One of my favorite things about L'Bistro is the live jazz on Thursday nights! I also love the honey garlic sauce they use for wings, but they charge a ridiculous amount for them. Especially when I can walk to the Tavern (in the same building) and get 25 cent wings with the EXACT SAME sauces on their Wing night.
(3)
Paul H.
I took a colleague to L'Bistro on a Sunday evening and, to be blunt, I was not happy with the experience. Upon entering the restaurant, no host, hostess, or server could be found. I had to walk back to the kitchen to find someone to seat us. That is a very bad start to the visit. The meal itself was acceptable, if not notable in any way. Our wine was not served in wine glasses. The pasta dishes didn't have much in the way of memorable flavors. The tiramisu desert was disappointing and still partially frozen. Our server seemed to have her mind on other things as she didn't pay much attention to us and had a rather nonchalant attitude towards our service. Grand Forks needs more high-quality restaurants. This joint certainly isn't one of them.
(1)
KJ J.
I have eaten here before and I liked it then and now. I got the New Orleans linguine and got it extra spicy. it had sausage and shrimp with banana peppers. I am taking half of it home since it was a good serving portion. At half price Tuesday pastas ... how can you go wrong? I asked for extra bread for my to go and wasn't charged. Always makes me happy when I get free stuff :) Server was pretty great too... 8.03+ tip? Why yes I will !!!
(5)
Meghan W.
Horrendous, gross, poor service, and under trained staff. Came here for a concert and the food was buffet only. You'd think that would make it an easy night for them, apparently not. The manager walked past us yelling that "8 O' CLOCK CANT COME SOON ENOUGH" and we didn't receive the drinks we ordered until after dinner. Food was mushy and a disaster, and there were no plates at the buffet. Really disappointed. The one bright spot was the hostess who seemed to be the only one actually trying to hustle and work hard.
(1)
Bruce W.
Terrible service. Roughly 20 percent capacity, 20 minutes to get a water 60 minutes to get the meal. Dirty glass delivered by manager (lipstick). Plenty of apologies no offer to correct. Food, meh. Waitress asked how's the food look before anyone has tried anything not a single return until the meal was complete. I'd settle for a chuck wagon from a local gas station before returning to this dump.
(1)
M H.
No. Just no. I was in town visiting UND and needed a bite to eat. The woman working the front desk at a different hotel recommended L'Bistro (pronounced phonetically apparently, as in EL BEESTRO), located in the Canad Inn hotel. Off we went! The place was totally dead but it was a Tuesday night, no conference was in town, UND students were gone for the summer, so I didn't take that as any sort of sign. We were greeted and seated promptly and our server was friendly and efficient. Also, it was 1/2 price pasta night! Started off with a starter sized Greek salad (2 sizes for every salad: "starter" and "main"). It was perfectly acceptable, some olives, some tomato and feta...you know the drill. My main was the roasted vegetable penne, which was large. It probably was about 3/4 lb. of pasta. The roasted veg included a couple of pepper chunks, 2 mushroom slices and I think I spied one small round of zucchini in there. It was also advertised as containing goat cheese. It had exactly 1/2 teaspoon of goat cheese crumbles. It may have only been a singular crumble, now I think about it. It also came with 2 mammoth bread sticks. Maybe they could have been a little more liberal with the pricier ingredients (the goat cheese and vegetables) if they stopped half price pasta night and actually used an appropriate amount of ingredients other than cheap ass pasta filler. FAIL. Shall we move on to dessert? Tiramisu? Yes, please! It is a classic Italian dessert of lady fingers dipped in espresso or coffee, with a creamy marscapone filling and dusted with cocoa. It is a delicious dessert. At L'Bistro, it was like an inside-out Twinkie. A horrible dry twinkie. It had dry lady fingers, a sweet cream filling, dusted with cinnamon. No cocoa. No espresso or coffee. This doesn't even qualify as tiramisu. It is like serving me a slice of blueberry pie that contains strawberry and rhubarb. Sure, pie crust is the common ingredient, but blueberry pie it is not. FAIL. In summary, this place sucks. You won't get food poisoning (that I know of) or anything and it looked clean and the ambiance was OK, so I didn't knock it down to 1 star. Even in a small town like Grand Forks, you can do better.
