Les Halles

I love the food here, but the service needs to improve a lot.

Unforgettable experience — had a blast. Great food. Great prices. Awesome management. We’re coming back soon. Thanks!

I used to be in love with Les Halles years ago, but the glory had faded and the stakes are just not as great as they used to be.
Yet, I return not to mourn what had passed, but rather then remiscense of the best French bistro food I enjoyed four years in NYC.
The winelist is still an inspiration.

So the food is ok nothing special to be honest… But the service was pretty bad… Very slow… we waited so long for someone to order something to drink… Not coming back

The food is quite good here but the service fell flat. As many other reviewers have mentioned, the ambiance is very important especially at a place that is renowned for Anthony Bourdain’s touch. The hostess greeted me and took my name, I went to the bathroom, and she completely forgot who I was when I came back. The servers for the night were also disengaged, seemed to spend more time gossiping among themselves, and uninterested in providing a friendly experience to their guests.
For the food, we had the duck and pork entrees. Both were quite good, but the wine selection they had was not. The caramelized apple tart we had for dessert was also too sweet in the wrong ways. Not sure if the Park Ave location is better, but I’m unlikely to venture back to this brasserie again.

It has been hit or miss with food and service. You can have a great waiter or the worst I have seen. Brunch one day it was so bad. He forgot to take my order for 30 mins, put in my order, refill coffee etc. the hostess stepped in and helped us out as she saw what was happening to us.
The food can be good or you can get cold food that’s supposed to be hot. Typically it’s good though.
The reason I keep going back often is that they have been so accommodating for me with a baby from 2 mos old to now 10 mos. they often put us families in back to not disturb the rest of the diners which makes sense. It’s been a huge plus the past year as it’s not always easy with a baby in a stroller.

Have eaten at the John Street Les Halles twice, and both times were a delicious and happy experience! I was thrilled to finally get to Les Halles, fantasizing that somehow Anthony Bourdain was going to walk thru the door at any minute, although I know he’s no longer a chef, and I believe he worked the Park Avenue location anyway, but still…
Enjoyed steak frites both times, wine and crème brûlée. We also ordered crêpe Suzette that was prepared table side. Lots of fun and the servers were very friendly. I have a 50^th birthday coming up and would love to book it here, if I could get my friends to NYC! Thanks for a great meal!

Definitely recommend this place to all my friends!
I usually come here after night class.
Good location near wall st and city hall area.
Friendly staff, delicious Steak all the time.
Much better than Peter Luger!
They accept cash and credit card.
Casual is fine ;)

I’ll have to come here when it’s not a national holiday because the service was terrible! The place itself is okay, average priced restaurant one step up from a diner. Decent brunch menu-​salads, eggs a variety of ways, sandwiches, a few apps. The place itself has old wooden furniture, a room in the front and a room in the back, We came for bunch and the place was dead when we arrived. They sat us in the back and then disappeared. The waitress finally came back and asked if we wanted anything to drink. I had a $ 5 mimosa and my buddy had a Bloody Mary. She was not friendly at all! After she gave us our drinks we were hard pressed to find her again. When she finally came back I ordered a chicken sandwich off of the brunch menu, pretty basic sandwich, roasted chicken, lettuce, chipotle mayo on a hard roll with a choice of frozen french fries or a light salad. She asked if I wanted cheese with it, and I was a bit bummed with their cheese selection, Swiss, blue cheese or goat cheese-​I went with Swiss and a side salad. Pretty basic. Anyway, I asked the waiter for extra mayo and he came back 20 minutes later with it. At that point I was totally over it! Then we waited forever to get the check and forever to get change! My buddy said his coffee was terrible. Oh well.

My friend made a reservation, however we had to wait 15 min to be seated. The tables were to close together for my comfort. Yet the atmosphere of the place was nostalgic with the christmas lights and hustle at the bar. With tables close together it was easy to engage with other patrons who were up for a chat.
I ordered escargot for the first time love the butter flavor. I also got a Riesling which I gladly drank. For main course the pork dish which was very new to me and for desert the cream puff which i thoroughly enjoyed.
For my first french food experience I was satisfies

Come here for happy hour a lot. They have $ 1 and $ 2 oysters. The drinks aren’t bad either — usually get the elderflower one which is good. The truffle fries are AMAZING and a must get. The tuna tartare is also delicious and comes in a phyllo shell. Service is usually pretty good too.

