Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts

I loved going to the school i got my degree is pastry arts even though I was sold on the fact that I would get help from the school to do something with the diploma didn't happen. I went back for my associates degree to and be employed with their school and become a teacher, because I was told by hmm, the people who sell you on the school and student council that if I came back and did the 6 months of associates classes and graduate. I could work for the school or at least get a school. A teaching job with these 2°. Unfortunately, some emergency items things have happened in my life and me and my daughter were almost homeless and health issues hit my family real bad and it seems like the school didn't want to help and the school really didn't care they said, sorry for your loss, but don't forget to pay us. So unfortunately, because I can't get nobody to talk to me or care to take the time to talk, I would not recommend escafier anymore. It was a very disappointing, heartbreaking and upsetting schooling. It really was because I loved this school and I loved the teachers I worked with and instructors, but unfortunately the money part of the situation, they're very heartless and cruel and don't care. All the school does now is call and harass the people they made me put on the application for the school. In closing this school does n9t have the heart i thought did when I first started.

I’ve been attending Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts since January of last year, and now with just five months until graduation, I can honestly say it’s been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. The program has helped me grow so much, both in skill and confidence. The instructors are experienced, supportive, and truly care about our success. I’ve learned everything from basic knife skills to advanced cooking techniques, and I feel much more prepared for the real world. It’s not always easy—there are definitely challenges—but it’s all worth it if you’re passionate about food and serious about a culinary career. I’m proud to be part of this journey!”

I filled out a form with this institution just to get general information, but since then it has been a very unpleasant experience. They started bombarding me with unsolicited emails, many of them requesting personal information that I never authorized to share. Even worse, I contacted the university president and another representative to express my concerns, and I never received any response. This clearly shows that either they allow these kinds of practices or they simply ignore people who feel uncomfortable with them. An educational institution should handle people’s data with ethics and respect. I do not recommend filling out any forms or sharing any information with them.

The whole online school really feels like a scam. You have a 3 week trail period to try the school out. During this period you are completely enrolled and they aren’t very thorough on how their school works. They teach you about their in person schools on the surface level, not the important parts such as paying $400 for a toolkit that you’ve opened so that you can try the school out, do your schoolwork and have the correct equipment to get said schoolwork done. They were extremely pushy with me in the enrollment process as a freshly graduated student that has interest in culinary arts. They say you have a 3 week trial period and you aren’t tied to anything etc. So you are free to try the program out. I asked multiple times as I was starting to get worried. I’m not tied to anything right? I just want to try out the school. “Yes” I was told. After you unenroll and try to return the toolkit that you’re supplied with during the completion of orientation. You are expected to pay for the toolkit, if the toolkit is opened. I was told through email they were “unable to accept open tool kits.” So why don’t you tell your trial period students this? Which is everyone. How are you supposed to try the school out? Why is nobody told you will have to pay for an opened toolkit, that is supplied to you, for you to do your schoolwork? Obviously, I found all this out the unfortunate way, at the very end, when I decided to drop the program because of how suspicious things were getting and also, I didn’t enjoy their program. It took multiple phone calls and multiple different people to get me unenrolled may I add. Absolutely ridiculous. Still praying I don’t receive anything in the mail from them as well as, I hope my personal information that I gave them, is protected. Seems like they just try to get the most money from everyone. I want to add, I’m 18, but my parents would be paying for school, they were not involved in this process at all. Not one conversation, email. Anything. I do not have a job or a way to pay for school as of right now, I was very clear about that. Paying for school would be on my parents behalf. I just wish I would’ve looked at all the reviews of everyone talking about their scamming tendencies. Thank god for Reddit and goggle reviews even though I was too late. Go to an in person culinary school, it’s a few grand more, more thorough, more helpful, more professional, and totally worth not being scammed.

