I will always Stan C'est La Vie in Sarasota/Lakewood Ranch. This location is always busy so get…read morethere early if you have your eyes on a specific pastry. Actually, just get there early anyway because the pastry items are fresher/better. There's indoor and outdoor seating. I typically skip trying to park next to it and just go to the garage and walk over. The service is more attentive than a typical French cafe overseas but not as on top of you as a typical place in the US. You can definitely order at the counter in French if you want to and I've had a waiter there flip between English, French, Spanish, and another language (maybe Romanian?) in one order. The sandwiches I've had were all lovely, and had a little side salad that could benefit from a better dressing (they serve an okay vinaigrette though). I've yet to encounter a single bad pastry - the elcairs, mousse cakes, and flaky pastries like chausson pommes are on par with the typical boulangerie/pattisserie in France and don't make me think US adaptation at all. Prices are reasonable.

We had a nice lunch here! Came with my parents, husband, and baby on a busy weekend brunch hour. We…read morewere luckily able to be sat inside right away in a tucked-in corner. I got the poularde crepe, wanting something savory. This was solid and tasty. Everyone else got nice little meals as well. I do feel like the portion and the quality is a little lacking for the price. That being said, I don't know that there are better French options in the area. I also got a palmier pastry and I should have gotten a croissant, the palmier tasted a little stale. The locale was adorable, with beautifully tiles tables really setting the scene. Overall, not terrible! Worthwhile if you're really feeling French.

Amazing service and even better food and drink. Best hidden…read moregem in siesta key. Traditional French food, drink, and music.

One of the worst customer service experiences I have had, and I would absolutely NOT recommend this…read moreplace. I stopped in needing to use the restroom and was completely willing to make a purchase. The gentleman behind the counter told me that I needed to spend more than $8 in order to be served and use the restroom. No problem--I agreed and attempted to purchase more than $8 worth of cookies directly from THEIR bakery counter. Then, unbelievably, he STILL refused to serve me and suddenly told me that I had to order food. So which is it? Spend more than $8, or order a meal? You cannot tell a customer exactly what they need to do, have them agree to do it, and then change the rules and refuse to serve them anyway. The entire situation was absurd. I wasn't asking for anything for free. I was standing at the counter, money in hand, ready to spend more than the amount I was specifically told was required. I simply wanted to purchase cookies that THEY had displayed for sale. Apparently, even being a willing, paying customer wasn't enough. The way this was handled was dismissive, unwelcoming, unnecessarily difficult, and completely lacking in basic customer service. A simple transaction that should have taken two minutes turned into such an unpleasant experience that I walked out without spending a dime. If this is how customers are treated, I have absolutely no interest in ever returning. There are far too many bakeries and cafés that actually appreciate their customers to waste your time, money, or patience here. I would strongly recommend SKIPPING THIS PLACE and going somewhere else. A business can have great products, but if customers are made to feel unwelcome when they're literally trying to give you their money, none of that matters. They didn't just lose an $8 purchase--they guaranteed that I will never spend a dollar here in the future. I will never return, and based on the way I was treated, I would NEVER recommend this establishment to anyone.

Their coffee? To die for! Their bread?? Take me now that…read morewas hands down the best! They perfectly baked the baguette! We got a ham and Swiss baguette and it so so tasty! All the flavors were up front and there! Definitely try them when you are in the area!

I prefer this location versus Clark which gets MANY more eat in customers and has a narrow parking…read morelot. Clark Street, very charming, does offer a variety of breakfast, lunch and delicious pastry options. THIS location on Siesta, is calmer, easier to get to, not on a busy road, offers the same menu, same outstanding variety of pastries , has a staff who are most gracious, AND you can have a perfect meal with your beloved pet outside too. Easy close parking ! Lived in NYC 1970's-1980's when perhaps the BEST small French patisserie called " Bonte Patisserie " existed on 3rd Ave in the 70's, run by a lovely French couple for years until retirement. Rendevous is not a Bonte, which was a 10, but comes close. Their menu is wise from a business cost strategy. I have ordered their best cakes, over the last 5 years. They were very good. Love their almond croissant, fresh fruit tarts, napoleon, anything with whipped cream ( many of their deluxe cakes ). The apple turnover was unfortunately thick, bit doughy no flavor-butter, very little apple (would delete) hence 4 stars. The bakery business today is very hard because of their products' fragile shelf life and the cost of using butter has sky-rocketed! To guarantee the survival of these lovely charming and DELICIOUS destinations, we must must support them!! Enjoy!

