Chez Napoleon

I absolutely adore this restaurant! I’ve been coming here for a few years now but unfortunately I only come once a year although I would love to come more often.
It’s essentially a mom and pop French restaurant that has been open since the 60s. Cozy old place and the ambiance is not fancy at all. Since the food is «homemade», it’s low in sodium and oil so it’s healthier, which I prefer. I’m not a fan of high salt or oil in dishes so although some other reviewers might think that their particular dishes were bland, I actually don’t think mine were bland at all and actually felt that they were very flavorful. At other restaurants, the food would be really flavorful but I would end up being really thirsty that evening and into the next day (because of the high sodium content which you don’t necessarily realize while you’re eating). I never felt that way after eating here.
I personally feel that the prices are very reasonable considering the quality of the food and the healthy aspect of it. The only thing I do think is pricey is the soufflé, which is huge and very tasty, but for its size it really could be big enough to serve 4 people so one/​two people having it is not worth it.
Also, the wait staff and service are above average. Keep in mind it is an old school French restaurant so don’t expect superior service that you might get at a fancy place. People are generally more reserved so it will just take time for them to open up.

Birthday dinner here. Excellent service and family run. We started with the escargot and baked clams. A bit pricey ($ 15 for 6 I believe), but the clams were worth it. Escargot was a bit on the bland side, but came in creative custom made ceramic shells.
For entrees, we ordered the Bouillabaisse (several types of fish, half lobster and other seafood), the conard a Logrange (duck) and the coq au vin (chicken). The duck was the best: extremely tendor, fat melted in your mouth and crispy skin layered over flavorful fat. Chicken was a bit dry though I know many reviewers have raved about it. The bouillabaisse soup was a huge portion, old bay like flavoring and very delicious. Definitely go for the duck, u won’t be disappointed.
The Soufflé was good, but nothing extraordinary not worth the $ 35imo

As delightful as always Lovely staff all family. Nice choices freshly prepared. Reasonably priced. Good bartender. Great chocolate mousse

If you can get past the surly bartender/​gatekeeper and the hit/​miss-​ness of their soufflé availability, you’ll be perfectly fine. I adore this place and every bite of food I’ve had here. Make a reservation, play it cool, and you’ll be rewarded with the crack-​like vinaigrette sauce that comes with their bread (take a bottle home with you!).
Here’s why else they’re great:
— Stellar main dishes. Their two duck platters are outstanding. Venison steak, when available, is wonderful.
— This is the first and only place I’ll eat escargots.
— Rabbit. Yummy rabbit.
— If you’re daring (I’m not there quite yet), you might really enjoy some of their offal offerings (calf’s brain and liver, sweetbreads, etc.).
— And oh… that soufflé is fantastic.
This is a lovely family-​run establishment that will be on your repeat list for a long time.

Chez Napoleon, where have you been all my life? Actually you’ve been here in NYC for many years and I just finally visited after many rave reviews from trusted friends. And I LOVE YOU. Unilocalers: After debating over the menu for a while, I asked the staff to just please bring me their faves. I spent the next 1.5 hours entranced by tomatoes with anchovies, tender-​and-​garlicky escargots, THE MOST CRISPY DUCK A LA ORANGE EVER, and a perfect lemon soufflé. And that viniagrette! I’m going to eat here every single time I come back to the city. It’s not fancy, but it’s perfect. If you’re excited and trusting, the house will be too. And isn’t that how it’s supposed to work? This is good, solid food that «those in the know» come for again and again and again. I’m glad to be one of them.

What a wonderful little spot. My husband and I had an absolutely a scummy dinner before a night of theatre. The service is professional, the food is delicious and authentic. The room was full but it wasn’t over crowded or noisy. Try their soufflé or their steak au pouvre. I can’t wait to go back! Make a reservation.

