l'albatros

affordable french. prettygoodmenu and quality food. our waiter was fine, but tried too hard pronouncing french words with no skill for the accent and tried to sound cultured speaking in 3rd person. anyway, it wasn't too expensive, though not cheap either. fun people watching with the university circle crowd - hip, artsy, collegiate, orchestral, liberal, elitist types. nice patio and lower prices for lunch and happy hour.

after reading several reviews and now after eating dinner here, the thought that comes to mind is; the emperor's new clothes...
many over dressed, snooty people eating at a restaurant crammed with cheap tables and chairs pretending to enjoy horrible service and lukewarm food all because someone who has obviously never been to france gave this place agoodreview.
my complaint mostly comes because of the really poor service we received. our table was right between two other tables that were less than 18" away. when they brought a cheese tray for our neighbor table they had to put part of it on our table and proceeded to talk cheese selections. we had to suspend our conversation and husband had to move out of the way.
we waited 10 minutes to be acknowledged by waiter. waited another 10 minutes for sparkling water. asked three times for limes, when they finally brought them they delivered them to our cheese neighbors who promptly cleansed their fingers with them.
we did order a soup, escargot, and foie gras and we enjoyed them. although, we asked repeatedly for bread to accompany and it never came.
our order of glazed chicken was tiny and potatoes were cold and tasted like paste.
we sent it back and gave up.
to owners: your staff was sweet, but i am guessing they are all case western students with lots of brains and little common sense. staff running around everywhere with nothing getting done. no communication.

i have to admit i was somewhat disappointed in l'albatros. my son and i sat at the bar last thursday evening because we did not have a reservation and the restaurant was quite busy. we both started with soups which were excellent. i had a cream of celery soup that was a very nice introduction to a meal. my son had the french onion soup which was also excellent . there is however meat in the soup which was verygood but we only only learned this before ordering from a fellow diner. the menu does not mention it. my entree, the veal short rib was quite disappointing. somewhere in the brazing process the veal got lost and the risotto turned to mush. the only apparent flavor was the wild mushroom sauce. the veal was boneless and the silver skin was not removed. i had difficulty pulling the meat away from the skin. i would suggest that the short rib be served on the bone which would make it easier for the diner to pull the meat away. i would suggest too that the meat not be cooked in the liquid for quite so long. also the risotto should be properly prepared so as to maintain its character. it should be distinguishable from the rest of the dish.
my son had the chicken confit. the menu does not mention that the paprika is smoked paprika. the flavor was quite strong and toanyone who does not like a smoked flavor this dish would be less than appealing. i am glad that i did not order it. our service was excellent and the restaurant did accommodate us even though they were quite busy. for that i give them an excellent rating. sitting at the bar was quite pleasant.

delicious, classy & comfortable. this place is absolutely perfect!

came on a friday night and the only time i could get was 6:00 for a table for one/two. it was empty when i got there but quickly filled up.

started with a cool cucumber drink while purusing the wine and dinner menus. my server, who again i forgot her name, was charming, bubbly, perfectly described the specials and answered all questions without hesitation.

after the drink i decided on a nice glass of st emilion to go with dinner. it was delicious, it's very hard to findgoodwine served by the glass, and this was it. i found the bread boy to be amusing, his only job is to put two slices of bread on everyones plate all night, that has to be the lowest stress job in the world!

so i started with the pate, made with veal (which i usually dont eat but hey i'm at l'albatros) and pork with whole pistachios and a lovely gelatinous coating, served with toast points , cornichons and pickled vegis. simply delicious.

i was looking forward to the cassoulet all week as i've made it at home but it literally takes all day and makes way too much for one person, thus the perfect opportunity to try some here. it was worth the wait! a leg of duck confit, a block of crispy pork belly, shredded lamb and two kinds of housemade sausage served with slow cooked white beans and a tomato based sauce. omg, this was to die for! so delicious, of course i could only eat a few bites of the delicious richness but it was so worth it.

i debated on dessert but passed and enjoyed another glass of wine while lingering. never did i feel rushed and never did i feel odd eating alone, in fact they were quite charming about it and went out of their way to make me feel welcome. every server who walked by stopped to talk to me even if it was just for chit chat.

total bill was around $94 plus tip. well worth it , i really cant say enough for this place. oh and when i asked the hostess to call for a cab a limo showed up! bonus!!

just finished dinner here on their outdoor dining patio. verygoodoverall. i am not a regular patron of french restaurants; however, l'albatros has a menu that should appeal to various tastes and appetites. my food selections were not very "french": split pea soup and roasted cod! but, it was absolutely delicious. first class. a nice place for just yourself, a group, or that special someone.

we may have only scratched the surface of the menu, but it was a lunch ofgoodbeer, fine food, andgoodconversation. after that, there really isn’t much more that you need.

disappointing!. i was very disappointed by this restaurant! i was very excited about it due the great reviews and brought some out of town friends there. we chose to sit on the patio and were given a table in the path of the setting sun. we weregoodsports about it and didn't complain even though the manager saw us move our table a couple of times to try to dodge the rays. then an older couple came and were seated behind us, also in the path of the sun and immediately there were 4 people scrambling to get umbrellas all set up to block the sun from them. perhaps they were important clientelle. there were 4 umbrellas they shuffled around to get just right for these people. well we were already half way through our un-eventful meals and with all that fuss, the sun was still beating down on our table. i found that to be extremely insulting. then to the food, the special was halibut cheeks which were absolutely overcooked, obviously cooked by someone who does not appreciate the delicate nature of this item. the skate wing was also overcooked and too salty. the hanger steak was rubbery and covered with a sauce that was all congealed by the time it got to our table. absolutely overpriced for wanna-be food. so tired of these places that just don't know whatgoodfood is.

administrative assistant. the office went there for the first time for our christmas luncheon in january and we couldn't stop talking about howgoodit was! we went back the very next day. since then, probably about 6 weeks, we've been back about 6 times. one of my co-workers is trying something different every time. i've stuck with the chicken breast. i recommend that if you haven't been there...go!

zach has done it again!. zach bruell is briliiant! i have loved all of his restaurants, but this one is my favorite. his "deconstructed" cassoulet is magnificent and his version of steak and frites is asgoodas any i've had in france. nice little wine list as well.

great service,goodfare. thegoodthing about new restaurants is that the people are so eager to please! it's a hidden gem inside cleveland circle, cozy but gives off the feeling of space as well. decor is lovely and light. food was well-prepared and our drinks were divine.