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Cafe Lafayette

4.1 (185 reviews)
Closed • 5:00 pm - 8:30 PM

Cafe Lafayette Photos

CAFE LAFAYETTE ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Moderate noise
Outdoor seating
Good for groups
Dogs allowed

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Recommended Reviews - Cafe Lafayette

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bread
Lam B.

The service was impeccable but the food took forever and was overly salted. For the prices, the portions and execution should have been better. I came in when Cafe Lafayette opened for dinner and was immediately seated. Despite putting our orders in immediately, it took an hour for the entrees to come out. The drinks came out quickly but the complementary bread somehow came out after my soup. Don't come hungry cause my entire dining experience took nearly 2 hours. =ORDERED= *Bread: very, very crusty. The butter was chilled and salted. While the bread came out hot, it was too tough and sharp on the mouth. *Lobster Bisque: the lobster wasn't noticeable and it was rather salty. It was on the runnier side and heavy on the stock. A bit too heavy as a starter and the seafood wasn't prominent. *Lavender Gimlet: supposedly lavender vodka with fresh blackberries. Vodka was the prominent flavor and there was no floral essence nor freshness from the fruit. Tasted more like a well drink. *Australian Rack of Lamb: very disappointed in the portion of lamb in comparison to those seen in pictures. Came with only four small pieces and two sides. The lamb was cooked perfectly and tender. The scalloped potatoes were creamy and soft. The sweet potato puree with almonds was my favorite. It was sweet, nutty and buttery. *Beef Wellington: overcooked and the filet came out incredibly chewy. The mushrooms were too damp and overly salted. There was a splash of additionally salty sauce on top which left the pastry mushy. Given this dish was nearly $60, I was disappointed in how it was practically inedible. The lamb and sides were the only acceptable items for dinner. The meal was far too expensive for the time it took and quality we received. While the service was especially kind, I can't imagine spending another $160 and 2 hours for this type of meal.

Outdoor patio seating
Jyothi S.

Enjoyed a nice birthday dinner here during the week. Must try items: the french onion soup and the Beef Wellington. Both entrees came with the same two sides: scalloped potatoes and lightly seasoned veggies. The potatoes came out beautiful but were lacking in flavor. The service was nice and overall pretty busy working solo with seated patrons so it was a little slow on our end. The decor indoors is very cute and festive and overall makes for a nice fine-dining dinner experience. Note: not a vegetarian-friendly establishment.

Mike M.

A much needed morning dining experience resulted in our go to favorite, Cafe Lafayette. Sunday Brunch is a good time graze on some yummy items. Wife unit had the Croque Monsuier, me, my favorite Blackened Salmon Benedict. Exceptional. Our server Tiffany is gem. She is gracious and attentive, a real sweetheart.

BW Events W.

I had my 10 year Anniversary Party here. It was basically another wedding but without the Ceremony. We rented the entire restaurant with dinner in the back patio and dancing at the front patio. We had 48 guests with plated dinner service. Our guests were greeted with charcuterie cups that had our guest names with their table number for the seating chart. Then once they found their seat they had bruschetta Crostini's intermixed between our decor on the tables for appetizers. Later they brought out bread and butter. Once all of our guests had arrived and cocktail hour was complete, dinner service began. We had the best french onion soup to start. We have our guests the dinner entree options of Filet Mignon, Chicken Cordon Bleu or Vegan. The majority chose Filet Mignon and everyone RAVED how good it was. I have been to fine dine establishments all over California trying Filet Mignon (it's my favorite) and Cafe Lafayette's is barr none the best. The service was impeccable. I am a retired wedding planner as well as a former fine dine server before that so I'm very particular. They did my settings perfectly, even for my vegan settings which were a different setup, they got those right. They were johnny on the spot with serving from the left and clearing immediately from the right side. The tables were never left very long with empty dishes or glasses. My guests never ran out of water in their glasses. They did a specialty cocktail menu for me and the drinks were so good and the bar never got behind. I had a A LOT of drinkers too. I highly recommend Cafe Lafayette for regular dining as well. I've always had a great experience when eating here. I can't thank Fred and Ashley enough for their great service and letting me have my 2nd dream wedding here. It was the best night of my life.

The best thing if the meal but wasn't special. It was well cooked but tasted like any ole BBQ sauce
Amenda L.

