Bistro Bordeaux

This is a super cute and cozy space with attentive service and a great wine list. But the prices are high for what you get– there are no entrees under $ 20 and no vegetarian options. Yes, I know this is a French restaurant but there ought to be something without meat or seafood on the menu, other than the $ 7.95 dinner salad. That said, I do eat seafood and ordered the boulliabaisse. It was like no other boulliabaisse I have ever had and I don’t mean that in a good way. The base was like a dirty dishwater brown– very watery with no taste. The vegetables were celery, onion (lots of onion) and carrots that were close to raw. The seafood contained in it was mostly good– salmon and mussels and small scallops– but there was only one shrimp and it was very tough and overcooked. Basically, I was very disappointed with this dish, which, for $ 23, should have been A LOT better. Further, my husband used to live in France and when he tried it, he said that it was not a boulliabaisse at all, but a fish soup. Big difference, apparently! The server asked us how we were enjoying our meal and we shared this information with her but it didn’t change anything. My husband got the mussels, which he liked. Unfortunately, the frites are cooked in beef tallow, so we did not eat those. That said, the escargot and the bread and wine were all very good. The dessert menu was fairly decadent with lots of chocolate, so we skipped it. Overall, I would say it is very authentic in many ways and definitely an attractive space, but I’m not sure we’ll be back.

This review is for the Sunday brunch — it is AMAZING. I came here at 12 with a party of four with a reservation although it wasn’t necessary. The restaurant itself is charming with a European feel. Every dish we ordered was phenomenal — I got to try the escargot (first time!), duck hash, and lemon tart (crust to filling ratio on point), and a bite of the crêpe and cream spinach. The free bread was also warm and appetizing. The waiter was also really nice and I think we stayed a bit past brunch time but they were okay with it.
I came here for dinner before once and highly recommend the gnocchi — the texture was extremely fluffy and best I’ve ever had.

I have been here many times before and last night’s dinner makes me wonder why I have not yet taken the time to extol its virtues. We arrived at the Bistro, feeling as if we had been whisked away to Paris, our coats were taken, and we were placed by the front window. The service was excellent, the server even spoke French, the wine suggestion was amazing (a French Malbec), and the Steak/​Frites (that we got for $ 15 because of being invited on Facebook) were excellent. We ended up with ‘Ile Flottante’ for dessert, which is Floating Island or more clearly, poached meringue floating in a vanilla cream (Crème Anglaise). The coffee was Viennese (Julius Meinl) and thus excellent. In any case, don’t miss out on this delightful, French gem in Evanston.

My wife and I got an email about French restaurant week, so we decided to try Bistro Bordeaux for the first time.
When we arrived, the interior décor is beautiful and reminiscent of a little French bistro. My family lived in France for 5 years, and it felt very authentic.
I had read in other Unilocal reviews that service was poor, but smugly assumed people didn’t understand the slower pace of service at an authentic French restaurant. At restaurants I’ve been to in France, it’s rude to rush guests and not allow them to enjoy a slow meal. However, after visiting Bistro Bordeaux, I’d have to agree. Service was slow and unsatisfactory. For example, when my dinner arrived, my waiter asked if I would like another glass of wine, which I agreed to. However, it didn’t arrive for 10 – 15 minutes.
Speaking of food & wine, the quiche appetizer was really good and wine was excellent. However, the skirt steak (part of steak frites) was low quality. The frites were good though. Prices were a little high for what we had.
Overall, a below average experience and no plans to return. We’ve had much better experiences at Mon Ami Gabi.

Good food and atmosphere. Enjoyed the menu selections and wine list. Service was slow but kitchen was quick to even things out. Nice to have s good Bistro option outside of the city. We’ll be back.

The food was excellent but the service was very slow. On Wednesdays they have a 3 course meal for $ 32, which is a great deal. The place was empty at 5:30 when we arrived but they only had one server who quickly became overwhelmed. The salade lyonnaise, escargot, chicken, duck and pain perdu dessert were all excellent.

