Café La Clémence

What a lovely bar nestled in the heart of Geneva's charming old town! The local beer is delightful, and the service is quite commendable. The prices are reasonable as well, making it a wonderful spot to enjoy.

We were walking around Geneva with our family. The children became thirsty, and unfortunately there were no shops nearby. One of our children is autistic. We entered the bar simply to ask for some water and were met with an extremely unpleasant and disrespectful attitude from the bartender and staff. The child was given only a very small amount of water, and the overall behavior was shockingly rude. I have never experienced such an unkind and dismissive attitude toward children anywhere else.

This is one of the best places in Geneva’s Old Town to hang out solo or with companions. It is perfect for drinks and appetisers (no food) after work or on the weekend. The drinks are a little pricey but won’t break your bank, and the great ambience esp on warm sunny days and evenings make it worthwhile. The waiting staff are super attentive and offer an excellent service. Definitely worth a visit.

Stopped for lunch and fortunately got a very helpful waiter. Ordered the croque Madame with soup and it was really nice at 18.50 euros ! Overall ok

This cafe has a nice and large terras on the square, amongst many other cafes, and it is nice sitting there to relax. We came for lunch and they have a small list of daily dishes on offer. We took their greek salade, and that tasted quite good, although the portion is rather small for a lumch and also considering the price charged. As others remarked, the servers are all good-looking, professional and very competent.

The lunch here is superb. We were on a 3 day stay in Geneva and sat here for lunch, not expecting to eat some of the best food on the trip! We got the chicken pasta (dish of the day) and the dish with shredded duck with Foie Gras sauce. It was so good, that we tried to go back for dinner on our last day, but unfortunately this place does not serve dinner. The Atmosphere is probably fine if you are ok with cigarette smoke. lots and lots of the patrons smoke and the square is misty. I didn't appreciate it, but the food was absolutely worth it! USA visitors should definitely go. I haven't had food this good even in LA (my hometown) it's very close to the lake & and 2 minutes walk from the ST. Pierre cathedral.

We spent two evenings in the late summer in Geneva and both times we ended up on the lively terrace of this restaurant. Since we had just finished dinner, we didn't eat here, but settled for wine. The restaurant is located right in the heart of the old town, next to a beautiful little square and park. The service was fast and friendly and the prices were reasonable for being in Switzerland and the center of Geneva. Until next time!

Cozy spot for a warm meal on a cold day! Delectable croque monsieur and potato soup. Able to sit outside next to the heater with a blanket.

Best hot chocolate ever! I never tried anything else on their menu, but their hot chocolate is to die for. Great place to sit and people watch outside while sipping on your hot chocolate. Perfect location in the heart of old town Geneva. They also have blankets for the winter when it is cold. FYI I like my chocolate more creamy, which is how their hot chocolate is

La Clémence is such a beautiful place to have a coffee and a bite to eat~! I came here for lunch and I'm certainly not disappointed! You can order a large range of hot or cold drinks, alcoholic or non alcoholic and also some sweet and savoury dishes. The price is not exorbitant like many other places, and I was happy to lunch here! I would highly recommend this little gem on top of a hill in the Vielle-Ville and should you get the opportunity, eat outside with friends!

This is mainly a bar with a small food menu. We had pesto panini and beers here. Food was ok and arrived quickly and our waiter was nice. They had lots of outdoor seating. The Calvinus Blanche beer was good. And who can resist a beer with John Calvin on the label?

Well worth a visit but don't expect to be impressed by the food (hence the reason for my 3 star rating) Great outdoor seating and the spot to be and be seen on a Saturday afternoonin Geneva. A very busy spot (on Sat afternoon) and a seat yourself situation. Note: given the popularity on Sat afternoons, plan to hawk other tables in order to get a table as soon as people get up from their chairs. This is the only way to do it. Otherwise, you snooze you lose. It pretty hard core :). Prices: very inexepensive for Geneva standards. Location: can't get better in the center of Old Town, cobblestone streets, open air setting, alps in the distance, Lake Geneva in the backdrop...just exceptional. Food selection and quality: not great. Menu is very limited and some food items were very good while others were terrible. For us, the cured ham sandwich on a baguette was wonderful but the cheese sandwich was terrible (basically on a hamburger bun). Wine and beer: limited list of choices but both beers that we ordered were amazing. We had the French beer option and Prague beer option. Both were great. Service: Really great. Friendly. Attentive and not overly invasive. Guests: all type of people visit this outdoor cafe. Trendy. Rich. Casual. Families. Tourists. Locals. Europeans. Americans. English. the table next to us mixed their conversations between English, French, and Italian. Two tables over was a group of young men (maybe rugby players). The table a few spots down came with their baby in a baby carriage. Overall, I was happy to visit this place. We had fun sitting outside and enjoying the day. And people-watching was especially entertaining at this spot.

