Le Lyonnais

Four of us went there for the first time on a Saturday evening a few weeks ago. To summarize, delicious food nicely presented by attentive staff. The pricing was reasonable and menu choice extensive.

Very pleasant staff and delicious dining experience. Trout Almandine was well prepared.

We selected this restaurant based on positive reviews. It was absolutely the worst French food we have ever had! The $ 9 bowl of onion soup was watery and flavorless and topped with a pathetic gratinee. It was more like a consommé with a little chopped onion thrown in. Classic french onion should should be made with a thick croûton of crunchy french bread that softens in the soup. Instead, this soup had a soggy piece of basic sandwich bread floating around in it – yuck. The cheese should be melted, bubbly, and covering the top of the soup bowl. This one had a few miserable shredded pieces of waxy tasting cheese floating around in the broth, if you searched hard enough. The beef bourguignon crêpe was only lukewarm and tasted like crock pot cooking. The accompanying white rice tasted dry and strange (reconstituted or quick cook variety?). It wasn’t quite clear if the diced zucchini side was an attempt at ratatouille? Neither of us could tell. All in all, quite reminiscent of institutional-​type food! To top it all off, service was VERY slow. There were only 3 other couples in the restaurant when we arrived (on Saturday night, which should have been a red flag) and it took 1 hr 35 mins before we left. Due to the poor quality of the food, we skipped dessert. Prices were on the high side, which is fine if you’re getting excellent food. This was not that. We won’t be going back.

We have dined here many dozens of times over our 35 years in Concord, and Le Lyonaise is to be treasured. The menu is extensive, the wines, if you follow their advice, are excellent, the service is to a high standard, and the prices are incredibly low for the service, ambiance, and cuisine. Some times there may be an issue with a new employee who is not up to speed, but I can’t believe some of the other reviews complaining about the food quality. Checked my AX account on Search, and we’ve eaten at LeLyonaise 21 times in the past 12 months, and they are a rare treat in the Western Metro area. Were LeLyonaise in Back Bay, you could multiply all the prices by at least 3x. Two different menu selection range offerings of full course dinners under thirty dollars? Value to one side, the cooking quality beats a $ 500 Manhattan French restaurant dinner for two at around $ 100 with wine and tip and the food will be as fine or better.

My fiancé brought me here to celebrate our first anniversary. Having been here before, I decided to go whole hog and order the steak and not the prix fix. They didn’t have any. I went with a chicken dish. The chicken was slightly overcooked and a little tough. That wasn’t the problem. I had curry on it and was therefore inedible by me. The rice was curry and the taste was all over the vegetables, chicken, everywhere. I told the waitress and she said she’d talk to the chef. As she was leaving our table, she would talk to the chef unless my fiancé wanted to take it home, since she knew he liked his curried rice. He said he would, but he too did not really like the main chicken part though he does like curry. My point is that they should have taken it off the bill. They should not have asked him to take it home after I refused to eat it. They were trying sadly to avoid owning up to a huge mistake by putting curry in a dish that did NOT say it had curry in it. The waitress said it was odd for him to have put curried rice in thar dish I chose. The chef was too lazy to make normal rice that night. We will never be back here. The chef did not come out to apologize after hearing it was anniversary. They didn’t offer a complimentary dessert or coffee or anything. It was such an expensive place that acted like a McDonalds level customer service.

Disappointing.
Our second visit to Le Lyonnais seemed like we went to a different, expensive, and not very good restaurant.
The escargot appetizer and the onion soup were good. The ‘seared’ scallops appetizer at $ 13.95 was two scallops poorly cooked. Ouch!
Rack of lamb was very good. That was the only entrée that was not far below our expectations.
The Cassoulet was awful. Nothing like any cassoulet we have ever had (or heard of) — it was a chunk of quail, a few black beans and some mysterious vegetables thrown haphazardly onto the plate. That’s not cassoulet.
Steak was ordered medium rare and arrived medium well done. Sent it back.
The Paella was a bit like the cassoulet in that it did not resemble what was expected. It was mostly mussels with a few scallops and pieces of fish on a bed of rice with little or no broth.
The inept, almost clumsy service completed the evening’s experience. For over $ 300 plus tip for four people, maybe ‘disappointing’ isn’t a strong enough description.