I’d say maybe try in-person school as you seem to get more information and care. The online is good but once you’ve been accepted trying to get into contact with anyone is optional. If you call on Friday’s they will ignore you until Monday. You can leave messages but they won’t get back to you as soon as possible. Listen to the low reviews. They are indeed true

Greatest school ever. Just graduated from there. I recommend it to everyone 🥰🥰🥰🥰

Aloha everyone, my name is Isabella Sabado. I am a proud graduate of the Online program from "Escoffier Culinary School". I've learned many valuable skills that I look forward to utilizing in the future. However, I'd like to also voice an opposition to the entirety of the program. There are specific things that I hope students and parents will be aware of before entering the Escoffier doors. 1) I received a $1,000 scholarship from the escoffier scholarship program. As my food allergies grew stronger, I decided to transfer from the in-person Pastry/Baking program to the online Plant based program. I was incredibly angry as to why I lost half of my scholarship because at the time they told me that the money was for all students of all studies. However, they informed that I lost my scholarship because I changed programs. 2) Despite their glamorized advertisement, the in-person program building in Boulder, CO is none of the sort. There are tiny kitchens, small classrooms, and there are a couple of unkind chefs. It is placed next to multiple stores that hold no similarity to the Culinary Arts Aesthetic at hand. 3) The cost of tuition for the In-person program ranges from $30,000-$35,000... FOR ONE YEAR. In addition, the housing is another couple thousand dollars. I remember doing the math by myself and it all summed up to $40,000. I still owe $2,000 for the one month that I stayed in Boulder, believe me I begged them to return it, for it is no longer important to me, but they resist. I thank myself everyday that I stayed home for the online program and now i'm only in $18,000 of debt. I'd also like to verbalize that for the online program the majority of the ingredients must be self-bought, I implore you to be in a financial place to do so. It is not my intention to throw shade. In actuality I will be graduating with presidential honors in the fall. My experience at Escoffier was painful and beautiful. But, I personally would not recommend this school.

If I could give 0 stars I would. This school is horribly unprofessional and borderline a scam. I reached out to apply and they included enrollment papers in the application form. The were pushy about filling out forms quickly with threats that I would not look like a serious candidate if I didn’t have things done by the end of the day. When I emailed to ask them to cancel my enrollment (which I filled out by mistake) no one responded and instead I was bombarded by 5 calls from different numbers at the school. I sent a follow up email to confirm cancelled enrollment, still with no response. A few weeks later I received a call from a third-party company asking if I needed housing for my enrollment (which mind you I emailed twice to confirm was cancelled). I am now still receiving advertisements to my phone and email as well as to the numbers of family members that I listed as emergency contacts. I would be very careful if and how you engage with this institution.

I'll be perfectly honest with my review. The concept is understandable however if you are just starting or thinking about a career in food or hospitality then online is not for you. Do hands on. If you have been in kitchens for years like me then yes, apply. You will learn so many techniques. I guarantee you. Thank you Escoffier for a great experience!

VA/MILITARY STUDENTS BEWARE!!! Their process to certify your classes is non existent. The responsibility falls completely on the student. The VA Department youre used to from other schools? Doesn't exist here. I've been to 4 schools, and this is the worst, most grossly inhumane experience thus far. As a student who DEPENDS on my benefits since the passing of my father, Escoffier has left me destitute. They do not care about your Military affiliation, nor do they have any resepect for your service to this country.

This is solely regarding online courses from this school which is a complete scam and predatory. If you are experiencing any sort of financial aid issues and cannot receive assistance, please email me at jenn.lee456@outlook.com because my partner and I plan on opening a class action lawsuit. By the way, they make you sign a waiver that's part of your initial paperwork and do not explain to you that they are taking control of your loans and offer them to you as stipends rather than a refund amongst many other horrifying things. Be warned!!

