Rendez-Vous Cafe Bistro

Still delightful, still delicious.
Whether it’s the movie rush menu, French Gypsy Jazz or just a regular dinner this is a Wonderful neighborhood spot!

First time coming here after discovering this place on Unilocal.I had the mussel dish as an appetizer, the sauce was so delicious that I used the mussel shells to slurp up the sauce! I had the rendezvous burger as my main course and it was the best burger I had. The meat was juicy and tender, the onions on there was amazingly tasty and sweet, everything about this burger was so good esp with the fries. My dessert was the crème brulé, it was a perfect dessert to end the night. I will definitely come back to try other items on the menu.

When I think of «takeout» French food does not come immediately to mind, however tonight I’m so glad it did. My wife and I just enjoyed a wonderful meal from Rendez-​Vous. The food was wonderful and the service was even better. Even though it was takeout the food was clearly prepared with care and the people were friendly and very helpful.
This was our first time ordering from this restaurant and I’m looking forward to returning to dine in.
One note, the menu on Unilocal lists Frisee Aux Larson which hasn’t been available for some time. The restaurant quickly gave me a call when they received my order and offered available options for substitution. That was greatly appreciated.

I was in town for a couple days visiting family/​friends and while walking through downtown Albany, we decided to try Rendez-​Vous for dinner.
First impressions — Warm and inviting. Amazing mural painted against the wall and the host (whom we later learned was the owner) was quick to greet us and seat us. Nice selection of wines. Owner gave great suggestion for our meal.
Starters — FRENCH ONION SOUP — This TOTALLY hit the spot on a cold night. Excellent seasoning and flavor especially with the Gruyère cheese topping.
SPINACH SALAD — Yummy and refreshing. Good combination of sweet, crunchy, nutty flavors and textures.
MOULES MARINIÈRE (Steamed Mussels) — Soooo Tasty! Sweet garlic buttery mussels. We kept asking for more bread to dip into the mussels’ stock/​sauce!
Entrees — BRAISED BEEF — This was comfort food all the way, Tender cut in a savory gravy over the bed of hot mash potatoes put me in the best food coma!
RENDEZVOUS BURGER — Took a few bites of this and to my surprise, it was amazingly juicy, well seasoned and flavorful. Definitely worth ordering next time i’m in town.
Dessert — CREME BRULEE — Super Solid Crème Brulee — This was just the right amount of sweet. Came out hot, creamy and silky. Excellent way to end our amazing meal.
Definitely plan on coming again next time I’m in town. Menu had many other items that I definitely want to try.

Delectable. The owner was very friendly, the portions are great, and the food is delicious.

My wife and I (and often our children) have been coming here for years now, and it remains one of our favorites: a consistent, cozy, reliable neighborhood bistro that brings back happy memories of our time in the 2e arrondissement of Paris. The staff has been here for years, including the owner who is almost always around. The food, especially the classic French regional favorites (e.g., the daube), is reliably great. The menu is traditional and changes slowly but sensibly; the recent addition of sole meuniere being a good example. The wines are well-​chosen, tasty, inexpensive French wines: for example, the bistro classic Malbec which you don’t often find in the US. We have yet to be disappointed, which for us makes it the best kind of restaurant you can hope for. Enjoy!

Thing is Laurant — the owner, I believe he knows what French food is supposed to be and there’s been some times I have had good meals here. But not consistently at all.
Basically I think the quality of the ingredients and the service could use some improvement. They have all the perfect things — a great location on Solano ave and Bay Area clientele who like good food. So I’m very confused why theres any real issues. As someone who is connected to many people in the restaurant business I can say a little bit of effort goes a long long way and the difference between amazing food and average takes some actual effort.
Gordon Ramsay would definitely yell at Laurant I can tell you that.
Upgrade — service
Upgrade — food consistency
Upgrade — food ingredients
The inconsistency in the food and service is a fixable thing. Hire some bad ass cooks and servers and get this French bistro in shape!