(2)
Sarah S.
My friends and I come to this restaurant pretty frequently, last fall we had a terrible experience with service (server wasn't trained, food came out wrong, he didn't know how to split checks, super slow service, etc). The manager was busy with other things, but we returned to give it another chance, manager did a okay job after we brought the glaring issues to her attention, since then we come here on average once a week. Unfortunately, we will not be returning here after our last experience. We waited over 10 minutes for a hostess to come to seat us, and 15 minutes for a waiter to acknowledge us. No one knew what the martini of the season was, our group of 5 each ordered a martini, our drinks came out in whiskey glasses (defeating the purpose of a martini and how the alcohol sits in the glass). Our drinks were awful, they did not taste correct and the drink I ordered (which I order every visit) had syrup caked on. Two people in our party ordered dry gin martinis, and one came out with vodka and one with gin dirty and dry. We walked them to the bar to clarify what we wanted, the manager was the bartender and argued with us about our order and said the glass doesn't make a difference. She remade the drinks and 2/3 of them came in proper glasses (not busy at all so no idea why they didn't have proper glassware) the drinks and they were still awful. We did not even finish our drinks, which is very rare for any of us. Extremely disappointed in the professionalism as she was the manager. The restaurant had 2 servers and maybe 7 parties, but we never got refills on water, we never not acknowledged again until 30 minutes after we got out food. We had to track down our waiter and ask for cheese and pepper for our pizza, and it took forever to get our checks. The server put the cards with the wrong receipts and it ended up being a huge hassle. Our food came out as ordered, which was great. We each ordered a drink and got two pizzas and from the time we walked in to left , it was over 2 hours (with ordering food on our first contact with the waiter). Having had two horrible experiences here which each time was extremely inconvenient, I would not recommend coming here if you are planning on having a hassle free experience. There are many nearby places, the Tavern is another restaurant in the same building, with wonderful service and great food.
(1)
Michelle W.
Yuck. I did not like this place and am pretty tempted to never go back. The service was okay, but the food we got didn't seem anything like the menu descriptions. The artichoke dip was ok,but the tomato ravioli soup was disgusting. Do not get it. The broth was brown and tasted foul & it said it comes with "mini ravioli" in it but what you actually got was 3 giant ravioli that I'm pretty sure came out of a chef boyardee can. Gross. It was inedible & made me completely lose my appetite. Nothing else I saw looked or smelled good either.... Anyhow, they have drink specials a lot, so maybe I will stop in for a drink at some point. I doubt I will ever try to eat food from here again though.
(2)
Jon V.
Terrible restaurant, don't know how my brother enjoys it at all. We had a reservation for 5 o'clock on a Saturday. Upon arriving we were told we only had 90 minutes to eat because they had double booked our table. Drinks were way over priced, so a couple of us went with the cokes and waters, which isn't terrible, but at one time we had 8 glasses at our tables waiting for refills, don't know how that ever happens. Upon ordering our meals, they screwed up two of them. My dad ordered the Baked Seafood Penne, defiantly wasn't anywhere near baked, I order the New Orleans Linguine without peppers and it came with extra, and my friend order the Ravioli and eneded up with Spaghetti. The food was very sub-par and would recommend anybody that is looking for good food the olive garden is close by, not over priced and the food is a thousand times better.
(1)
Martin R.