I love French food, especially in the cooler weather. We saw good reviews and came here to celebrate my friend’s birthday.
The staff were friendly and helpful. The selection of wine was good, the menu has the usual French offerings.
I chose steak tartar to start and moules frites as my entrée. The others had onion soups, and salad as starters, and trout, steak and lamb as entrees.
My steak tartar was prepared at the table but just wasn’t very tasty, slight disappointment. Then the mussels came, the sauce was good, but there just wasn’t a lot of it. And the mussels were tiny, and again, not very tasty. At least the fries are the skinny kind and they were good to dip in the little amount of sauce and the aioli. The others were not raving about their food either.
We had chocolate cake for the birthday girl and that was good.
All in all, friendly service, decent wine selection but only so-​so quality of food.

We went here for the second time and this place is mediocre at best. Having lived in France and dined at other Chicago French venues, this place pales in comparison to anything French.
The escargots were weirdly bitter and although cooked with butter, lacked the rich full flavor of artery clogging butter. We ordered the duck which was bland where the a l’orange taste was so muted it could have been boiled. The other dishes we got were so so, and therefore not worth mentioning.
2 stars. 1 for average service, and 1 star for good frites.
The chef needs to fall in love with food again or fall in love with something to invigorate some passion in this place.

I really do not want to be too tough on this place, since I love the idea of a decent french bistro close by. However, my wife and I dropped in by chance on a Saturday night, as we were walking by, and were both hungry. This was a year go. The hostess asked if we had reservations, we replied that we did not. She stepped aside, and gave us both a very deliberate up and down stare, as if she were assessing our attire! I was in nice jeans and a corduroy sport coat, and collared shirt. My wife also comfortably casual, no t shirts or sandals, etc. she then looked at me with a rude smirk, and said in an accent, that they were full. I looked over her shoulder, and there were 3 tables seated! THREE. My wife actually stormed out, slamming the door, she was so upset! Very un characteristic.
Amazingly we returned a year later, with a reservation, a surprise birthday dinner for my wife, and the food was just ok. To be honest, it was a bit if a flop, since the waiter disappeared on us for most of the night. Unacceptable. We were made to feel unwelcome once, then met with virtual ambivalence, the second time. I am afraid we will not return.

Friday Night Date Night.
Our server, Lance, was knowledgeable and guided us through the menu with ease. We started with a bottle of wine and the Oysters as an appetizer. I had the duck, while my companion had the trout. Both were DELICIOUS.
We fished our dinner with the Crème Brulee and Sorbet.
The restaurant was about 75% full, yet the acoustics were great, and I neither of us strained to hear the other speak.
Would Certainly Recommend!

Not a big fan of American brunch because it usually has too many carbs and makes me sleepy in the afternoon, so I want to try the French brunch. It really surprised me.
We ordered the chicken liver as the appetizer. It is really nice-​looking and tasty. For entrée, I ordered the duck hash. It is cooked at exactly the right point. The mix of roasted potatoes, duck breast, spinach and eggs is perfect. My friend had the mussels which are fresh and tasty.
Keep in mind that chances are the server will not give you the dessert menu at brunch. The service is a little bit weird. I asked for the menu and had the Terrine au Chocolat Noir. Really love it!
We arrived there at 10:40am on Sunday and it was empty at that time. So if you don’t want to make the reservation then just go there early. Also the brunch menu is relatively cheaper than dinner.

Exceptional service. Had a great time here. I had my engagement party here about a year ago and wanted to write a review for this place for the longest time! I had a great experience here. My fiancé and i were looking for a local and intimate space for a quiet and formal dinner party and Bistro Bordeaux was on our radar. Pascal, the owner, was great to work with and he was kind enough to put together a personalized menu for our event. He gave us suggestions for putting together our menu and even offered great wine and cheese pairings. We were able to bring in our own desserts too! We learned that Pascal is also the owner of Hemingway’s Bistro which by the way is very good as well. Would come here again.

Good mussels in wine sauce and interestingly had olives in them. Loved the frites with mayonnaise.
Steak tartare is good but I personally prefer to add more mustard in. Foie gras poele was delicious but half of it was burnt a bit too much.
Brioche with homemade vanilla ice cream was slightly disappointing as the brioche was too burnt.
Reasonable prices with a great variety of standard bistro choices.

