Le Petit Cafe

“No soup for you!”

When evaluating a restaurant, my customer service experience would be one of the most important factors.

In April 2012, I made a phone reservation for two with Roy (owner/chef), who confirmed my reservation, took my first name and my phone number, and finished our conversation by asking to call the restaurant on Friday in case I changed my mind. On Saturday, we came in accordance with our reservation, and had been told by Winnie, the restaurant co-owner (Roy’s wife), that we are not on the seating chart. After consulting with her husband in the back rooms, she told us that I did not make a reservation, but called just to inquire, and that I was asked by Roy to call back on Friday if we decided to make a reservation. It was an outrageous lie, made in front of people eating food in this “le petite” cafe. I asked Winnie if there would be two seats available. After all, her husband had neglected to register my reservation properly. She kept insisting that I did not make a reservation, and told us that we can leave, because there are no seats for us in her restaurant. Since we had a gift certificate, we made a reservation for the following Saturday, and asked to confirm our reservation in writing, to avoid Déjà vu. Apparently, Winnie had the same feeling, because she had repeated several times that they (owners) usually call to confirm reservations on Friday, but if I do not receive a call from them, I must call myself to confirm, otherwise, we won’t be eating at their restaurant, again…or how Seinfeld’s “Soup Nazi” would have said, “No soup for you!”.

I found out that in fact they do not call customers on Friday to confirm reservations, but ask customers to call if customers change their mind – exactly what Roy told me when I made a reservation over the phone.

I am very thankful to people who took care of the gift certificate and saved us from going there. So, this was my customer experience with “Le petite” cafe’s owners, who: forget about taking a reservation, blame the customer for that, cover their mistake by claiming non-existent policies, and last but not the least, say you can leave, without even pretending that they care - what makes you wonder if they care about customers at all.

I went there last summer (2007) and I simply loved that place...

The decoration is really cosy, the staff is very nice and the food is just amazing!!!

If you go to this place, I can guarantee you will not be disappointed...It is small though, so I recommend you to book a table before you go.

Branford is also very nice so you can enjoy the surroundings after your meal and maybe go to the beautiful beach next to it?