I’ve been wanting to come here for awhile for the soufflé. The restaurant itself is pretty small and you won’t even have space to move your chair back. When we asked about the souffles while we order our other dishes, they said they will not be making any souffles since the restaurant is busy. I got really disappointed since my main goal was to try the soufflé. Then after a few minutes, they came back to us and said they will be making souffles again (maybe because we are going to order 3 souffles). Anyways, the soufflé was definitely really really fluffy. I thought the souffles will be small after looking at the pictures on Unilocal,but let me tell you– the souffles are huge!!! HUGE! The vanilla soufflé was definitely better than the coffee soufflé since you can taste the vanilla and the egg in it. The coffee soufflé was a bit overwhelming but still good. The escargot was in ceramic shells and tasted pretty good. However, the baked calms were better. After seeing people’s reviews and pictures, I’ve decided to get the rabbit stew. The rabbit stew looked so delicious on the plate however it was a bit bitter. It would’ve been so much better if only it didn’t have that bitter taste to it. The steak with blue cheese on top was alright. The blue cheese was overwhelming but the steak was cooked perfectly. The best dish of the night for me was the duck. The duck was juicy and delicious! Definitely get the duck! Overall, I had a really high expectation for this place before coming and now I only think it was alright and overpriced. The soufflé was delicious and all, but not worth $ 25 each.

Policy is policy, lacking service is what it is, too.
Empty aside from two tables, they turned us down for a bottle of wine and a few apps. They only serve you if you’re ordering what they consider to be dinner. Looks like a sweet spot and with a lot of character, but true service is lacking.

Absolutely no! I am not a picky eater and really pretty much like everything, as we all know in New York there is not that many French restaurants. My boyfriend and I decided to try some good food and went to this place. Unilocal and four square reviews were pretty good. We don’t care how the restaurant looks or smells, yes little run down but who cares as long as the food is good right? And no it wasn’t. Ordered escargots, they were not good, a duck pâté; was very awful. And ordered mussels; they were not too bad but heavily covered with butter an Parmesan cheese, still not that good. And ordered duck confit, we got a salty, greasy and tasteless duck. I don’t recommend this place at all. The servers are lovely but the food is awful. Sadly have to say that. And after all came home and a bad stomach pain. Not pleasant! :(

We love Chez Napoleon. The wait staff is amazing and food is wonderful. Bouillabaisse is my favorite. Very nice and reasonable wine list.

Design and music are lovely and reminiscing la Belle Époque. Unfortunately food did not taste fresh… Certainly not for that price tag. Frog legs frozen, sauce pre made, escargots no flavors. Didn’t feel clean either. Manager /​bar tender was on his phone the entire time. We were given an awkward table for 2, when there were 3 tables of 4 empty the whole evening. We got there at 9pm! I had my hopes high about this place. I really wanted this to be my neighborhood go to French restaurant… not happening.

Excellent prix fixe. Pumpkin soup then leg of veal. Finished off with good coffee and crème caramel. The Missus appreciated her braised beef. The only veg was some spinach in butter.
Highly recommended

I was out looking for a place to eat and walked by Chez Napoleon as I was searching for a nearby Thai restaurant. When I got there I found the Thai restaurant to be full and a significant wait, so I said … «Let me go back and give it a try, after all, it had been a while since I’ve had good French cuisine». I had the French onion soup and Lapine (Rabbit) and a poached pear for dessert. Everything was absolutely exquisite. The service was also great! I would highly recommend Chez Napoleon. I will definitely be back!

Decided last minute to have dinner in the Theater District on a Thursday night — no reservation so we searched on Unilocal for some French food — Chez Napoleon ended up being our pick.
The first thing I noticed when arriving at the small restaurant was the intimate vibe the tight space created. The place would not be good for big groups, but nice for 2 to 4 people. The décor is interesting — I think it’s meant to create a sense of tradition and the fact the family-​run restaurant has been around for a long time (the matriarch/​chef Grand Mere Marguerite, who is 94 according to the wait staff, still visits every night I believe). It’s not your typical trendy/​hipster hotspot — the patrons tend to be older.
To start, we ordered the escargot (pretty standard) and the pâté. The latter was notable as it was definitely house-​made. It did not taste as «fatty» and went really well with the chips that came with the dinner rolls. The dinner rolls were an assortment of bread, one was particularly good (brown and with flax seeds), and served with a special sauce that almost tasted like a sweet vinaigrette salad dressing (I liked it but my friend was not a fan).
My friend and I both ordered from the daily specials– he the fish (grilled trout) and I the meat (sliced veal leg). When the dishes came it was assumed that the order was the other way around — just like when the white (his) and red (mine) wines came. I could not decide on a wine so I had asked for a recommendation, and the waitress (an older lady) gave me one right away, which I thought went great with my entrée.
The entrees were done well. At first I was surprised that the sliced veal was served with fries, but soon realized it was an excellent pairing. The trout was deboned skilfully, which made it easier to eat. Both were served with a creamed spinach — so rich but worth every calorie eaten.
Overall, Chez Napolean is up to par with some of the other French restaurants I’ve dined at. I would recommend it for those looking to have real French food, and to practice the language a bit (I tried to in my broken French :).

