Paul

Horrible service. Watch YouTube «Paul coffee in Bethesda.»

I have only been here once, and I ordered a salad. I cannot remember the name of the item. The salad was «pretty», and it tasted good. However, the toppings did seem to be a bit scarce. They say that is how a healthy salad is supposed to be, but I was really hungry that day and desired more than five walnuts, a few blueberries, and a handful of diced chicken — but again, the salad tasted really good.
From what I remember, the place is very clean, and the employees were very polite. One of the employees got a pretty good laugh as I asked him about the menu items and had difficulty pronouncing them; somehow my French turned into Spanish (don’t ask me how). By the way, I am not fluent in either language, although I know a few Spanish phrases and several Spanish words. (I’m working on it.) Anyway, I didn’t take offense to it all. He was laughing with me, not at me — at least I think he was.
I will be back eventually to try other dishes.

As other have said, lazy and rude service. We were here at 8 PM on a Friday (today), and the staff acted like they were the ones doing us a favor for doing the most basic things. It took my husband 10 minutes to find someone willing to give him napkins. The only thing that prevented a 1 star review was the pastry, which was delicious. The baguette sandwich was on bread that probably had been sitting around all day, and it wasn’t great.

I am a frequent customer in Tyson’s and Georgetown locations. I was very happy when I found out that they were opening one in Bethesda right next to my office. I am highly disappointed with their service. Almost every time there is an issue.
–Twice they ran out of porcelain cups and served my cappuccino in a to go cup.
–Forgot to charge me for one of my orders and came to my table and asked for the money which was embarrassing in front of my guests.
–Stopped by one hour before closing time one evening, a staff member told me that the kitchen was cleaned with a chemical and he will not be able to serve me food because it was not safe.
–Ordered hot late and they forgot to steamed the milk and gave me late with cold milk in a hot cup.
–Ordered two omelets got only one received no apology.
The staff is just rude and careless. I have given this place enough chances to make it right since they opened recently however it is almost a year now and I am at the end of my patience. I will not be going back to this location.

Surprisingly, Paul is one of the only coffee shops/​bakeries near Bethesda Row. It’s a very clean, chic looking place with a store front offering many pastries from chocolate croissants to «deluxe chocolate croissants (a chocolate croissant with extra chocolate cream filling– it’s not as good as it sounds).» There’s seating in the back indoors and outdoor seating as well.

I’m giving it 2 stars because the service is hit or miss. I frequent this location because it’s close and decent but the laziness and unfriendly service is starting to get to me. They definitely have opened later than their listed hours of operation. She just looked at me and went to open the door opposite of me first. Btw, she was in the middle of making her orange juice. This happened a couple times and I make sure to choose another established in the morning. Tonight, 7 min before closing time while there were still guests sitting down dining, I walked in and the staff member told me curtly that they were closed. Simply disappointed. Service is only decent when the manager is in…

I am really surprised to see the bad reviews.
I had been going to the one in Tyson’s for years until they opened up the one over here — and when they did I WAS ESTATIC. I love Paul’s, it hits a soft spot for me. When I went to Paris, they were on every block like Starbucks is here — and I loved it there as much as I love it here.
I will say, I am not crazy about their coffee. But their croissants and sandwiches are delicious. My fiancé and I are both big fans.
The service is alright.
The prices are a little high but you get what you pay for.
The atmosphere is cozy and yes the seats aren’t that comfortable but it’s not a place to hang out for hours. You are in and out. And it is limited seating.

I can’t believe this place gets any business. Due to the location people come by and the food is decent but the service is worse than what I would get at a gas station. Seriously people who work here need to get a grip or get a new job elsewhere. Crappy attitude won’t get you far.

I love going to Paul’s in Georgetown so I decided to finally give the one on Bethesda Row a chance. When you walk in you will immediately notice the beautiful selection of French pastries that are proudly displayed behind the glass wall. On this particular visit I only grabbed a small coffee. The pastries looked delicious and I would have loved to eat one of everything, but I practice self-​control and said no.
The coffee was OK, nothing to write home about. The space is quite nice, lots of natural lighting fills the dining area and there is a decent amount of seating for people who choose to dine in. There was no free Wi-​Fi but that doesn’t matter since you can gain access to free Wi-​Fi from neighboring establishments.
This location looks nice, but the ambience is not as quaint as the Georgetown location. However, if you’re looking for a coffee shop to grab a nice pastry and drink some coffee, then this place will definitely do.
Things are a little bit pricey, which is part of the reason I have given this review three out of five stars. Additionally, I wish they made this location look a little more quaint with French elements to it. It really seems like an American coffee shop that is trying to mimic a French café, and they have fallen short on the décor.
I would definitely go back and recommend you give this place a try.

