le voltaire

excellent food & service. stopped by for dinner a few weeks back with a co-worker. my friend asked about an item from a priormenuand the chef offered to make it. turned out excellent and just as my co-worker had tasted in paris. i had the pork tenderloin which was tender, juicy and delicious! service was friendly, happy and very accommodating. thanks...we'll be back.

perfection ... simply perfection.. ha last night special steak with fois gras... omg!! escargot... divine! this place is amazing!! make a reservation! i had the salmon wrapped in parchment paper and i almost licked the plate ! you can point to themenuand can not go wrong !

excellent value. many people shy away from french restaurants because they are unfamiliar with all of the various sauces and ingredients. others stay away because they fear french cuisine has to be super expensive.
le voltaire blows both of those fears out of the water. the menu, though true to its french roots, offers many dishes that represent classic european "comfort food" that most midwesterners will find not dissimilar from the american versions of the term. poultry, beef, pork and vegetables make up the bulk of the menu, though fish and seafood items are also offered, both on themenuand as daily specials. each main course comes with a starter salad as well as side accompaniments to the main dish (plus some very good french bread). this lack of an a la carte pricing policy translates to making le voltaire price competitive with hundreds of other area restaurants. in fact, you will likely pay less to dine hear than at many of the big chain places. plus you will be dining at a home town original, and not at some cookie cutter competitor.
the atmosphere is pleasant, but surprisingly unpretentious. most diners dress up a bit, but that may be as much a function of their age than anything else. the customer base here skews noticeably older than at many other popular restaurants in town.
and a word about the service. our waitress was one of the nicest, most down to earth examples of her trade that i have experienced in a long time. if you think all french wait staff are equal parts surly and stuffy, you haven't dined inside these doors. the staff are a joy to interact with.
it all adds up to a "why don't we eat here more often?" dining experience. great food, service and pricing will make you want to return soon.
food: a
service: a
atmosphere: b+
menu sophistication: b+
value: a-

excellent french food. we gave this restaurant a try a few weeks ago and were impressed. the staff is knowledgeable of what is on themenuand how it is cooked. we started with the plateau de formage and a nice bottle of 2005 bordeaux. we ate slowly and savored every bite of the cheeses. the waitress described each cheese which was a nice touch. for the main course we ordered the boeuf bourguignon (bb) and bouillabaisse de marselle (bdm). both were outstanding. the bb beef was tender and the sauce so savory. the broth in the bdm was very close to what i remember in paris. the fish was perfectly cooked. i enjoyed every bite. however, the toast that came with the bdm had an awful mustard spread on it. i would have preferred just toasted/buttered french bread. i didn't want anything competing with that wonderfully delicious and savory bdm.

drawbacks...tables are tiny and they are skimpy on the bread (tiny basket of a tiny loaf of very delicious and crusty french bread). the waiter will ask if you want more when he/she sees it is empty...which was halfway through our appetizer for us. bb and bdm both call for a good amount of bread to sop up all that delicious broth.

we'll be back!

unassumingly authentic. as we bit into the perfect french bread, we were taken back to our journeys to france. from the good-sized wine list we chose a bottle of pinor noir by region of france, though domestic wines were available, too. our plats principals were preceded by a house salad drizzled with an exceptional house dressing. i ordered a special and she ordered from the menu, steak covered with foie gras and goat cheese-stuffed veal loin, respectively. both were phenomenal. my steak was cooked as exactly as i like and incredibly tender. the veal loin, delicious as well. the few wait staff working on the mid-week evening offered a warm welcome with knowledge of themenuand wines and great service. finishing our meal, we were both overly satisfied and sure we'd found a gem. while there, a former chef now a salesman was dining--a frenchman no less--who was sure to point out how great and authentic his meal was, too. he had bouillabaisse. he went on that while traveling on business he visits a lot of restaurants, french or otherwise, and commented that for what he got and what we had, that the price is very affordable noting that in the city he lives in, the meal easily be 50 percent higher and not nearly as good. implying that it's some of the best and most authentic french cuisine in the region. with that, the quality of our meals and the peaceful atmosphere, we're sure to be back.

just because you're french doesn't mean you can cook.. if you love overcooked sweetbreads and incredibly inconsistent sauces you will love le voltaire. the service is pretentious but punctual, themenuis interesting and the atmosphere is fine. just don't expect the food to taste very good.