Had a great dinner —
Fabulous story of three generations with the Matriarch, daughter and her son and a family lifelong friend all together serving real French Food with a lot of history and love.
The presence of Marguerite a little older then when she started the restaurant and seeing the photos of her and Elayne with William at the bar and their love of Americans liberating them in a poignant story from the Second World War makes the evening more special. The table wine at $ 12 for a half carafe is worth getting and the servings are filling so be prepared to be full when you leave.
Pleasant surprise !

A French restaurant /​bistro of the kind you can’t find in NYC anymore.
Place is very small, but there’s just the right amount of attention from the long-​experienced staff.
The Vichyssoise and coquilles St-​Jacques were outstanding.

We were really hoping to have the authentic French experience and mind-​blowing food. And looking at the website and reviews, we were expecting to experience France on our plate. I’m not sure if the cooks working when we dined her got proper training. It was a huge disappointment.
The French onion soup was really watery. We were trying to give them the benefit of the doubt. Was it meant to be that dilute?
The Escargots are not in their original shells. They were under–
seasoned and very bland.
I had the the rabbit in white wine sauce. The white wine was overpowering and it was a struggle to eat it.
My wife got the calf brain. The last time we had it in Paris, it was meant to be crispy on the outside and should have tender melt in your mouth in the inside. This one felt like you’re eating an Egg Foo Yong omelette in a Chinese takeout.
The only thing great about this was our server. She was a very very very nice person. Customer service was very excellent. I just wished we had the same thing on the plate.

I had a craving for French Onion Soup one day so I persuaded my fiancée to come here with me after I found this place on Unilocal (duh).
We called half an hour beforehand to see if we could get a reservation and we could — when we got their we realized why — it was pretty empty for 8pm on a Saturday. The décor/​layout is a little weird — there’s no room at the bar and the 2 rooms are cramped and dated — but that is part of the charm and we enjoyed looking at the art and pictures from France.
The onion soup was very good, although it could have done with some more stock I would argue. My fiancée had the baked mussels which were also good but smothered in garlic — as I would expect from a good French restaurant!
For mains my fiancée had the beef stew and she couldnt get enough of it. I had the mussels which was a generous portion but not the best mariniere sauce I’ve ever had.
Just like the layout, the service was very quirky and we could never really work out who our waitress was, one was overly friendly and the other a bit standoffish — but very french.
by 830/​9pm the place had filled up more and the atmosphere improved. Its mostly small intimate tables (so best for a date night) and I’m glad I wasn’t part of the large table of 6 as they looked really crammed in at the back of the room.
I’m not often found in a French restaurant outside of France, particularly in NYC where there are so many other cuisines I generally prefer, but I would happily go back here

I’m teetering between a 4.5 and 5 –
When you walk in it’s a bit musty smelling and very tight. The bar would barely sit a person comfortably without being bothersome to the table next to it. However, there is more seating around the bend. Again, it’s a tight seating but at least more tables to choose from.
We started with the house red, very delish. We had about 2 different waitresses which i wasn’t really sure who was the main and who may be an assistant. One out-​shined the other.
We had the french onion soup (i would’ve liked a bit more beef to the stock but it was good) and the baked mussels (which were steaming garlic but didn’t taste as much and were very good but HOT!).
We had the mussels in a cream sauce and the beef stew for our mains and they did not disappoint. Table-​side service for the beef stew and they were very attentive. The boiled potatoes in the stew lacked seasoning and i barely ate thru 1 (i love potatoes by the way). the beef i couldn’t get enough of. i was basically spooning the sauce at the end.
Both portions were very generous (2 plates each) to ease the pricing of the restaurant.
all in all — a definite secret gem off the theatre district but close enough for tourists, and for us HK locals — a spot i know i’ll be able to get a great meal and service.
definitely will return.