After passing this place for too long — I finally decided to stop by for brunch. We made reservations for Sunday morning and we were promptly seated as soon as we got here. Almost 80% of the seats were occupied when we were there so we could have easily walked in without reservation too.
The interior of the restaurant is tastefully decorated and has an appropriate French flair. In terms of food, we got the omelette and salmon gravlax. Both dishes came with roasted potatoes but they were not made for our liking. The meal was fine but nothing memorable. The portions are sized to fill you up without being too big or small.
I also got carrot, orange and ginger juice and ended up liking that more than the meal itself. Finally, I had a cappuccino and unfortunately it did not taste good at all. I was genuinely surprised that a French restaurant could not make a decent cup of cappuccino even by US standards. (Quite Unfortunate!)
This is a good place to stop by if you really want to do brunch without reservations on a Sunday. But I wasn’t really impressed by the food or service here. It was fine but nothing stood out. I am glad I checked it out though.

I’m a huge fan of Patisserie Coralie*, the same proprietor of Bistro Bordeaux.
Today was my first visit to Pascal’s bistro. I met two friends for brunch and was instantly transported to Europe. I left with a bit of a pit in my stomach and a longing to travel again.
The restaurant itself is endearing. From the outside you wouldn’t know it. It’s sweetly sophisticated with close tables and quaint décor — like the home kitchen in some of the bed and breakfasts I frequented in Italy and Austria. Our waiter was lovely with the coolest hair flip.
They serve Sunday brunch from 10:30am-1pm. When we stopped in at 11am we were asked if we had a reservation, which we did not. Thankfully there were enough tables when we arrived, but the place started to fill up by the time we left. So, maybe make a reservation if you’re planning to come.
The menu is nicely sized and not too overwhelming. A small selection of appetizers, main dishes, and of course the beyond tempting dessert menu in the end. I ordered the Croque Madame. I’ve not had this before, but some of the reviewers claim it’s very much the real deal. I loved the mix of ingredients with the egg, brioche bread, and cheese sauce. I have to admit I opted for a salad and wish I would have ordered the fries, because I think I really missed out. I would have liked my breakfast more if the ham was a little thicker. My meal was good, but I really wanted to love it more. It was a bit cool, and the bread really dominated.
Next time I might try something else.
*

Hmm. I am confused by this place. I was at first fooled into thinking I was in an adorable bistro with the charming décor and photographs on the walls. The restaurant has a great ambiance and despite the fact that we came on a busy Sunday morning, it wasn’t too loud and our table was quaint and personal.
So, we did the 4 person Groupon deal for the Sunday brunch with the prie fixe menu. I’ll say that I also had a coupon for said Groupon so I got a pretty dang good deal on a boozy brunch for 4. The normal price for this meal is nearly $ 200.
We were seated immediately which was great, and greeted with what we assumed was fresh-​squeezed orange juice. Like I said, the regular price of that deal is nearly $ 200! So I’m walking to the bathroom a couple of minutes later and I see bottles of Tropicana orange juice as well as another brand clearly sitting out on the bar. Thus, the strangeness began.
Our server was perfectly sweet but I am not sure she entirely knew what was going on. She was kind of scattered and disorganized, and after placing our drink orders (bloodys all around, which were lackluster and I couldn’t taste any alcohol at all in) she disappeared for about 15 minutes. We weren’t in a rush so it wasn’t a huge deal, we were just catching up and chatting, but literally by the time she finally came back to take our orders on the first and second courses, we had all finished our drinks. That is how long it took. She did apologize, but with some lame excuse.
I can only speak for my own meal because I didn’t try anyone else’s, so here goes. I ordered the salad as a starter. It was a nice salad with a yummy dressing, but that really is all it was. I could have made the same thing at home. There was nothing on it, just a bed of lettuce. I wish I had asked for the dressing on the side because it was way overdressed.
For my entrée, I ordered the omelette which came with house potatoes and a fruit dish. The omelette that day contained ‘Vienna sausage’ and Gruyère. I mainly ordered it because I wasn’t really into the other options. The food came without issue but my omelette did taste a bit overcooked. The potatoes were really good, nice and crispy, but honestly tasted like they had been pre-​seasoned. Like seasoned fries you get from the freezer? Not that there is anything wrong with seasoned fries. I love seasoned fries! But not if I’m paying that much for a meal! The Vienna sausage was kind of weird as it was just cut up into slices and put inside the omelette. So kind of like how you slice up a hot dog for a kid — and it tasted like hot dog too. Once again — I love hot dogs. But not for a $ 200 brunch.
The dessert was definitely a highlight. The brioche french toast was delicious, moist, and yet crispy on the outside, and the ice cream it was served with was really good as well. However, the caramel sauce we were served clearly had been overcooked as it had a burnt, acrid taste to it.
So, overall, it was a nice experience on the surface, but once you looked beyond everything got a little strange and felt kind of rinky-​dink. Like I said, I got a good deal on the meal so I’m not too upset by the thing. We had a nice quiet, long brunch with family so it wasn’t a total waste of money. However if I came here and paid the full price I would have been PISSED. I am not sure that I would recommend this place very highly, and I don’t think I’ll be back anytime soon.

