Paul

Let me start by saying the food is great! However the service is awful! We came in just to get a quick sandwich. An employee was cleaning the glass and we kept trying to look around her to read the sandwiches she couldn’t care less didn’t move didn’t even acknowledge us! Like we were in HER way. Then we go to the cashier and wait and she comes up to ring us out I let her know we would like a sandwich (toscan) and a sparking water for here. She just rings away and says total is $ 22. I’m thinking hold on for a sandwich and a water?! So I said that’s one sandwich? She’s like no. Ok lady don’t assume I need two sandwich you have a mouth use it to interact with me and find out what I want. You are in customer service right?! Well not this lady clearly. Then they bring me my sandwich wrapped up in a bag when I clearly had told her I wanted to eat here. So I asked if we could have a plate. The people in front us got a tray and plates and such. She made me feel how dare I ask for a plate. At this point I had to walk away and let my friend finish the transaction. Great food AWFUL service!

I’m sorely disappointed with this place. I’ve gotten desserts here on several occasions, nothing ever tasted fresh! The cake and macarons were always stall. When you are charging nearly $ 10 for a small piece of pastry, one would expect it to be fresh and made daily rather than for it to taste like it’s been sitting in the fridge for the last week! The coffee also tastes awful. Everything is overpriced and does not taste right.

I loved Paul in France, and I love Paul here. I was nervous about the service given so many bad reviews, but things went fine for me — perhaps because I didn’t go during a busy time? They were out of almond croissants, so I got a chocolate croissant with almonds as well as a gourmandise. Sent a snapchat to my French friend who approved of my choices. I don’t live in DC, and am jealous that Paul has limited locations, so would come here every time I visit to get my fill of delicious French pastries.

Food is great but the service was awful. The sandwich I ordered had the wrong price labeled and when the clerk rang me up, it was higher than I had expected. When I asked that it be adjusted to what was on the label, she was incredibly rude. Not sure I’ll go back to this Paul, the service is better at others.

My roommate and I come here frequently for breakfast before we head off to work. Easily accessible by metro, right next to Farragut North & West.
I really like the pastries and I usually get a gourmandise or a croissant, which are baked to perfection and taste quite nice. The staff are very friendly and attentive.

This place comes off as a posh bakery. But I found little substance under the shine. The pastries are just okay; same for the tea. The presentation is very pretty but the quality doesn’t match it and, what’s worse, you’re being charged as if it did. I’ll pass. It’s just way, way too much money for too much flash over substance.

The staff has less charm than your average McDonalds employee and they don’t speak French. When you go to a place like Paul, you expect more of the staff, and you don’t get it here. But the food is nice.

Like Sarah B, I found metal in my food. Staff was rather indifferent, although I’m sure at one point they must have experienced the warmth of friendship and the reassurance of a mother’s touch. I yearn for the day when they can apologize sincerely for trying to choke me. I don’t like dying, in case you didn’t know.

Food is good. Service is horrible. Took 20 minutes for a sandwich. The pistachio macaroon and strawberry tart were delightful. Too bad the service ruins the experience.

Food was disgusting. Staff was rude

Great chocolate pastries but expect the kind of service you get at a Chinese restaurant.
Walked into the store because of the hot chocolate poster on their window but turned out they don’t sell it. The lady who served me was pretty rude when I questioned her about it and basically told me «we have everything but hot cocao». Then why did you put that freaking big ass poster everywhere?
Service aside, their desserts are ok. If you’re sick of the traditional American desserts like cupcakes, fudge, donuts, diabetic ice cream… Then go try them out! :)

Holy cow this is delicious. The apple turnover was buttery, flaky and fluffy, and the filling was tart and flavorful. The coffee was decent, and I appreciate that they serve it in ceramic cups if you’re sticking around. The interior is adorable. I can’t wait to go back and eat more pastries.
Customer service was fine. I didn’t experience any of the problems other Unilocalers have mentioned, but I’ve only been once, so maybe that’s not enough to judge. Anyhow, the pastries were so good, I’d probably go back no matter what.

Ok customer service.
I can understand that you hire native French speakers but I would assume they should know English too? The sandwiches are very tasty, although a lot of the times they don’t have a full selection.
No Orangina. No Orangina! What kind of fraud French spot doesn’t have Orangina?

Excellent coffee with delicious pastries along with a smile when you arrive and pay for your purchase. It’s not hard for businesses to do — so glad they do at Paul’s!
I enjoy Paul’s throughout DC and NoVa.

Good stuff, great alternative to the typical!