This intimate little gem has limited seating so there is a minimum you must order if you have a table. The staff is very welcoming and attentive. More importantly, the food is excellent! The filet mignon in spicy pepper sauce was a hit — and it came with an unexpected little side of veggies. The regular filet mignon (steak frites?) was also delicious. One thing I could not get enough of was this Chez Napolean vinaigrette that they put out with a bread basket — I ended up buying a bottle.
I would definitely recommend this restaurant to a friend, especially if you are in the area catching a Broadway Show.

Fabulous. Went there for my 51^st birthday. The entire staff took great care of us. The food was plentiful, the dishes awesome. I had Civet de Sanglier (wild boar) and the Cherry Jubilee for desert. The dining pace was not rushed — very much like Europe. I loved this place.

I’ve been here so many times I can’t even count and I love it so much that I almost didn’t want to write this review and let people know about it. I know, selfish. The pictures of the food here don’t look very appetizing since a lot of them are very saucy, but that is deceiving!
I think the thing I love the most about this restaurant is the small, rustic French restaurant feel.
Bread: I absolutely LOVE the vinagrette that comes with the bread! Although the bread is just okay, the vinagrette. Amazing. When I come here, I actually buy bottles of the vinagrette to go.
Escargots: Delicious! They come in these little ceramic shells. So cute. Butter and garlicky. The sauce is great for dipping your bread in!
Veal Kidneys: My absolute favorite dish here. It is cooked in a light mustard sauce. Seriously, so amazing. Get it medium rare. They are so tender and juicy. It comes with rice, although the rice isn’t that great. It’s okay, the kidneys make up for it.
Rabbit: The sauce for this is soooo good. Although the rabbit is a little tough, it’s delicious and the perfect combination with the mustard and white wine sauce.
Calf Brain: It came in a black butter sauce. This was my first time ever trying calf brain. Although the sauce was so flavorful and delicious, the brain itself still kinda grossed me out. It tastes like soft tofu. If you like brain, you should try this!
Coq Au Vin: This chicken in red wine sauce dish is really good. The chicken is tender and the sauce is super flavorful.
Frog Legs: Yum! They are tender, cripsy on the outside, and lemon and buttery. If you don’t know what frog legs taste like, they kind of taste like dark meat chicken but more tender. The only thing is that this dish is really small.
Venison: The venison was the special for the day with a whole green peppercorn sauce. I’ve never had venison before, so it was very interesting! Definitely tastes gamey but it wasn’t tough and it was sliced thinly.
Duck Breast: I love duck, but this dish isn’t for me as the orange glaze sauce is a bit too sweet for me. But, the duck itself was cooked well.
Scallops: Although this was my least favorie dish (I prefer seared scallops), it was still delicious! The scallops are baked and covered in cheese.
Soufflé: TIP! You have to order your soufflé with your entrée as it takes a while to cook. I’ve tried both the vanilla and chocolate souffles here. Both are SO GOOD! They are not too sweet and are fluffy and moist. You must try this if you come here. Although it’s $ 20, it’s HUGE for a soufflé!
**All entrees come with a side of vegetable.
BTW, if you couldn’t tell if I enjoy this restaurant, I definitely do. :)

What a wonderful gem in New York! This restaurant is of a dying breed of classic restaurants that sustains the old New York charm. Classic home styled French dishes are served here. Old décor brings you back in time. The wait staff were all helpful and friendly. Had escargot as an appetizer, which was the best that I ever had! For an entrée, I had trout which was one of the specials. It was very simple, without any sauces, but it wasn’t needed for this. The trout was phenomenal! For dessert, I had the poached pear. Definitely want to try the cherries jubilee next time. Definitely coming back, and highly recommend for others to try it!

I have walked past this little restaurant for 21 years, imagining some 90 year old lady is cooking in there. Ate there this evening. I fell in love with the staff, the waiter and waitresses really make you feel like you are in their living room, and the place literally looks like a living room with a very small number of tables.
Now the food, eh. I have known French food to have a lot of flavor, I had Soup Du Jour, Asparagus. It was basically thick warm milk with some pieces of asparagus. I also had the Veal, eh. French fires came with it. They were dry as a bone and borderline room temp to cold.
We ordered the Soufflé, it was much bigger than I expected (that’s what she said). Not having ever tasted soufflé before, it also had no flavor, only tasted like Grand Marnier.
Still had a great experience here, sometimes ambiance is better than the food, and I would love to bring people here to experience it. haaaaw haaaaw haaaww, weeee weee weee, haaaww haaaww haaaww.