My son started school in August, he loves it. However, they've been giving us the run around for his school I.D. I've made multiple calls to multiple people and I get promised that it'll be taken care of and it is now December and nothing yet. He needs his ID to get his state ID so he can get a part time job and is unable to do so. I was very patient at first but now I'm just fully frustrated. I wish there was a supervisor I can speak with to escalate this matter but again..I get transferred and reassured it'll be taken care of. Guess he will get his school ID when he graduates ‍ya know...a little token for all his hard work.

I am loving this school. This review might not be all inclusive as of yet because I am only 3 weeks into the culinary program. So far, though, I am enjoying it and think I have already gained a ton of knowledge that I did not have before. This school is serious about getting students ready for the culinary world. It is not just some assembly line program trying to get numbers out as fast as possible even though their program is only 10 months long. I toured Cordon Bleu and it looked much more like a school setting with a lot of class time. I toured Escoffier and I felt like I was doing a stage (cooking internship) in a real restaurant. The students here are thrust into an atmosphere reflective of the actual culinary world out there. Students are expected to learn every part of a kitchen and to learn to work as a team in order to complete their cooking. Those with no skills in the kitchen whatsoever might be a little overwhelmed, but it is a great foundation to build up from. Those with plenty of kitchen and work experience might find the beginning filled with information they already know, but it can be a moment for them to take a step back and learn the refined methods of stuff they might have learned on the fly at a much earlier job. It could be harder for these seasoned students to start back at zero, but that is the life of the culinary world. A new job at a new restaurant could easily do that to a person as well when you meet a chef with totally different techniques than the last one you worked for. In any case. The classes here are small. 10 to 20. 20 is the exception. Most are smaller. Mine is 11. We have teaching blocks of 6 weeks, each with a different chef and different style. They seem to put introductory blocks with the stricter chefs and that is a good thing because you will get a better foundation, and that way it should be second nature to a cook when he has a chef that is more relaxed in other stuff such as cleaning and knife skills. Kind of like the military, where a drill instructor breaks you down so that they can fill you up with the right info and technique for later no matter how your current leadership functions. You will have to get used to being ordered around a lot. A chef is the General of the kitchen. What he or she says goes with very little talk back if at all. Just the way the actual field works. One of the blocks will involve students going out to local farms once a week so that they can experience the Farm to Market movement that is very important today in the cooking world. I can't wait for this part of the program! If you are looking to go to culinary school, this place is a great choice. If you want to get a broader school style atmosphere, this is not the place. If you want to be put in the kitchen and in front of a stove quickly, this is DEFINITELY the place for you. The administrative staff is awesome, friendly and willing to help. They are a small group, but have pride in their jobs and help out in any way they can. Younger students or parents of younger students can be at ease that this staff will try to help out in any way they can. From trying to arrange housing, to coordinating students with vehicles to give rides to those that don't have any. Check them out. They offer prospective students the chance to come in to do a class shadow day where you can spend your morning and afternoon in a real class. Perfect way for you to see if this is what you are looking for. It was for me!

I couldn't believe an online culinary school could be for real! My life didn't allow for uprooting and going to school elsewhere so I decided to give it a try. It's one of the best things I've ever done. Not only does the school prepare you for working in a professional kitchen, they teach you the business aspect. They were always ready to help and the instructors are very responsive. This program is especially helpful for those in the field ready to take the next step.

My daughter finished all of her classes on March 29th, 2022 with a 4.0 GPA. She didn't receive her diploma for SEVEN WEEKS and the first opportunity that was offered to walk across the stage was literally over SEVEN MONTHS later in November 2022. None of this is in the literature provided before paying for the services or discussed during phone conversations. In the time lapse from the final day of class to walking the stage, her brother will have graduated high school and be almost done with his first semester of college. Absolutely unacceptable!

I am writing a review on this establishment because they continue to harass my husband and I. For months we have been receiving phone calls from this so called vocational school, and we at first explained who ever they are trying to reach is not at our number. We nicely have explained over and over again, they have the wrong number. It has been months, and they continue to call, sometimes even three times a day, asking for someone we do not know and we tell them to please REMOVE our number from their list. Their people have been rude and even say "we have talked to Annie on this number before". We do not know any Annie's and if they can speak to us so rudely and unprofessionally I can only imagine what they are like with people who are actually interested in going to their school. Please listen to people when they say "stop calling this number." It is not an invitation to continue to harrass people!

