Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecôte

"Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecôte, the famous steakhouse from Paris with four locations around the world, offers a steak frites experience that ranges from merely fine to not so great despite the price." - Melissa McCart

"When the Midtown outpost of Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecote opened—a chain with locations in London, Paris, and Mexico City—there was regularly a line down the block. Now that the hype has died down, as long as you don’t need to wait, you can have a perfectly fine time eating the single menu item: rib eye steak with chicken liver sauce and a side of fries. At $35, it’s not a bad deal, and the novelty is fun, but considering the steak is nothing special, we can’t in good conscience tell you to wait more than 15 minutes for it." - bryan kim, willa moore

"If you, like us, are constantly lurking in the steak frites corners of the internet, we have good news: after a two-year hiatus, Le Relais de Venise has reopened in Midtown East. The Paris-based restaurant offers exactly one menu option—steak frites—priced at $34. It comes with a walnut salad and unlimited chicken liver-and-butter based sauce, so you might catch us sneaking in a thermos to bring some home. The lines are already long. We checked out Le Relais de Venise. Read our first thoughts here." - Will Hartman, Willa Moore

"The famous steakhouse from Paris, Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecôte, reopened in Manhattan offering an eight-ounce steak with fries, salad, and bread for $35. Despite the price increase, New Yorkers are lining up for hours in inclement weather to dine here. The steak is served in two portions with a secret green sauce, and the restaurant does not take reservations. Diners are seated close together, and the steak quality is debated as better than before but not as good as in Paris." - Luke Fortney

"Between the French maid uniforms, sub-par steak, and long lines to get in, Le Relais de Venise feels like an Epcot France Pavilion experience from the ’90s. And like most of our adult theme park experiences, it’s equal parts amusing and underwhelming.  Since opening their first location in Paris in 1959, Le Relais has served one thing. For $34.95, you get two helpings of ribeye—in French, “entrecôte”—covered in their buttery chicken liver sauce, a walnut bistro salad, and unlimited fries. The only question you’ll be asked by the all-female waitstaff (the sauce and the sexism have stayed the same) is “How would you like your steak, madame?” before they scribble “R” for rare on your paper tablecloth. This deal is supposed to be the main draw, but we don’t buy it. Dry bread to start doesn’t bode well for the rest of the meal: a salad that takes its time to wilt before it gets to the table, and steak that’s just a notch or two above Sizzler. Without the admittedly addictive sauce, it could best be described as edible enough.  Still, people flock to Le Relais in Paris, London and Mexico, waiting in lines like the one in Midtown. And the outdated dinner theater does have its charms. After a couple glasses of their own Côtes de Bordeaux—basically a housemade Two-Buck Chuck—it’s a lot more fun to play American tourist, eavesdrop on the table two inches away from you, and wonder out loud why every painting in the room depicts Venice (before remembering Venise is in the name). If you’re playing hooky from work and looking to get a little wine drunk at noon, hit Le Relais for lunch and hope for a minimal line. " - Neha Talreja