La Bou

Terrible so so terrible haha. We came in at lunch and there were about 5 tables open. Every single one was dirty. I asked three different people to clean a table for us and not one came over to help us. One lady we asked just looked at as and walked away. Just because you’re «under construction» doesn’t mean you can ignore your customers.

Not a pleasant experience. First time here and will not be back. Needs to work on customer service and informing new customers who are not usuals know you have to grab a spoon and were to go to get the food. It’s not ok to give attitude when I’m asking a question when I wasn’t even told anything in the first place.

I wish I could give this a 3 & ½. I love La Bou but this location can step it up a bit with their staff but the food is always good. I am enjoying a sweet basil pasta salad and croissant with apricot iced tea. :)

The food is good. Really, it is. I’m enjoying a La Bou Green Curry right now.
But when the business raised the price from $ 7.xx to $ 8.25 for ½ a sandwich and a small soup, that’s no bueno.
Or $ 8.25 for ½ a sandwich and a small salad, that’s no bueno.
Or $ 8.00 for a banh mi, that’s really no bueno.

I LOVE la bou. Since I moved out of Sacramento, whenever I’m back in town I have to get lunch here. My go-​to is the Asian noodle salad, with peanuts, red peppers, sprouts, in a delicious marinade. The salad is consistently delicious, and has been year after year. Their baguette is also delicious, especially in the dill sauce. The food here is great, but the service is not. Since I love the food, I always have to look the other way when the service is rude and nickel and dimey (like the time I wanted to buy my mom lunch and they wouldn’t give her the senior discount because she wasn’t the one paying, I mean honestly is $ 0.50 worth annoying loyal customers?). I’ll still come here for the yummy salads, but maybe one of these days the service will be better.

Wow things have gone down hill here. First the gal at the counter taking orders was abrupt and rude. «No we don’t do kids menus.» So then I just ordered a grilled cheese but that seemed to be an ordeal. Then I ordered my sandwich and wanted to make it a combo with a salad and a drink but was told they don’t do that either. Then we go to sit and there are nothing but messy tables. Last the food was nothing great and overpriced. What a disappointment. There are so many other lunch choices out there and this won’t be one of mine in the future.

The food at La Bou is always exceptional and as is most of the staff. Although, Jenny — or Jen — is extremely unpleasant every single time we visit this location! She has no customer service skills what-​so-​ever, never has a positive attitude or even a smile on. It always seems like a burden for her to assist us.
I’ve put this review off several times, wanting to give her another chance, maybe she had a bad day — or a couple. At this point, it is clear that she is a terrible employee, from a customer service standpoint.
This is more of a note to management than anything: you would be so much more appealing as a restaurant if she can throw a smile on once or twice — or maybe it’s time she be reminded that she is in the service industry and to treat the customers with respect. A little eye contact wouldn’t hurt either.

I went to Labou early in the morning to get some breakfast. I ordered a large spicy Thai soup and a large Asian chicken salad. The soup is unique I never had that type of soup with the same flavor and texture. My friend loves it and recommended it to me. It’s ok for me, if you like porridge, coconut, and curry you will probably like this dish. The chicken salad is pretty simple, but the pretty cut sad with chicken breast, peanuts, and their dressing. It’s pretty simple to make, they added too much dressing in there so it’s a bit sweet. The dressing taste like hoisin sauce or teriyaki sauce. Parking is easy to find and plenty of space. They have free tea and coffee in the morning which is nice

I love this place for its veggie sandwiches — simple and absolutely divine.
Have to say, I was really disappointed today to watch the folks there throw away a whole sandwich today because it was the «wrong one». I really wish places wouldn’t have policies of wasting food like this!

I am not a fan of this location. I expected it to be good as I have heard La Bou has great food but I was very disappointed. The atmosphere felt like a hospital cafeteria, very run down and dirty. I ordered a sand which that was mediocre at best, the salad it came with looked like it was sitting out overnight, the clam chowder had no flavor. My boyfriend got this Asian salad with salmon and he couldn’t eat more than one bite. Disappointed to say the least…

Looks like a restaurant type of place from the outside. Simple café bakery shop with plenty indoor seating. Made a stop here in the morning for a quick pick me up before checking out the mall. Friendly staff and good service. The chocolate croissants are tasty! Make sure to down it with one of their coffees.

I love La Bou!!! And especially this one!!! I work around the corner so we eat here A LOT! The food is always good and consistent. The staff are friendly and efficient. There is one gal there, Kim, she might be a manager? She is awesome!!! So friendly, always double checks and makes sure I have all of my order.
I recommend the asian noodle salad, any sandwich (but I especially like the ones made with walnut bread or croissant), dill dip w/​baguette and the caesar salad is the BEST in town! Hands down!