As a big Anthony Bordain fan I have been wanting to get to Les Halles for awhile, my parents were in town and we were at the ⁹⁄₁₁ memorial so we figured it was the perfect time to go.…my overall reaction: meh.
The service was a little awkward in the beginning, we had 3 different people come to ask is about water and drinks, but then no one came back with any water for about 10 minutes, which normally wouldn’t really bother me but I happened to be parched! After that they seemed to get the ball rolling and service was smoother.
The food:
I had the muscles.. .they were very small and I got a few that were off.. . Don’t read the next sentence if you’re not comfortable with a little TMI but let’s just say my stomach didn’t do very well through the night.
My husband had the duck which I didn’t try but he seemed neither enthused nor disappointed.
My Dad has the salmon which was very well cooked and tasty, probably the better dish of the night.
My Mom had the faux filet, which was tasty enough, wish I had stuck with that which was my original order :(Sadly I won’t be able to trust a muscle for awhile after this.
We also had the French onion soup to start, which was quite good. I didn’t care for the lobster ravioli starter, it was $ 16 for basically one large ravioli that was just ok, nothing mind blowing.
Would I go back? No. Would I recommend this to anyone? No. It wasn’t the worst meal I’ve ever had but when you’re paying decent money you expect everything to be on point and this fell way short.

When you play in the French sandbox, you need to bring your best toys because the French have very high standards. I had been craving steak frites and decided this was the locale to extinguish my vampiric hunger. The only reason I looked at the menu was to ponder whether there was some essential starter to help usher in the meat and potato. I did not order the fois gras that tempted me.
Instead I opted for a sassy Manhattan derivative while she went with her standard Vesper. We both ordered the steak frites with sauce Bernaise and a side order of string beans. It comes with a simple salad. We enjoyed it all — notably the string beans. In the back of our crania lingered the memory of the same meal in Paris last summer.
Décor is classic bistro which is always nice. Oddly, the hostess seated us in the way back of the dining room rather than up front with the cool people. If you eat here be sure to have a preference for cool or dud table location. I would have preferred to be part of the showcase in the bustle up front.
The server was generic with a French accent but, unlike most French waiters, he did not hit on my bride.

After visiting the Freedom Tower (almost 8pm) we wanted nice casual somewhere nearby the Fulton subway station. I had this place bookmarked on Unilocal (can’t remember why) so we decided to try it despite the mixed reviews.
We were pleasantly surprised by the experience. Service was very friendly (compare to many reviews complaining the service). Ambiance casual, low-​lighting, relaxed and good for talking and catching up even if you sit at the bar.
We started with escargot, I liked it because it was light (many times escargot will be very flavorful and oily), we dipped our bread in the pesto/​oil. Then we had the crispy duck (confit of duck), the meat came right off the bone and came with a large salad. The other main we had steak crusted with pepper. Steak nicely cooked, but the pepper I thought was a bit over powering. It paired well with a glass of red though. The steak came with fries which we added extra $ 5 to make it truffle fries. I personally don’t appreciate the taste of truffle but my husband loved it. I finished with a chocolate tart soufflé. I’m not sure why it’s called a soufflé when it taste and looked more like a molten chocolate tart (might just be the language…)
Overall experience was really good, loved the cozy quiet atmosphere, small tables, decent portions and total bill was just over $ 100 which we thought very reasonable for the size & value.

Nice relaxing alternative from the hustle and bustle in FiDi.
If your looking for something to eat on this block I would highly recommend you come here to Les Halles before Irish American (review available) which is next door. This place is way more classy, better service and the food is better. Was in a rush and wanted to grab a quick beer and an entrée. The service here is impeccable. Everyone is extremely friendly. We told our waiter that we were in a rush because we had tickets to something and he made sure our order was started first. I had the steak frites which is basically steak and french fries. The steak tasted great and the fries were nice and fresh. I will most certainly return here. They also have a large wine selection. Definitely recommend.

