Comments on: Bistro 501

By: Maddy

Maddy — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:47:23 +0000

Love this restaurant! Love the service, love the food. Duck can be amazing sometimes….love their martini’s nights too.

By: Kim

Kim — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 01:52:34 +0000

My husband and I went to Bistro 501 last night. I was worried because of some of the bad reviews here but I must say things went well. The waitress was very good and didn’t treat us any differently for being the last table of the night. The food was good and at the right temperatures. So we will go back. We did have one bad experience but that was at least 6 months ago where a waitress added gratuity for our group of 7 without warning us when the menu says it will be added to groups of 8 or more. We brought it up with the management the next day and eventually they took care of it. Was a little bit of a hassle though.

By: Jan

Jan — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 02:29:15 +0000

My favorite restaurant bar none. We don’t eat here often ..maybe 6 to 10 times per year as it’s a little pricey but the food is excellent and worth the money. I eat lunch her more often and love the bread, the salads, the quiche. I’ve never had a bad meal here.

By: John

John — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 02:02:20 +0000

I don’t go here often, two or three times a year. It is priced at the high end for Lafayette – and worth every cent! The duck is my preference, but neither I nor my guests have ever had a bad meal. The wait staff is excellent – knowledgeable, friendly, and a very good sense of timing. It makes me wonder how the ones who complain about the service treated them – because I’ve never had that experience.

By: Sara

Sara — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 07:44:29 +0000

I would like to add a few notes to the people who search out the reviews before dining at restaurants. Firstly, I have found that people are more likely to post reviews as a way to vent after a poor experience. Poor experiences do tend to happen. The people who do post great comments usually do so only when something extraordinary has occurred. I would just like to thank the people who do take the time to post the comments of positive experiences on here.

I frequent the Bistro 501 and sometimes the constructive criticism seems a little obscure. For example the soup being charged isn’t probable, since soup or salad are complimentary, and the cobblers are never ‘covered’ in chocolate, there may be chocolate chips in the cobbler, the steaks are wonderful, if you don’t order them well done (which will always lead you to dry or tough meat), and the managers there are always ready to respond to patrons upon request. Sometimes the quality of service can depend on who you receive as your server. Some servers like to be more friendly with you, some are more focused on making sure your food and everyone else’s food gets to you promptly. Also it isn’t fair to assume something, such as the server knew the soup may have smelled foul to you… and post it for public scrutiny. The Bistro tries very hard to make sure everyone leaves happy, if you are every unhappy they will do more than they can to make sure you are satisfied before you leave.

By: Denny

Denny — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:35:34 +0000

As a regular customer of Bistro 501, I recently attended their Ninth Annual Beaujolais Festival at which a special seven course dinner was served coupled with a ceremonial French traditional opening of the Beaujolais Nouveau wine. The evening started with the Beaujolais wine cask opening presented by an 18th century drum and fife corps. The sophisticated ambience of Bistro 501 and the stylish manner in which the new Beaujolais wine was introduced set a tone of romance and eager anticipation of a wonderful dining experience for the many patrons.

The service throughout the dinner was excellent and each course elicited compliments regarding presentation and taste. The menu ranged from Roasted Heirloon pumpkin soup to a mouth-watering potato martini topped with king crabmeat. Other courses included charcoal seared sockeye salmon, roasted pheasant, venison medialliions and a delicious dessert of panna cotta. All courses were prepared impeccably and served professionally throughout our culinary adventure.

The entire evening was representative of the consitently fine dining and service that I have always experienced at the Bistro! I highly recommend Bistro 501 to anyone interested in fine dining!

By: Abbey

Abbey — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:24:08 +0000

I am very surprised that anyone could give this restaurant high marks when the service has been subpar every time I have visited. Several people here have commented on the rude wait staff and the long waits for mediocre food even when the restaurant did not seem to be busy. I too have experienced this consistently. My business entertains clients there (favorite restaurant of my boss) and you would think that as many times a month as I am there that they would do a better job, but this is not the case. In one dinner that I had recently, I never knew who my waitress was because three different people attended to us and when there was a problem, each one referred us to another one.

As much as I despise the service, I will happily go to this restaurant for lunch, but ONLY if they are serving chicken. I think that’s the one thing they do well and it is in my opinion, worth the wait and the bad service. Dinner service and food are shameful. Soup was served cold on several occasions and when I asked them to bring back a warm bowl of soup they told me that they didn’t have any more. On our last visit, my guest had another soup and found it smelled foul. As if the waitress expected this complaint, she quickly whisked the soup away, but still charged us for both soups. The manager would not come out, though I requested to see him/her and no apology was given.

I believe that the quality of the dessert menu varies nightly too. On a particular occasion recently, I took a client out for drinks and a dessert. Everything on the dessert menu was covered in chocolate, something that the waitress explained was the preference of the chef that night. I had ordered the mixed fruit cobbler to avoid the chocolate and believe it or not, it was covered in chocolate.

The absolutely only thing they seem to do right consistently is the check’s total.

In summary, the food’s quality varies, service is consistently bad, and poor customer service. Even if others give this place high marks because they haven’t had the same experience I have had, would you really want to go to a place that often neglects its customers, especially repeat customers?

Avoid this restaurant for dinner. Try Maize or Sarge Oak or La Scala or don’t eat in Lafayette at all.

By: abba

abba — Wed, 28 May 2008 06:43:21 +0000

Mediocre food, lousy service, and high prices. Not recommended.

By: Marie

Marie — Wed, 14 May 2008 02:41:33 +0000

We can only say very good things about Bistro 501. We tried to celebrate our anniversary at another restaurant last night, since the Bistro was closed. However, we should have waited, since everything was perfect tonight including the salad, filets, sides, a wonderful dessert, and the service.

By: David

David — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 21:18:23 +0000

My wife and I have frequented Bistro 501 for years. It is our favorite restaurant….anywhere. The wait staff is professional, competent, helpful, and very friendly. The food is always outstanding. Excellent wine list with many good choices available by the glass. The restaurant has a terrific ambiance. Known for their martinis. You will love the place!