Petit Robert Bistro

I love this restaurant. My fiancé and I wandered in here (he reviewed it also on 8/​31/​11!) one night after it just opened. We were hopelessly underdressed, not having realized what a nice restaurant it is, but everyone was incredibly welcoming (the manager even complimented my tattoo!). The food (I got the scallops) was absolutely delicious– I had honestly never tasted such flavorful food in my life. It also has nice ambience– upscale, yet trendy and laid back. We have since moved out of the city and ended up going to the Needham location to celebrate our engagement last fall– and the food has been consistently amazing. Highly, highly recommended– it’s worth the price for a special occasion.

We really wanted to like this place as its a neighborhood joint. Unfortunately, the waiter took 20 mins to come over after being seated, we waited 15 mins for our 2^nd round of drinks and the bartender had to end up bringing it over. Unfortunately the food was just as bad as the service. My boneless short rib had 3 bones in it I almost broke my tooth on.
For the poor service, unimpressive food and still pricey cost, I will never go back, nor would suggest anyone else do so. I give em till labor day.

I’d been to this location when it first opened, and was grateful that valet parking was available. Unfortunately for us, there was no such service on the weeknight we had come in for dinner, something that wasn’t widely advertised on the website at the time. We arrived just in time for our reservation, and had to tell the host that we still had to go find parking in the area (which is near impossible with all the marked residential parking).
Once we were seated, our waitress promptly gave us our menus and gave us some time to review everything. We started with a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, and chatted a bit about other Petit Robert locations and how we came to dine at this location (I happened to have a
voucher). We then ordered our entrees — my friend got the braised short ribs and I ordered the duck confit with sausage.
Our food came out within a reasonable amount of time, given that there were so few guests in the dining area that particular evening. My friend’s short ribs were braised well, but I was surprised at how dry the duck confit was. The accompanying sausage didn’t help with the flavors of the dish, and unfortunately, the cabbage that came with the duck was cooked to the point of mush. I was quite disappointed, since I had much more positive experiences from my prior visits.
At least the wine was good. ..

I understand why there are constantly groupons for this place and I will not be returning.
I had a view of the kitchen and could see two female chefs in white T shirts preparing my meal… for food that costs upwards of $ 20 – 30 a plate, I expect to see legitimate chefs preparing my food in the kitchen.
Our food was clearly reheated and dry, and the presentation was completely thoughtless and disgusting. When my entrée arrived sauce was splashed all over the rim of my dish. I had come here expecting to order dessert but was so completely turned off by our $ 50 reheated meals I couldn’t bear to chance spending any more $ on food here.
I was watching our server as he opened our bill and saw him roll his eyes and express his disappointment to a nearby staffer when he saw our groupon. I watched other servers do this as well when they received groupons. I’m not sure why; we always tip groupons based on the total of the meal anyway, which we did even though we were thoroughly disappointed. I’m sure it must be frustrating to rely on groupons for patronage after a while.
Don’t waste your time or $ to come here, even during a groupon special. It is very clear that the cooks here are not held to any sort of standard, and it truly shows.
If I wanted a reheated meal I would have purchased a frozen dinner from Trader Joes for a fraction of the amount we spent here. At least if I had done that, I know I would have enjoyed my meal.

I don’t enjoy writing poor reviews. That being said, I was very underwhelmed at this little french bistro. My wife and I stopped in tonight for dinner and were a bit put off from the get go due to the wafting smell of mold blasting us as soon as we arrived.
I ordered the gnocchi and my wife ordered the chicken coq au vin. Her pasta was certainly reheated and her chicken was unsettlingly pink in the center. My gnocchi was not house made and the cream sauce was grainy and separated indicating that it was likely reheated or microwaved. I’ve had amazing french food before… And this was far from it.