This is one of our favorite restaurants. We have eaten wonderful dinners each month or so for the last 3 years.
The menu is very broad including vegetarian, fish, poultry, pork, veal, and beef. The chef, Gerard, is authentic French. He even guided us to his first restaurant in Paris when we vacationed there.
The setting is a quaint house with very nice furnishings and always fresh flowers. The salads are always extremely fresh and the dishes are a wonderful stroll through French cooking. He has specialties such as quail, escargot, and chocolate mousse.
There is a nice French wine list and delicious desserts. And, don’t forget to check out his wall of fame pictures with Julia Child.

For a non chain restaurant that charges from $ 23-​$ 29 per entrée I would say this rates around a 3 star. (I’m rating chains around 2 stars for comparison purposes just so you know where I’m coming from). I would say that the service at this restaurant was excellent– our waitress was there when we needed her, very pleasant and very helpful in suggestions etc. The food was good but it was very conservative and safe. Not super flavorful which is what we were expecting. We would definitely go back– but would probably try other places first.

Amazing and well presented French food. Charming atmosphere, run by the same owners for 44 years. The selections are varied and also contemporary. Prices are in line with the quality.

It is going to take some time to figure out how to rate this restaurant. I remember last having been there with my ex-​husband, my late mother-​in-​law and my daughter who was wearing the navy dress I made for her, I would think it is about 33 – 34 years since I have been to Le Lyonnais. Do I remember the food in great detail?
My MIL ordered chicken marengo and was shocked by the dish. An old-​line New England snob, she knew little about food and less about history. I am not certain what I ate during this visit but I do remember during my previous visit, when I was pregnant with my daughter, that I had ratatouille for the first time and loved it.
I remember the restaurant as having been very pretty and it remains very pretty with four separate, tiny dining rooms and a lovely view of a pond. Someone called the décor «early bird special» in a review here but EBS always conjures cafeterias or cheaply decorated restaurants in out of the way places with parking lots large enough for the buses filled with the AARP members that make up their clientele.
I also remember the restaurant having been crowded. I was the first customer and the only other customers during the two hours I was there were an unpleasant couple celebrating their wedding anniversary.
I had difficulties ordering because there were several dishes I wanted to eat. I settled on the Prix Fixe Menu #2, selecting pâté, duck and mousse au chocolat.
The food wasn’t bad. It was ordinary. There were perhaps three starches with the dinner. I am not certain whether one of the artfully arranged sides was rutabaga or potato. There were a few crisply fried potatoes that had been run through a mandolin.
What was unforgivable was the yellow rice that clearly came from a package.
The duck breast was supposed to have been made with olives. There were three halves of olives that seemed rudely and perfunctorily torn. I had in mind a richer dish, redolent of good oil, green with herbs and a pile of olives, sliced at their equators, to top the duck. And duck should be a little pink in the middle with a bit of sear on the outside.
The portion of mousse was surprisingly large, garnished with whipped cream and berries. The espresso was served with lemon, as I remember the first cups of espresso I consumed as a college student.
I thought of a meal my daughter and her friend and I had had in a restaurant on a side street in Paris. The plates and tea cups were charmingly mismatched and many were antiques. The waitress was a bubbly red head in a purple dress.
The plates here are mismatched but not charmingly. I could not help but notice that the hurricane glass of the lamp at the next table was cracked. Under the décor was a hint of passing, of desperation. I would have preferred mismatched old plates to made in China for restaurant plates.
I saw a man being dropped off who entered the back door and I assumed he did the cooking. I suspect that the sweet man with the thick French accent who greeted me at the door was the owner. I had trouble opening the front door and the French man rescued me, asking why didn’t I come in? I mentioned that I had last been here 34 years ago and he said, «I have been waiting for you.»
I wonder now if the food I ate there when my daughter was toddler was as mediocre as the food I had last night. Have 34 years improved my palate or made it fussier? If the food were bad, I might have just walked out. However, I have to ask is mediocre worse?

Overall we enjoyed our meal the other night but it was certainly not as good as we had hoped. My vegetable bisque was quite good, but his onion soup was the color of dirty dishwater. My grilled medley was uneven — one piece of beef was overcooked, one piece was perfect and the lamb was so raw I brought it home to cook myself. The asparagus was good. The rice was cold. The dessert special was excellent but the floating islands were dense and floating on runny crème anglais.

In terms of quality, this is the best place in Acton. Gerard, the chef is a wonderful cook and often comes out and chats with diners. Best french onion soup I’ve had is here. Great ambiance. Staff turn over is high for whatever reason; I don’t think we’ve ever had the same server twice.

