La Madeleine French Bakery & Cafe

Very quiet at 1:30pm on a Monday. Noticed it was clean and the staff was very friendly. Ordered food, waited a few minutes, and to my delight the pasta dish was very well made and the taste was very good. Tea for 2.29 seems a lil steep but hey, places have to make money right:)

I dove into the door to get out of the pouring rain and was in a hurry to get to a nearby appointment. In my haste I went to the serving line to order a breakfast croissant to go and was told by a polite Alberto that To go orders were placed at the pastry counter. There was a line. Dammit.
I get in line and by the time I reach the end of it, Alberto walked up from behind the grill with my to go bag of awesomeness and promptly rang me up! No waiting and my food was ready to go! Alberto saved the day! Then the manager spotted me grinning like an idiot and made sure that I had everything I needed with napkins, utensils, etc and I was on my way! What great attention to detail with their patrons and what a wonderful customer service experience! I will go out of my way to visit this location when I need a breakfast fix now. THANK YOU ALBERTO!

We are only here for two days in Houston, so I was doing a general search of breakfast restaurants to go to while my husband’s conference and low and behold… I guess I could have simply went to one of the dozen or more waffle houses this area is famous for, but I was really craving a blast from the past. Just like I remember from my days living in Washington, DC.
I had the 2 Potato Galettes (golden brown, crisp on the outside & seasoned just right), they will never give their recipe away, so I’m not sure what’s in it besides very fluffy shaved potato, parmesan cheese, very small bits of green onion & seasoning that will literally melt your mouth. I also had the small size Strawberry & Bacon Spinach Salad (no bacon), which contains fresh strawberries, crisp bacon, slice mushrooms, toasted pecans*, diced red bell pepper and fresh spinach tossed in balsamic vinaigrette. I decided to opt out of the Tomato Basil Soupe, one of my go to’s, because it’s already almost 80° here & I’m just not hungry enough for all of it. This soup is a cream based bisque, which is rich, but not too much.
My salad was initially a tad short on the balsamic vinegarette, which made me question if the dressing was even there at all — opposite of what happens at most restaurants, so I typically ask to have dressing placed on the side. That said, the person who put together my order promptly provided me w/​more when I asked. All is now right w/​the world.
Lastly, I order the Mini Lemon Tart & Fresh Fruit (mix) Tart. O.M.G. Lemon was uuuuuber good. I think I can say, the best I’ve ever had. Barely made it from the car back to our RV.
They do a really good breakfast here also. Almost anything you want. However, I just couldn’t resist ordering my all time favorites, since I’m not sure when I will have this opportunity again.

I love this place for its yummy soups and salads as well as its French dark roast coffee. Because of dietary restrictions, I skip all the tempting pastries. But if you are looking for delectable pastries, both sweet and savory, you can find them here.
Their music is light and adds to the café ambiance, which is rarely the case in most eateries. Also, the chance to learn some French (and then forget it) as I hear it in the ladies’ room is a mix of odd and clever.

I love La Madeline, but this location definitely does not live up to my previous years of experience. First thing first, this location needs to get familiar with their own menu. I ordered Shrimp Crêpe Florentine, the chef made it with chunks of broccoli and no spinach, therefore combining the ingredients of a Chicken Crêpe Riviera. I ordered Country French Breakfast and did not receive the croissant. To-​go food typically sits there cold because only one person is taking orders at the register. One time I stood at the to-​go register and watched my food sitting here for 8 min and not one person acknowledged me. I walked out… The manager is running around just as confused as her employees. This location needs to do better.

I like La Madeline a lot but this location has serious problems. The couple of times I have been here the staff has caused so many problems. I’ve had to order my food three times on this last visit because they kept switching out the cashier, my food was then delivered wrong. If you like La Madeline take the extra minute and go to the one on San Felipe.