My daughter attends Escoffier the Austin campus, and she loves it. She graduated Sept. 2016 and now she is about to complete the Pastry part of the program. I am very impressed with the extensive training of this school. I highly recommend this school to any up and coming culinary student. I wished this school was around when I graduated high school, cooking gourmet food is my passion and my daughter followed in my footsteps. I love the staff at the Austin campus everytime I've had to interact with someone, they were very friendly and helpful.

My son Chris loves attending this school, he is never late or miss the class but unfortunately my son is Autistic and it is too fast paced for him to catch up in the kitchen. The Chef instructor stated to me that Chris is unable to secure a career in the restaurant business as he is too slow. I appreciate the honesty as this is a very expensive place to attend school. The president Marcus McMellon is very helpful in holding the meeting with us to discuss Chris's issues. Chris has been feeling down and understands that he is too slow ( the truth) and wishes to withdraw from the school by Friday of this week. He did learn a lot from this school. I feel really bad for Chris, that this is something that he likes to do but not able to because of his autism.

I just attended a knife skills 101 class in the "Classes for Home Cooks" series at the Auguste Escoffier school and it was AMAZING. Full disclosure, I found the class on Localiter, so got to take it for over 50% off, but I truly believe that had I paid the full price, I would be gushing just as much about how great this class was. Highlights include: Relatively small class size (17) Completely hands on from start to finish High energy instructor with plenty of helpers to move things along smoothly Extra cooking tips given in addition to just cutting Delicious, filling meal created and cooked in class Leftovers to take home BYOB I really don't have anything negative to say about this class. I learned truly valuable skills that I plan to use, I now have two recipes that I feel confident I can make at home, and I had a great, filling meal with my man for way less than we would have spent at, say, Uchiko. I absolutely recommend this class as a date night, for parties, as a gift, or just because it's something cool to do.

