Always good food with great service. Been multiple times, and it's become a regular go-to with my wife and I.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Carmen Peluso
I don’t usually write reviews- but in this instance I feel compelled to give my honest opinion.My fiancé and I decided to try this restaurant for her birthday. We were greeted upon entering the restaurant and gave our name as we had a reservation. The chef acknowledged us twice from the kitchen and came out and greeted us as we were waiting to be seated. It was a very nice gesture and he seemed extremely genuine. Great start! After being seated, we decided to try the octopus, shrimp bisque and the steak tartare. I had a cocktail and my fiancé had wine. The cocktail was very good and the shrimp bisque was excellent. The octopus and steak tartare was, unfortunately, lackluster at best. The octopus was tough, and with the silverware we were given was difficult to even cut- the sauce that was served with the dish seemed extremely out of place paired with the octopus. The steak tartare came out gray- no red appearance at all- and was overwhelmingly briny- as it was heavily mixed with pickle and caper juice. There was no beef flavor in the dish- very disappointing.For our main course we decided on the mussels and the duck breast. The mussels were bland- but ok. The duck breast was an extremely small portion severed with rice and asparagus. The rice was flavorless, as was the asparagus. Both seemed to be completely without seasoning or even salt. The duck breast was overcooked and the skin portion of the breast was soft and gelatinous- again not what you would expect for a duck breast. The flavor again was bland and appeared to be unseasoned.Since we were out for a birthday celebration- we decided to try dessert - maybe it would redeem our overall experience. We ordered the bread pudding, profiteroles and two espressos.The bread pudding: dry, extremely small portion but the sauce was good.The profiteroles: hard as a rock, served with a spoon- almost impossible to eat.Espresso: how could this go wrong?- it did- tasteless, seemed watered down and served in a standard coffee mug.Service- at no point during any part of the meal were we asked- “how is your food?” or any qualifying question about our experience.I want to like this restaurant so much- the chef seemed friendly when he greeted us and I honestly feel with a small amount of effort and training of the kitchen staff and service staff- this restaurant could be excellent. Unfortunately, our experience was disappointing and vapid.I never been to an establishment and not asked “how was the food?” “Are you enjoying everything “ etc.I’m not one to complain or even offer negative feedback, but in this instance, I feel the chef needs to hear it. I hope he can make the changes necessary in his food and staff to bring this restaurant to the status he knows he can achieve.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 1
Paul Mullin
Great food. The menu leaves you with hard decisions because they all sound delicious, and were. Service was well done. We were there on a quiet evening. Food came prompty. We could nitpick on a couple of things (they were out of an appetizer, fries with the steak seemed a bit overdone) but all in all a solid dining experience.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jim Wolff
I stumbled across Laperaux looking for something different for a birthday dinner for my wife. This restaurant more than exceeded expectations. It was so good we went back for our anniversary dinner. Food is amazing and service was spot on. I especially enjoyed watching the open kitchen. We have another family birthday coming up so...we'll definitely be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Steak Au Poivre, Duck Breast
Cool Spring
This French Restaurant is about as close to getting real rustic french cuisine anywhere. This is not the foo foo Americanized French food. Everything is sourced nearby. Everything is made in house. Pate with the Fig was terrific you must use both together to get the true value. It tasted superb. Hand pressed Pate just like in France. The Escargot was excellent. I ordered the Duck Breast. Perfect. My wife ordered the Chicken she loved it. Desserts were excellent. Bread pudding was dense and superb the Crème Brûlée was also superb. Rated as one of the finest Ive ever had both are rich.The waiter was excellent no make that terrific. Best part he is attentive and knows every single item made in detail. He’s very impressive, that starts immediately with him. He’s excellent! Unpretentious. I think he is the finest waiter Ive ever experienced worldwide. Piano player great ambiance. This is the type of French Restaurant you find in the Village where the locals go. Just great food thats prepared from locally source farms. Leave home and go to France for a few hours right here in Gaithersburg MD. Support this gem of a neighborhood French restaurant. 9/10 Did I mention the great waiter?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Escargot
A E
Nice restaurant. Nice service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: French Onion Soup, Escargot
rivergourmet
The Chef is really hands on and cares about the whole experience.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Cristian Matolak
My husband and I went there for lunch and we asked for a bourguignon steak which was good but unfortunately steak au poivre was overcooked. We were the only clients at lunch time and the chef did not cook for us. He put a young girl to cook our meals, she cooked my husband's steak two times and both steaks were overcooked twice and the second steak was smaller than the first one. I had to eat alone while the second steak came. She definitely needs more training.Diamond the server was very good. We saw the chef coming out of the back door and didn't apologize for the girl overcooking the steak au poivre twice.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Jumoke Oladapo
The food is good. It’s a good spot for business networking.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Melissa Landes