Went here for a cute date night with the significant other. I was here once before for lunch and it was amazing! I sat on the patio, the sun was shining, the service was great, an adorable cat was prancing around - the vibes were on point. It felt like I was in France. SO I had high expectations for this dinner date and it was a HUGE let down. Let me break down the night. 1. Ambience - the interior is very neat and spacious. A great place to go with friends or a large group but they dont have any cozy spots that could really create a romantic ambiance. So it left my date night feeling quite sterile 2. The service was very good! I thought the waitress was attentive and very helpful! Definitely checked in an appropriate amount of times and made sure we were comfortable 3. The food - DEAR GAWD this is TRULY what brought the score down. So I heard that the owner of this location used to own or work at monets so I was expecting TOP TIER food. But it was a flop every step of the way. - The Pork belly appetizer: was the best thing we had that night. The pork was perfectly cooked. Crispy and tender BUT the flavor was extremely common. It tasted like it was slathered in sweet baby rays which is delicious but not when you're paying $20 - lasagna entree - I could tell they were using some high quality cheese but for some reason this dish could not stay warm. It came to us luke warm to cold and even after asking it to be re heated it became cold extremely fast. Plus the meat sauce was very bland and simple. - calamari steak entree - WOULD NOT RECOMMEND. Every aspect of this dish is flavorless if you do not eat it with a caper. The rissoto the calamari itself was like textured water. With the caper it was better but once again not very special and I feel like it is weird for a dish to be so dependent on one ingredient to be good. But maybe this is an aspect of French cuisine I wasn't aware of. At this point my heart couldn't take being disappointed by dessert so we decided to call it a night and go home. The end price was really the kicker - ~$120 - $150 If the food itself was disappointing the price just made it so heart breaking I think maybe this place is best as a lunch spot hanging with the girls on a nice sunny day. Definitely would not come back for dinner

Fruit cup
Renay S.

Cafe Lafayette is amazing! Went for brunch with the girls. Fantastic service, delicious food - best eggs Benedict I've ever seen. I had Croque Madame and it was devine. Large portions and any wait is occupied by a complimentary beautiful-buttery croissant with fresh fruit cup. Drinks are creative and they offer unlimited Mamosa's. Can't wait to go back!

Crème brûlée, filet mignon, French fry, vegan gnocchi, martini

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Photo of Lam B.
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2 years ago

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10 months ago

Super good lil place! I got the chicken and waffles. It came out fast. Will be coming back again. :)

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11 months ago

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1 year ago

Beautiful location and excellent food. Great service. Ambiance a plus! We can recommend!

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4 years ago

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2 years ago

The service and ambiance was good. Very nice restaurant. The food was okay but not a place I need to rush back to.

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2 years ago

We really enjoyed finding a cozy bistro serving authentic French food in Central CA. French onion soup was great and steak too

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Monets Wine Bistro - Truffle Burger

Monets Wine Bistro

(387 reviews)

$$

We were visiting from out of state to this area of California. We had spent the day at an outdoor…read moreconvention, and were looking forward to this particular restaurant. With the reviews on Yelp and the recommendation of our Air bnb host, this was a "must" during our visit. Nice decor and ambiance upon entering. Had a musician playing clarinet, which was beautiful. Unfortunately, we did not even eat here. As I stated, we had been at an outdoor convention- we were in nice jeans and ballcaps. This restaurant was not "suit" fancy, but we may have appeared underdressed with our ballcaps. Honestly we don't make a habit of dressing down and are usually overdressed lol. We felt judged the moment we walked in. They asked if we had a reservation. We did not but we were still sat. There was a wine tasting going on and we were asked if we would like to participate. We politely declined. The vineyard owner came over and talked to us. I politely declined again. The waitress never returned for over 10min. We hadn't even been asked about any other drinks, appetizers, specials of the house, nothing. The menu had some amazing dishes and appetizers that I am sad I wasn't able to try, but if you're going to make me feel less because I didn't have an opportunity to brush out my ponytail and change my shoes, then you're not deserving of the money we were planning on spending in your establishment. These Texas ranchers were very unimpressed

"Cute little place" is the exact way I'd describe this place walking in. They maximized what…read moreminimal real estate they have with wonderful date night ambiance, live music, and French/European vibe without feeling cramped. Very pleasant experience for a date night, with even more delicious food. I was here over a year ago and sadly forgot to post this review, so I don't remember what we had but I remember I thoroughly enjoyed it. The owner had a moment to chat it up with us and she gave us the story of their business and it was all just a pleasant time. This is definitely a gem of spot in this town.

