La Madeleine French Bakery & Cafe

I love this place. The food is good but not too fru fru, they have awesome desserts and I love sitting near the fireplace in the winter, it’s cafeteria style but upscale. It’s especially nice that the manager remembers my name and is always so sweet. The only negative about this place is usually I am in a hurry during the day and a lot of older people that have no where to be are really slow in line. That’s the only bad thing I can say but how do you fix that other than maybe their employees when you first walk in say Are you ready to those not still looking The menu, that may help.

I’ve been a patron since 2000, and have been bringing my children here ever since. The food is always fresh and ambience just perfect. Valentines Day is coming up and certainly intend to pick up a pack of their heart shaped cookies.

I went to La Madeleine for the first time ever last night, and it was so charming! The staff were friendly, always smiling, and helpful.
The menu was varied so there were plenty of different options to choose from. I ended up getting the salad sampler so I could try a little bit of everything, and the price wasn’t that bad, at $ 8.99.
I tried the cranberry walnut salad, which was okay; a little bit soggy, but it still tasted good. Second, I had a fruit salad, nothing special about it, but the fruit was fresh. And last, I had the Tomato Basil soup, which was delicious, just the right balance of creamy and zesty.
For dessert, I treated myself to a mini chocolate almond tarte. The filling was a rich chocolate ganache; the crush was easy to cut, crisp, but stayed together well and was easy to eat. It was a perfectly satisfying dessert! I need to return just to try their other tartes.
I think you mostly pay for the atmosphere and aesthetic here. It’s very cozy, like a French country home, with a roaring fireplace and heavy-​set oak tables. My local fashion group met up here last night and we had no trouble pushing tables together to accommodate our party.
La Madeleine stands alone in a shopping center, with its own lot, so it is very easy to find and park there. It’s the perfect place to stop for a light lunch, meet-​up with friends, or a dinner date.

This was my first time at La Madeleine. Upon walking in, I was pleased with the cute french décor, coffer mugs, large windows, and warm fireplace. It was about 3pm, and the place was crowded with fellow patrons; including a group of cute older ladies playing games.
However, my pleasant attitude quickly changed as I went to order. The service is similar to cafeteria style which would be fine, except the staff was no where to be seen. There was no one at the salad or soups. The only person I could find was dealing with another customer who was charged incorrectly for her order. I asked if this was self serve, seeing as I had never been here before, and was mocked by the staff. Once I got my food, (strawberry spinach bacon salad with chicken, and a french onion soup) it went cold before I could ringup, at which I was taken back at how much it cost for the amount I got. The ice tea was clearly spoiled, and when going to ask for another glass (I didn’t want another drink to be in the same cup as the spilled tea) I was ignored by the staff, before grabbing myself a new glass.
The food was nothing to talk about. Salad was flavorless, dressing had nothing to it. The soup tasted cold and like cleaning chemical. Tables were left unclean, napkins and straws were thrown all over the place. I would be kinder if the staff was anywhere to be seen but the only ones were talking amongst themselves, rude and ignoring other customers, hiding behind the soda fountain, or in the bathroom on the phone.
Had to rush to the bathroom, believe I was food poisened by the chemical soup. There was toliot paper all over the place. Unclean feminine hygiene trashcans, make you feel like you may pass out on this God forsaken place. You can however learn french, as they project lessons of basic french phrases like «let’s meet at La Madeleine» or «this soup is great». What you will not hear is «The chemical soup at La Madeleines gave me the squirts», I guess that is considered advanced french.
Bottom line is this place is a bad representative for french cuisine. Will not be going back unless I’m looking to remove a few pounds from both my wallet and waist.

Great location, beautiful restaurant, very nice service, clean restroom… almost everything perfect.
Problem is the food. Nothing you can eat! Very unhealthy food.

This place sounds fancy. This place makes me feel fancy. Not many things make me feel fancy.
Buffet style line where people zombie shuffle with hunger eyes. Is that a hot coffee in your hand? Well let me push you so you spill it.
The staff could have been friendlier but that may be because I was making hunger eyes at everything in front of me. But can you blame me?! God I love their hats.
The food selection was pretty varied and the breakfast sandwiches were amazing. Big croissants that filled me up. Only small issue was that we ordered our food to go and the croissant wasn’t warm. First world problems.
Don’t let them hold you to one meat on your croissant. Treat yourself. You deserve it superstar.

