marie louise bistro

first and last experiance.. i ate in your restaurant last night and i experienced the worst service that i can ever imagine. i walked in at around 530. there were about five servers standing around. i asked to be seated and they all looked at me in disarray and said you can sit anywhere since we aren’t busy. all of them looked at me and said who is going to take that table. as a customer i felt like i was being racially profiled. one female server told me that ben was going to be my server and walked off. i didn’t see ben for another 15 min and i am the one that grabbed him to take my drink order. he was unfriendly and had attitude. ten min later my drinks are not at my table and eric noticed i was frustrated. he came to the table and asked if me and my other party needed anything. i requested a new server and he took my table. i asked to speak to a manager and they informed me that there wasn’t a manager available. the server informed me the reason that they didn’t know who was going to take my table is because the seating chart wasn’t done. the food wasn’t impressive and the service was horrible. i asked to be called back by a manager last night and i never received a call back. after i left your restaurant i went out for drinks with a few coworkers and they informed me of the same kind of experience. this was my first time at your restaurant and the last. paying 60.00 for food and drinks for the service i received was a waste of money. i will tell everyone i know about this experience because i’ve never been treated this way. i have had better service at mcdonalds. i went online and noticed the reviews of your restaurant and there are many others that have had the same experience. if this is the service that you give to the community then people will quit coming to your restaurant.

very disappointing. this restaurant was recommended by a friend. unfortunately the food was well below average. the onion soup had mediocre flavor, at best. the duck confit was palatable but was served over mushy tepid couscous. the bouillabaise was both visually unappetizing and lacked flavor; the broth itself which should be the richest part was extremely bland, and the seafood itself was scarcely portioned and inconsistently seasoned. there was a nice ambiance with a cafe style out front and dining room in the back, and the server was quite nice but slow and did forget to bring bread. all in all, i would not recommend it based primarily on the taste and presentation of the food.

disrespectful, unprofessional. we had a party of 25 adults and 3 kids for brunch. they were unprepared, there wasn't enough space for our whole party, service was poor, two children were accidentally served alcohol and after all of this, we were overcharged. spoke to marie louise at length and not only did she refuse to apologize, address our complaints or correct the bill, she insinuated that the poor service and extra charges were our fault. my interactions with the owner of this restaurant were outright disrespectful.

the worst. very unfriendly especially the hostess. does not live up to the rating.

may 5th noon. worst service i have had in ages, maybe ever. had to ask for menus after 20 mins, ask for ice tea at the counter after another 10, ask the lady at counter for dessert. unless you have all day or like being ignored skip it.


-----21 jan, 2012-----

really going down hill, sauces getting bland. brunch was terrible today eggs massively over- cooked, steak raw . omelettes were dry.

below average food-- this place needs an actual chef. we came here for dinner last week, hopeful that marie louise would be a nice addition to the mt vernon restaurant scene, which does not yet have a french restaurant. we sat down, and optimistically ordered a nice bottle of red wine, planning to make a nice evening of the experience. this turned out to be a mistake, as the food was practically inedible, and we cut the evening short by pleasurelessly downing our wine just to get out of the place.

appetizer: the french onion soup was extremely salty, and the onions were burnt. furthermore, the soup was overly seasoned with thyme, the cheap dried kind you find at giant, just kind of floating about in bits. there was too much cheese on it, which is really not the point of onion soup, which is supposed to be hearty, but delicate at the same time. i didn't finish it.

steak frites: the steak frites was completely ridiculous. rather than a thin, quality cut of meat, what arrived was a thick, low quality steak the size of my arm, which is not the point of steak frites. like the soup, it was extremelt salty. i never complain about food in a restaurant, but this was unacceptable. i asked the waiter if something could be done, and to his credit they took the steak back and suggested i try something else. so i ordered a tuna nicoise.

tuna nicoise: the tuna was a giant cut, too large for a tuna nicoise. it was seared at too high a temperature, so that the outside was overcooked and the inside was raw. the size of the tuna meant that it was basically tasteless. the olives in salad were low quality cocktail olives that were likewise too rough in taste and didn't compliment the salad.

in sum, the food was overpriced for what you got, no better than what you'd expect at donna's or city cafe, and even that might be generous.

this place needs, more than anything, an actual chef.