Went to Petit Robert tonight with a group of 4 adults plus 1 toddler, mostly because of a Living Social deal that was about to expire.
We started with salads, soups, mussels, and pâté. My onion soup and my husband’s lobster bisque were delicious, and the salads looked good. Everyone who tried the mussels (including my daughter) went back for more and said they were tasty.
For entrees, our friends chose the special sole dish, I had the scallops, and my husband had the boeuf bourguignon. My scallops were overcooked and the accompanying pappardelle was underseasoned. Husband said the beef was good but our friends said the sole was just ok, not exceptional.
The worst part was the service. We asked three separate people for bread, and none came. Finally the fourth person brought us bread. When we finished our first courses, the plates and bowls sat uncleared for at least 20 minutes. Some of the plates weren’t cleared until the second courses came out! I understand leisurely dining in the European style, but this was just inattentive wait staff. And then we had to wait another 15 minutes at the end of the meal for the valet to retrieve our car. We were there over 2 hours for just two courses of food and one bottle of wine.
I don’t think I’d go back anytime soon.

Last week, I got the best text a girl could ask for from an old friend:
«Holy crap I have a groupon expiring Monday… want to go to dinner tomorrow?»
Why yes, I always love helping a friend use a groupon. In fact, as a grad student, I practically survive on them. We show up excited for our 7 pm reservation. I had already checked the menu and had some ideas of what I would order…
… and then we found out our reservation was for the Boston location, not Brighton. Brighton couldn’t fit us in. We were sadly turned away.
Part II:
We went back a few days later, this time three of us. I ordered the onion soup and the gnocchi with cheese sauce. In fact, the gnocchi sounded so good that two of us ordered it!
Onion soup. Amazing cheese on top, but the inside was entirely onion and almost no broth whatsoever. There are only so many spoonfuls of straight onion one can eat before pushing away the soup. Oh well, at least I have gnocchi coming.
The gnocchi. It tasted like — and had the consistency of — matzah balls. Don’t get me wrong, I love matzah balls, but mostly during high holiday dinners, not at a French restaurant. The «cheese sauce» had absolutely no flavor. A cheese sauce at a French restaurant should blow my mind. It should be absolutely wonderful and filled with flavor. Instead, I took it home and covered my leftovers with Parmesan cheese.
After three apps and three entrees, and minus a $ 40 coupon, it still came to $ 25 per person because of course we tipped on the full bill. The good service was the saving grace. $ 25 for a bad soup and worse entrée? Now I know why they always have online coupons.

We bought a Groupon for PRB knowing full well that this location used to be Jacky’s Table. In the past my girlfriend and I gone to Jacky’s Table for brunch and been quite happy so purchasing the Groupon was a no brainer for us.
We got there and had to go searching for the valet. Although valet is a nice feature, it was not a good start to have to find him. When we entered the restaurant they were very busy, but we were greeted immediately, and quite friendly by what looked like the GM with a French accent.
We were seated quickly at a crowded booth/​chair table. We both ordered beers, only to find out my first choice was no longer available on draft. Then my second draft choice was also out. Finally I ordered a bottled beer, they had it.
For appetizers we ordered the Mussels and Pâté. They were out of the Pâté, so we ordered Mussels and the Duck Confit Wraps. Mussels were OK, certainly not a raving set, and the Duck Confit Wraps tasted like an oversized Eggroll, overstuffed with too much cabbage and not enough duck. The fig sauce as absent of fig flavor, although sliced figs on the plate helped.
For our entrees we ordered the Coq au Vin and the Liver. I am not a big fan of Liver, but my girlfriend said it was not too bad, but not her favorite. My Coq au Vin was tender, but lacked the Burgundy flavoring. Although it was apparent it was cooked in it (purple coloring), it was just lackluster. The Buttered Noodles it came with felt like they were from a pasta side box. I much prefer the Coq au Vin I got on a Cruise last year.
For desert we ordered Crème Brulee and the Bread Pudding. Both were thumbs down. The Crème Brulee was luke warm, and had no flavor, maybe they missed an ingredient or two? The elephant ear that came with it was pretty good though. The Bread Pudding had good texture, but it was called a White Chocolate Bread Pudding, and I did not get any white chocolate, at least that I could see or taste in it. The best part was the scoop of Ice Cream on top.
Overall, I would pass on this PRB. I hear the ones in the South End are much better.