Went to the Columbia, MD location around 6 in the evening. I was greeted by a young women who asked «you want something»? So much for «may I
help you». I ordered my food and found there was no clean knives in order to eat my meal. After a slightly disgusted look, the worker got some knives from the back. As I was walking to ask for clean silverwear, I noticed trash all over the floor behind the counter, food on the serving areas and uncovered croissants near the grill. I got my food, which was pretty good, in a reasonable amount of time. Overall a very mediocre experience. Not a great chance I will return. Maybe I just need to lower my expectations… at least to eat at La Madeleine.

There aren’t words to express my love for La Madeleine. This place is adorable, like something right out of Disney. The employees speak French behind the counter. And most importantly, the food is delicious and there is a good variety of items, from full entrees to sandwiches and crepes to quiche.
It operates like a buffet/​Panera Bread. You can get carry out from their separate to-​go area or you can grab a tray and go down the food line. If you order something that is not pre-​made (think plated entrees like rotisserie chicken and pastas) they bring it out to your table once it is ready. You grab your own drinks and utensils and pay at the end of the line.
Everything I have tried over the years has been great. Their rotisserie chicken is highly seasoned and juicy (the DBF’s fave with broccoli and rice). The savory crepes are rich. The Chicken Friand, is one of my favorites. It is chicken and mushrooms baked in a puff pastry square (like a Hot Pocket but way better) and topped with their yummy garlicky mushroom soup. Sublime. And speaking of soup, their selections are all fantastic. Their tomato basil soup is the best that I have ever had anywhere, hands down. I always buy retail jars of it to keep in my pantry for cold wet days when only a grilled cheese and tomato soup will do. They also have a richly flavored French onion soup, a bean soup that I haven’t tried yet and a delicious potato soup.
They have a lovely little pastry/​bakery section with delicious goodies like chocolate croissants, fruit tarts and mini parfaits. And you can get loaves of their bread sliced to take home.
I have been hoping for years that a La Madeleine would open on my side of town so I wouldn’t have to trek to Columbia every time I need a tomato soup fix. White Marsh has the space for it, come on La Madeleine, come over to the East side!

They need to do something about customer service. I do not feel welcomed going there. They also treat customers different by the color of their skin.
Also, the cups have a lip mark, the silverware is always dirty, the greens do not look fresh either.
They need to do something!

I will first preface this review with: I am a big fan of this place. I have been to locations in rockville, bethesda, reston, etc. That being said. What a hot mess this location is!
I came in, (1:30 pm — not quite a lunch rush) food line was easily 10 people deep. No biggie except it wasn’t moving. Salad guy had up and disappeared. This is a fairly large issue when your restaurant functions as an assembly line. No biggie, let’s find seating.
Good luck, lots of open tables, all filthy. I had to beg for one to be cleaned, which they did, graciously.
It took over 15 minutes to get my little salad sampler. Usually that is a 5 minute experience at every other location.
I go to pay. No one at the register. I wait. Someone comes by to ring me up then just walks away, no problem I will just take my own receipt and walk behind your counter for a water cup. Thanks.
I sit down to eat. What is that in my chicken salad ypu ask? Oh, that’s a large piece of tomato pasta salad in there. … for me, a bit of a put off but what if I was a customer with allergies?
The food in general was good, tastes just as it does everywhere else but they are woefully understaffed.
2 stars because I still ate happily and there is free wifi.

I’m not sure why there are so many people here, from the slow service, to the bungled up sandwich order, followed by the staff trying to convince me that there was invisible brie cheese in my sandwich… I feel I know what a turkey and brie sandwich looks like. this place is definitely off the list for good.

I like this place for coffee and pastry and soup.
Location is good. Easy parking. Good place to meet friends. Cute cozy place. Especially in winter by the fireplace.

I came here for breakfast. The food was delicious. I ordered the Country French Breakfast, which came with eggs, bacon, croissant and a potato galette. I didn’t even know what the hell it was (galette).Lol! But twas YUMMY! I like how they have toast, butter and jelly that you can have for free while you wait for your food or you can enjoy with your meal. The ambiance was pretty chill. We didn’t have to wait that long for our food. I will definitely come back again. As long as I lived in Columbia I have no idea how I skipped this place.
The iced coffee, and the spinach quiche was delicious as well!
The employees could look a little happier. It would be nice if they could at least look like they wanted to take my order. Give me a little smile or something :-) lol!