this little gem seems to be often overlooked; i always have such a nice time.  it’s sort of hidden on charles street in mount vernon, but you can always find it in the summer with it’s plethora of outdoor seating.  the servers were adorable and super helpful.  they let us move an umbrella so we could have more shade, and they even saved us a table in the shade when we got to hot. it was a warm sunny day, so we started with the sparkling rose.  for our first course, we had the charcuterie and cheese plate; a mix of house-made country paté, french garlic sausage, rabbit fillet, and several cheeses – i think a brie, a blue and cheddar with pepper.  their only downfall on this day, was that the food runner didn’t explain anything on the plate. i was looking for a salad and went with the duck confit salad: “confit of hudson valley duck legswith mixed greens, chevre cheese, toasted pecans and aged sherry vinaigrette”.  fantastic. the duck was rich

horrible place. this was the first time i've ever walked out for poor service. these people were overbooked and understaffed. the hostess was not assertive and seated a few tables without reservations, which delayed the people with reservations by 15 - 20 minutes. for us: reservation at 6:15, seated at 6:35, orders placed at 6:45, drinks brought at 7:05 (after asking about the delay and having the waitress snap at us), bread basket at 7:15 (after asking a more pleasant waitress), walk out at 7:30 without food, an hour and 15 minutes after we were supposed to be seated. the waitress could have spent 15 seconds any time to politely acknowledge us, but instead we were left alone in a corner. don't go. you will literally be wasting your time here.

unsat. i hate this place!!!! service sucks ass... bathroom was unsat! it took 30 min to sit down for a reservation. no good picks of wines because they were out of a lot! never got the bread that was served prior i eating. so yes right now vey unhappy this is not how wanted to spend my pre-wedding night!! i am on the edge of crying be uses i am highly upset!

do not come here unless you want to wait.


-----22 feb, 2014-----

over crowded reservations. horrible reservation system... way too many people staying around in a small area.. very unhappy with this!!!!

this place is the bottom if the barrel. horrible service,horrible old wine, and the food is almost inedible and that's after they make you wait an hour to get it. i'm thinking of getting everyone in mt vernon to take up a collection and offer marie ransome some cash to get the hell out of baltimore!! she needs to get a job at a prison with her customer service skills. yuck! go away!

an unfortunate experience. consistently slow service and cold and/or salty food ruined what could have been a pleasant experience. repeated requests for more attentive service were ignored. when i related my experience to a friend, she excitedly chimed in, "...i know! my father and i went there for a cappuccino and ended up waiting around for what felt like hours!" i would avoid this restaurant, if i were you.

longest wait for eggs and a burger. my boyfriend and i arrived and hoped to have a delightful brunch here. there were a few customers inside, but definitely not packed. we quickly ordered coffees, a lamb burger, and eggs benedict. as we waited, more people started coming in and surprisingly ordered and got their food before us. 25 minutes later...the table next to us (a party of 3) who arrived relatively the same time as us had gotten gotten their orders. the waiter comes by and give us more coffee and says the food would come out soon. another 15 minutes later, my boyfriend had to go out and put more money in the meter. another 10 minutes go by, i take out a book and start reading and my boyfriend started playing with his phone. the waiter gives us some bread to munch on (stale tasting). at the one hour mark, we were just about to get up and leave the place, when our order arrived. 1 hour for a lamb burger sandwich and eggs. what was the cooking staff doing back there that it would take that long? the food was warm, but definitely did not taste like it was just cooked. food tasted fine, but after an hour, we had expected to have tasted exceptional. it was not.

needless to say, we will not be returning to mlb. there are tons of restaurants in baltimore that deserves our money for excellent food and service. pete's inn in fell's point is one of them.

good to go.. why the bum rap?. i don't know why this place is only 77% favorable. went there past friday nite party of 4. got there 545pm, taken right back. my wife is a little claustrophobic and she didn't mind no windows etc, quite comfy for her. food: spinach and house salads were fresh and excellent. shrimp in garlic sauce was very good, 007 martini was spot one, mojitos were very good. wife's bison burger was tasty, but she should have gotten it med-well a little too red for her, but was afraid to get well because they tend to dry out. had to go to "into the woods", so didn't eat dessert there, but got a tart and walnut tower thing my wife thought was attractive. both were very good, even the day after. chocolate truffle was excellent. sorry brenda. once it got crowded the service did slow down, but the food was very good-excellent. i would certainly dine there again. probably next time we see a show at center stage..

never going again. really, a disagreement over one glass of wine that my friend sent back. lost all of my business and friend's business because of a jerk of a bartender and a manager who could not make a situation better.
i joined urbanspoon just now to advise others to stay away. of course, when i left, i ran into a friend eating outside, and i told him the whole experience. thats how it goes. be nice and dont be penny wise and pound foolish.

terrible, are they paying attention??. my mistake was not reading the recent reviews. my impression is simple: over priced, undercooked, cold food!
the "bistro burger" i ordered was served almost cold, virtually rare even though i had asked for medium. my wife's food was also served cold. i am waiting to be sick in the next few hours. waiter argued that the food could not have be cold! these guys need to get back to basics. even in the somewhat depleted food scene in baltimore, this place is horrible. only good things are the desserts. after reading the reviews it seems like the owners really don't care for feedback.