I attended this school from 2011-2012 when they first underwent their ownership change from CAA to Escoffier. I went through the entire program with 100% of myself invested, and was even acknowledged as the student ambassador of my class. When we had our first day of class, there were just under 20 students, and by the end of the year, we had 7 people in our graduating class because most of them had dropped out. 7! One of the first things my chef instructor told me was that culinary school isn't just something fun and entertaining that you do in your spare time, and it's completely true. This is hard work. Many hours of hard work, getting dirty, being constantly on your feet, blood, sweat, tears. And the job you get when you graduate (and throughout your career) will pay you VERY little salary. This is the food industry, and this school prepares you for it (mostly,) but it seems that many people enroll before EVER stepping foot in a proper kitchen. That being said, I was also one of those people, but I stuck through it because I *thought* I really wanted it. If you are one of those people, let me give you a bit of valuable advice. Go get a job in an actual kitchen (not fast food,) before you ever consider dropping $25k on this place or any other culinary school. You will learn A LOT at this school because the chef instructors are passionate about what they do and are willing to teach you if you genuinely want to learn...but you will learn even more getting hands-on in an actual kitchen, and you won't be in debt for 10 years after you graduate. Also, they don't tell you this, but many respectable kitchens really don't give a crap that you went to culinary school. In fact, most prefer hiring people who are fairly inexperienced, teachable, and willing to start at the bottom so they don't have to deal with your professionally trained, over-confident ego, or your by-the-book habits that you learned in culinary school. The things you learn in a book are the basic fundamentals of modernized cooking, but most places have their own way of doing things, so most of the knowledge you gain at culinary school is not retained because you aren't practicing those by-the-book methods once you actually begin working in a kitchen. Capisce? All this being said, despite this being an expensive school (as is EVERY culinary school,) you will cover A LOT of ground. So much ground that you will learn something new every day, and you won't have much time to practice it before finals because the very next day, you are learning something totally new again. They CRAM you with info, and it's valuable info...but considering how much you're paying, it would at least be worthwhile to remember half the stuff you learned (which I personally don't, and I can assume most of my peers don't either.) Maybe they've changed the length of their program, but if I can recall when I was about to graduate, they were minimizing the length of their program from 12 months to 8? If that's still the case, that means you are either, A) learning less information for nearly the same price, or B) learning the same amount of info in an even shorter amount of time. If I had the opportunity to go back and do it again for free, I'd say no thanks to both options. I will say, this is a practical alternative to getting a generic 4 year piece of paper that says you majored in X and you will never utilize that piece of paper ever again. It's also highly accredited and one of the more respected culinary schools around (above Le Cordon Bleu, and below the CIA.) Because of this culinary diploma I received (and my stubborn dedication to do something with it,) I had the opportunity to work in a few amazing kitchens around the world, including Uchi and Perla's in Austin, 2 Michelin Star awarded Lazy Bear in San Francisco, and some kitchens in southern Italy. My knife skills are better than the average bear, my palette is seasoned, and I can also cook fairly well at home because I still apply those same basic techniques I learned at school...but ask me to get creative or whip up a recipe and I immediately forget what I learned and resort to Pinterest for ideas. Did I mention I was never fully able to commit to working full-time in a kitchen because of how little they paid for working 12 hours shifts? Had I not been in $25k of student loan debt, I probably could have toughed it out, but a girl's gotta pay her bills if she wants to get anywhere in life! By the way, it's been 5 years since I graduated, I no longer work in the food industry (I now own a mobile coffee company) and I still have $5k in student loan debt. Ugh. Culinary school brought me some great opportunities, but if you don't have an actual passion for cooking (not eating, but cooking) and a willingness to dedicate yourself to the lifestyle of this industry, you are completely wasting your time and money, as well as the chefs who are trying to teach you. Be 100% invested, or don't do it at all.

The Escoffier School uses illegal and sketchy advertising practices. If you don't like getting spam phone calls and text messages, I recommend avoiding them. Let's not encourage businesses that ignore the National do not call registry.

I dropped off after 2 months. The fast paced of the baking course does not let understand the step by step of the culinary world. However, Chefs are kind and bring you their best effort. To me it is not worth of my money and time.

I attended the kitchen knife skills course last Friday and was truly impressed by the instructor, facility, and menu! My boyfriend and I arrived about 10 minutes before the class started and we were warmly greeted by the chef and were given Brie and grapes to snack on while we waited. There were 25 people that had registered for the class so they divided us up into two groups that each had their own kitchen space and instructors. Throughout the class we were given detailed instruction on various cuts and techniques and then given the opportunity to try-out what we learned. The class was very hands-on and we worked together as a group to make a delicious and filling meal. I'm very happy with the class and walked away not only with a fully belly, but with real knowledge on the various ways to cut and chop ingredients. I would definitely recommend these Home Cook classes to anyone I know, and I will certainly be back for more! Oh, and the classes are all BYOB, so you can bring a bottle of wine to enjoy while you learn and create!

This is not a culinary institution, it's a glorified cookbook fed slowly to you over months that is 30,000 dollars. Most of the positive reviews are from people who have toured the school or are in the first few weeks of class with no real knowledge. If a line cook is your goal and 12-15 dollars an hour is survivable as a career sign on up. The front office talks a big game but it's only to get their quota and your money after that the razzle dazzle is gone and they do not care. The school has changed a lot in the last couple of years and it's all been downhill. The school went without ingredients like salt, pepper, potatoes, butter, tomatoes, and other main ingredients that left us doing nothing on multiple occasions. On a side note who puts a garden right next to a commercial dumpster that clearly has leaking garbage fluid out of the bottom. I tried to warn as many people as possible. Escoffier is rolling in his grave.