While in Columbus, Ohio, we enjoyed breakfast at a French breakfast chain which I thought was Madeline’s…perhaps it wasn’t.
Yes, just looked, it was Mimi’s…would drive a bit longer to Mimi’s next trip.
A quick stop on a business driving trip st this location was a bit disappointing. No waiter service, terrible eggs Benedict (one egg was way overcooked and one way undercooked), and generally. not satisfying.
Maybe I recall Mimi’s in Columbus?

I really want to give La Madeleine a higher rating, but sometimes the pastries are not as delightful in taste as they appear so it can be disappointing. I don’t mind going back though because there’s always room for improvement, and everything about this restaurant is very reasonable.

My coworkers took me here yesterday for a lunch celebration to celebrate that I recently got married and we were lucky enough to grab a table outside which was nice since it was such a nice day. We all ordered sandwiches but it seemed that our wait for quit long and that they had forgotten about one of the girls sandwiches. By the time we got our food we all enjoyed what we had but the service was a bit disappointing. Will go back again but hoping the service will be better when we return.

If it weren’t for the service, I would come here everyday because I love their pastries. And I have no problem stocking up on their sweets! Their croissants are crisp on the outside and soft in the center. Perfect! The ambiance and décor is beautiful, and it’s self seating.
But man oh man the service is so BAD! 2 out of the 3 times I’ve been here, the cashier had a horrible attitude and gives the most dirty looks (girl with the hot pink lipstick). The cashier on my 2^nd visit was nice to me, but was unfriendly to the picky yet polite customer ahead of me. I figured maybe the cashiers are having a bad day, so I’d try to ignore their attitudes and be polite. But to run into this poor experience 3 times consecutively, makes me think no changes are going to be made at this particular franchise to remedy this problem.
I like the self seating idea, but every time I come here the majority of the tables are dirty. My boyfriend and I ordered breakfast on a weekday around 10am… the restaurant only had a handful of customers. We waited for what it seemed like forever for some eggs and a croissant.
Food is delicious, but is a little pricey and definitely not worth the poor service.

The interior of this café is decorated so well.
Pretty light fixtures, nice seating area, and a warm fireplace to cozy up to!
We went in the afternoon and maybe it’s because we came after the lunch crowd, most tables were left dirty.
Ordering was so hectic. We were ordering from both the café and bakery menu.
One of the workers was telling us to buy the bakery stuff separately in the bakery section but no one was there to take out order.
Once we got someone in the bakery section to get our cute little pastries and espresso drinks, she told us to go back to the café section and pay for everything together.
So we were told different things from two workers.
Anyhow, their pastries tasted just as good as they looked!
Their café mocha was really yummy but also extremely sweet. I had to dilute it with some coffee to tone down the excessive sweetness.
If you can’t decide on a place to chit chat with people, this place is a safe bet.

When it comes to French anything, I’m completely naïve, or ignorant so please forgive me for that.
The only French I know is Beef Bourguignon, French Kissing, and France is in Europe… Okay, I know a little more about French, but when it comes to food? Beef Bourguignon and baguette. That’s about it. So if you’re French or is some French Connoisseur and say that I have no taste in French food then HEY! I’m sorry okay?! :(
So my brother told me about this place and how it’s a pretty good place for meetings and get-​togethers. The food there was pretty good too.
So I went with my brother and sister recently and was greeted by a beautiful woman. Was she French? I heard French women were beautiful. ;)
Anyways, jokes aside, well half jokes, we ordered our food then sat down by the fireplace. The dim lighting, fireplace, the wooden floor and mystic tables made me feel like I was in a fine dining restaurant. Kinda. In a way.
I ordered the French Dip to see if it would be better than the Victoria’s Gastro Pub French Dip and come to find out? IT WAS. Seriously, the French Dip at Vic’s was subpar.
My brother got the Beef Bourguignon and my sister got the Croque Monsieur. The Beef Bourguignon was pretty good but not as good as our own personal versions of it! (Thanks to Anthony Bourdain).
The meat was tender and flavorful and went well with the rest of the dish. My sister’s sandwich was really good. From the flavors of the meats melding with the cheese and strong hints of garlic. And the pasta salad that came with her dish was good too! Nice contrast from the hot sandwich. The sandwich actually came out hot. Whether nuked or not, it was still good!
Service was good and the food was good!

This review is for desserts only!
Stopped by this establishment on a Friday afternoon for a snack. Tried the chocolate almond tart and the lemon cream cake. The lemon cream cake is new and actually has layers of lemon crème between layers of yellow cake. It was very tasty and sweet and tart at the same time! The mini chocolate almond tart is chocolate ganache on top but inside is actually almond cream which Was delish!