search for l'Affriole here, you'll find several negative comments ranging from 2002 to 2004. I think they concern the food more than the service, although I think I remember concerns about both.

Edited April 8, 2004 by ann (log)

[42390]

Yes, I was in the area once and made a reservation in person for the next night. When I arrived I was told they did not have a table for me. I guessed this was a case of a single customer being bumped for a full table.

[Cheeselady]

There were four of us and we had arrived about 5 minutes before our reservation time. Was the hostess(the chef's wife) rude to you? I speak French, so that wasn't the issue with us.

[John Whiting]

Sorry to hear this. They were very good a couple of years ago.

[fresh_a]

Not surprising. I've already said as much in other posts.

[raisab]

I ate at L'affriole twice in October and can only say nice things about it. It must have been an off day with the moons aligned wrong.

I even loved the fact that you REALLY had to squeeze into your table. Met quite a few interesting people and one jackass (a Guy from England,) made a rude political remark to my 10 year old daughter, but his partner (French) apologized for him. But even that made the evening interesting.

But back to L'Affriole, I know there are alot of restaurants worth trying in Paris but if you ever run out, give them another chance!

[Bux]

Met quite a few interesting people and one jackass (a Guy from England,) made a rude political remark to my 10 year old daughter, but his partner (French) apologized for him.

The French seem to get such bad press here and are so often pictured as ill mannered, while the English are more often set on a pedestal in terms of behavior. I have found the French an extremely well mannered people. Unfortunately, their code of public behavior is far too formal and complex to be appreciated by a sort of casual back slapping group of Americans who don't understand the rules. Of course there are paragons of civilized behavior on both sides of the Channel and boors as well. In your case I suppose it was no more than the luck of the draw, but as this is the France forum, we'll take cheer in the fact that it was a Frenchman who was socially conscious.

[raisab]

I love the French people and honestly lately I kind of like thier politics (but I will save that for another forum). How can any country whose people enjoy life and food and wine as much as they do be all bad? No way!