The walk with a view of Exeter Murals is what you can expect after dining at this bar. French cuisine is a must-taste one at Cafe Lafayette. You can always degust perfectly cooked bacon, fillet steaks and prawns - a special offer of this place. Do not leave without tasting good fruitcake, French toasts and crème brûlée. The wine list is extensive, every guest will find something that satisfies their taste. The spectacular atmosphere gladdens people and attracts more clients. 4.5 is what this spot received from the Google rating system.
Very disappointed in the French dip sandwiches. The salad was a wedge of Lettuce with a stinky dressing on it, Roquefort or blue cheese, which I don't like. My fault, I should have asked.
French fries were awesome!
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 1
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
We booked tonight as a special holiday dinner at the end of a cross country drive. We aren’t fancy or fussy people, but we generally feel that if you put on fancy airs, you have to deliver. We ended up spending $159 for dinner which is generally 3x compared to our typical simple dinner out consisting of some well scouted authentic ethnic eats. While this is certainly harder to do post pandemic, we generally succeeded over the last 9 days crossing the country.
While the food was good here, for the price which included a basic bottle of wine, two dishes and a cup of soup, we could have done better in San Francisco in an experience that would have included appropriate service.
Again, we aren’t fancy and generally aren’t bothered unless your inherent promise isn’t met. Here the setup is really a farm town bistro. For the price, however, a table cloth would generally be expected. Slightly loud rock music was playing over the speakers, songs I liked, but neither the volume nor tunes you would expect at a French style bistro. We picked the lamb special as one of our two dishes. The waiter thought it was $36.50 which sounded suspiciously cheap. When the bill came, it was $54.50. The waiter never acknowledged this change. My wife was never asked how she wanted it cooked, and it came out bloody, which just isn’t how rack of lamb is served. We sent it back for more heat, which is something we haven’t done in probably 15 years. The waiter did ask if my shrimp could be blackened at my request, and they came out nicely done. The young waiter seemed to not know the tradition of tasting the wine, serving women first, adding water to the ice bucket to transfer the cold temperature to the wine, and serving with a cloth to wipe the bottle so I wouldn’t have had to wipe the ice cold water on my pants.
On net, pretty clunky. This would all be ignored at a different price point or if the restaurant wasn’t putting on airs. I left 15% which pained me as it is the holidays and I wanted to be more generous, but this was more than it warranted. There was also a 3% credit card surcharge which is definitely a restaurant outlier practice, even post pandemic.
If I was to pass on a tip, it would be to decide what your implicit promise is and deliver on it. If you are a cafe, you can be casual, have lightly trained staff, simple tables, rock music, and simple dishes at affordable prices. If you are a fine dining restaurant, you do need to train your team, know your prices, and deliver on your fancy airs. Here the implicit brand promise comes wrapped in metaphorical newspaper, and it just doesn’t work.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$100+
Food: 4
Service: 2
Atmosphere: 3
Very disappointed in the French dip sandwiches. The salad was a wedge of Lettuce with a stinky dressing on it, Roquefort or blue cheese, which I don't like. My fault, I should have asked.
French fries were awesome!
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 1
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Fred the chef made us excellent rack of lamb, so tasty and juicy and tender. Licked every piece of the bones.
Loved the French onion soup, the real one. The embedded bread was crunchy and so good. The best.
Loved the escargot 🐌, so tasty.
The cremolette was excellent.
We found our favorite hangout in lovely Exeter.
We also had Beaudouex wine 🍷
The attendant Chris was very … attentive and kind.
It was the best experience.
I love this restaurant! Been going here a while.
Brunch
Their Croquet Madame and French Toast are my favorites for brunch.
Appetizers
Their cheese platter, pork belly and caprese are fabulous appetizers that everyone loves that I've been with. They have the best French Onion Soup in the valley.
Dinner
I can never get enough of their chicken cordon bleu but also have enjoyed their Lamb and Ribeye. Fred makes the best filet mignon but it's not offered daily.
Drinks
My bestie loves their blueberry lavender gimlet. I enjoy most of their red wine selections, especially their Blue Rock Cab and Cristia Red Blend.
Atmosphere
The owners are super nice and fun to get to know. The patio has heaters, is dog friendly and just beautiful between the brick, overhead lighting and greenery.
Events
I am a wedding planner. I've also done a couple weddings here (60 guests max). Fantastic price for a venue with fabulous dining experience for the guests.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$30–50
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
French Onion Soup