An authentic French bakery located in the heart of DC? Yes please!
Tried the macarons, the mille-​feuille (Napolean), and a flaky apricot jam & almond topped pastry. In particular, the mille-​feuille was my favorite. Two crispy puff pastries sandwiched a light, sweet pastry cream, and the entire confection was topped with an apricot glaze. The chocolate macaron I tried was a bit dense and kind of reminded me of a brownie, but it was still good. Lastly, the jam and almond pastry square was a bit tart and didn’t satisfy my sweet tooth, but for those of you who don’t like overly sweet desserts, it would be a good option.
You really can’t go wrong with anything you try here, and while it is a bit pricy, you are paying for ingredients of the highest quality and the difference can be tasted!

This place has some of the worst customer service I’ve experienced in DC. I stopped by at 12:30 PM on a weekday to grab a coffee and there was a line of about 8 people. You’d expect this to move reasonably quickly, given that everyone is ordering pre-​prepared sandwiches and croissants. I stood in line for about 10 minutes and no one budged an inch. I have no idea what the hold up was at the front of the line but there was no effort to get other people’s orders started. The employees were beyond slow and when I finally made it to the front of the line they were incredibly rude. Tashiba looked right past me and asked the customer behind me for his credit card. When another employee asked her why she wasn’t helping me since I was at the front of the line, she replied to HIM that someone was already helping me with my coffee (which I saw no signs of). At no point did she even acknowledge my existence or apologize to me as I stood in front of the cash register slightly dumbfounded. Luckily another employee noticed her rudeness and helped me shortly after.
The restaurant is super cramped because most of the space is taken up by the bakery. The door is a huge glass swinging monstrosity that lets in an enormous blast of winter air ever time someone opens it, causing the employees and customers to all wear their coats inside. Terrible design to go with the terrible service. The pastries looked pretty good but they won’t be getting my patronage in the future.

First time coming to Paul’s and I was not at all impressed. I ordered the Nutella waffle. The waffle was extremely hard!!! The customer service was also terrible! Won’t be coming back!!!

I like the desserts here. I don’t think there’s anything I don’t like. However, not everything is labeled properly behind the glass. Make sure you know what you are getting. Doesn’t hurt to ask. It also has a nice little outside seating area…

As noted in other reviews, the macarons are amazing. They are enormous, and while it’s tempting to think that the $ 6 price tag is overly high, they are definitely larger than 2 average sized macarons. And most pastry shops sell small, regular sized ones for $ 3/​ea. I’ve had macarons in Paris, NYC, Vegas, LA, Portland… The list goes on. My point: these are as good or better than any others I’ve ever had. Upon a friend’s recommendation, I tried the pistachio. While not usually a fan of pistachio flavor, this one was amazing. I kept trying to save some for later, but couldn’t resist it.
The plain croissant was also quite good. Buttery, flaky layers with a soft airy interior exactly as it should be. The staff accommodated my request for butter and jam without any charge.
The sourdough loaf must’ve been made with a wheat base, because it was dense and heavy and not at all what sourdough is supposed to taste like. Skip this if you don’t like wheat or heavy /​dense breads.
I’m surprised by the negative reviews regarding service staff. My experience was very pleasant. The guy taking my order answered all my questions patiently and gave me plenty of time to decide. The ladies at the register were also very friendly.
This is truly a French style bakery. There are not a lot of frills, but the quality of the baked goods is very high.

Alors oui une seule étoile car la je dis totalement non ! C’est assez triste comme constant de voir que l’image de la France par le biais de cette chaîné de boulangerie connue est totalement écornée aux USA…
En entrant la boutique est certes belle avec tout les bons clichés du boulanger a la française, elle est spacieuse avec un bon nombre de tables a disposition des clients. On s’avance vers le comptoir, on n’est pas pris en charge alors qu’il y a 3 vendeuses pour 1 cliente. Une fois qu’on nous a quand même repéré, c’est avec un dédain total que le service est effectué.
Avec une petite envie de gaufre nature au ventre, on en demande une et nous répond qu’il faut compter environ 7min, je comprendrais seulement plus tard la raison de ce timing. Il y avait déjà des gaufres sur le comptoir alors on demande si l’on peut avoir celles-​ci on nous répond mollement et sans grande conviction que oui. On sort, on mange un première bouchée ok, une deuxième et la c’est le drame total !!! Elle était encore congelée a cœur… Incroyable ! Voilà pourquoi on nous avait annoncé un délais de 7min au préalable, c’était le temps de décongélation et réchauffage de la gaufre. Je trouve ça assez pitoyable pour les consommateurs américains qui croient croquer un morceau de France alors qu’il s’agit du pur surgelé. Et puis entre nous, du moment que l’on a un gaufrier, la pâte de la gaufre est franchement pas difficile a réaliser…
Un total «fail» pour cette boulangerie Paul avec un service désastreux et des employés vraiment pas impliqués dans leur job. Une énorme déception et une (mauvaise) surprise de taille pour la découverte de produits congelés !