Came here for restaurant week! $ 33 for pre-​fixed dinner, and it was surprisingly better than I expected.
The place was fairly crowded (probably due to the restaurant week promotion. There was a wide variety of items on the menu. I got the French Onion Soup, the Mussels, and le pain perdu.
All the food was really good. However, the dessert (pain perdu) was definitely the highlight. The bread was perfectly flaky and was covered in vanilla ice cream and chocolate.

Bistro Bordeaux is an inconsistent dining and service experience — when it’s good, it’s good but when it’s bad it’s really bad.
I have been happier here for dinner than at brunch. Dinner highlights include the escargot, which are delicious morsels of garlic butter goodness, the charcuterie plate, the fries served with a garlic aioli and the mussels, which were overcooked a tad but were in a really yummy broth. When cooked properly and when service is on point these dishes are worth the price.
Sadly, that is not true for all things. The brunch I recently had was sadly atrocious. Service was incredibly slow — we waited 30 mins for our brunch food which was French toast and a croque madam and sat staring at out empty glasses of water in the meanwhile.
The French Toast was supposed to be served with a warm blueberry compete and vanilla cream cheese filling. It came out somewhat burned and with the skimpiest amount of blueberry sauce possible and a small dollop of cream cheese. I had to request syrup to combat the dryness and it came out ice cold. Not good. T’s Croque Madame was even worse — it was as though someone had taken a cold ham and cheese sandwich and covered in it a sad cheese sauce. The bread was doughy and totally untoasted and completely inedible. T ended up sending it back and asking for the Eggs Benedict which was fine and came out in about 3 minutes but wasn’t anything special either. Huge disappointment — will not be coming back for brunch ever.

Overall a good experience.
Visited here with roommates for Halloween dinner.
The waiters are really nice and welcoming. They took well care of our coats.
Have to say their butter is soooo good. Tastes very rich.
We got the chicken liver as a starter. I’ll say not bad.
I got the mussels and fries. The mussels are very fresh, but I love the fries so much!!! With cheese or ketchup, perfect. My favorite fries.
My friend got the chicken. I tastes a bite, and that was pretty decent as well.
For the dessert part, I got the profiteroles au chocolat. The ice cream and the chocolate were soooo good! The puff pastry was not that fresh though :(other desserts are okay, but the profiteroles is a must try!
Ambience is really nice, good for chatting, very relaxing.
Overall a not bad experience. A little bit over-​priced and probably not very authentic though.

Visiting Chicago from Vegas and came here on a recommendation from a friend. Fantastic wine selection and escargot was amazing! Love the ambiance of this place… Our server Anne was so sweet and very helpful. I never knew Evanston had so much to offer. I’ll keep this on my list next time I come to visit.
Ile flottante (dessert) is to die for!!!