Le Pain Quotidien – East 53rd St

Great breakfast! I can’t work out why this location only has a 3 star Unilocal rating. We have the Avo toast, Belgian waffle and Parfait, all were amazing! Highly recommend for a great breakfast experience.

Cute Café with classical
Music, wooden furniture and yummy deserts. HOWEVER, the service is horrible: staff touched our desert with their hands, and was rude when serving drinks); prices were too high for what you get ($ 25 for two drinks and small deserts); bathroom has poor plumbing… free wifi is a plus.

Great food, however very slow service. Downstairs for Togo /​self service seating took about 10 – 15 mins just to get to the front of the line. There was only one register and 7 people behind the counter. In another establishment the staff may want to speed up the service by taking orders early and then paying for it when that clears up. However it seems they were taking orders and fulfilling them which was causing the delay.
The food is pricey and good, but the slowness is not really acceptable in the city when people have some time constraints. Please work to improve this so I can still come here as a go to lunch or breakfast stop.

Food is great, a little bit on the expensive side but not ridiculous for NY standards. The service is incredibly bad. Everything is very slow.

Obviously, it’s a good brand — a good restaurant chain which has shown tremendous growth over the past decade
This location, I feel, is an exception. It’s just not well managed. The service is slower, less reliable, and sometimes downright sloppy. I’ve placed many pick-​up orders over the phone only to go into the restaurant 30 minutes later and find that they hadn’t even started making my food yet (and this was when they quoted me a 20-​minute wait time). I’ve had prices change on me because they claimed «our menus are outdated and still showing the old prices.» I’ve been ignored by waiters for 20 – 30 minutes at a time when dining in. I’ve been served a prosciutto-​pear-​fig tartine without honey, a key ingredient. All in all, I think the poor quality and general sloppiness is a result of poor management and poor training.
I want to love this place, but I don’t. I want it to be my weekend go-​to spot in the neighborhood, but it isn’t. And it can’t be. In the current state, the service just isn’t good enough.
This review is based on multiple visits, not just one single interaction.

As a vegan I love having Le Pain in the city and I love their food. This location however never has more than one person at the registers in the morning so the lines are ridiculously long and the service slow. Great food but prepare to wait
This morning I went in for a coffee — they took an old pre poured coffee and heated it on the espresso machine. One has to wonder how the staff here is trained … They thought I was nuts for questioning the quality …

Probably Le Pain is more famous for bread than coffee; but they do carry good caffeine product here with a great range of selection. Really loved the pink cover of their coffee cup, so cute! Will try the brunch next time — another healthy spot!

Le Pain Quotidien is one of my favorite chains, this location however is not worth a visit.
I’m writing this review as I am sitting on the full dine on the second floor. So far the staff is understanding, but not too good. When I asked if I could order the waiter seemed annoyed at my request. The servers seem to just stand around at the register and chat, I’ve noticed many customers turning at their tables looking to get the attention of a staff member.
I ordered the oatmeal with banana, and got maybe a third of a banana, which is ridiculous as I’m paying over $ 8 for it. I asked for more, and they brought some more banana over, so that’s probably why i gave three sta. The oatmeal itself is fine, nothing special. Mine wasn’t mixed properly, meaning there were clumps of dry oatmeal in the bowl.
Not worth a visit, either go to another location of the chain or find another restaurant.

They provide seating services on the 2^nd floor. One morning, I came here with my coworkers for breakfast. The services wasn’t bad, but apparently it’s much much better than the services downstairs when you’re just ordering to-​go. My co-​workers were telling me how they had to wait 10 minutes just to get a cup of coffee. There were also times where they just walked out because the workers were working ridiculously slow.
However, dining in was a different experience. The food was good, but a bit pricey. I had the avocado toast which was pretty good. I’ve had better one, but this was still good. Their coffee comes with a little teapot and a bowl. Yes, you have to drink coffee in a bowl. It was a new thing for all of us, so that was pretty interesting. Overall, it wasn’t anything special.

Party of 8, five adults and three children. We were seated together in the common table on the first floor. Order selection of breads, quiche and waffle very good. This location is limited with the menu options as others.

I love Le Pain… most of them.
I pay more for quality. I love an almond latte or cap and they have stevia… not today!
No stevia and the young woman at the register rolled her eyes at me.
3 stars for a decent bathroom
Came here to get my fav almond milk latte
Woman at register rude and could not be bothered to smile. Customers asking her how she’s doing and making conversation and her =cold.
Asked for it extra hot and she rolled her eyes and told the barista. I’m sorry if that’s a bother, I’m paying nearly 5 $ for a small capuccino. I just smiled at her.

Got my capuccino. Was taxed even tho I said to go. Just too much. I didn’t say anything because she was so rude. Asked if they could refill the stevia and she said they are out. I guess I need to check before I order next time.
Won’t be back at this location. Starbucks is not my fav but it beats this!
If you feel you need coffee, walk down Madison and there is a lovely starbucks where they treat you like a customer.