Miguel, our waiter was fantastic. Great suggestions and very personable. The appetizer we got was SO good. I got a chicken dinner that was good, and my husband liked his dinner too. Drinks were great! The only thing that bothered me was the hostess. She was rude and cold. Our waiter definitely made up for her lack of hospitality skills. There was also nice live music. Great atmosphere! We will be back
great food! great servers! the owner came to our table for a quick chat to talk about the specials. highly
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: French Onion Soup
Megan Schuster
We went in to the bar area on a Friday at about 4:30pm. There were a couple other tables seated in the area and it took a while for a server to come over, it seemed like they were confused about who was supposed to be serving us or something.Good:- the fries were good- the cocktails were great (the French martini and the white lady)- the server, Diamond, was super nice and helpful.Meh:- it all just looked like lesser quality than earlier google reviews:—The French onion soup was fine but had a thick layer of square pre-sliced cheese on top. Cheese is cheese but looks like it used to be freshly grated which would make a big difference.—The scallops were only kind of warm and the cream sauce had developed a skin on top.—The steak tartare was fine but only came with like four tiny slices of baguette. We were just going to use the complimentary bread but…- the complimentary bread was ice cold in the middle. And I don’t mean room temp, I mean straight out of the fridge or freezer cold. It’s free bread so I don’t really care, but we told the server who apologized and brought us a new basket of it almost 10min later, assuring us it was piping hot. But, once again, the inside was very cold! Cold enough that we felt compelled to have the server feel it as proof that we aren’t nuts. She explained that they’re trying out a new bread (like frozen Yeast dinner rolls- another downgrade from the nice bread shown in previous reviews) and are still sorting out how long to heat it. Again, its free bread so whatever, but like how hard can that be??Finally, maybe most annoyingly, we came in for the happy hour- WHICH is posted on their website- only to be told they don’t have a happy hour. When we were visibly confused and showed her the website, the server went to go check with someone. She came back and said they got rid of the happy hour but didn’t update the website. How lame is that?!This was just a pre-date night stop for some drinks and apps and the bill was over $100 for some pretty meh food. It was really empty in there, which normally would make me think there will be extra attention in the kitchen, but maybe we need to come back when it’s busier? Maybe.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Linda Jackowiak
Steak Bearcy was truly amazing...perfect.Chocolate mouse - perfect flavor and consistency...GREAT!Boef Bourgignon portion was more than half mushrooms (not balanced) and lacked seasoning or any real flavor...very bland...Overall amazing place, staff was very customer focused and pleasant, ambiance was comfortable without being too posh, and the food was excellent
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Jason
I recently dined at Laperaux, a French bistro with much potential that unfortunately fell short in several key areas. While the food quality was above average and the ambiance of the restaurant was quite pleasant, creating a nice atmosphere for dining, the service experience left a lot to be desired.From the moment we were seated, the wait to have our orders taken was significantly longer than expected. This delay was not unique to our table, as I noticed several other patrons expressing frustration over the wait times. The situation did not improve, leading to an extended delay in receiving our meals. The service was so inadequate that, regrettably, we decided to leave the restaurant early after trying to get our check. It was disheartening to see that we were not the only customers making this decision; multiple tables left due to lack of service.The most concerning issue we observed was regarding hygiene standards. After a table left due to the prolonged wait, new patrons were seated at the same table without any effort to replace the used water glasses or sanitize the area. This oversight is not only unappetizing but also raises questions about the overall cleanliness practices within the establishment.While I had high hopes for a delightful dining experience at Laperaux, the poor service and lack of attention to cleanliness significantly detracted from the evening. It is my hope that this feedback is taken as constructive criticism, allowing Laperaux to improve its service and hygiene practices, aligning with the quality of its food and atmosphere.Edit: in reply to the owner please check the footage from 6:45 PM to 7:45 PM and view the tables of two closest to the entrance along the window I think it was the second along that row when a younger couple left. One of your sons is the one who seated another couple without replacing the water (the son without a scratch on his face im assuming the younger one).
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 1
genevieve langlois
Disorganized, who’s in charge? My husband and I made a reservation in advance for a date night. We had made a reservation prior to coming here. We were not waited on for 45 minutes. The owner said it was due to a party of 17 they had in the back caused the bad service. Multiple employees are pacing around looking busy, not helping customers. At no point did anyone check in with us ask us if we wanted wine, meanwhile orders were still being served. This was our first night out since our daughter was born, such a disappointment. It did seem like other people were enjoying their experience and food there. We were so excited to try this restaurant this was our night to enjoy an early Valentine’s Day dinner we ended up going to a different restaurant.
