Love Rue Cler - food is exceptional, low key, bistro-style ambiance, great service - always a beautiful night out for a special occasion. I didn't know what to expect the first time I went and was afraid it would be intimidating but the atmosphere is warm and the staff are friendly, welcoming and very knowledgeable. It's fine dining so be prepared to splurge on the price, but the quality is excellent.
John Lawler
Lovely small vibes upscale French restaurant. Perfect for a nice dinner date night, however, does cater to large groups too (reserve ahead of time). Loved each dish, everything was well presented and our server was incredibly knowledgeable about food and wine pairings.They did an incredible job serving and waiting a large group of 15-20 people and was thoroughly impressed at timings of every dish. With a group our size, it took all in around 2-2.5 hours of dining.The cocktails were good, ordered a boulevardier, but were nothing special. Typical house liquors. Like the lighting arrangements here.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Dessert Beignets
Tamer Ceylan
We enjoyed our first dinner at Rue Cler tremendously. Our waiter, Jordan, provided excellent service. Very professional, polite, and helpful. He definitely deserves recognition for his efforts and talent. We were happy with his helpers too. We ordered two entrees, a salad, and and a side dish. We liked them all very much. We recommend Rue Cler for anyone who wants to have a high-quality French restaurant experience.
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ken Y.
We took our guest to this restaurant and everything was amazing. Food was delicious and the chef/sommelier's wine recommendation was spot-on. They have an impressive wine list at reasonable price (only ~2x online price).
Emma O'Connor
Literal garbage food and service.
Candy Todd
An outstanding meal! The waitstaff was fabulous! Everything was more than perfect! I would eat there once a week if I lived there!
Was a decent experience but food is definitely not worth the price. I coulda had a better steak for 20 dollars at a different restaurant. Fries were also way too salty.The other meals were decent but again nothing special
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 4
bennett payne
It would be impossible to say which item was my favorite.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Alexander Drotschmann
Food and service were excellent. For that I can recommend this place. SO why 3 stars only?? What rubs me totally the wrong way about this place and any place that's doing it, is the fact that they charge an automatic 18% tip on every check regardless; then ask for more for the waiter. It is basically a hidden 18% price hike on every menu item, so view the menu prices that way. I find this a totally inappropriate and unacceptable practice! For that alone would think twice about returning.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Steak Frites Sauce Béarnaise
Peter Smith
VERY crowded because of a concert at nearby DPAC, to which we were also going. The maitre 'd tried to guide us to seating completely different from what my wife had requested 2 weeks before, and eventually was overruled by her boss, who seated us as she had requested by phone. The rest of the evening was fine, but the quality of the food was not what we both remembered, and definitely not commensurate with the pricing.I definitely will not be back of my own volition.
Very good service, very bland food. Even by French standards, a little salt would do wonders.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 4
Bennett Rose Payne
I literally would not be able to say which item I like the best.
Alyssa F.
This place is the perfect spot for a special evening out! We were promptly seated. The server was very knowledgeable and helped us decide drinks and dinner. We opted not to do the prix fixe to get full size portions and it was so much food. Since the restaurant is so good at timing and pace, we got full and fast! I would highly recommend everything we ate. We ended with another great dessert, creme brûlée which the restaurant kindly put a candle after noticing we were celebrating a birthday. At the end the waiter made sure to tell us that gratuity was added and spilt with the back of house staff. Would definitely go ago!
Steven M.
Let me preface this review by saying that I would go back to Rue Cler again, and the fact that I was meeting my gf's parents for the first time was adding to the pressure for a "perfect" dining experience. The four of us came in on a weekday, and were seated by the window. Both the host, our server, and the bartender who came over to talk to my gf's dad about scotch were all very nice and obviously very knowledgable about the menu. I felt like the prices were in line for the quanity/quality of food. The dinner started off well enough, but the attention from our server became further and farther between. After entrees went down - we did not see him again until we flagged down the runner. I almost would of understood since it has been difficult for restaurants staffing post pandemic, but the table that was sat after us (who were either owners, or maybe friends of the owners) had the entire staff go over to them and shower them with handshakes and hugs (including our server who neither looked in our direction or checked on us). At one point the chef came out to talk to them, and turned to our table - almost eyeing that my gf's mom did not have a steak knife.....and then continued talking to the VIPs. It felt deflating to have planned a special night for my girlfriend's parents and to have her dad say, "I guess we aren't important enough". Again, I think they just got sidetracked with whoever those other diners were, and the food was good, but I would still consider the restaurant more on the fine dining side - hence the highly expectation level.
Heidi Coleman
The service was amazing, and the food was excellent. We went for a birthday celebration and our server was fun and patient. I think we ate nearly everything on the menu. The creme Brule was fabulous! We had a bottle of wine, the lamb, braised beef, salads, cheese tray, and charcuterie tray. Great place for a celebration!Parking: At night there's more street parking, but the most likely is deck parking across the street. Definitely include extra time for it.
