La Madeleine French Bakery & Cafe

Pros: Carve-​worthy comfort food. Good baked goods, pastries, and desserts for a chain. Comfortable atmosphere.
Cons: This location needs renovations. Cleanliness needs to be more of a priority.
Vegetarians: Rotating, season options include various spinach or field green salads and various soups. Regularly available options include spinach pochette, quiche florentine, tomato basil soup, and roasted vegetable sandwich.
The original La Madeleine on Mockingbird Lane was introduced to Dallas back in 1983 by French immigrant Patrick Esquerre. His nostalgic yearning of relaxing French cafes inspired him to reach out to fellow Dallasite Stanley Marcus, son of the founder of upscale retailer Neiman-​Marcus, to start up a French country-​style boulangerie that has since morphed into a welcoming café chain. From the iconic fireplace to the characteristic brick walls and wood ceiling beams, La Madeleine has a classic corner French café feel. The quaint lighting fixtures and narrow wood-​and-​thatch chairs lend the soft touches needed to make a customer want to linger over a pastry and cup of coffee. I love La Madeleine’s concept.
The chain obviously goes for rustic charm, but this location has seen better days. Though not ragged, a thorough cleaning and small touch ups would go a long way. I have seen the complimentary bread box empty or disorganized and full of crumbs on multiple occasions. Finally, the plumbing needs some work because I have, on occasion, smelled the unpleasant stench of sewage from different parts of the restaurant.
Aside from my gripes about this location, I do love the food here and at every La Madeleine that I have visited. I have always had good service at every La Madeleine location that I have been to, and this location is no exception. For being a chain of more than 70 locations, La Madeleine has very nice baked goods and pastries. Not only can you find a buttery savory pastry, but you can also get very nice desserts including parfaits, rich cheesecakes, indulgent tortes, and flaky croissants. The strawberries with Romanoff sauce are a classic and should not be missed, so make sure to save room for some dessert.
Among my favorite savory pastries are the chicken friand with mushroom cream sauce and the spinach pochette. Other recommended choices include the beef bourguignon and chicken la Madeleine. Did I mention that you must save room for dessert and get the strawberries Romanoff?

I like coming here. I’ve eaten at this location and others in the country and generally speaking the food is good. For what ever reason any table in this place that wasn’t circular in shape was oddly warped.
Notwithstanding the warped tables, good place.

Had a lovely meal to celebrate Valentines Day after church. Wife had the chicken Madeleine, asked for no mushroom sauce, got what she ordered. I had the shrimp florentine crêpe, first time order. Might be a new entrée on their menu. It was delicious, I highly recommend it. Wife had strawberry cheesecake mini parfait, I finished with a seasonal limited time available rustic pear and almond tort. Very «pear-​y» and good combination.
Nice that they have free bread and jam while you wait for your main entrée. Nice location, clean, excellent food and service.