Hard to find a good French restaurant nowadays. Based on Unilocal reviews I gave this place a try. The food was phenomenal. Not one thing I could complain about. Everything was amazing. The French onion soup wasn’t the best I’ve ever had but very good. The warm goat cheese salad was so good. It has tiny tomatoes, kalamata olives, champagne vinegrette. Only thing that would have made this great salad any better would have been maybe carmelized pecans for some crunch or texture. I had the daube which is like a boeuf bourgignon. Fantastic flavors with mashed potatoes in the middle and potatoes and carrots in a wine stew broth. Spot on flavors. Cappuccino was tasty and dessert was chocolate heaven on a plate. I had the profiteroles which were like flaky puff pastries filled with ice cream with butterscotch sauce. Yum! My Besty had a really thick chocolate mousse that was also really good. I’ve been at some French restaurants where you pay for presentation and the food is good but you always get really tiny servings. I left here full. I got plenty of food for my money. This dinner for two cost us about 73 bucks. The only area Rendez-​Vous fell short was their service. This is also why it didn’t get my 5 star rating. We got there right at opening. There was maybe one other table with people seated but they were there prior to the restaurant opening. I would’ve expected the waiter to come over and introduce themselves, ask if it was our first time there, ask if we had questions on the menu and take our drink order. We sat there for a few minutes just waiting for menus and then another 10 minutes looking at the menu and no one ever came over to even offer us beverages. When she finally did come she just said are you ready to order oh what can I start you off with to drink? For the high caliber of food that they serve I didn’t think the service was as top notch. Someone else did come during the middle of our meal to see if everything was OK. But I had to ask for refills on my soda and it took another 10 minutes after we were completely done for them to bring us over the check. Little room for improvement there but not a reason not to go back. I would definitely go out of my way to eat there again it was that good.

We eat here OFTEN. Love the fresh flavors and the interesting combinations. Breakfast and lunch served alongside wines. We enjoy the quiche, creamy polenta, and salads as well as the chicken and beef dishes. The warmth and hospitality of the owner sets this place well above others. He is always there, overseeing the quality of food and presentation. His passion for satisfying his customers is evident. He asked us the let him know if ever anything wasn’t quite right. The crème brule is divine!

3 ½* Rendez-​Vous Café
1111 Solano Albany, CA
French bistro style, casual atmosphere
Early bird dinner specials
Sunday brunches
Very nice grilled eggplant sandwich on rosemary bread, choice of green salad or fries
Very good hamburger w/​cheese, grilled onions, bacon, and fries
Food was served warm, not hot
Food service was okay
Dinner delivery during the week

This is a Jekyll-&-Hyde situation. We really like this place for a before-​movie or after-​movie dinner, it’s convenient and the dinners are tasty — but the breakfast/​brunch side of things is really horrendous. Rubbery waffles, soggy muffins, spinach tastes canned or frozen, bland hollandaise — any other brunch option within miles would be better. Must be a different crew on the day shift. It’s fine in the evening or at night, but best avoided before the sun goes down.

I got the $ 26 special which included a starter, entrée, and dessert. I started with the grilled prawns. I was expecting marinated grilled prawns. I got much more! The prawns were delicately placed in a pure that was amazing. I got the grilled salmon and fettuccine for my entrée. I was very pleased. I got the chocolate mousse for dessert, also very delightful.
My partner got the lamb, sausage, pork in white mean dish. I had to stop myself from eating his meal. When we return, I’m getting this dish. It was so good!
The cappuccino was great too!
Above all, I’m most satisfied with the service. I highly recommend this place!

After a full day with our friends, we strolled here from home. In the company of great friends, it makes for a fabulous night when you can have a homey dinner together. They serve Provençal French so it really hits the spot when you are dining with close friends. I had the beef Daube, which was an awesome beef stew. Our Friends ordered the Sole which was also fantastic and the lamb stew which was highly recommended. The $ 7 kids meal included a drink and vanilla ice cream. My four-​year old ate so much baguette, he could hardly eat his meatball w/​pasta. We love eating here because they are very dog friendly and the outside seating area is contained and spacious.

Les prix né sont pas justifié, rien de très français dans les assiettes. Je n’y retournerais pas

5 star for Croque Monsieur and Eggs Benedict.
3 – 4 start service depending on how busy the weekend is.
We found this place by Unilocal reviews when I was craving a good and authentic Croque Monsieur. It didn’t disappoint because every single bite was very satisfying. Love the Grueyere cheese and the very thin slice of tomato in the sandwiches. My bf also is a fan of Croque Monsieur and he also tried the Eggs Benedict which is quite tasty. We have been on a search for the most authentic Eggs Benedict with horseradish sauce. Is horseradish sauce very difficult to make? How come so many restaurants use cheese sauce and called the dish Eggs Benedicts?!! And how come people tolerate that and said, «…yeah, what do you expect?» Well, I expect this! We will come back next time for the Eggs Benedicts, and the Croque Monsieur, and explore other items on the menu!