Any place that serves panache is OK by me. Clemence is one of few shops lining this hilltop village square. Pretty certain the ongoing roadwork has diminished its quaintness. Waitresses seldom greet guests at the patio so ordering at the bar is best - a basket of courtesy chocolates awaits should you need encouragement.

As we were romping on our first day in Geneva, post Shawarma eating, I needed something warm and delicious in my belly. My boyfriend led us here after St. Peter's Cathedral in the part known as Old Town. Not much in terms of seating area in the indoors, but plenty on the outside. It's well known in this area especially in terms of their bar. Apparently the whole street in front gets covered in tables and seats in the summer warm months. I think for us indoors was the best bet and luckily enough there was a small table. We opted for a hot chocolate with whipped cream. It definitely hit the spot. That whipped cream was no fat free sugar free cool whip and that's how I like it! Since the new no smoking indoors was in affect, I was able to tolerate sitting indoors though the smokers were just inches away from the doorway. The place was pretty busy but they eventually got our order. For about 4.20 for the traditional hot chocolate, but 5.20 with the whipped cream. Pretty pricey according to my boyfriend, no matter. It's our "vacance"! Great pit stop to or from the Cathedral.

i was here in the beginning of May and my aunt, who lives in Geneva, was taking me around the town and wanted to avoid tourist traps. she's been coming here for...longer than she'd admit to me! so i take her word for it! if you're around the Old Town of Geneva, and you want a beer where all the locals seem to convene then this is the place. true the inside is not spacious, but if you get a seat it's definitely cozy, and the staff were pretty cool. we also sat outside and felt like part of the scene. sitting under an umbrella with plenty of sunshine and a pint of swiss beer? definitely worth it.

As this cafe is situated in a prime location in Geneva Old Town, the manager and his staff have ZERO interest in providing good service to their clients. On one occasion, they refused to serve a group of 8 of us, when SEVEN of us had ordered drinks/food. The argument was that everyone needed to order, as other people could be sitting and consuming instead, refusing the entire time to acknowledge that it was a rainy day in the terasse when there were no other clients in sight. My most recent, and definitely LAST, experience at La Clemence, I was told my friend and I could not be served as I was fasting for Ramadan and was not consuming! Based on my experience, my friend had even ordered a large drink that could serve two, but they still refused. To make things more petty, my friend had originally requested a lemon juice, to which the waiter said it would not be possible, and when half a lemon was requested so we could make our own with a bottle of sparkling, the waiter still refused. Finally when we offered to PAY for this half lemon, he STILL refused, saying that would be too much and they would no longer have enough lemon slices to go around for all the other clients (?!?!!?). The manager was completely unapologetic and rudely stated that they have a "one chair, one person, one drink policy", and that having two glasses for a large bottle of sparkling would make other clients uncomfortable if I were not to drink it (again, what??). While we understood that his business is run solely on beverages, we had explained that good service (more than refusing the occasional client who does not order) is what eventually makes businesses thrive in large cities, but he refused to accept this logic. More sadly, despite me informing the manager that I was a client who had come on numerous occasions and it just so happened it was Ramadan, the manager said that his policy stands, that he is not RACIST, and that this is about applying this policy to everyone and not making any exceptions. Appalled, we left as we had no choice (unless we wanted to pay the price of a meal for two measly drinks for a single person). All in all, it was a horrendously disappointing experience, and if someone has to clarify that they are not racist, it is evident that something is wrong there.Big shame as the location is great and they just lost another group of clients (friends and partners included).

I am a regular visitor to Geneva and come here every chance I get. The waitstaff is fantastic and the location cannot be any better. Another great benefit is that as a wheelchair user I can easily find a table and enjoy the lovely terrace.

A tiny bar with a cozy old world atmosphere in the winter. In the summer, it spills out on to the square with umbrellas and tables. It's extremely popular on a sunny summer day.

Lovely old bar situated at the top of the old town in Geneva. Although lovely, it can become really crowded inside and outside on the terrace and the nearby square. If you go on a sunday morning, you can have a lovely experience, to sit and have a coffee reading the days papers in the peace and quiet of a lovely old town.

Nice location but terrible service (or policy as they call it): so here the story. I sit with a friend in one of the outside table. I order a bottle of SanPellegrino and I ask for some lemon juice. The waiter says they only have slices. So I asked if I can have half a lemon. He told that was too much (I even offered to pay for it, but apparently they have a tight lemon supply). So he asks what my friend is having, and she says she is doing ramadan and excused herself. He point out that the policy of the bar is that there is a drink per person otherwise they can't serve us. A bit surprised we go and talk to the manager and we learned that it is indeed a tight policy of the bar: you can't sit if you don't have your own drink. But wait... if you have a bottle of wine then is different, it can be shared. So apparently it is not about the number drinks but about the money you spend. Maybe they can just ask for a fee to sit on their chairs, at least we could enjoy their nice location. Great business model. They didn't serve us and we had to leave.