We ordered two cups of cappuccino and it doesn’t taste rich at all. The milk froth is very poorly made and it looks thin and with large size of air bubbles. They didn’t steam the milk properly. I don’t think the staffs are properly trained to make European drinks.

Knowing that Paul is a legit French chain (having gone to one in France), I found this to be sadly disappointing. We had a mini croissant that didn’t taste very fresh. We had the Croque Monsieur which was average at best. The decaf latte was bland and wasn’t hot. It’s a cute place in a great location, but the execution was lacking.

I’m a true believer of giving people the benefit of the doubt, but I’ve been here over a few times now and the attitude of the entire staff especially the women who take your order always stay the same… Just plain rude :(they seem uninterested in you, if they mess up your order they make you feel like a big inconvenience. Almost intimidating just to order a coffee:(
My husband said his espresso was burnt and my coffee latte was just OK. If they just seemed more interested I would like this place more. On a better note their chocolate tart and blueberry tart are tasty.

Ouch, pretty sure I got shortchanged: I paid $ 20 for a small box of 12 macarons (even Lauderee on Madison Avenue doesn’t reach that level of highway robbery). The macarons were the size of half a bite, with pretty, flowery tastes, but I’m a little put off by Paul that there wasn’t a price tag near or on the box so I could check before I paid, and a little put off by myself that I didn’t go with something else (say, a 6-​rack of Georgetown cupcakes).
There were also some Starbucks-​level hijinks by the counter where someone didn’t receive an item or a sandwich was taking too long to toast — however, Paul just opened a few months ago and all restaurants are entitled to a grace period to find their footing. Disproportionately overpriced food and drinks, on the other hand, are just a corporate decision to drive up the profit margin.
Fine for a once-​in-​awhile treat, but Paul’s prices made me homesick for New York, like when I saw a $ 16 ham and cheese sandwich at Zabar’s and almost barfed.

I love going to Bethesda Row, honestly before visiting Paul the restaurants on the Row could do no wrong. But Paul was a huge disappointment.
First, let’s go over the PROs:
— For being a Pseudo-​french restaurant/​café it was nice to hear people speaking French.
— The place was clean
CONs:
— It was cold.
— The seating was not comfortable. It was aesthetically pleasing but the seats were uncomfortable.
— Although it wasn’t their fault the power went out twice.
— My chocolate frappé was almost $ 7 and tasted extremely bland. It seemed as if there was no coffee in it when I paid for extra.
— The size of my frappé was about 7 ounces and mostly ice!
I heard such good things about the Paul in DC so after hearing they opened one in Bethesda I was really excited. Max Brenners is just down the street, if you want a coffee or hot chocolate I urge you to go there. More fun atmosphere and it’s more of an experience. Paul was cold and uninviting. If they stay in business, I hope they work on the quality of their products and not just the aesthetics! Aesthetics earned this place the 1 star :).

Very disappointing. I used to go to the downtown location all the time, especially summertime with out of town guests aka tourists. Unpleasant surprise in here. What’s up with the staff attitude at Bethesda location? I just asked if their éclair custard had any raw eggs because I’m pregnant and I can’t eat raw eggs and their eclairs looked so good.
I know they make everything in-​house (supposedly) and the lady at the register could just check with the chef guys right next to her instead of giving me an attitude. And I didn’t get am answer to my question. I can get the same broccoli cheese soup and a sandwich from the pot belly next doors, it actually tastes much better over there. Also the roll that came with the soup tasted very moldy.

Ordered the ham and egg croissant, coffee, and macarons. I got the coffee and macarons immediately. I bought the macarons for a gift so I don’t know how they taste. They were $ 15 for the box though. They gave me a number for my sandwich, so I found a seat to wait for it. And I waited… waited…waited. 15 minutes passed and I asked a waiter about my food. He went to the kitchen, then a lady came out to confirm my order. She had the kitchen make my sandwich immediately. They must have forgotten or given it away. It was only egg, cheese, and ham on a croissant. I finally got it after about 20 minutes of waiting. It wasn’t even warm or toasty. Eggs were room temperature. Not worth it. Never going back.