This place is such a gem, very unassuming, but the food is superb. All homemade French food better…read morethan other restaurants in town, but has the family feel to it. Service was excellent, friendly and attentive. It's not very big, but there is indoor and outdoor eating, I would highly recommend this restaurant.

I always like to try out local French bakery when I am in the area because I love real crossiants!…read moreIt brought me to Merci cafe today when I am visiting Sarasota. The classic (plain) crossiant I had was not bad, it was crispy, but the texture was lacking layers. It didn't give me the wow factor, I had better ones at other French bakery. I also ordered a almon croissant, the stuffing inside the crossiant was just too sweet, not to my like. Hubby liked his omelet croissant, the portion of salad is bigger than what he had at other French bakery. He also had the specialty cafe, mushallow latte, cold, he liked it. We were given a warm greeting when we walked in. We had our dog with us in a stroller, we were going to sit in the outdoor seating area, but they welcomed us to sit inside. That's nice of them. I would come back next time to try out other dish than crossiant. Benedict crossiant looks yummy

Came here because of the other Great reviews. We were not disappointed. I brought a friend of…read moremine and he had the smoked Salmon Benedict which he really enjoyed. I had the croissant breakfast sandwich with bacon. Cooked perfectly. The home fries are a little different than most but extremely tasty. The pancakes are also unusual yet truly fantastic. It is their own secret recipe. The service is outstanding. They are always willing to make sure that everything is to your liking without being intrusive. I will be back soon.

We came on Sunday and def one of the busiest time. Thankfully we found a bar seat!!! But the flow…read morego by so quick so it's not a long wait anyways. I got smoked salmon Benedict with potatoes on the side! And I would say this is one of the best smoked salmon Benedict I have ever had!!!!! And my husbands banana walnut pancake?!!!! Omg! Please get this! Just get it and you won't regret it!! It's like 100/10!!!! The fruit bowl was SO GOOD too all the fruit were sweet!! Especially the blueberries!!!! We will definitely come back next time when we visit!!

Loved this restaurant - visited on both Friday and Saturday evenings…read more. The "Fruit de Mer" is the best I have ever tasted! Of course, the music is very French with both the accordian and keyboard being played.. Will absolutely go back.....also the service was excellent ..... Thank you!

Oh, no. Just... oh no…read more I cannot believe the 5-star reviews here. This has nothing to do with Paris, France and very little to do with being a restaurant in general. The whole place is a dump. But let's talk about what matters: the food. It was horrible. We ordered a few different dishes to give it a fair shot and every single one was AWFUL. Case in point: the fried calamari. It was obviously from the freezer, almost burnt, with that dry air-fryer texture. Completely disgusting. How do you serve that to a paying customer? You can literally buy better quality at Trader Joe's. We felt disrespected after eating here. This was my worst food experience in many years. Left 1 star because I had to. It should be zero.

Food was good, nothing special but good!…read more It's a stand in line and order and they bring to table. Waitress was nice. Again nothing special! Ambiance was ok. Nothing special but ok! Would go back but not on my fav list!

It's a cute little place, and the owner is the one who does all the cooking. Since coming to AMI,…read moreI've been there twice. I tried the savory crepe option (normandie) and the sweet option (banana and salted caramel). I also tried the Swiss cheese omelette and the vegetable one. Finally, and for my coffee, I tried a hazelnut flavored cappuccino and a regular one. I don't think I can find fault with anything I tried. One thing I would note is that, to me, the sweet crepe filling to the crepe size ratio is a little off.

It's a hidden gem. We had the pork belly Benedict. It was insane. It was crunchy chicharrones and a…read morehuge portion. The sourdough also is very good, the croissants is surprisingly good and very tasteful. I'm recommending to my friends. I usually go to Sucré Table in Tampa, which is amazing good. Now, I have the other side of the bay option. The coffee and the service is also good and the prices are very reasonable.

I don't usually write recited solely for service but this is gonna be that. There's a very clear…read moresplit between the daytime operation here and the nighttime operation. Nighttime being pizza and small plates occasionally. Nighttime is a well oiled machine, never a complaint about the food, service amazing, staff amazing, no complaints. Daytime however, is like an airport Dunkin Donuts being run by middle schoolers. Always food issues, never a pleasant experience. I just sat here and watched as someone whose order was given to the wrong person, come back. Taken to the kitchen and turned around to be given to the correct person not 14 seconds later. Idk who's running the daytime but that is a HUGE health and safety violation. This wasn't meant to be a bash session but this is unequivocally bad.