Much better than expected based on reviews read.
We came on a lovely Sunday afternoon, and were seated outdoors, with gorgeous views of the trees lining the sidewalk.
The food was great – our kids loved the fish chips with fries – good portion size with lots of lightly battered fried fish – better than what we’ve had at Legal Seafoods.
A real surprise and fun time here. Will come back!

I used to love Petit Robert, back when it was one location in Kenmore Square. The quality has gone severely downhill since. I’ve been back a few times since I started complaining that it’s not the same anymore hoping my experiences were flukes.
I’m fairly certain the food gets microwaved (specifically the sides that come with several entrees). The food is pretty much mediocre at best. I got calf’s liver the last time I was there. It was decent, but not great. The time before I got boeuf bourgignon, which was off. The broth tasted like cheap wine almost.
The service was always good, but the last time I was there even that disappointed. My friend and I split a bottle of wine, and ended up having to refill our own glasses, after sitting for about 10 minutes with empty ones. We also had to ask for bread, after out pâté appetizer came out. Everyone else around had bread served right away.
I really want to love this place, but I’m done at this point.

Has become very inconsistent over the years. Used to be one of my favorite places. Tried the coq au vin recently. While it was better than the last time I went there 6+ months ago, it was still bland – more red wine flavor than savory chicken. The boeuf bourgignon was actually quite tasty. But again, it’s such a tossup eating there as to what will be good that night. The mussels, we had as an app, were also tasteless. To be fair, they had a taste – it was just sour white wine.
Perhaps as the restaurant group has grown they have neglected the quality of their original? C’est domage.

My friend had a Groupon for this place and we came out only mildly impressed… even after the coupon, I felt like I overpaid for the food!
This restaurant’s food is the definition of mediocre. It pains me to say it because the owner, hostess, and waiter were so polite and gave us a startling ‘BONJOURRRR’ when we entered the restaurant. The place definitely has a dated family-​style restaurant vibe. The hostess stand is not directly in front of the entrance to the restaurant — instead, we awkwardly stood around the bar looking for someone to seat us and briefly thought we had to claim a table ourselves.
When we were finally seated, our waiter (who sounded like he was trying to fake a French accent…) promptly gave us our menu. I ordered the cassoulet with lamb, pork sausage, duck confit, and beans. It sounded downright delicious, but Petit Robert failed to deliver! The food was a little too salty and the textures of all the meats (and even the beans) were the same throughout. The best part was the duck, which they were very fairly generous with.
My friend got the scallops over risotto. The risotto was good (but for $ 23, I’d expect some decent risotto!) and the scallops were cooked well. The flavor was lacking though, and her dish was weird and lukewarm, like it had been sitting around in the kitchen for quite some time.
For dessert, we ordered the giant chocolate profiterole with fudge sauce. The profiterole was so tough and dry, like it had been in the freezer for way too long. The fudge was way too sweet and there was not enough ice cream.
Overall, a disappointing experience. I think they might have put a bit too much on their plate, as most of our fellow diners had Groupons as well… maybe the kitchen couldn’t keep up?

like other people who have written reviews I also purchased a groupon (the 3 course meal for 2), but I had a great experience. I had made a reservation and T and I were seated at a table near the kitchen, but that was separated from the other tables. it wasn’t too crowded when we got there but towards the end the place was packed, so it was nice not to have to listen to other people’s conversations!
our waitress was very attentive and helpful. we got two baskets of bread without asking, which was awesome.
for my app I had the trio of pates, which were AMAZING. they were a bit thicker than pâté that I am used to, so they tasted great on their own without bread. i couldn’t believe how much I was given, and they were all incredible. any place that serves pâté is okay in my book! T had the smoked salmon appetizer, which was great. for entrée I had the calf’s liver with bacon and onions, and T had the pork. bread pudding and profiterole with ice cream for dessert, amazing!!! with the groupon it was such a great deal, and we were so satisfied after. we will definitely go back.