My love for this place. It is always consistent with the food and taste quality. My rack of lamb was cooked perfectly at medium rare. It was so good that I scraped off all the meat from the bones.
The chocolate mousse is also excellent. Light but in a heavy way. So delicious.

Ma fille et toute sa classe sont venus ici pour une visite de terrain. Ils ont ordonné à la nourriture en français et mangé toute la nourriture qu’ils désiraient. Le propriétaire a été très patient avec les enfants autant d’entre eux lutté avec la langue française. Le propriétaire a même cessé de leur enseigner un peu. la nourriture était super, sauf que la serveuse mélangé nos ordres que je ai eu quelqu’un Salade d’autre. La salade était frais et délicieux. Les lanières de Steak et frites étaient super selon les enfants, mais les moules étaient les meilleurs. ALLthe les enfants ont adoré. En ce qui concerne la crème brûlée, et le café était eau à la bouche et délicieux.
My daughter and her entire class came here for a field trip. They ordered the food in French and ate all the food they desired. The owner was very patient with the children as many of them struggled with the French language. The owner even stopped to teach them a bit. the food was great except that the waitress mixed up our orders I got someone elses Salad. The salad was fresh and delicious. The steak strips and fries were great according to the children, yet the mussles were the best. Allthe children loved them. Regarding the Crème Brulee, & coffee was mouth watering and delicous.

I’ve been here several times throughout the years, mostly for lunch. My favorites are there mussels and nicoise salad. It’s a good size portion of mussels, and a good size portion for salad (great to share these two between friends).
There sandwiches are good also, and the owner is very sweet. Definitely reasonably priced for the quality.

From the fanciest of restaurants in that country to the smallest local bistro, I love the complex flavors of French food. I was visiting the Bay Area during the chilly winter season and had a craving for the warmth of a home cooked french meal.
In the restaurant’s dining room, the background music is French, to create an ambiance. The friendly servers are knowledgeable and warm. The décor is whimsical and whisks you away to the quaint cobblestones streets of Paris
We started off with the Moules Marinieres, which are mussels in a reduction of white wine and shallots. The aroma alone gets one’s salivary glands excited. That addictive buttery sauce was so delightful to sop up the french bread, we literally licked the bowl.
For dinner my friend ordered the Salmon Normandie. Grilled salmon in a pink sauce with light cream, tomatoes and touch of saffron. Of course I had to try some and instantly became envious of her dish… Till I tasted mine. I ordered the Navarin Lamb stew. Lamb, potatoes, carrots, onions and turnips topped with fresh parsley. Holy smokes it was heavenly. The tenderness of the lamb and the slight accents of herbaceous tones was so satisfying on my taste buds.
Last but certainly not least was dessert. I made sure to leave my spanx at home to taste my favorite dessert, the crème brulee. It was perfection. The warm and creamy sweet custard middle and the sweet crackling of the sugar top. The clouds parted and angels sang to me.
Rendezvous Café Bistro is a warm and inviting local restaurant in Albany that serves outstanding food. The restaurant attracts a large group of loyal repeat customers. People come back because of the high quality of the food and the reasonable prices. Yes, I left the restaurant with a very satisfied belly filled with some of the best Basque influenced dishes Albany has to offer but what is really special about this place is that the chef/​owner is there to make sure that his bistro is what diners often wish for, a small and unpretentious local restaurant with outstanding food, good ambiance and reasonable prices.

EVERYTHING IS TRES MEDIOCRE!
DECOR: Tacky
SERVICE: Unenthusiastic
FOOD: Eh. Nothing special
Ate at Rendez-​Vous on a Sunday evening. My party of four were the last ones there, and, apparently to hurry us along, they propped open the front door (this was in January). Service was slow. Food was unexceptional. Place looks silly, although we did have fun reading the French on the walls with our fake French accents. I’m guessing Rendez-​Vous would go under pretty quickly without the Albany theater next door.
This is one to avoid!

A recent visit to Rendez-​Vous for a Monday lunch was most satisfactory. I had a Salade Nicoise which was among the best I’ve ever had (although no hard boiled egg, I thought that was de rigueur?). Also a very tasty glass of rosé. Seemed like one poor server had to handle the whole dining room, so service wasn’t the best, but very kind.

Excellent food &service
I really love this restaurant
We coming very more often
We highly recommend this place

I love the:
Ratatouille
Salad Niçoise
Daube
Lamb Stew
Croque Monsieur
House red wine
Crème Brûlée