Petit Robert Bistro

Read the other reviews on here, as I was curious if anything had changed since new ownership had taken over had not been back for many years, and my previous experience was positive. Made a reservation New Years Day arrived early and right away was accommodated for an earlier table (we got there before they got too busy). Overall everything met expectations. We received a classically prepared French meal. French onion soup, charcuterie plate Beef bourguignon. The menu as we anticipated was pretty classic, no bells and whistles zero modernization, but done well. My wife and I discussed this being the French equivalent of a well executed red sauce Italian restaurant like Delfinos, or Carlo’s Cuccina. Cliché décor, I. e Eiffel Tower art work, old school wine glasses, and classic menu. Sometimes that’s just what you are after. Service was spot on, friendly and prompt and courteous. I forget the servers name, but really professional. I feel like the other reviews are way too harsh, or maybe I had a rare good experience, but I feel like this is consistent with my experience years ago before ownership changes. Unilocal reviews can be inconsistent and depend heavily on the reviewer, but I eat out a lot, and felt compelled to write this due to the other harsh reviews. The 4 stars is due to small sample size (1^st time diner essentially, and the lack of modern innovation (steamed broccoli and carrot garnish is outdated) or décor, but like I said sometimes that’s where the charm is and the desire leads you)

We had an early reservation for NYE. We were seated promptly, but then had to wait a half hour for the waitress to stop at our table. We ordered drinks, which the waitress forgot to deliver, and though our reservation was quite early, we were told that the restaurant was out of the evening’s special. My chair was jogged several times by waitstaff which was annoying. It was difficult getting our waitress to come back to the table with out check. As I was leaving, I heard the waitstaff offering the unavailable specials to other diners. Not going back!

Enjoyed the Boeuf Bourginon today. Good, tasty portion. Was not a big fan of the lindor torte. It was tasty but denser than I anticipated. The storefront entrance could be enhanced but the interior is clean and simply elegant. Service was good and food was delivered promptly.

This was one of my favorite restaurants… until now. The owner is a sweetheart but his staff is just the opposite. A Russian blonde waitress comes over to the table for the first time not even saying hi — zero personality. My husband had to say «Hi, I am well thank you»… and she didn’t even change her attitude. Then I asked for my food to be packed up to go, joking that I know it was very little to pack up (yeah I shouldn’t be overly apologetic for something I don’t need to be apologetic about – after all I am paying for it!!!) but Tim didn’t barely responded and proceeded to be short with me —responding «OK» when bringing over my to-​go bag. If I am going to overpay for food I expect service and a smile. We just got a bad taste from this place. The time before it was some young 30-​yr-​old waiter who did just the minimum… as if we were annoying him by asking him to do his job!!! I won’t be coming back here again. The end of an era.

We have eaten here twice. The food is just OK and does not justify the high price. The wait staff were unfriendly and our food took a very long time to come to the table. The meal was just OK. There are lots of far better places to go for a restaurant meal.

This restaurant is definitely in my Top 10 favorites. My husband and I really enjoy coming here these past 4 years. Everything is always consistently awesome. From the service to the food, and the whole ambiance, it’s always a great date night when we’re here. The owner of this restaurant is Jay and he’s always here. Whether he’s welcoming you with his big smile, or he’s in & out of that kitchen making sure the flow of traffic is smooth sailing, it’s always nice to see Jay in the house. The last time we were there, we had a wonderful waiter, Timothy was his name. So professional and so nice! But then again, we’ve never had anything less than great service here either. We had one delicious plate after another: succulent oysters, sizzling good escargots, perfectly grilled tender swordfish, and my all-​time favorite… grilled juicy skirt steak (w/​Bearnaise sauce). I love this dish so much that I usually think about it for days afterward. It’s always cooked and seasoned to perfection, and a little thicker than most skirt steaks I’ve ever had in other restaurants. Well what else can I tell you? This place is just excellent! We’ll continue to do our date nights here again and again and again…

Very disappointing and we won’t be going back.
Ordered the beef bourguignon and grilled mahi mahi. The beef was good but the mahi mahi was badly overcooked. When we told the server her response was that «someone earlier in the evening probably said it wasn’t cooked enough». Seriously?
Oyster and french onion soup apps were good.

