Patrick's French Bakery & Cafe

12/13/10

Poor Lunch and Dinner

by soda66 at Citysearch

Lunch is Bad! I really want to like this place as the breakfasts, coffee and bakery are so good. The other food is awful. I try it about once a month trying to find a good meal after 11:00 am. The entree salads are not good. The Bistro Salad Chicken is very dry. The Chicken Ceasar chicken was served cold. The Steak Salad meat is cold and tough. The Beef Brisket salad is a complete nightmare. The Bouchee a la Reine (chicken pot pie pastery) was served to me cold. The Coq au Vin is just ok. The average lunch is $12.00. The staff does not ask how your food is tasting and doesn't seem to notice if your food is left untouched. Still the place is full of ladies lunching...I guess the bakery is just that good...

12/08/10

Quality and consistency is amazing!

by garykwood at Citysearch

I frequent Patrick's regularly for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The quality, variety and consistency is amazing! Pilotman's experience is not mine, and I too, have had the opportunity to travel extensively and sample "authentic" foods. His use of the term "swill" is pretentious and offensive! Patrick's is the creation of an incredibly talented, ambitious and hard-working chef who's frequent appearances, indelible smile, and gracious attention to customers is always a pleasure. How he is able to create such a variety of ambient environments in one small location is a tribute to his creativity. We are extremely fortunate to have his delicious efforts so close at hand and convenient!!

09/19/10

French restaurant going downhill

by The Pilotman at Citysearch

I was excited when this restaurant first opened. The food was great!. Now, the desserts, the food and the drinks offered seem to have gone the way of corporate America.

The coffee seems to taste like the local "swill" served at many breakfast houses rather than the fresh roasted taste of many local coffee houses. It is a far cry from "Costa Coffee" (a chain in Europe) or "Café Procope" in Paris.

Patrick used to be the pastry chef at Sofitel in Bloomington and his legacy is stil there. The pastries are still great at Sofitel. He is an excellent pastry chef.

I went into Patrick's about a month ago to purchase a few almond crossiants. Tasting one, they have a taste of almond flavoring in them. Not how it used to be. I also noticed the price was much higher than Patrick's legacy.

I also got this opinion from another aquaintance who is a European person and a manager for a large European Corporation with local offices, who used to patronize Patrick's and told me he noticed recently the degradation of quality of Patrick's Bakery which he used to frequent every Saturday morning with another European who wants authentic cuisine.

IMHO, it seems this restaurant has moved away from its roots of being authentic French cuisine to just another corporate cost-cutting front for an ethnic restaurant.

My background? I've flown to Europe (and many other places around the globe) hundreds of times as an airline pilot over the years and also have driven and stayed as a local tourist and almost a "short-term resident" in small French villages where the local bakery and cafe are the centerpoint for coffee and chat.

__________

It is too bad, most people in this country have never travelled outside of this country and really do not have an idea what many authentic dishes are, so keep the dishes and food brought here authentic so people who don't have the opportunity to travel overseas have the taste and perhaps the nuance of real local type food, in this case am authentic French Bistro.

Changing to cost-cutting lower grade ingredients is usually not healthy.

__________

IMO, get a taste of this bakery and then go over to Sofitel in Bloomington and taste the original pastry recipes Patrick brought to the area including authentic original ingredients. Compare it for yourself.

06/04/09

nice bakery

by peacereaper at Citysearch

We went there for lunch and dessert and had I the quiche, which was really good. I would go back and have it again. My boyfriend had the veggie sandwich, which I though was just O.K, but my boyfriend liked. We got dessert, I got the chocolate praline cake and my boyfriend got the passion fruit cake. They were both very good. My criticism however is that I expected to get cake. I got a very thin wafer of cake at the bottom with mousse shaped into a piece and covered with chocolate. It was very rich and I was disappointed that it was not actually cake. My boyfriends "cake" was a similar situation. All in all, it was not a bad experience.

• Pros: good quiche
• Cons: "cake" not actually cake

05/14/09

Perfect place to sample menu

by Truthful at Citysearch

Patrick's is one of the few places that it's easy to order by sight thanks to their display case. Everything I have tried there has been wonderful (I am still working my way through the full menu, with multiple stops at some favorites). I did have one small problem when taking a friend there, something was under cooked, but as is the case with Patrick's they took it back and quickly made a new one for her. One time my cake was barely touched by the side of a box, Patrick refused to sell the cake to me and insisted on provided a new one from the case, placing it carefully into the box to maintain the chocolate perfection that is the outside of the cake. They really will (and always do) go above and beyond for the customer.

• Pros: broad selection, kid-friendly, wine, 50% off day-old bread
• Cons: lunch rush