Brad B.
Yelp
I recently dined at Le Coq & Fils with my mom. The food was exceptional, and we were very impressed with the restaurant until we received the check.
As Americans, we were warned several times about being taken advantage of as foreigners in another country. Unfortunately, this experience happened at this restaurant.
I had several disappointing experiences with the service. When I asked the server for water, he asked if I wanted sparkling, and I shook my head and politely said, "No, tap water." However, we were charged for sparkling water anyway. When my mom asked for a receipt, the server responded by saying, "You already paid." She had to repeat her request several times before he handed us the restaurant's business card instead of a receipt. He said we spoke English, so it's unlikely that working at a restaurant, he didn't understand the word. My mom also told me that the card machine asked to make a "customary tip." We were told that asking for a tip is very rude in France, but Americans do not know this, so some restaurants like to take advantage of this. It's surprising and disappointing that such a respected restaurant would do this.
As soon as I walked out, I realized I left my bag at the restaurant. When I returned to retrieve it, the waiter picked it up, made a dismissive gesture at me, shook his head, and handed it to me, which was very unprofessional.
The dismissive gesture and head shake by the server felt like a judgment toward me. I always strive to be friendly and professional toward those in the hospitality industry. As a foreigner, I may not have fit in, but I was not rude to him. This behavior made me feel unwelcome and ruined my experience. In America, we often say that you can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat the person serving them, and I've seen people treat servers rudely, but never the other way around. I've never experienced a waiter outwardly expressing personal judgment toward me until now, and it is especially unprofessional because I made every attempt to be polite while dining here.
Foreign visitors should be aware and very clear about their requests here. I hope the restaurant takes this feedback seriously.