Hmm where can i begin? My cousin wanted to eat here because of a groupon he had purchased. when we get arrive, there was no hostess at the front so we just kind have stood around waiting for someone to seat us. A young waitress came over with our drinks and clearly didn’t know what was on her tray nor where they went because she said something along the lines of «i think this is a diet coke, and i think this might be a ginger ale» which was actually an unsweetened ice tea in case you were wondering.
When we ordered, i ordered the foie gras which surprised me because it cost more than most of the entrees, and the sweetbreads. The other entrees ordered were bordelaise skirt steak, scallops over risotto, and roasted chicken. when the foie gras came, one piece looked absolutely terrible like it was either bad quality and mishandled. The other piece looked better but they were both overcooked and dry and the reduction that accompanied it was over reduced and it became like cement on the plate. I wanted my diners to experience foie gras for the first time and im afraid this put a bad impression in their minds.
About 20 – 30 minutes later, our waitress/​hostess (?) comes up to us and tells us they ran out of sweetbreads and chicken. Im not really sure why it took them so long to inform us that they ran out of both of these entrees when we ordered them 45 minutes ago. The waitress said that she would comp a dessert for our table for our troubles which was nice??? So then we were forced to order 3 bordelaise skirt steaks. The food arrived about 30 minutes later.
Only 3 entrees came out and the fourth came out about 5 minutes later. The plate for a scallops were warmer than the food on it, and that plate was lukewarm at best while the steak plates were too hot to even touch. The bordelaise was laced with clumpy pieces of demi-​glacé that weren’t heated enough to dissolve. It looked like a gooseneck of meat jello. Also my cousin ordered a side of Fries to go with his chicken dish that he originally ordered which didn’t come.
When we finished our below average meal, the check came which showed the sweetbreads and the chicken STILL calculated onto the bill, the fries were on the bill which didn’t come and the comped dessert was still on the bill. We were outraged with this because it brought our bill up nearly $ 60 extra dollars. My cousin’s girlfriend was the one to bring the bill up to the hostess to explain that there was a mistake because the male diners would have probably blew up on them.
Overall, the meal definitely wasn’t worth the 3 hour dinner. Even the bathroom has something wrong with it, there was no paper towels, and the toilet paper was so stuffed into the ehh i dont know toilet paper holder (?) that if you tried to roll it, it would automatically rip off one sheet every single time… terrible dinner and I couldn’t even wipe my ass without having a problem.