I confess that I’m on some type of Anthony Bourdain tour. I am obsessed with food and will always prioritize it. So after reading the OpenTable review, I just had to give this place a try (or two).
Our vendor made reservations for lunch at Brasserie Les Halles. We were seated promptly. For starters we ordered the moules in Marinire sauce. The large comes with frites which is what we went with. We were sorta let down by the sauce as it it was missing some type of pizazz. However, I was happy with the amount of garlic they put in the sauce. That was the savior. I ordered the Croque Madame expecting the most perfect grilled cheese, ham, and egg. Magnificent. The restaurant delivered one of the most popular French dishes. Like Mac & Cheese, this cannot even have the slightest error. Delicious.
On a second occasion I made it out here for dinner. For starters the escargots in garlic butter were yummy. Especially with the bread. Get plenty of bread if you order this dish! I ordered the filet medium rare on the rare side and it was cooked perfectly. The Béarnaise sauce was definitely something to talk about. For desert I had a cappuccino and the crème brûlée. That was quite a good meal.
I definitely recommend visiting this place. You won’t be let down.

Les Halles is an institution, but one that’s far more approachable than some of the other marquee names like Daniel or French Laundry, and certainly not pricey like those other locations associated with globally known chefs.
I’ve been here for lunch before – escargot is an amazing dish – but I and the team stopped in for breakfast to celebrate the birthday of one of our own. Our server was polite and cheerful, as well as highly responsive to our table’s needs.
I, as should be no surprise, was the big eater at the table, opting for the Eggs Benedict because that’s always been a special plate for me. I received two perfectly poached eggs bathed in creamy sauce and resting on two delicate English Muffins. It was sublime. There’s just something about runny egg yolks and bread that makes life all the more interesting.
The hash browns were crispy cubes that offset the eggs just right, and mopping up some of the egg yolk with them just added to the pleasure.
Yeah, I had a very good time. No, not the best experience ever, but it was some very fine eating, and I’m going to have to make time to get there for either the happy hour or dinner.

Alright, I’ll admit that I showed up at Brasserie Les Halles just because of Anthony Bourdain and his book Kitchen Confidential. We were staying in the area, and we wanted a nice quick lunch before heading off to the airport, so we figured we’d try it.
I’m puzzled by all the negative reviews. Perhaps other Bourdain fans who ate here were expecting Michelin Starred food and service, but Les Halles isn’t that kind of restaurant — it’s a casual bar.
We sat at the bar and I had the steak frites lunch special and my wife had the moules frites. Both were very good, and the service provided by the bartender was good. No, it was not the greatest steak I ever had — it was only $ 20 and included fries and a salad — but it was fine for the price and I enjoyed it. However, the fries were absolutely spectacular, and were some of the best french fries I’ve ever had.
Since we were in a hurry to catch our plane, everything was served nice and quickly too.

Good food, good prices, hilariously bad service.
Hilarious Service: We ordered a bunch of appetizers, so asked for some small plates so we could share them. We were told they ran out of small plates. Oh la la! Next, I noticed my soup came with a small desert spoon. I flagged a bus boy and asked him for a soup spoon, and was told they ran out of spoons. How do you run out of spoons? Is some fat table double-​fisting all the spoons in the restaurant?
Food: We ordered some of their corn chowder (soup of the day, $ 8), two orders of steak and fries ($ 21 each), the Mac and Cheese appetizer (around $ 8 – 9), deviled eggs, and some fish. For the price, the food was very good. Their steak and fries is one of their most popular menu items, and for good reason — the steak is moist, juicy, flavorful, delicious. The deviled eggs were creamy and had a good balance of flavor — some of the best I’ve had in ages. My girl and my buddy loved the mac n cheese. Good food, great prices for NYC.
Atmosphere: Beautiful, darkly lit restaurant with high ceilings that looked like a bustling brasserie off a Parisian boulevard. Petite bathrooms.
We came here because it is Anthony Bourdain’s old restaurant — he was the executive chef at the midtown Halles — but probably won’t come back. To sum up — good food, good prices, nice atmosphere, hilariously bad and somewhat flippant service.

This morning for brunch
I went to Les Halles,
I can’t help but feel
They didn’t give it their all.
Service was glacial
The whole thing was crass,
And then out of the blue,
Our server gave us sass (??)
The overall experience,
The food did not redeem.
$ 10 for small and average crepes?
Not in my wildest dream.
This meal did not meet expectations– Service, value, or cooking–
So if you’re seeking brunch downtown,
Trust me on this one, keep looking.

Très bon repas, personnel sympathique, et un cheesecake à tomber par terre ;)