Bespoke - Three unique cocktails.

Bespoke

(99 reviews)

Wow! What a great time at Bespoke! Bespoke delivered an absolutely amazing experience! From…read moreplanning the event to the moment we walked in, the customer service was exceptional. We felt genuinely welcomed and taken care of the entire night. The vibes were on point, and the atmosphere made it the perfect place to celebrate our special occasion. We celebrated our birthdays here, and both myself, my wife and all of our 30 guests were truly amazed. The drinks were not only delicious but beautifully crafted with an elevated presentation that really stood out. Every detail felt intentional and well done. They went above and beyond to make sure that our celebration was one to remember! An unforgettable experience all around. Highly recommend Bespoke for celebrations or just a great night out. We'll definitely be back! Thank you Bespoke!

Fresno has alot of bars a lot! So when you are looking for something different and little more…read morequaint you have Bespoke. They cater to your drink taste and will make a cocktail based off of it. So I ended up with a cocktail that had a similarity to a whiskey sour. Was good well mixed and balanced. If you go during a show or event you'll pay an artist fee so keep that in mind. Also you'll have to book in advance to get a seat. Good spot for a date nite or to mingle with friends even better when a band or dj that plays a genre based music. 5/5 drinks ask the bartender for drink recommendations the do pretty good with it 5/5 ambiance and upkeep reminiscent of a 20's bar 5/5 bartenders and friendly staff 4/5 price point is slightly upscale but it's not bad

Elderwood - Eggs Benedict and crab cakes

Elderwood

(564 reviews)

$$

I made plans to come and see my friend and we talked about doing a little Galantines dinner since I…read morelive in a different state so she gave me three different options and I chose here, the menu looked great and the location seemed prime so we made reservations back In February to come on Thursday March 5th, 2026 at 7:30pm. Elderwood is located in the darling hotel in downtown Visalia on the rooftop, it's a small beautiful location with indoor and outdoor seating, we decided to sit outside the weather was nice but there was a bit of a breeze we asked of a heater could be brought closer to us in which it did when we were done with our dinner. My friend and I dressed up nice only to find people wearing sweatshirts sweats, jeans and whatever else they found in their closet next time I know I can just come as I am, but hey we dressed up to feel good and look out best and we did! Our server wasn't very attentive she only had one other table outside and didn't seem to engaged we started by splitting a Caesar salad and ordered a lemon drop martini, we sat and chatted then she took our entree order in which we both ordered the roasted chicken. The food came and it was absolutely delicious incredible flavor the chicken wasn't dry, we continued to catch up the server came by when we half way through our meal to check on us, we did have another drink with our dinner, the lemon drops were fantastic. Overall location was prime food and drinks were excellent and service was mediocre at best but again why do I even have my hopes up for? I need to go in expecting less so when it actually is average at best I won't be disappointed like I am, like I said in this economy if I'm willing to spend my money at least act like to you care to help is that too much to ask?

I had out of town guests this weekend and suggested going to the Elderwood restaurant. I've enjoyed…read morethis restaurant the dozen or so times I've gone. And have had excellent service, and superb food. However, tonight I have never been so embarrassed and disappointed. My friends got there before me and were all enjoying drinks and appetizers at the bar when I arrived. The restaurant was quite busy due to prom. Even the elevators weren't running properly due to kids wanting prom photos inside of them. I made it to the lounge and walked up to the bar to greet my friends, and was immediately confronted by a waiter who told me,"This isn't a standing bar, and there are no empty seats. You'll have to go down stairs and wait for us to let you know when a seat is available." I've never been so humiliated and embarrassed in my life. There are so many ways this could've been handled differently, politely discreetly, kindly, but this was the choice, to publicly shame me for greeting my friends and "standing" near them for less than 2 minutes. We were celebrating a friend, and were planning on drinks, appetizers, and dinner. With there being 6 of us, and that would have been a sizable check. I went down to the concierge, explained the situation, and asked who the manager was, only to be told that this is the restaurants policy. She looked at the video of the bar and said, "it is really crowded at the bar right now", to which one of my friends who left with me said,"yeah, that's our group, and now we are leaving". The concierge came over and gave me a card to contact someone else. But it was little too late. I can't recommend this restaurant due to such rude service.