I think I just had the worst dining experience of my life tonight at Petit Robert Brighton… Bracing myself to write up every detail…
Let me preface this by saying that I have dined here maybe 4 or 5 times prior to this over the past few years. We live a few blocks away, so we have been coming since it opened and was Jacky’s Table. We have always had a pretty good experience.
My husband, our two friends, and I decided to make a reservation and go here tonight after buying a Living Social deal. I am well aware that restaurants can have some difficulties keeping up on nights that follow a fresh Groupon-​type deal, but this was just absurd. And on top of the terrible service, the sloooow service, and the lack of care from the manager, the food was bad tonight too! It’s time for bullet points, I guess…
— Waited in a line by the host stand for 5 minutes… No host present. Off to a bad start.
— Got seated, the waiter asked if we wanted drinks, as we arrived before our friends. My husband wanted to wait for our friends to arrive to order a bottle of wine, but I ordered a soda because I am pregnant. I did not get my soda until after the wine was poured, about 20 minutes later.
–At first I asked the waiter if they had any fun virgin drink options aside from soda. His reply, «Well, you do know pregnant women can have a glass of wine every once in a while.» … Thanks for the heads up, buddy. I’ll have a coke.
–The appetizers were actually pretty good and came in a timely manner. We had onion soup and the pates. The bread was also nice and warm and yummy. This part was good… That was about it. Actually, my beef bourguignon was pretty good, but it had been better during previous visits. The meat was a little tough and I had one enormous undercooked piece of broccoli on top. But, not worthy of $ 24, that’s for sure. At least it wasn’t salty… Details ahead.
–In between the appetizer course and dinner, we waited 45 minutes. They also never cleared our appetizer plates during this time. We mentioned the 45-​minute wait to the manager in a way that did show some annoyance, but not in an overly mean way. He seemed very unconcerned, not very apologetic, and said it would be 5 more minutes.
–My friend was already so turned off by the wait and the service. Then he was served his entrée. The scallops and risotto. He took one bite and was appalled by the saltiness. My husband and my friend’s wife tried it too and agreed it was extremely salty — too much to even eat. He was already full from the appetizers and bread, so he told them to take it away and that he didn’t even want it due to the saltiness. He said this is the first time in his life that he sent something back. The manager never spoke to us after the initial complaint about the wait, which we found shocking. I’ll also add that it really wasn’t all that busy. (We had a late 8:15 reservation.)
–We never even received one of the two sides we ordered.
–My friend’s cassoulet was very dry and my husband’s skirt steak special was also very salty. He said he feels dehydrated now!
–The ratatouille was PATHETIC. It looked so sad… Like, I almost laughed it at. It was literally ¹⁄₃ the usual portion size for this restaurant and mushy. It looked like slop out of a can. I think it cost $ 6-​$ 7 too.
–It was always really hard to get anyone’s attention. My husband immediately asked for a steak knife when given his meal. No one brought one. He had to ask again 10 minutes later after cutting it with a butter knife.
–When we finally got the bill, we were charged for the wrong bottle of wine, which was $ 8 more expensive than what we ordered. (We compared the name on he bottle with what was on the tab to make sure we weren’t crazy.) We had to send the check back and it took 5 minutes to find anyone. We finally had to tell a busboy.
That’s about it… Overall, it took 2 hours to eat 2 courses. The best 4 or 5-​course prixe fixe meals I have had in my life have taken around 2 hours to eat… We didn’t even have dessert… Two hours for two courses!
In the end, I really expected more of an apology. We clearly looked very miffed. The only thing they did for us to compensate was to «comp» our «side (s)»… Sides, plural? They didn’t even give us the creamed spinach! And like I said, the ratatouille was god awful.
It was sooo tempting to all out tell them how TERRIBLE everything was, but it would have made everyone feel even more uncomfortable and we didn’t want to waste more of our time… So, here I am saying it safely on Unilocal.
After writing this, I went and looked at the other reviews… OMG! Other people also said:
–The manager did not apologize or was even MEAN. (Dropping f-​bombs, pounding angrily on a table, etc.)
–That it is was also the worst dining experience of their life (2 reviews)
–That the wait for food were atrocious.
–And that they were charged for a more expensive bottle of wine!
–That food was so salty, they could not eat it.

I also came here because of the great deal on Gilt City. I LOVE the other Petit Roberts I have been to, the one on Columbus and the one at Dowtown Crossing. But I just like this one.
Istead of being fabulous, it is just… fine. I am taking a friend there tonight with the last of my Gilt City coupons, and I have to say I am sorry that he won’t be getting the «real» Petit Robert experience, and therefore probably will not be motivated to try the other ones.
I wonder if it’s still the same as when it was Jacky’s Table, and Jacky just bought the right to use the name?

I went here for dinner last night and overall have mixed feelings about the place.
It’s a nice addition along Comm Ave in the middle of Brighton, where I feel there are not a lot of nicer restaurants. The main entrance was closed so as to not let the cold air in (the room is tiny), so we had to walk through the bar entrance and then through a curtain (???) to get to the restaurant.
The room is dimly lit, but not so much to the point where you can’t see anything. The place is clean, but there is not a whole lot of décor. The ambiance was nice, cozy and comfortable.
In the pricing and overall look of the place, I feel as if Petit Robert Bistro tries too hard to be high-​end. However, based on my experience, I would not consider this place high-​end.
Our waitress was pleasant, though service was really slow. We waited about 10 minutes after we placed our order just to get bread (two warm baguettes with butter), then another 20 minutes or so before we got our food.
I ordered the skirt steak with frites (aka really thin French fries — nothing fancy and poivre sauce). While I had no problems with the taste (steak was really juicy, the fries were yummy and I LOVED the poivre sauce), it was so basic that it was definitely NOT worth $ 23 (we had a BuyWithMe certificate for this place, so we were flexible with the price of our entrees).
The one thing that I was disappointed about were parts of my steak were undercooked. Is it really that easy to mess up a skirt steak? I ordered medium well. Like I said, the parts I ate were juicy, but it was unevenly cooked and the ends were blood red, and I was disgusted. FYI, I overheard the couple next to us talk about how the guy’s steak was more overcooked than he wanted. Sounds like this place does not listen to the requests of its patrons.
Had we not had a BuyWithMe coupon, our meal would have came out to just shy of $ 60 including tip (and that was without ordering drinks). My boyfriend and I feel as if our meal was not worth that much. Unfortunately, he has another coupon to use and is thinking about asking for a refund based on our experience, even though BuyWithMe does indicate all sales final.
I gave the review 3 stars, but my true rating hovers between 2 and 3 stars, depending how I look at it.