I come here often to pick up food to go for lunch during the week. I have never had a problem… except sometimes the parking really sucks!
I’ve eaten at many different La Madelines around the Houston area, so I just expect consistency with the food, and good service. And that’s what I get.
I love their chicken salad on croissant, it is one of the best chicken salad sandwiches I’ve ever had. You can get the duet magnifique with a half or whole sandwich, plus a soup, and a side salad. It is a great deal!
I notice the dine in line can be all the way to the door during peak lunch time. But the to go line is never more than one or two people!

This is a place I really like for brunch. I’m not giving 5 stars because at this location (woodway) they charged me for changing the plain croissant for chocolate croissants. I’ve been to other locations and they never charged me extra.
The omelette a with croissant are very good !

The bakery is ok, what you would expect from a french bakery however I found service rude, very far from getting a smile. Now, for the coffee, I ordered a latte and they had a milk pitcher sit on the machine until boiling for about one minute, then let it sit for 4 minutes while distracted on something else, finally poured the milk over a little bit of coffee and served boiling hot. It was like having hot milk, with a mild rememberance of coffee. I guess this is their version of a latte.

We love this place! We come here every weekend! Food is always fresh & the staff is very nice.

Quiet La Madeline tucked in the corner off of Voss and Woodway.
There is hardly ever anyone in here during the day on weekends. I can find a nice little spot on the patio and read and enjoy my salad.
Everything is always clean and the food is always great.
Love this location.

This location is in dire need of an overhaul. The trays are old, dingy and cracked. Not the type of tray you want to set your food on. The floors were filthy and tables were being propped with sugar packets, a rodent or bugs dream. The walls were dirty and there is a layer of dust and cobwebs on the lights and antiques throughout. I realize that the look of la madeleine is rustic French country, but this is beyond. What concerns me is that if the dining area looks this way, what must the kitchen look like? An unsettling thought to say the least.
I’ve always appreciated the convenience and fairly consistent quality of the food at la madeleine but it seems that this location is slipping. I’m shocked that their corporate office/​parent company has allowed for this location to get to this point.
On a positive note…
The food was good (I had a fat free Caesar salad and tomato basil soup) and the service was fine. And of course, I always enjoy the sliced bread and jam.
I hope that this neighborhood la madeleine will take the initiative to get in shape!

I love the food here, but all my daughter wanted was a croissant with Ham and cheese, and the guy was trying to charge me over $ 8? Come on guys…

Great bakery… loved their croissants. However… we ordered their eggs Benedict, and it had to be redone because the egg was cooked all the way through. This in itself is not so much an issue as they happily made a new one for us… but they weren’t sure what went wrong… and we had to explain that the egg needed to be poached… disappointing.
This review earned three stars over two because of their strong coffee and bakery selection.

Disappointing and frustrating experience.
G/​f and I went in with a free coupon for some soup which my g/​f likes. She orders the country potato confirms bacon cheese etc and instead we get tomato something or other, let the older female cashier know and she proceeds to get extremely short. «Well no one let me know!» then comes the huffing and puffing and stabbing the pc screen with her finger. «Do you want a drink or not ». . we ask for water and g/​f is on the verge of telling this older woman where to shove that giant wooden spoon. We are about to leave to our table when my g/f’s checking the receipts and go figure my salad was never ordered so there’s another charge. and my g/​f and I are about to leave at this point.
We get to our table and we start checking the receipts and turns out the free coupon we originally brought and sorta the reason for this visit in general. Never used towards the cost of the bill. Even handed the coupon to the first girl «lori» which apparently got completely forgotten. G/​f goes BACK to the cashier again and refuses to deal with the older woman because she’s concerned about getting her head ripped off again. So «Elana» *if you happen to read this and I miss spelled your name I apologize.* steps in and gave the refund and then gives a correct amount of change back offering 2 gift cards as well.
G/​f comes back to our table sandwich has been sitting there and at this point we are picking at our food cause we just aren’t hungry anymore because we’ve been discussing whats happened for the duration of our meal. Elana checks in with us at different points offering pastries or anything and we politely decline. Eventually we just finish up what we could and leave without even looking.
in addition, on top of this poor and miserable experience. We pulled silverware and the soup spoon that was in the bin had food left over on it. C’mon. I worked in a few restaurants as well as my g/​f I mean who hasn’t. We expect this kind of attitude and lack of tact from Taco bell or mcdonalds on westhiemer /​voss down the road.
Id be surprised if we come back to this restaurant without hesitation. Screwed up orders, rude and non observant staff. For the cost I’ll be going to sbarro’s instead.