Kale Caesar was 50% yellow wilted kale… Not worth $ 15. Bread and coffee was good though.
EDIT: Manager was apologetic about the quality of the salad and comped me both the salad and dessert, which was nice and speaks well of the service.
That said, I’ve noticed at several Pains they do hide the yellow/​wilted/​old greens under the fresher bits of salad, just not to this extent before. I’m sticking to their bakery stuff if I come back!

One of my favourite lunch time spots. Cute — airy and good food. It’s a healthy place with small tables and one big communal table. My absolutely favourite and lunch time go to is the avocado on toast. Tasty with a zest of lemon washed down with some green tea. It’s a light and refreshing lunch. Thumbs up from me!

This particular location has never had good customer service, and as a result, I stopped coming here for a while, but gave it another shot since the food and coffee was always good and they have since changed management several times, for what I thought was for the better. Apparently not, as today was a real mess… Asked for a simple double macchiato… Got a double espresso instead… Sent it back… Got a poorly made double macchiato… Sent that back… Drink re-​made the same way… Gave up and got the double espresso that I hadn’t originally ordered just to get the hell out of there after wasting a good 15 minutes for what was supposed to be a quick stop.
A macchiato is really not that complicated to make. Stick an espresso cup under the espresso machine, let the two shots of coffee come out, pour some milk into a frothing cup and froth it sufficiently enough so that it is hot and doesn’t drop the temperature of the espresso, turning into a soupy loop warm mess. Don’t think I’ll be coming back for a while unless I’m in the area and pass by on weekends when there is different staff on hand that seems to be able to do things properly without an attitude like the one the cashier gave me, which I could care less about. When I’m spending my money, I’m going to speak up when I don’t get what I ask for. Simple as that. I’ve been quite patient overall too, as I’ve had my drink made improperly at this location recently on several occasions.
The other thing that’s amazing is they’re out of basic amenities for coffee like stirrers and sugar. Today and the other morning there were no stirrers to be found when they’ve only been open for business for a few hours. The manager apparently could care less. I saw him with a skateboard walking out with another person while one of cashiers asked him for assistance. Upon seeing the manager walk out, the cashier replied by sucking her teeth in front of everyone. Very professional place. I really have to ask why these people are working there if they hate the job so much, especially the cashier with her surly attitude, which I’m sure other customers who have reviewed this place are referring to. She is really a piece of work and needs her attitude checked at the door.

I stopped going here for a while because I felt that they were seriously lacking in the customer service department, but I decided to give it another go a few weeks ago, and I’m glad that I did. I’m not sure if there is a new manager or just better staff training, but I immediately noticed an improvement.
There is typically a greeter stationed at the door now to direct you to counter or table service and the staff members behind the counter are much more pleasant and attentive, even making small talk as I waited.
These small changes really make all the difference to patrons, so thank you for the improvements! :)

Aside from the wait for my avocado toast, I enjoyed my lunch. It was everything I was told or would be; well seasoned, filling and yummy. I also had a large Iced Green Tea, unsweetened like I like it. The price was a little crazy but I guess you’re paying for the name. I must go back to try their French Cream Pie. It’s shiny and puffed with a crème filling. The cashier said it was good but I had already paid lol c’est la vie

Good little breakfast spot. Got a nice big cappuccino which didn’t have that over roasted bitter flavor like Starbucks. I went with the Lox and Bagel and my friend went with the Avocado Toast. I tried his which was incredible. My dish was also great.
We sat upstairs with waiter service and it was very quaint. The service was a bit hit or miss towards the end as we couldn’t find our waiter and I missed a meeting which is the reason they go down from a 4 to a 3 star.

I can’t deny that Le Pain Q serves decent to good coffees and good pastries; however, when I’m «greeted» by a surly, uncivil server who says «I can’t hear you» without bothering to look up from her cash register, without bothering to attempt eye contact, and literally snarls the words at me, all bets are off. I’ll give the place a single star all day long. Thank you to the cashier-​server who dropped your ugliness on me and no doubt countless others. Good news though: you did NOT ruin my day! :)
I’m doubtful I’m the only one she offended on 5.16 at 2pm, so maybe management wants to watch her interact with customers during her shift. We placed our order about 2 feet away from her so I’m pretty sure she just wanted to be a problem child. I’m also sure my over-​enunciation of the words «small coffee and small latte» second time around didn’t improve her ‘tude, but I just don’t care; after reading other reviews of this particular Le Pain’s horrific service, clearly I’m not alone. I’ll stroll right on by Le Pain Quotidien next time we’re on or around 53^rd.

It’s about consistent food and a great location with reasonable value. On to the deets (12÷13÷14)
Cobb salad, 16.60 — the GF gave it 4 of 5 cobbs. She withheld the 5^th cobb because the chicken was served cold
Winter quinoa taboule — excellent. The crispy beets were noteworthy.
BONUS good location near MoMA!
TIP can seem expensive but the quality, location, and décor make up for that — in part.

Nice adress. We had breakfast there before a long day in nyc.
we tried the oatmeal, the eggs and the waffles.
service is very polite and efficient, not too crowded on a friday morning.

Café au lait war ok.