Always good food with great service. Been multiple times, and it's become a regular go-to with my wife and I.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I don’t usually write reviews- but in this instance I feel compelled to give my honest opinion.My fiancé and I decided to try this restaurant for her birthday. We were greeted upon entering the restaurant and gave our name as we had a reservation. The chef acknowledged us twice from the kitchen and came out and greeted us as we were waiting to be seated. It was a very nice gesture and he seemed extremely genuine. Great start! After being seated, we decided to try the octopus, shrimp bisque and the steak tartare. I had a cocktail and my fiancé had wine. The cocktail was very good and the shrimp bisque was excellent. The octopus and steak tartare was, unfortunately, lackluster at best. The octopus was tough, and with the silverware we were given was difficult to even cut- the sauce that was served with the dish seemed extremely out of place paired with the octopus. The steak tartare came out gray- no red appearance at all- and was overwhelmingly briny- as it was heavily mixed with pickle and caper juice. There was no beef flavor in the dish- very disappointing.For our main course we decided on the mussels and the duck breast. The mussels were bland- but ok. The duck breast was an extremely small portion severed with rice and asparagus. The rice was flavorless, as was the asparagus. Both seemed to be completely without seasoning or even salt. The duck breast was overcooked and the skin portion of the breast was soft and gelatinous- again not what you would expect for a duck breast. The flavor again was bland and appeared to be unseasoned.Since we were out for a birthday celebration- we decided to try dessert - maybe it would redeem our overall experience. We ordered the bread pudding, profiteroles and two espressos.The bread pudding: dry, extremely small portion but the sauce was good.The profiteroles: hard as a rock, served with a spoon- almost impossible to eat.Espresso: how could this go wrong?- it did- tasteless, seemed watered down and served in a standard coffee mug.Service- at no point during any part of the meal were we asked- “how is your food?” or any qualifying question about our experience.I want to like this restaurant so much- the chef seemed friendly when he greeted us and I honestly feel with a small amount of effort and training of the kitchen staff and service staff- this restaurant could be excellent. Unfortunately, our experience was disappointing and vapid.I never been to an establishment and not asked “how was the food?” “Are you enjoying everything “ etc.I’m not one to complain or even offer negative feedback, but in this instance, I feel the chef needs to hear it. I hope he can make the changes necessary in his food and staff to bring this restaurant to the status he knows he can achieve.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 1
Great food. The menu leaves you with hard decisions because they all sound delicious, and were. Service was well done. We were there on a quiet evening. Food came prompty. We could nitpick on a couple of things (they were out of an appetizer, fries with the steak seemed a bit overdone) but all in all a solid dining experience.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I stumbled across Laperaux looking for something different for a birthday dinner for my wife. This restaurant more than exceeded expectations. It was so good we went back for our anniversary dinner. Food is amazing and service was spot on. I especially enjoyed watching the open kitchen. We have another family birthday coming up so...we'll definitely be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Steak Au Poivre, Duck Breast
This French Restaurant is about as close to getting real rustic french cuisine anywhere. This is not the foo foo Americanized French food. Everything is sourced nearby. Everything is made in house. Pate with the Fig was terrific you must use both together to get the true value. It tasted superb. Hand pressed Pate just like in France. The Escargot was excellent. I ordered the Duck Breast. Perfect. My wife ordered the Chicken she loved it. Desserts were excellent. Bread pudding was dense and superb the Crème Brûlée was also superb. Rated as one of the finest Ive ever had both are rich.The waiter was excellent no make that terrific. Best part he is attentive and knows every single item made in detail. He’s very impressive, that starts immediately with him. He’s excellent! Unpretentious. I think he is the finest waiter Ive ever experienced worldwide. Piano player great ambiance. This is the type of French Restaurant you find in the Village where the locals go. Just great food thats prepared from locally source farms. Leave home and go to France for a few hours right here in Gaithersburg MD. Support this gem of a neighborhood French restaurant. 9/10 Did I mention the great waiter?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Escargot
Nice restaurant. Nice service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: French Onion Soup, Escargot
The Chef is really hands on and cares about the whole experience.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
My husband and I went there for lunch and we asked for a bourguignon steak which was good but unfortunately steak au poivre was overcooked. We were the only clients at lunch time and the chef did not cook for us. He put a young girl to cook our meals, she cooked my husband's steak two times and both steaks were overcooked twice and the second steak was smaller than the first one. I had to eat alone while the second steak came. She definitely needs more training.Diamond the server was very good. We saw the chef coming out of the back door and didn't apologize for the girl overcooking the steak au poivre twice.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
