Saint Tropez Bistro

Food 0 / 3 Decor 2 / 3 Service 0 / 3
I was extremely disappointed with the cuisine and service. I purchased a Groupon to try this restaurant and was treating a girlfriend for her birthday. The wine list said ask your server for the champagne of the day. When I asked he said, "sparkling or champagne?" I said champagne. He repeated the same question and I said champagne and he said it's $19.50 a glass as if I could not afford it. Being an attorney dressed for a night out the snotty treatment from a restaurant which was completely empty when we arrived and had only 2 other patrons when we left was more amusing than it was insulting.  

The waiter refused to let us choose our table saying another was reserved, again NO ONE was there when we got there and only 2 other tables were seated when we left. My duck was burnt and inedible and the birthday girl's plat du jour was 3 sausages and the rest of the plate was filled with "French" fries, which ironically were also inedible. NO one goes to a french restaurant for French fries. Having just returned from Paris and knowing their utter disgust for french fries we had a great laugh that this was what the Zagat rated restaurant would serve.  

The restaurant added a $2.40 charge for escargot which was not part of the terms and conditions of the Groupon or included on the special groupon menu we were given and they force placed gratuity (which probably isn't a bad idea given how inhospitable they were). Again this force placed gratuity was not part of the terms and conditions in Groupon but was a surprise sprung by St. Tropez after the meal.  The food was overpriced, inedible and the server managed to insult and offend in the short time we dined there.

I came here with my wife on a thursday afternoon for a really late lunch 330pm.  The place is nice, it was a beautiful day and we were seated just inside the open french doors.  The menu is true to the french bistro style, but that is where the authenticity stops.  We had to ask for water after we ordered a couple of beers (bad selection).  The baguette that came out was possible good at one time, but was stale with crappy diner butter in the foil pack served fridge cold and unspreadable.  I ordered the seafood casoulet and my wife ordered lamb sausages.  The food came out a little too fast as to arouse suspicion and my suspicion was warrented.  Seafood cosoulet was bland, rubbery and lack any symbolence to great casoulets i've had before.  If you would have tried to serve that for 12 euros in Nice it would have been spit out and thrown on the floor.  It was 28 dollars.  All the seafood tasted like it came from a food service company's frozen seafood mix bag.  The side was a "saffron rice", which tasted like parboiled rice you get at a college mess hall.  It was extremely salty.  The salad was ok with one pale tastless tomatoe sliced and some limp greens.  The dressing was good.  The scallops were tiny bay scallops which was not noted on the menu.  My wifes lamb sausage was just below average but edible; also very dry.  The pomme frit was the highlight of the affair.  

The restaurant was almost empty yet the service was just below average.  When we walked in, blinking and waiting for someone to great us, we had to walk to the bar and interrupt what was apparently a very important conversation between the bartender and someone else.  After our food was served no one came to confirm that it was satisfactory.  I left 80% of my food on my plate and when the waiter came to retreive the plates he then asked me if everything was ok.  I told him that I did not like my food at all and he pretended that he had heard nothing and proceded to bus the table.  No appology, no inquiry into what the problem was, just a saccharine, doe-eyed smile.  We were never offered coffee or dessert.

Like so many french restaurants in this area, they want you to pay for the quality and brand of being "french," but its just another tourist trap.  We left, paying about 80 bucks for lunch/dinner still very hungry.  We ended up going to Big City and ordered a couple of happy hour appetizers which were wonderful and inexpensive.  We had considered going there initially and were disappointed that we didn't.

First impressions are everything and St. Tropez Bistro definitely needs to work on that. The place was pretty packed when we arrived, but there were still a few tables available. Initially, we are told there are no seats available. We ask about an open table we see in the back but we are told that we cannot sit there. He walks back outside and points to a tiny table in the corner and proceeds to tell us we can sit there although it may be cramped. We asked to sit at the table right in front of us and finally he agrees to that. We are seated, given menus and are poured some water.

We quickly go over the menu and decide what we would like to eat. Now, don't get me wrong, the restaurant was busy and as far as I can tell, only two people were serving, but no one was ever apologetic for it and the gentleman who was serving us and appeared to be the owner or manager was outright rude at times. Well, we waited about 15 minutes before he finally came over to take our order. We placed our order and shortly thereafter, we were given a baguette of French bread to eat. The bread appeared to be fresh and it tasted good, so I was beginning to forget all that happened before that.

We gobbled up the bread and waited a little bit before our appetizer came out. Instead of being brought the Escargots I ordered, we were brought a salad instead. We told him the mistake and shortly thereafter he brought us the correct appetizer. Not a good mistake to make, but we ignored it anyways. The Escargots were amazing. The flavor was out of the world good and it was so tender that it melted in my mouth. I loved it. We were also brought more of the delicious bread which I appreciated.

Of course, after finishing our appetizer, there was another wait before we were finally brought our entrees. I am all about going for the full French dining experience so I got the Mussels. They came with French fries that we freshly fried and tasted simply divine. The mussel itself were also really good. They came in a nicely flavored broth and there was a large amount that I filled up pretty quickly.

My friend got the flanked steak. It was perfectly cooked, a really good cut and the sauce was good too. He said that it was in the top steaks he's ever had. I tasted it too and although I am not a huge fan of steaks, I have tasted a lot and I have to agree, it was good. At that point in time, we both agreed the food was really good and we would come back but then dessert happened.

We waited and waited and waited until finally the table was cleared and we were asked again what we wanted for desert although we had already placed our order at the beginning. I told him again we wanted the macaroons and he repeated it back to confirm. Again we waited an uncomfortable amount of time before we were brought crème brulee. We politely tell him again that we had said macaroons and instead of apologizing and bringing the correct order instead, he proceeds to tell us that we should just eat this. We tell him no and that we had wanted the macaroons. He takes away the crème brulee and minutes later if not less, he brings us three small macaroons on a plate. Considering he brings us the macaroons that quickly as they were already prepared and sitting in the refrigerator to be served, I could not understand what the problem was. They were good, my favorite being the green, although besides the chocolate, I couldn't tell u what flavors they were. Despite the fact that I enjoyed them, I already had a bad taste left in my mouth.

After dessert, I couldn't wait to get out of there, but instead of making a quick exit, we had to spend more time waiting again. We wait for 15 minutes before we had to ask someone else to bring the bill. They quickly do, we pay and hightail it out of there.

The food was good and I would love to come back because I enjoyed it so much but having the worst service and dining experience I have ever had in my life I am not sure I could ever subject myself to that again.