Brighton is college carb central. Never have I seen so many burger, pizza and sub joints per block like I have in Brighton Center and Cleveland Circle. And the food itself? Pure money shot like it came off hot from the food porn channel, Phantom Gourmet. But don’t fear, bright young things, if your heart gives a lopsy thump — look up! See over Brighton Center the great St. E’s clock, as bright as a Christmas tree, letting you know the wait time for ER.
Ladies and gentlemen of Brighton, you don’t have to get in a cab to Brookline or Cambridge to score a decent meal and maybe some date night ambiance anymore. There is a fabulous place I found in Brighton! And I ‘merde’ you not, IT’S FRENCH! I know, I know I can barely contain myself after learning of such joyful tidings!
I came here before when it was «Jackie’s Table» and the meal was so-​so. I drove by the new «Petit Robert Bistro» and the place was packed so I figured I’d give it the old college try. We started with the special red wine from a festival. It was fruity like a Merlot and a tad watery like a Pinot Noir. My sweetie liked it but I wasn’t sure. I like a bold red like a Cab or Syrah or Malbec or spicy Rioja. We shared the wine over tuna tartar, which was delicious.
The next course, I had the soup du jour (cream of potato and broccoli) and he had the French onion soup. My soup was a heavy cream but lovely and he said the French onion soup was a great improvement from last time (Jackie’s Table). The freshly baked bread and butter they served went very well with the soups.
For the entrees, I had the fish of the day (trout amandine) and he had the famous chicken. My fish and vegetables were beautifully done and scrumptuous. He enjoyed the chicken and wouldn’t allow a spoon-​sized dollop of his mashed potatoes to leave his plate (meanie) so I could try them but generously passed me all his vegetables when I didn’t ask and clearly had my own (who doesn’t love perfectly cooked, sliced carrots lightly bathed in butter?).
For dessert, we ordered the Grand Marnier soufflé. Mind you, I love soufflé particularly the Grand Marnier soufflé, which I rarely see. The first time I had one at the Bel Air Hotel I thought, «THIS is how nuns give up sex!» It was THAT good. For the twenty minutes we waited, I had a kir royale and he had another glass of wine. When the soufflé came out, it was pretty to behold. A tad eggy so not as stellar as the Bel Air Hotel but good enough to say, «Bön Appetit!» :)
Also, the restaurant is charming, the service was good and there is valet parking. I think the total bill was under $ 150.

Very disappointing! I’ve been to the one in the South End and it was great.
Went with my mom for her birthday and pretty much nothing went right. Her meal was mediocre to say the best, and my scallops and risotto were completely bland. The waiter was ready to bring me another try of the same dish when the manager intercepted it and asked what else he could get me. He brought me scallops with sautéed spinach, all of which was salty to the point of being almost inedible.
Stomach ache…
The only redeeming qualities (hence the 2 stars) were the wine, the nice atmosphere, free valet parking, and the fact that they comp’ed my awful meal.
Not going back to this Petit Robert.

Same as it ever was?
Same as it ever was!
I’ve enjoyed the food at the other locations, more of the same here. Summer in Boston, awfully warm, awfully quiet out here in Brighton, but there’s street parking in the shade (a big plus), and nice lunch specials.
What would it take to gain that 5^th star? Wine pricing by the glass — not at all «Bistro”-like … just a bunch of gouging.