Modernist - Verdita & Regal Reverie

Modernist

(288 reviews)

$$

The Modernist is a great craft cocktail spot in downtown Fresno in the brewery district, right next…read moreto Tioga-Sequoia Brewing. Parking is exactly what you'd expect for downtown, so just make sure you lock your car and don't leave anything visible. We went around 5 PM on a Thursday. It started fairly quiet and gradually got busier throughout the evening, but it never felt overcrowded. They do have a rule that if there's a waitlist, your time may be limited to about two hours so they can seat other guests, which is reasonable for a place like this. The drinks were fantastic. I honestly didn't have a bad drink all night. They offer cold drinks, room temperature drinks, hot drinks, and just about every type of spirit you can think of. The cocktails are very creative, and the bartenders will actually warn you ahead of time if a drink has flavors they think you might not like, which I appreciated. The bartenders were excellent and really knew what they were doing. We had a spicy margarita, mojito, whiskey smash, an ube cocktail, and a few others, and all of them were great. Prices were fair for the quality, creativity, and overall experience. Not cheap, but definitely not overpriced either. One thing I really respected was that they had Narcan and fentanyl test strips available on-site. You don't see that often, and it shows they actually care about people's safety. If you're looking for craft cocktails in Fresno, this place is definitely worth visiting. I'll definitely be coming back.

Had a great time with some girlfriends during the Miracle on Fulton Street event…read more Ordered two drinks each and a few snacks and it was perfect. Very busy but it was buzzing with good vibes and decor. Menu options were fun and we had a great server. Love coming here.

Neat & Noir

Neat & Noir

(63 reviews)

First time coming to this bar and I'm a fan. What a lovely bar and it's huge. Tons an inside…read moreseating. It looks like they recently expanded this year. Super chill spot with dimmed lighting. Great for groups since they have some seatings that are for 2 people but also for larger groups. The drinks here are exceptionally! Beautiful crafted, but it's not all looks. It actually tastes good! My friend's matchatini was delicious! A great balance of matcha. My mocktail was soooo good. Just a bit too much ice but the drink itself was very good. I would order that again. Service was great, we were checked up on a few times and she was very nice. Restroom is located in an interesting area inside but is clean. It is single use restroom.

It's a vibe, for sure…read more Very aesthetic, very spacious. Plenty of seats, and it filled up nicely. We were there a little earlier than the night crowd so we had a bit of space and "quiet" time to ourselves in the back for quite some time, took our pics and whatnot. They have a lot of areas that would make for great photo ops for sure. We all ordered different drinks. White Lotus, Havana Mule, & Matchatini. I think we all unanimously agreed that the Matchatini was the best out of the bunch but they were all pretty good... the White Lotus being the strongest out of the bunch. Our waitress was very nice as well and suggested the Matchatini to the birthday girl, which she was already eyeing so that sealed the deal. I don't remember any food options on the menu, for those wondering... we had just came from dinner so that didn't matter to us but it's good to know for next time. The music... was interesting lol. Not something I'd want to listen to all the time but the DJ enjoyed himself. I hope that was just that night and not the music choice every night... Overall, we enjoyed our time here. Very cute spot for a girls night (and date night).

Cheyanne’s Steakhouse & Lounge - Salmon with baked potato and broccolini

Cheyanne’s Steakhouse & Lounge

(249 reviews)

$$$

Delicious NY steak it was so juicy & tender. I got it medium well with mushrooms on top and shrimp…read morescampi on the side. I also picked mash potatoes that were so good and creamy flavory as my sides along with broccoli , delicious For dessert I ordered chocolate lava cake, it was warm and delicious as well with a side of vanilla ice cream. The service was good. The ladies were all nice and helpful with each other. Highly recommend this steak house if you are in the area. All the other steak houses in the area are low quality. Cheyannes is TOP quality!!! A+++ I wish they had this restaurant in Los Angeles

We went in on 4/23, & had no reservation because we didn't think they were needed. The first…read morehostess at the front made it feel like we were asking for something unreasonable. She seemed confused, & honestly a bit snippy. There was no greeting, nor smile. Just an unwelcoming vibe right from the start. It didn't feel like she really knew how to handle us walking in, which made things uncomfortable for us as guests. Later, another hostess came out. Eventually we found out her name was Harley, & she was great. She was welcoming, kind, & actually seemed like she wanted to help. She explained the wait & handled everything smoothly, which completely changed the tone of our experience. Once we were seated, things got much better. The food was delicious, & our waitress was amazing. The experience improved a lot after that initial interaction, but that girl at the front definitely needs to work on her public relations skills.

Cafe Lafayette - french - Updated May 2026

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