I know… I know… you’re the new restaurant on Bethesda Row.
I know… I know… you fly many of your pastries in directly from France.
I know… I know… the sandwich I had was on some pretty good bread (though I might test positive for opiates with the sheer amount of poppy seeds on that B).
I know… I know… you have pretty décor (minus that oddly unpainted piece of drywall in the corner with some pencil marks on it and so forth).
I know… I know…
But, I do have to say… the price that you’re charging me for what is essentially an americanized Banh Mi… is just a BIT too high. 9.00 dollars for a chicken sandwich on a svelte 6 inch baguet… that was a just a little bit hard to digest.
Now… if the sandwich was knock my socks off, I would happily pay 9 bucks for it… but unfortunately my socks are still on, and my wallet is now empty.
I was planning on getting a salad, but the salad was the size of a piece of sandwich bread– and they were charging (I believe) it was 13 bucks for it. It was also sitting in a cold case… which mean’s its not gonna be super fresh.
So… I might go back if I need to buy some pastries (they looked DELISH). I might go back to grab a coffee and work in a nice atmosphere. But, I’m sorry, you’re not gonna convince me to pay those prices for lunch anytime soon.

This place is terribly dangerous to my waistline.
My coworkers and I have been popping in on late afternoons for some gorgeous and tasty pastries since it opened a few days ago. I’ve had the raspberry + meringues tart, the tiny chocolate croissant/​cream pastry and the ham and swiss baguette with butter.
None of these disappointed. The tart was so asty. The baguette was super crusty and soft on the inside. The outer crust did scratch the hell outta the roof of my mouth but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t worth it.
Nonetheless, it can get pretty expensive quickly but sometimes you just gotta suck it up, get BOTH and say, «Treat yo’self» and carry on.

This adorable place has FINALLY opened. First, the layout and design of the store is very nice, definitely makes a great place to come read a book, people watch, gossip with friends/​family, or for a date. There’s also plenty of seating outside.
In terms of food — while the food is a bit expensive, it’s pretty delicious. Current loves:
–Prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, lettuce, tomato on a baguette
–Ham, egg, and cheese on a croissant (light & fluffy)
–Ice coffee
–Omelettes!!!
–Crepes!!!
Also, pastries, croissants, brunch specials! Tea cups!
The food was so good. However, how was the experience? The food definitely took a while. When we did get the food, the staff seemed a little confused as to where to take our food to. In addition, I had ordered an omelette with add-​on ingredients, but instead, out come 2 separate omelettes. Of course, this wasn’t all too bad but when I asked the staff who brought out my food, if the plates were for my number, his response was «I don’t know!»
As this place is so adorable, the food is so delicious, and the staff is very friendly, I really hope they iron out the kinks of this place, so that I will look forward to coming back here to dine in.

Paul’s newest location in the DMV opened three days ago in Betheseda, across the street from Barnes & Noble. Founded in 1889, the bakery already has several locations in the area. After some disappointment at the Georgetown satellite location, I was thrilled to see the window into the kitchen. Even better was the sight of dough being measured and racks of croissants still cooling from the oven — promising signs of fresh pastries to come.
Did it deliver? Yes — and no. The almond croissants in the case looked as flat as a panini — clearly something had gone wrong — perhaps it didn’t rise long enough? I would have been embarrassed to put them out, especially as examples of what a fine bakery can do. The flan that I ordered was fresh, with a still crispy crust. But it had been over baked, leaving a slightly burnt bottom that tasted bitter and an overly thick custard, that seemed dense, not creamy. My Sandwich Mixte saved the day: slightly crunchy baguette, neat layers of ham and cheese and a light layer (maybe too light for my taste) of butter that reminded me of sandwiches from my first Paul visits in Paris. Unlike previous bad experiences at the Georgetown location this tasted like it had been made in the last few hours, not the last few days.
The comfortable seating area is tucked around the corner from the front pastry counter, and surprisingly large. The staff tells me that outdoor seating is coming soon.
This location shows all the signs of being a four or even five star stop once they figure a few things out — and once they realize that it’s better to throw out a few pastries rather than put out products that aren’t up to the rest of their standards. We’re sorely in need of more decent bakeries, so I’ll keep trying — hopefully they will too.