Le Pain Quotidien – Mount Vernon Triangle

Just visiting from NYC and went to this location. I’m a big fan of the chain so food is great as usual but agree with other reviews that the service here is horrible. It shouldn’t even be open without getting their management and service together. Horrible! Waiting 30 min just to get my order in. Do not recommend. Who is in charge of this place? Le Pain HQ should shut this one down. It’s really bad for their reputation.

Did not realize they close at 4 went in at 4:01 and could not be bothered to do 1 last cup of coffee. Really? Your the most expensive coffee in town! The mochas are so so and the baked goods are out in the open air. Sometimes they leave the door open so flies can come in and feast on the baked goods.

Everyone who works there is super friendly, but the wait time for beyond overpriced food is not worth it.

As a chain, the quality of the food is the same as any other LPQ, however the service here is DISMAL. I’m confused by the many 4 and 5 star ratings…
Working in one of the office buildings on the street, I frequent this spot out of convenience verses preference. Most of my colleagues and I agree that if you plan to go down to LPQ, you should budget 20 – 30 min to get your order. Ordering just a beverage is a safe bet (usually) because the baristas can make the drinks in front of you – and you can monitor that they will fill your order at some point AND make the right thing (this is necessary). But still, quite the wait for just a coffee, latte, etc.
And, if are bold enough to order food-​to-​go, expect a long wait with little reassurance. The kitchen is upstairs and the baristas run up to place the order, come down, forget about it until you remind them, and then tell you to wait. Many a time, the ever-​changing staff, will apologize with a free pastry because they are sweet and polite. For example, the soup of the day (which you expect to be ready and in a crock pot somewhere in the kitchen) will take at least 20 – 30 min to reach you. I speak from experience. Is this issue due to the staff, the kitchen, or the process? I have no idea.
Why do I keep going back? I want a nice, high-​quality cup of coffee and I keep fooling myself into thinking it is convenient. I always regret this lapse of judgement.
Unfortunately, due to being a chain and having little competition on the street, the place seems to operate just fine despite the many frustrated patrons every time I am there. I’ve seen at least three complete freak-​outs from patrons.
Also, fruit flies circle the pastries at all times… Unclear why they don’t just add glass around the pastries. I always opt for things that are in the fridge or fresh food.
I urge LPQ to look into this location and fix these issues soon.

I would give it a better review because the food is pretty good!
It’s like. Glorified panera bread but way more pricy. A salad runs on average 14 dollars plus tips, as well as a small piece of quiche. Pretty pricey for what it is.
The fruit tart and quiche I had was great. However my meal ended up being pretty pricy for a casual place.

Really good coffee – I had my usual iced latte – but ouch! $ 5.00! for a medium? That’s more than Starbucks. And I did have a really nice sit down breakfast there once, albeit, again, way too pricey.
Having said that, the take out person was way slow, and, I’m also pretty sure had some kind of personality disorder. I’m fine w/​that, I’m on a boat load of psychotropics myself. But a server dealing with the public should be able to make eye contact with the customer and speak directly to them, not over their shoulder. A bit disconcerting.

Such a magical experience!
These guys went above and beyond!
Thanks so much for making our trip to DC the best!
Definitely a hidden secret!!! Perfect for breakfast and lunch!!! All organic and gluten free. Amazing atmosphere both on the first and second floor. Great for families, friends, and romantic couples.
Amazing staff

Cons:
*Servings are small, very small. Don’t come here if you’re starving.
*Prices are high; you’re definitely paying for the presentation, even with to go orders.
*If you’re not accustomed to a healthier flare, outside of the pastries, you may be slightly disappointed in some of the flavorings.
*You may not like the communal table idea. Like in France, get used to sitting close together when things are busy.
Pros:
*Service is excellent.
*Quality ingredients. Food that’s good for you and made with overall health and well-​being in mind, while still providing ample flavor and richness.
*Delicious pastries! Made with excellent chocolate, and clearly, nothing artificial. They are worth every single penny. You won’t find any shortcuts taken here.
*Every beverage I’ve tried has been fabulous.

Stopped in for breakfast our first morning in DC. The service was slow, the food was ok but pricey.

Stopped here because it looked quaint.
Ordered the Americano. It was 4 dollars (more than I paid all week while on vaca here in DC) and it was the worst Americano I’ve had– probably ever. Not hot, no flavor or texture. It tasted like a bad drip job. While we’re talking about drips, I tasted my beautiful wife’s drip. Again forgettable. That’s what she said. Sorry, back to the topic at hand.
Then I ordered the ham and cheese omelet. Eh and meh would be the best two words to describe it. It wasn’t the worst I’ve had. I mean the Hilton has better for ½ the cost.
Visited on a Friday morning around 930. Service was poor, but that’s probably not our servers fault. She had 5+ tables one of which had 10 people seated.
This was by far the worst restaurant that we visited while in DC.