Stopped in to try out the Chinese chicken salad. When I arrived there were about 4 people in front of me and 1 behind me. I placed my order at 12:42 for ½ salad ½ sandwich combo. Nothing crazy or difficult. Everyone had there order but me… hmmm I think they lost my order. Finally at 1:02 a manager came and asked me what I’d ordered. About 2 min later I had food. Salad and sandwich are delicious though.

NOPE!
Staff was rude, price was high for what we got and the restaurant was dirty.
Not a fan… I would go on and on in detail but the time I wasted having lunch here was enough time to spend on them…
Sorry, in my posts I try to be more fair-​minded and try to see the other side/​benefit of the doubt, but this place just blew me away.

I have been going to La Bou for years, but I admit, with the plethora of food options in the Arden area, I don’t always think of it as a first choice. But, when I do lunch here, I’m always happy I did. I love the spicy thai soup, spinach salad with dill dressing (which is also awesome with sliced baguette), their mango iced tea and their chocolate croissants. Service is very fast during the lunch rush too which I appreciate.
Don’t sleep on La Bou. There’s some good stuff to be had here.

I visited for this La Bou location at Howe Avenue for the very first time. I’ve never been to La Bou for a long time until today as I used my $ 20 gift card that my sis gave it to me two months ago. As I entered, the décor is very outdated as well as the atmosphere is slightly bored and dry. There’s no music playing in this shop; of course, you can make conversation easier to talk as well doing homework or business projects using their free wi-​fi in silent mode. I hope this place needs a makeover to make a contemporary feel look which it makes more comfortable like Panera Bread for instance.
For the food testing, I’ve ordered the California Turkey Avocado sandwich. So far, the sandwich tasted very good, yet it’s closely bland according to my taste buds on my tongue. Finally, I’ve also ordered the Tomato Basil Soup with two slices of baguettes. The baguettes tasted alright. For the soup, it tasted too salty to me, but it’s an ok soup.
The service is a hit-​n-​miss. The good thing about this service is the orders are much faster after I ordered their foods. On the other hand, the employees is alright for me. My suggestions is to improve this Howe Avenue La Bou is to be happy for the employees and customers, so it can work to communicate better.
In the end, La Bou at Howe Avenue is an alright café to dine your favorite foods and drinks in a speedy, efficient time.

One of my favorite go-to’s for a quick breakfast, lunch or coffee. I was excited to find out this was a Vietnamese-​owned restaurant. They serve Vietnamese food as well as a variety of other foods.
I always get the soup and sandwich combo– Smoked turkey sandwich on sourdough with creamy tomato soup, with a side of DILL DIP (a must!) and a half baguette. Everything always tastes super tasty and satisfying! I finish dipping the break in the full dip and then dip my sandwich into the remaining dip.
Their pastries are AMAZING. I got a walnut croissant roll and it was just a buttery piece of goodness! The sweetness level is just right, not too sweet. I then found out they bake all their pastries and bread themselves fresh everyday.
Lastly, service is always just okay or not up to par. The cashier always just never smiles. When she takes my order, I feel rushed and feel like I’m wasting her time. Asked her what kind of bread they have for sandwiches and she gives me a whole list as fast as she can. But it’s not bad since she only takes our order and we never see her again.
Either way, love the food and I’ll always be back.

Back in the 70’s, La Bou’s were a popular place to hang out and relax with coffees, croissants and pastries. Maybe it was a way to make customers feel like they were eating at a French café and appear like we had a little class. The disco era and classiness probably wasn’t a close match, but I did enjoy their food, especially the turkey & cheese croissants and chocolate croissant desserts.
Somehow, as the years passed, La Bou’s had fallen out of favor and many disappeared by the wayside. It seemed that the menus and food had changed. Some items were no longer available or the quality had dropped. Joe K., who is a self proclaimed local history buff, stated that the original owner had sold the once cherished restaurants and many became franchises, to which they never attained the consistency and quality of their heyday.
So when we were looking for someplace to stop for a quick coffee and pastry break, I was excited that we happened upon this La Bou on Howe Ave. When we entered, I noticed right away, that it was spacious, neat and clean inside. The menu seemed to offer many of the old standby’s of my past. Although I didn’t have time to indulge in something substantial, a mango ice tea and apricot scone filled the bill long enough to get me started for a long day ahead. My dad enjoyed a hot coffee, while Joe K. consumed a large banana nut muffin. Everything was fresh and tasty. Memorable enough to motivate me into planning another visit and try out some more food items, and maybe even trigger some fond memories of my youth…

Horrible !!
Ham and cheese pastry is warm not hot filling is minimal I paid with a $ 5 bill but my total was $ 3.69 and you only have me a $ 1 bill for change booooo!!!

Loves: Chinese Chicken Salad. Baguette and Dill. Veggie Sandwich (chevre, apple, avocado) on a croissant. Yum!