Sid Chatterjee
Google
A Croque Madame and a Side of Discrimination:
We stopped by Café Ventura for a light breakfast and ordered a Croque Madame with two espressos. The food itself was average at best. But the real reason for this review is the disrespectful and offensive behavior of one of the waiters.
When we asked for an extra set of cutlery (since we were sharing the dish), the waiter first rudely shooed us away from entering the café, even though it was a simple request. Then, upon hearing what we needed, he made a derogatory remark about “eating with hands” directed at us because we are Indian — and laughed at his own “joke.”
This wasn’t just bad service. It was insulting, discriminatory, and an absolute embarrassment to Parisian hospitality. No guest, tourist or local, should ever be spoken to this way in a café or anywhere else.
Paris itself is beautiful, welcoming, and vibrant — and we refused to let one pathetic individual spoil our trip. But Café Ventura deserves zero stars for allowing such conduct from its staff. Since I can’t give negative stars, one star will have to do.