Cannot recall how many times I have been here but the remodeling job took away the cookies! The bakery section cut in half and so was the selection, how dare they mess with the sweets.
Two roast beef sandwiches okay, one with greasy, tasteless pasta, the other with chips, french onion soup tasted like metal and did not appear to have an abundance of onions, this place is free falling, very disappointed. Won’t come back to this location.
On check out the man standing in line next to us asked for a glass, the first one they gave him was dirty, the second one was cracked, the third one was dirty, alas on his 4^th requested glass he accepted it and toddled off. Menu boards were gone, more seating available but to meander around the check out to get straws while carrying 3 full glasses of tea and water, crazy.
Parking was easy, not overly crowded, appeared to be understaffed, 2 sandwiches $ 23.00.

I could probably eat here 5+ days/​week. They have options for everyone, and it’s great for brunch, lunch, and dinner. My favorite option if the grilled chicken caesar salad. The chicken is dry, lean, flaky, and flavorful. You have the option of regular or fat free ceasar (and the fat free option actually tastes good! It’s not sour at all!). The coffee is good, and they offer complimentary bread with their tasty jams.
The atmosphere is also great for many purposes. I have graded papers here, held bible study here, and studied for the bar exam here. Truly relaxing. Be sure to head to the right location — the one at w. gray can get a little cramped (though the food quality is the same).

I would love to give this place four stars. It was cozy and had the most delicious food. The french dip sandwich was ethereal. The raspberry lemonade — a bit too sweet for my standards. Free breads with lovely jams and butter… YUM! Their bathrooms have cute French lessons over the speaker system and little wall tiles with even more French lessons. I had told my friend before going here, «I’m in the mood for soup and sandwiches or French food,» and this was the absolute perfect blend.
Ok, well so why only three stars? They advertised some field greens salad that my friend ordered as pictured with fruits and other delicious items on it. The salad came with dressing, cheese, and chicken. Ouch. The chicken looked hot and delicious, but where was the other half of this salad? Also, the place is a zoo after church on Sunday, especially with the Second Baptist Church being right there. Don’t know how I made it into the parking lot, but it took over 15 minutes once I could physically see the restaurant from the road.
I will ameliorate the rating when they impress me (and whatever guest I bring) next time. Bön appetit!

LOVE the Spinach salad and the reduced-​fat tomato basil soup. I was in Houston for an interview, and my friend recommended this restaurant for a light lunch (since I am a healthy, veggie-​loving California girl). This was a great recommendation. The spinach salad has flavorful chicken, crisp bacon (sometimes you need a health splurge), leaves of spinach, strawberries, some sort of nuts, and a great vinaigrette. I wish there were more spinach leaves — that would be the only thing I’d change about the salad. I also loved the tomato-​basil soup. It was very hearty, but probably not the best on a humid day.
Service was also really nice, and the restaurant was pretty clean and relatively spacious.
I went back and got the salad to-​go on my way to the airport!

This location is my neighborhood La Madeleine. :) Items that we usually order are:
Tomato Basil Soup — so very creamy and delicious
Caesar Salade — the best Caesar salad I’ve had hands down
Wild Field Salade — very fresh greens
Tomato Basil Pasta (with chicken or shrimp) — very nice flavor and has spinach which is a + and comes with a small baguette
Coffee is good and there’s free bread! :)