I got into DC Friday mid-​morning and was getting HANGRY (hungry/angry=really bad sign)! Luckily, we stopped in here for lunch. Our waitress was very sweet and attentive. We ordered a sparking cider (with an anise seed for garnish)! I had a smoked salmon tartine for lunch. My mom ordered the Mediterranean Platter with the best babaganoush we’ve ever tried! My meal ended with a fabulous cappuccino. It was as perfect as perfect can be!

Great food, but literally the worst service… like top 10 worst service I’ve ever had.
We had a group of 11, they all knew we were coming too for breakfast. We all ordered our food at the same time and I’ll just list the things that went wrong from here:
–they didn’t bring us waters for the table until our food came (and we asked them twice)
–two of the people that ordered the soft boiled eggs got hard boiled eggs… they asked for more and never got them
–half of the people got their food, half didn’t
–we had to literally harass the servers to bring the rest of the food, 3 of the people at our table never got their food at all (things as easy as oatmeal and avocado toast)
–it took them 25 minutes to bring out chia puddling… like that’s already made from the day before
–two people got iced tea instead of ice coffee
–they didn’t bring out any of the toppings for oatmeal so everyone’s oatmeal went cold
Needless to say we didn’t pay for anything. And on top of all of this the servers we’re talking about us behind our backs and we heard them (they said that none of this was their fault)
It’s honestly comical, we got passed the point of anger that we were laughing at the stupidity of the servers and staff.
Not to mention that our 3 founders and CEO were at the lunch with us… great job guys!

Very nice place, fairly slow though. Went on Sunday for breakfast around 10 and found the place fairly quiet. Ordered a large cappuchino and was surprised (pleased?) to see it was served in a fairly large bowl. Hard to argue with a truckload of cappuchino.
I had the ham omlette and it really was quite good but the bread (which I assumed to be stellar) was just bleh – bland, oddly chewy. I didn’t continue after 2 bites. My dining companion had the cranola (although I am still not quite sure what that is) which she enjoyed. The service, though, was slow and fairly apathetic. Had to ask for a spoon for my cappuchino, never recieved any of the accoutrements on other tables (butter, honey, etc) or water refills.

Le Pain Quotodien (LPQ) has on average three star food. It is a chain so don’t expect much variety between locations. This location has outdoor seating although a tad cramped, is nice in this weather. The staff are not attentive but again that’s really your luck on who you get to serve you. I really liked the peanut butter and jelly sandwich that comes topped with bananas and granola. The location is clean and welcoming to the eye. I will be back for sure.

I will start by saying the coffee is really good and if you dine-​in they serve it in these adorable mini clay pots.
But oy-​yoy-​yoy is the food ever wildly overpriced and inept.
I’ve been here multiple times always knowing in advance it’s way too expensive for way too tiny portions of way too bland food, but it’s super convenient and really charming on the inside, so I gave it the ol’ college try in hopes I would eventually fall in love with it. Unfortunately, I just can’t fool myself any more.
My last straw was when I tried to order 2 soft boiled eggs with a handful of small dipping toast. Incredibly easy meal that should not have taken more than 7 – 9 minutes. Over a wait of 20 minutes the waitress apologized twice for how long it was taking. When I finally got my food, the eggs had not been peeled at the top (which is customary for soft boiled eggs at restaurants) and were obscenely hot to the touch, which tells me the kitchen didn’t bother to dunk them in cold water. When I cracked them open, they were completely hard boiled. Rarely do I return food (as in, I’ve done it one other time in my life — raw chicken around 7 years ago), but since being able to dip the toast in the saucy yoke is the whole point of the meal, I felt this was a justified time to do so.
About 10 minutes later the waitress returned with 3 eggs and told me they were all boiled at different lengths — which immediately told me the kitchen had no idea how to boil an egg. When I cracked open the first one a flood of raw egg white poured out (way too raw), the second one had a very thin membrane of cooked egg white that immediately collapsed into a puddle of watery white and yoke (still too raw), and the third was the only one to have a solid membrane of cooked white, and a saucy yoke in the center. I’ll take it.
I tried to get the waitress’s attention for the next 10 minutes but was ignored. The place had 5 other people.
By the time I cleared my plate, I had lost about 45 minutes of a sunny Saturday morning over a meal I could have made in 5 minutes for $ 0.20. When the waitress finally came over to ask how it was, I told her 1 was good, and before I could ask for the check she ran the raw eggs upstairs, presumably to tell the kitchen to try again.
At this point, I was fully disinterested in spending any more time at this place.
5 minutes later I got her attention and asked for the check. She seemed genuinely embarrassed and took $ 5 off my bill (which made it $ 1 cheaper than what it would have been had I just ordered 1 soft boiled egg from the get-​go) and offered a free refill of coffee. Nice professional gestures, no doubt, but I was not at all in the mood to stick around even longer.
Needless to say, I don’t think I’ll be returning for food again.
But seriously, good coffee in cute pots.

