La Galette Berrichonne

Completely off the beaten path and about 25m from Springfield, you can find comfort quality and unpretentious French food and amazing pasties in a very very very small town (like population 800 total). This is the hole in the wall of hole in the walls. Yes, it’s quality French food but leave your LV bags at home and button ups. You can come casual and I did not need a reservation for a table of 2 for lunch. It looks like a beaten up diner and they could use more signage, but it’s everything — but simple. And the food isn’t modern and no molecular gastronomy going on here. This is just old school French techniques, and it’s delightful.
So I personally prefer the pastries over the entrees, although, both were wonderful. It brought me back to my days abroad when I would wake up and get a chocolate croissant and café con leche to go about my day.
Pros:
1) Pasties (take some croissants home, on the road, to your hotel, whatever — especially the almond ones to go)
2) Cold Pasties. Get the fruit tart. OMG. and the Cream Puff was huge enough to share. There was a time when I lived in NJ that I ate a Cream Puff everyday and this gives a run for it’s money.
3) The recommendation is anything Croustade (which means a homemade flaky pie crust in French). The Chicken Croustade was wonderful. I also enjoyed the Beef Burgundy.
4) Not cash only
5) BYOB
6) Prices are under $ 10 an entrée? Huh?
7) Very friendly staff
Cons:
1) It’s off the highway, but slightly hard to find. It’s the town’s downtown.
2) The hours are mostly lunch hours. They open from 9−3pm most days and only 1 day for dinner on Friday. I suggest you make reservations if you are coming for dinner and it’s usually a 7 course pre-​fix that starts @ 6:30pm for 2 hours.
3) As much as I love the chocolate croissants, they run out quickly during the day and there isn’t a lot of chocolate in them. But it’s still wonderful.
4) Go for the green beans or salad vs. the Ratatouille unless you love love eggplant.
Other things to Note: 1) I wished I tried a crêpe or the quiche. I almost didn’t want to Unilocal this place and keep this a secret. But people really should know about it. This is a wonderful trip and don’t forget to sign the guest book! 2) There are cooking classes for $ 30 per a person.
Tip: Order the pasties with the server in the beginning b/​c they run out!

Wonderful dining experience! A little loud due to the packed house, but what a wonderful dining experience. Chef will return in June 2016.

A FRENCH comfort food place. 4 stars for the food, 3 stars for service. If you are headed to the monthly Schofield & Gray Antiques Market, call & get reservations for 1145 AM as it gets full fast. Very casual & unassuming décor – Not. Fancy. It was hot the day we went so their AC is sorely lacking. Every dish is personally prepared by the French chef to order so it takes at least 30 minutes to get your food if in a large group – it was 50 minutes for us. Hostess kept apologizing saying everything was made by hand to order but never offered an appetizer for the table or comp a dessert. Service was not French at all & needs major work. Quality of food was very fine. They have Friday night 7-​course degustations for a bargain $ 35 price. They give cooking lessons for $ ³⁰⁄₄ hours. Croissants & Patisserie are amazingly homemade. I had Julia Childs’ Boeuf Bourguignon!

This place is authentic and delightful. If you are not a local, it is well worth the time to make a visit. The building is unassuming– not fancy. Portions are huge, and there are many choices. I would call it French comfort food. Allow plenty of time to be served and savor your meal and save room for dessert, of course.

What a pleasure. The food was fabulous. From course to course, we were treated with the must wonderful flavors and the sauces… Each course begged you to clean your plate with a slice of the table French bread… Just to get one more bite. From the salad to the sorbet (which might be the best part) everything was the best I have ever had in 417. I’ve eaten at some nice places … And I’m a bit of a foodie… And this was well worth the weeks it takes to get a table reservation. They are sold out for a reason. Do yourself a favor… Get there before it’s impossible to get a table. I’ll be back. At $ 35 it’s a great value for what your getting. The service was timely and great. The environment, although, loud, is nice and clean and unpretentious as you would expect from Fordland, MO. The food however, is what you would expect from New Orleans or New York Fine French Cuisine. Bring your own bottle of wine or just enjoy the iced tea. Come as a party of at least four… Or you might be sitting with some people you don’t know… They fill the tables each night.

My wife, grandson and I had lunch here today. I had the Seafood Crustrade, this had shrimp, salmon, & scallops… my wife had salmon… what we had was FABULOUS!

Who knew you could get authentic FRENCH food in Fordland, Mo! Fantastic food and friendly staff. What a gem! Don’t miss out on this place.