When I see three servers and a supervisor standing behind the bar chit-chatting on a slow Sunday night when I walk in the door, I'd at least expect some kind of attentive or, at least, indifferent service. Instead, my party and I were greeted with un-refilled glasses, a trip to the bar for silverware, and very poorly timed salad and main courses, all while the (entire?) waitstaff chatted behind the bar. The supervisor spent much of his time texting people, neglecting to stop by our table to see how things were. A prior party's dishes were left sitting out on a table nearby for nearly the entire length of our stay at the restaurant. The food was markedly so-so in flavor and quality, and was overpriced for what you get. $5.50 for a side salad? Save your money and go to Mama Maria's, where you'll get better quality pasta, a salad included and bigger portions, all for less than what L'Bistro charges. The "inspirations" Pasta Milano was bland and uninspiring and the Chicken Parmesan entree was laughable, served with a very small portion of spaghetti and dressed like an entree at a much fancier restaurant. If you're stuck at the hotel due to blizzard or special event, this is the place to go. Otherwise, you'll find better pasta and pizza elsewhere in Grand Forks.
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : No Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Noise Level : Quiet Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : Yes Wi-Fi : Free Has TV : No Waiter Service : No Caters : No
The immense popularity of Italian cuisine globally isn't unknown. You can find an Italian Pizzeria around every corner of almost every city in the United States. Not to forget that in every house, people enjoy mac and cheese as comfort food. But it would be wrong to believe that Italian food starts with pizza and ends with good pasta as this Mediterranean country has much more to offer other than these two dishes. In Italian Cuisine, there is a high use of fresh tomatoes, all kinds of herbs, great quality of cheese, all types of meat, seafood and fresh handmade pasta. Many find it hard to believe that Italians have been making noodles long back.
Italian and Greek cuisines are always mistaken to be same, but they are poles apart. The primary difference between the two cuisines is the use of cheese in most of the Italian dishes. Italians love to cultivate their own cheese and process them as per their food requirement. It is believed that some cheese is so expensive that cheese producers secure them in lockers.
If you are bored eating the same old pasta or pizza, you can try some of the authentic Italian dishes like Risotto, Polenta, Ribollita, Lasagna, Fiorentina Steak, Bottarga, Ossobuco, Carbonara, Focaccia, Arancini and Supplì. Another item which Italians love to relish every morning is a good cup of Italian Coffee. Once you taste a freshly brewed cup of Italian Coffee, you might not visit Starbucks ever again. Authentic Italian food is made with heart and soul, so go find a restaurant where you can relish Italian cuisine in your city.
Allyse H.
One of my favorite things about L'Bistro is the live jazz on Thursday nights! I also love the honey garlic sauce they use for wings, but they charge a ridiculous amount for them. Especially when I can walk to the Tavern (in the same building) and get 25 cent wings with the EXACT SAME sauces on their Wing night.
(3)Paul H.
I took a colleague to L'Bistro on a Sunday evening and, to be blunt, I was not happy with the experience. Upon entering the restaurant, no host, hostess, or server could be found. I had to walk back to the kitchen to find someone to seat us. That is a very bad start to the visit. The meal itself was acceptable, if not notable in any way. Our wine was not served in wine glasses. The pasta dishes didn't have much in the way of memorable flavors. The tiramisu desert was disappointing and still partially frozen. Our server seemed to have her mind on other things as she didn't pay much attention to us and had a rather nonchalant attitude towards our service. Grand Forks needs more high-quality restaurants. This joint certainly isn't one of them.
(1)KJ J.
I have eaten here before and I liked it then and now. I got the New Orleans linguine and got it extra spicy. it had sausage and shrimp with banana peppers. I am taking half of it home since it was a good serving portion. At half price Tuesday pastas ... how can you go wrong? I asked for extra bread for my to go and wasn't charged. Always makes me happy when I get free stuff :) Server was pretty great too... 8.03+ tip? Why yes I will !!!
(5)Meghan W.
Horrendous, gross, poor service, and under trained staff. Came here for a concert and the food was buffet only. You'd think that would make it an easy night for them, apparently not. The manager walked past us yelling that "8 O' CLOCK CANT COME SOON ENOUGH" and we didn't receive the drinks we ordered until after dinner. Food was mushy and a disaster, and there were no plates at the buffet. Really disappointed. The one bright spot was the hostess who seemed to be the only one actually trying to hustle and work hard.
(1)Bruce W.