Just wanted to take a minute and send us some praise to one of the incredible employees at Le Pain Quotidien. I live in the neighborhood and come into LPQ pretty much every Saturday for a burst of caffeine and something from the bakery, usually chia muffins.
JASMINE who works the counter and brews up my complicated order perfectly is by far one of the most pleasant and efficient people I come in contact with every week.

First, a confession and then a disclaimer. I hate the French, more because I envy their culture, and they don’t like me. I realize that I am no better than Buddy Pine, (a.k.a. Syndrome) from the Incredibles. But I hope that this review will redeem a minuscule part of my shame.
The disclaimer: chain restaurants don’t deserve to be reviewed, but this Pain Quotidien experience deserves an exception. On this day I was fit to be tied because I was trapped downtown. Runners in pink and bored cops and bad drivers assaulted me at every turn. Everybody but me was «racing for the cure». Their good intentions forced me to abandon my errand after moving .8 miles in 90 minutes. I pulled over impulsively and went inside hoping to drown my anger and discharge my bile.
But I was stymied again. The spot lighting on that mellow wood, the busy clatter of dishes, the tasteful music, the warm and creamy café au lait, the fresh greens, the crunchy bread, the charming waitress… They disarmed me. It seemed so unselfconscious and effortless. I was so set on some ugliness, and they just beautied my beast.
Dammit. I hate the French. My fury was simply deflated. My better self had been lured out by a chain restaurant. I feel so cheap.

Always like going here to meet business-​related contacts — who I’m meeting for the first time… it just always works. Good menu of diverse options, all healthy kind of stuff, and best of all: coffee/​/​beverage variety.
I’m always a bit disappointed by the service… never had a good waiter here. They’re always friendly, and nice enough… but never really on-​point.
I love the communal table feel — I’ll admit… kinda feels nice to walk into a place and see people comfortable enough to sit close enough (sardine-​like) to other patrons.
In any case, I’d say my one recommendation here is to try any of the tartines… just know that you’ll be paying for a minuscule portion.

I couldn’t wait for this LPQ location to open. There is really nowhere to go for a great cup of coffee in the morning in this area so it is a welcomed addition to the neighborhood! Not to mention I love their tartines and pastries at other locations so I have high expectations.
I visited on their 6^th day open. The GM seemed very hands on and interested in meeting customers expectations, but I observed the same thing the previous Unilocaler did which was that the place seemed overstaffed which led to confusion amongst the staff members. Training was still taking place on the cash register and my coffee was very weak. I suspect training is still taking place for the baristas too. I hate to say this but the quality of the staff seems to be the worst of all LPQ locations. (Note: I didn’t sit down I did to-​go). They were not very nice and they were very hard to understand. I hope they will continue to interview and find a higher caliber of staff. The place is new but hopefully they will correct this soon so they can hold onto the regular customer.
The café itself was the standard LPQ warm and inviting décor. The upstairs is not open at this time but there seemed to be plenty of seating nonetheless. And, my meal was very tasty.
Note: They may have beer & wine coming soon.

I was so excited for this LPQ to open up in my neighborhood and was glad to try it out today. It is new, so there are some kinks to work out still, as I would expect in any new establishment.
Here’s what I love:
–The feeling. It is so comfy cozy. On the main level (did not explore upstairs) the dining area has lots of 2-​seater tables and one big communal table in the middle.
–The Christmas decorations! Obviously this wouldn’t be applicable to a visit in, say, April, but I appreciate little seasonal details.
–Speaking of seasonal details, the holiday specials for food (see my pictures).
–This location is not as busy or crowded as other LPQ’s.
–The hot chocolate. Oooooh so good. You get a steaming hot cup of milk and a little jar of melted hot chocolate to pour in as you desire. It is lovely and decadent without being sickly sweet, like hot chocolate can be in many other places.
–Presentation of food is so nicely done. I love the little touches (unusual plates/​serving dishes, a sprig of fresh mint, etc).
As I previously mentioned, though, this place does need some work before it meets its full potential. My cousin and I were very pleased with our food — that is definitely as good as I expected. But, there seems to be poor communication between staff members (and I was surprised at just how many waitstaff were working when the place was relatively empty! Two girls just stood there and smiled the whole time because there wasn’t anything else for them to do). When I first sat down, I ordered a drink from a waiter who said he would be attending to our table. A few minutes later, another waiter came over, introduced himself as our waiter, and then asked if I would like to order a beverage. At the end of the meal, my cousin and I wanted to itemize our bill. She explained what should be on my card vs hers, and when the individual bills came, I was charged for only one item, which was nothing I had even ordered.
I think this location could be an excellent one, once it has a little more time to perfect service.