Love Rue Cler - food is exceptional, low key, bistro-style ambiance, great service - always a beautiful night out for a special occasion. I didn't know what to expect the first time I went and was afraid it would be intimidating but the atmosphere is warm and the staff are friendly, welcoming and very knowledgeable. It's fine dining so be prepared to splurge on the price, but the quality is excellent.
Lovely small vibes upscale French restaurant. Perfect for a nice dinner date night, however, does cater to large groups too (reserve ahead of time). Loved each dish, everything was well presented and our server was incredibly knowledgeable about food and wine pairings.They did an incredible job serving and waiting a large group of 15-20 people and was thoroughly impressed at timings of every dish. With a group our size, it took all in around 2-2.5 hours of dining.The cocktails were good, ordered a boulevardier, but were nothing special. Typical house liquors. Like the lighting arrangements here.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Dessert Beignets
We enjoyed our first dinner at Rue Cler tremendously. Our waiter, Jordan, provided excellent service. Very professional, polite, and helpful. He definitely deserves recognition for his efforts and talent. We were happy with his helpers too. We ordered two entrees, a salad, and and a side dish. We liked them all very much. We recommend Rue Cler for anyone who wants to have a high-quality French restaurant experience.
Food: 5
Service: 5
We took our guest to this restaurant and everything was amazing. Food was delicious and the chef/sommelier's wine recommendation was spot-on. They have an impressive wine list at reasonable price (only ~2x online price).
Literal garbage food and service.
An outstanding meal! The waitstaff was fabulous! Everything was more than perfect! I would eat there once a week if I lived there!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Coq Au Vin, Chicken Liver Pate, Creme Brulee, Duck Breast, Braised Pork Cheek Gnocchi Fresh Tarragon Dijon Mustard, Savory Beignets
Was a decent experience but food is definitely not worth the price. I coulda had a better steak for 20 dollars at a different restaurant. Fries were also way too salty.The other meals were decent but again nothing special
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 4
It would be impossible to say which item was my favorite.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Food and service were excellent. For that I can recommend this place. SO why 3 stars only?? What rubs me totally the wrong way about this place and any place that's doing it, is the fact that they charge an automatic 18% tip on every check regardless; then ask for more for the waiter. It is basically a hidden 18% price hike on every menu item, so view the menu prices that way. I find this a totally inappropriate and unacceptable practice! For that alone would think twice about returning.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Steak Frites Sauce Béarnaise
VERY crowded because of a concert at nearby DPAC, to which we were also going. The maitre 'd tried to guide us to seating completely different from what my wife had requested 2 weeks before, and eventually was overruled by her boss, who seated us as she had requested by phone. The rest of the evening was fine, but the quality of the food was not what we both remembered, and definitely not commensurate with the pricing.I definitely will not be back of my own volition.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: French Onion Soup
Restaurantji Recommends
Very good service, very bland food. Even by French standards, a little salt would do wonders.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 4
I literally would not be able to say which item I like the best.
This place is the perfect spot for a special evening out! We were promptly seated. The server was very knowledgeable and helped us decide drinks and dinner. We opted not to do the prix fixe to get full size portions and it was so much food. Since the restaurant is so good at timing and pace, we got full and fast! I would highly recommend everything we ate. We ended with another great dessert, creme brûlée which the restaurant kindly put a candle after noticing we were celebrating a birthday. At the end the waiter made sure to tell us that gratuity was added and spilt with the back of house staff. Would definitely go ago!
Let me preface this review by saying that I would go back to Rue Cler again, and the fact that I was meeting my gf's parents for the first time was adding to the pressure for a "perfect" dining experience. The four of us came in on a weekday, and were seated by the window. Both the host, our server, and the bartender who came over to talk to my gf's dad about scotch were all very nice and obviously very knowledgable about the menu. I felt like the prices were in line for the quanity/quality of food. The dinner started off well enough, but the attention from our server became further and farther between. After entrees went down - we did not see him again until we flagged down the runner. I almost would of understood since it has been difficult for restaurants staffing post pandemic, but the table that was sat after us (who were either owners, or maybe friends of the owners) had the entire staff go over to them and shower them with handshakes and hugs (including our server who neither looked in our direction or checked on us). At one point the chef came out to talk to them, and turned to our table - almost eyeing that my gf's mom did not have a steak knife.....and then continued talking to the VIPs. It felt deflating to have planned a special night for my girlfriend's parents and to have her dad say, "I guess we aren't important enough". Again, I think they just got sidetracked with whoever those other diners were, and the food was good, but I would still consider the restaurant more on the fine dining side - hence the highly expectation level.
The service was amazing, and the food was excellent. We went for a birthday celebration and our server was fun and patient. I think we ate nearly everything on the menu. The creme Brule was fabulous! We had a bottle of wine, the lamb, braised beef, salads, cheese tray, and charcuterie tray. Great place for a celebration!Parking: At night there's more street parking, but the most likely is deck parking across the street. Definitely include extra time for it.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fresh Beignets, Risotto, Chicken Liver Pate, Creme Brulee