La Gare French Restaurant

Terrific array of delicious French cuisine. Servers get top marks too! We typically visit French restaurants in the City or Napa, but just discovered this special place. Nice ambience… didn’t feel rushed like some CA restaurants.
Don’t pass up the desert options. The caramel dome not only tastes scrumptious, but it’s also a work of art.
We will be back!

I’ve eaten here a few times and it is (like so many Santa Rosa restaurants) from times gone by — the restaurant is like being in a cave (in a good way I suppose). The food preparations and recipes must’ve been created in the 1970’s — but saying that, they’re done well for ‘old school’ classic French Food.
I’ve run several French restaurants and the food here is tasty (escargot) and on the heavier, heaviest side of French cooking. La Gare is one of the few classic French restaurants in Santa Rosa so not many choices and I’ve had great times with great company on several occasions.
So definitely go when you’re looking for Classic French — just don’t have anything in mind that is new, nouveau, or modern in mind. Think more Renaissance fair ambience and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

My husband and I joined another couple at La Gare for a bday dinner on a Saturday evening@ 7:00. It was our second time here, first time, a couple years ago it was great!
This place was bustling busy and loud with lots of chatter from other dinners, must have been fifty people packed into the main dining room!
Our waiter, David, was attentive and personable at the beginning of our meal, but progressively less so when another couple across from us showed up. Not sure who they were, maybe VIPs, maybe just a pair of demanding customers, at any rate, who ever they were, they really monopolized his time. As another viewer pointed out, the busser, Joe, stepped in when we needed a couple of things, however, we didn’t mind, he was very nice and helpful all evening.
Now, the food. The meal came with a tomato bisque soup, honestly, Safeway deli puts out a much tastier tomato bisque soup from a container! Also a butter leaf salad that was covered in a creamy type dressing with a quartered tomato on top. blah! Each order came with the same vegetable combo of green beans and sliced carrots, nothing special. Two in our party were happy with the pepper steak, medium rare, and chicken in a mushroom sauce. Two of us ordered the prime rib special ($ 28.) medium rare. When our food came David said, «This is the last of the prime rib.» Mine was okay, parts were medium rare and had good flavor, but my poor husband’s was over cooked and more like a pot roast than a prime rib! He only ate a couple bites of it and brought the rest home for the dogs! Why would a four star restaurant’s chef and waiter allow that to be served?!
My husband chose not to send it back or to make a big deal out of it, but I’m pissed and would seriously like a do-​over, on the house! If I don’t get a response from management, we will not be going back to La Gare. So disappointed.