Excellent food, fantastic service! We eat there all the time. Everything on the menu is tasty and well prepared. Even the bread and butter stand out. Consistently charming.

Food: ²⁄₅
Service: ⁰⁄₅ (*and nasty too)
Décor: ²⁄₅
I went in with no expectations – it’s a bistro in the suburbs, so how bad could it be, really – and came away extraordinarily disappointed.
We started off with slow service, which extended throughout the dinner. Beyond slow, the service was disorganized, with incorrect meals brought out, appetizer dishes left on the table, entrees brought out at intermittent intervals, etc. At one point, an incorrect entrée was brought out, and when sent back, the replacement came out nearly raw… when the order was canceled, the server had the gall to be nasty about it.
Nasty service? Really? Seriously guys, the bar is very low in the suburbs, and you found a way to crawl under it.
Appetizer portions were small. A «charcuterie» plate was passable, tuna tartare was good, but other than that, really underwhelming.
Entrees were odd. Strangest of all was «cassoulet»…which had no beans AT ALL, despite the fact that A) beans are the main part of cassoulet, and B) the menu stated there’d be beans in it. Tasty, yes, but not cassoulet, but any stretch. Fish dishes were lousy, and the steak frites looked like they ran out the local Roche brothers to buy the fries and chose cheap beef for the entrée.
Desserts were similarly terrible.
This is an ABSOLUTE AVOID in my opinion.

Terrible and disappointing. We couldn’t speak up because we were guests of a party and felt bad about the whole experience. Nicoise salad was less than fresh (rotten leaves), my husband left the greens untouched, NO QUESTIONS were asked by our server! The Cassoulet was plainly fraudulent, braised lamb? Where? And the goat cheese encrusted lamb chops were flavorless, (I didn’t think that was possible), the «crust“consisting on crumbs around the plate tasting more like cream cheese… Well, I felt the dishes were very dishonest. If anyone from management reads the reviews, all I would say is: please don’t underestimate your patrons…

I absolutely love this place. I went here for the first time last week for lunch, and it was SO great. I had the french onion soup to start which was delicious. It had cheese basically covering the top, croutons inside,… it was like a meal in itself. The bread they brought out was also really great.
We also had a mid course salad (I can’t remember what it was called) and the fried goat cheese on the side was great.
For my main course I had the liver. Man, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. SO GOOD. You never see liver in restaurants and when you do, ordering it is always a little iffy, but this was SOOOO good. The liver was cooked to perfection, there was a slice of bacon on top, and I think fried onions as well. There were also a couple roast potatoes, carrots, and broccoli. I couldn’t finish the whole thing, so I took my leftovers home. I was planning on eating them for lunch the next day, but I couldn’t wait and ate them for dinner the same day. Ha!
The atmosphere was also really relaxed. I went on a Friday around 1:30 and there were maybe only 2 other couples there. My friend and I stayed there for about an hour and a half enjoying our meal (we had three courses). The staff were friendly, but not over attentive. It was overall a really great experience, and I can’t wait to go back/​also try out some of their other locations in Boston.

This place is amazing! We came for dinner last night to celebrate my birthday. It was ten of us, and let me tell you, it was perfect.
From the amaZing wine selection, to the great menu, to the super awesome service, I love love this place.
Will be coming back again for sure. Thank you Jay and Jose.

Pretty disappointed in the food. Had a croque monsieur for lunch and it was very oily. Then I did a chocolate gâteau for dessert and it tasted like leftover birthday cake — yuck! Service was good, but not enough to make up for the food.