The restaurant is in a somewhat renovated house and it makes for a quaint dining experience. Being a french restaurant I was a bit surprised when our waitress had a heavy spanish accent, this had me a bit off put about the authenticity of the French cuisine we were about to eat.
I ordered the duck because I had had it once before at another restaurant and wanted to try it again. It was good and I don’t have any complaints about it, I would like to think I’d order something else if I returned but really I’d probably get this again. The owner/​chef came out and greeted all the tables and I was pleasantly surprised to see that he had a very thick french accent.
The drinks were sub par, my friend and I both got their pear martini which lacked any real hint of pear. The biggest surprise was that these drinks were $ 14 each, I wouldn’t order a drink here again.

Not bad for where you are, geographically that is. I mean, this is like the equivalent of Backwater Alabama in Mass. So I was pleasantly surprised to find this place while I was in the area on business for 4 days. Pretty good service and food. I would say average quality all around. But hey, it’s hard to find better around here. I tried.

I must state first I hate to give this place such a low rating, because overall the location and décor was very welcoming and intimate, but there were so many factors that say I could do better somewhere else.
We arrived early for our reservation and were seated right away. The place was completely empty at 6pm but over the 2 hours we were there it slowly filled (though most of the dining room was still empty when we left). The décor is very welcoming and nice with linens and flowers on all of the tables, but when I entered there was a distinct smell that was very unpleasing. I asked my fellow diner and she just shrugged and said it’s ‘old home smell.’ Unfortunately it took a while for my nose to adjust.
Our server was very pleasant and conversational, but over the course of the meal it was evident she had no training. Again, I hate to be blunt as they were very cordial, but you’re experience with waitstaff can make or break a meal.
The food? Not bad, not great. Thoroughly cooked and beautiful presentation, but sadly does not seem to meet the cost. It wasn’t mouthwatering and I didn’t clear my plate. My biggest beef was with the shrimp cocktail — $ 13 for 4, yes 4, shrimp!!! Even better — they weren’t fresh. They were obviously frozen shrimp defrosted and served in a pretty dish. I also ordered a cocktail and it was pretty much watered down — I could make it better at home. We were never asked if we wanted our drinks refilled (fyi all waiters — you want to beef up a bill for your tip, offer more liquor!). My fellow diner also asked for a soda and it came out flat. Ew.
I would try and give this place another go, but for the far-​off location (we’re not from the area) and the price? I’d rather go somewhere else.

I hate to be repetitive, but this is a rare find in the burbs. Unlike France, the portions are generous. Celebrating 42 years of excellence in ACTON. And one other note, it’s nice to go to a restaurant that isn’t noisy. Can’t wait to go back.

Food was pretty good but the cheese plate was a rip-​off. Three slices of Jarlsberg, small circle of chèvre and a wedge of nice Camembert for $ 12.95?
Service was exceptionally slow and the staff did not know the menu or the wine. That being said, the food once it arrived was very good.
Also, consistent with the rest of the meal, it took forever to get the check.

I went to Le Lyonnais a couple of years ago for my birthday. I wish I’d read reviews first.
We arrive for dinner on a Saturday evening and the place is pretty empty, save for some older people. The décor is all floral and old-​fashioned. It basically screamed «Early Bird Special», though there wasn’t any.
But, we were there and hey, French food, right?
So, I ordered the pâté for my first course. When the waitress brings out the appetizers, she gives me soup, and I express confusion. When I point to the item on the menu that I had ordered, she explains that she thought I’d said potage (which she pronounces as «potag-​ay» to rhyme with pâté). Really? So the waitress in a supposedly french restaurant didn’t know how to pronounce the menu items? Oh, boy.
She takes back the soup and brings me back a slice of pâté that is kind of dry and crusty on the sides. Not good.
For our main courses, my husband and I got different items, but they were served with the same sides — rather bland tasting and more mediterranean inspired than french. To not pair each entrée with appropriate sides kind of amazed me. The entrees themselves were just OK. Nothing stood out.
The place never really filled up while we were there. I don’t know how they stay in business.

A rare find in the burbs. Top notch French cuisine. Saves you a trip to downtown Boston or even a flight to France

Pâté de champagne to die for
Swordfish was great
Wine prices affordable
Can’t wait for dessert
Be sure to get a «French 75» to start.