Escargot and baked clams are their most special dish there.
It’s a home style french restaurant and very pricey.
It took an hour for it to be cooked and served full of European style in such a big modern city.
Good taste +1.

My wife left France 6 months ago, we were exited to go for French Traditional Cuisine. It was the perfect spot for a good culinary catch-​up. Wine selection, choice of Traditional dishes, service, price, location were all good. Decoration could be better, but you quickly forget about it when the first plate land on your table. Bön appetit!

Wonderful meal with very nice staff. Not sure where the bad reviews for service are coming from. Anyway though, this isn’t a complaint of others’ reviews. It’s mine.
Oh yeah, one more tip before I begin. If you do not like garlic/​pepper to an extent, you probably won’t like the entrees here.
Also, if you have no clue what you are going to get and you want a single excellent dish, the coq au vin is excellent.
Anyway:
Went here with two others
To drink:
Cote du Rhone: 10 (him)
Good Rhone, but then again, it’s a French wine.
Cote du Provance: 10
I haven’t seen this wine before so I got a glass of it. It’s a chilled very dry Rose. If you want something a bit more substantial than a white but still as dry as some, I’d recommend this.
Appetizers:
Bread: Came with their homemade vinaigrette
As it is a french place, bread is served first, various types. The bread were fine, the vinaigrette solid.
…
Rilletes de Canard: 11 (Myself)
Rilletes is basically a cooled paste in this case with duck (well usually pork but this works as I prefer duck anyway.) You can think of it as similar to pâté but it is a bit thicker thanks to the pieces. You spread it on the pieces of bread they have there (or you can eat it solely a bit like me but the other way is better.) Portion was fine. It came with two cornichons (those lil’ french pickles) and some iceberg.
4.25
Lentil Soup: 10 (him)
Was the soup of the day. Tried some of his but only a bit. Large portion for a French restaurant. I won’t judge as I only had a little.
Mains:
Cassoulet: 28 (me)
I love cassoulet. It’s a slow cooked stew made from white beans and it is filled with a piece of sausage, a lot of duck, and some other meat. There was a little bit too much pepper on top but otherwise, the dish was excellent.
4.6
Ris De Veau: (i.e. Sweetbreads) with mushroom sauce: 28 (him)
Perfectly cooked sweetbreads with an excellent mushroom sauce. There really isn’t much to complain about here. Like her dish, it came with some spinach.
4.7
Coq au vin: 24 (her)
Excellent sized portion. The wine sauce here is so dark and luscious and the mushrooms were excellent. Duck’s texture was excellent also. A good amount of garlic was here also. Like his dish, it came with some spinach.
4.8
Cerrises Jubilee: 12 (me)
Cherries are excellent. There was one with a pit but oh well. There was a lot of alcohol in here, almost a bit too much (but better for there to be too much than too little)
4.4
Coupe Aux Marrons (Glacés) vanilla ice cream with chestnuts: 12 (him)
I preferred this. Chestnuts had a wonderful texture.
4.5
Summary:
For once I generally preferred the dishes that other people got though everything was excellent. The server (an old French woman) was very kind. Waters were refilled often and we were able to stay as long as we wanted to as it should be in a good French place.
4.25+4.6+4.7+4.8+4.4+4.5
27.25÷30
or 4.55÷5
Excellent meal.

resto new yorkais tenu par des français.
1* pour les plats
mais le reste né vaut même pas une cacahuète !!!
malgré tout on y mange très bien (okay ! il faut un peu être tordu pour manger français à New york ! mais bon ! quand on né mange plus que de l’américain du thaï ou du poulet frit, renevir aux sources une fois de temps en temps ça fait du bien)
problème le prix ! exhorbitant ! la note est particulièrement salée !
et autre problème, ils sont à la limite de la malhonnêté.
né rendent pas du tout la monnaie sur un gros billet: laissant penser qu’il pourrait s’agir d’un tip (pourboire américain équivalent à 10−12% du global) ce soir là ils ont bien récolté 25% de tip !
de plus, pas très aimables du tout !
en définitive, il vaut peut être mieux manger local !