We went back and tried again.
Christmas dinner last year Dec 2013
Summer lunch
And… another lunch last week.
Fries over done and brittle.
Salad — Salad Niçoise — had semi rotted leafs in its spring mix.
Lobster roll that was wet and little lobster.
We asked how fresh the desserts were and the waiter told us that the freshest a pear tart was made three days prior. It seemed most of those limited few who were there were choosing a Chouquettes, a classic French cream puff — and it was small.
Just — disappointing.

I don’t mind expensive if it is good, but it is bad. The food was not fresh and the choices minimal

I am in such glory, I can’t stand myself. I kissed weight watchers permanently goodbye on a July 5^th, following a very rainy 4^th and a glass of pink bubbles. A tray of perfect pâté followed by seductive mussels, fries (ok, I stole those from the hubby’s plate), warm bread and a side of perfect ratatouille gratin. Outdoors, in the breeze.
Service was magnificent, with Olga and her comrades just dolling out cuteness, sass and a lot of foodie knowledge. Of course the pieze de resistance happened to be the «old» diner that sat next to us with his lovely wife. 90??? we thought, as we chatted up France, moules frites, pâté, borgogne, then Italy, and… HOLY CRAP! H.B. Kravetz is a WW2 bomber pilot, POW!!! I ran inside and told EVERYONE. I paid for their lunch. The restaurant sent them a tray with macarons. Lunch and I will never be the same. As for Petite Robert Bistro, with his casually elegant décor, super clean, wickedly lovely staff and FOOD TO DIE FOR — I HAVE TO COME BACK!

Went here for Mother’s Day brunch with a reservation.
Small restaurant, nice bistro décor, a little cramped.
Food was very good… Fresh ingredients, simple but delicious preparation.
Service was attentive without being rushed.
It can be pricey depending on the menu options, but we ended up being $ 30 pp without wine, so not bad, considering the high quality of food.

This was our third or fourth dinner here.
I was determined to be especially nice to our server, having read other reviews about rude waitstaff, and figuring it must be patrons’ issues.
But NO!
We had very poor, slow service and a very short tempered waitress.
Romaine salad thick with Roquefort but otherwise tasteless.
The Steak Frites was a black piece of fat that I hesitated to give to my dog but did anyway because she eats roadkill if she can. The first couple of visits here were OK, very good even, but this time, no.
We will give it one more chance and this time I will ask her what her problem is, should the crabby one be our server.
But wait!
There is more!
We went back a few days ago (this is many months after) and had a splendid meal, so Unilocal postings must have helped!!!
7÷31÷14… They have definitely improved and out guests are hoping to be invited back !

Come on an off-​night (Monday, Tuesday, maybe Wednesday). The staff is wonderful, and you really get to experience that when they’re not jam-​packed like they are on weekend nights. The food is always superb– the most flavor I have ever tasted, and of the highest quality– so that was of no surprise to me. However, the experience of coming here when everyone has time to talk and relax made all the difference between 4 stars and 5 stars. Truly our favorite restaurant.

I dined there on Saturday night with my husband. I had dined at the Petite Robert in Kenmore Square and really enjoyed it.
I had the steak frite — I may not be familiar with that type of steak, but I found it extremely fatty. In addition, it had no seasoning. The fries, I expected to be french cut — thinly cut — but they seemed like they could be bought at the grocery store.
My husband had the «award winning» chicken. While the sauce for the chicken was good, the whole thing lacked «award winning». The vegetables that came with it — mashed potatoes and carrots w/​broccoli were overcooked and flavorless
In addition, the table next to us complained to the manager about the dessert not being heated and the duck being under cooked.
I went to this restaurant because they offered 1000 points on opentable — and now I know why…
The worst part about the night (as if the meal could get worse) was the wine. I ordered 2 glasses of wine. The first was the Bordeaux and it was quite good. The second was the Cote de Rhone. When I got the the bottom of the glass, there was a huge chuck of sediment — it was absolutely disgusting. They had emptied the bottom of the bottle into my glass. Any good bar tender would know that you never pour the end of a red into a glass. I had to spit it out.
Needless to say, I will never go back. But thanks for my 1000 Opentable points!