The food is good. It’s a good spot for business networking.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Miguel, our waiter was fantastic. Great suggestions and very personable. The appetizer we got was SO good. I got a chicken dinner that was good, and my husband liked his dinner too. Drinks were great! The only thing that bothered me was the hostess. She was rude and cold. Our waiter definitely made up for her lack of hospitality skills. There was also nice live music. Great atmosphere! We will be back
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Restaurantji Recommends
great food! great servers! the owner came to our table for a quick chat to talk about the specials. highly
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: French Onion Soup
We went in to the bar area on a Friday at about 4:30pm. There were a couple other tables seated in the area and it took a while for a server to come over, it seemed like they were confused about who was supposed to be serving us or something.Good:- the fries were good- the cocktails were great (the French martini and the white lady)- the server, Diamond, was super nice and helpful.Meh:- it all just looked like lesser quality than earlier google reviews:—The French onion soup was fine but had a thick layer of square pre-sliced cheese on top. Cheese is cheese but looks like it used to be freshly grated which would make a big difference.—The scallops were only kind of warm and the cream sauce had developed a skin on top.—The steak tartare was fine but only came with like four tiny slices of baguette. We were just going to use the complimentary bread but…- the complimentary bread was ice cold in the middle. And I don’t mean room temp, I mean straight out of the fridge or freezer cold. It’s free bread so I don’t really care, but we told the server who apologized and brought us a new basket of it almost 10min later, assuring us it was piping hot. But, once again, the inside was very cold! Cold enough that we felt compelled to have the server feel it as proof that we aren’t nuts. She explained that they’re trying out a new bread (like frozen Yeast dinner rolls- another downgrade from the nice bread shown in previous reviews) and are still sorting out how long to heat it. Again, its free bread so whatever, but like how hard can that be??Finally, maybe most annoyingly, we came in for the happy hour- WHICH is posted on their website- only to be told they don’t have a happy hour. When we were visibly confused and showed her the website, the server went to go check with someone. She came back and said they got rid of the happy hour but didn’t update the website. How lame is that?!This was just a pre-date night stop for some drinks and apps and the bill was over $100 for some pretty meh food. It was really empty in there, which normally would make me think there will be extra attention in the kitchen, but maybe we need to come back when it’s busier? Maybe.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Steak Bearcy was truly amazing...perfect.Chocolate mouse - perfect flavor and consistency...GREAT!Boef Bourgignon portion was more than half mushrooms (not balanced) and lacked seasoning or any real flavor...very bland...Overall amazing place, staff was very customer focused and pleasant, ambiance was comfortable without being too posh, and the food was excellent
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
I recently dined at Laperaux, a French bistro with much potential that unfortunately fell short in several key areas. While the food quality was above average and the ambiance of the restaurant was quite pleasant, creating a nice atmosphere for dining, the service experience left a lot to be desired.From the moment we were seated, the wait to have our orders taken was significantly longer than expected. This delay was not unique to our table, as I noticed several other patrons expressing frustration over the wait times. The situation did not improve, leading to an extended delay in receiving our meals. The service was so inadequate that, regrettably, we decided to leave the restaurant early after trying to get our check. It was disheartening to see that we were not the only customers making this decision; multiple tables left due to lack of service.The most concerning issue we observed was regarding hygiene standards. After a table left due to the prolonged wait, new patrons were seated at the same table without any effort to replace the used water glasses or sanitize the area. This oversight is not only unappetizing but also raises questions about the overall cleanliness practices within the establishment.While I had high hopes for a delightful dining experience at Laperaux, the poor service and lack of attention to cleanliness significantly detracted from the evening. It is my hope that this feedback is taken as constructive criticism, allowing Laperaux to improve its service and hygiene practices, aligning with the quality of its food and atmosphere.Edit: in reply to the owner please check the footage from 6:45 PM to 7:45 PM and view the tables of two closest to the entrance along the window I think it was the second along that row when a younger couple left. One of your sons is the one who seated another couple without replacing the water (the son without a scratch on his face im assuming the younger one).
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 1
Disorganized, who’s in charge? My husband and I made a reservation in advance for a date night. We had made a reservation prior to coming here. We were not waited on for 45 minutes. The owner said it was due to a party of 17 they had in the back caused the bad service. Multiple employees are pacing around looking busy, not helping customers. At no point did anyone check in with us ask us if we wanted wine, meanwhile orders were still being served. This was our first night out since our daughter was born, such a disappointment. It did seem like other people were enjoying their experience and food there. We were so excited to try this restaurant this was our night to enjoy an early Valentine’s Day dinner we ended up going to a different restaurant.
Atmosphere: 4
Service: 1