Terrible service. Roughly 20 percent capacity, 20 minutes to get a water 60 minutes to get the meal. Dirty glass delivered by manager (lipstick). Plenty of apologies no offer to correct. Food, meh. Waitress asked how's the food look before anyone has tried anything not a single return until the meal was complete. I'd settle for a chuck wagon from a local gas station before returning to this dump.
(1)M H.
No. Just no. I was in town visiting UND and needed a bite to eat. The woman working the front desk at a different hotel recommended L'Bistro (pronounced phonetically apparently, as in EL BEESTRO), located in the Canad Inn hotel. Off we went! The place was totally dead but it was a Tuesday night, no conference was in town, UND students were gone for the summer, so I didn't take that as any sort of sign. We were greeted and seated promptly and our server was friendly and efficient. Also, it was 1/2 price pasta night! Started off with a starter sized Greek salad (2 sizes for every salad: "starter" and "main"). It was perfectly acceptable, some olives, some tomato and feta...you know the drill. My main was the roasted vegetable penne, which was large. It probably was about 3/4 lb. of pasta. The roasted veg included a couple of pepper chunks, 2 mushroom slices and I think I spied one small round of zucchini in there. It was also advertised as containing goat cheese. It had exactly 1/2 teaspoon of goat cheese crumbles. It may have only been a singular crumble, now I think about it. It also came with 2 mammoth bread sticks. Maybe they could have been a little more liberal with the pricier ingredients (the goat cheese and vegetables) if they stopped half price pasta night and actually used an appropriate amount of ingredients other than cheap ass pasta filler. FAIL. Shall we move on to dessert? Tiramisu? Yes, please! It is a classic Italian dessert of lady fingers dipped in espresso or coffee, with a creamy marscapone filling and dusted with cocoa. It is a delicious dessert. At L'Bistro, it was like an inside-out Twinkie. A horrible dry twinkie. It had dry lady fingers, a sweet cream filling, dusted with cinnamon. No cocoa. No espresso or coffee. This doesn't even qualify as tiramisu. It is like serving me a slice of blueberry pie that contains strawberry and rhubarb. Sure, pie crust is the common ingredient, but blueberry pie it is not. FAIL. In summary, this place sucks. You won't get food poisoning (that I know of) or anything and it looked clean and the ambiance was OK, so I didn't knock it down to 1 star. Even in a small town like Grand Forks, you can do better.
(2)Sarah S.
My friends and I come to this restaurant pretty frequently, last fall we had a terrible experience with service (server wasn't trained, food came out wrong, he didn't know how to split checks, super slow service, etc). The manager was busy with other things, but we returned to give it another chance, manager did a okay job after we brought the glaring issues to her attention, since then we come here on average once a week. Unfortunately, we will not be returning here after our last experience. We waited over 10 minutes for a hostess to come to seat us, and 15 minutes for a waiter to acknowledge us. No one knew what the martini of the season was, our group of 5 each ordered a martini, our drinks came out in whiskey glasses (defeating the purpose of a martini and how the alcohol sits in the glass). Our drinks were awful, they did not taste correct and the drink I ordered (which I order every visit) had syrup caked on. Two people in our party ordered dry gin martinis, and one came out with vodka and one with gin dirty and dry. We walked them to the bar to clarify what we wanted, the manager was the bartender and argued with us about our order and said the glass doesn't make a difference. She remade the drinks and 2/3 of them came in proper glasses (not busy at all so no idea why they didn't have proper glassware) the drinks and they were still awful. We did not even finish our drinks, which is very rare for any of us. Extremely disappointed in the professionalism as she was the manager. The restaurant had 2 servers and maybe 7 parties, but we never got refills on water, we never not acknowledged again until 30 minutes after we got out food. We had to track down our waiter and ask for cheese and pepper for our pizza, and it took forever to get our checks. The server put the cards with the wrong receipts and it ended up being a huge hassle. Our food came out as ordered, which was great. We each ordered a drink and got two pizzas and from the time we walked in to left , it was over 2 hours (with ordering food on our first contact with the waiter). Having had two horrible experiences here which each time was extremely inconvenient, I would not recommend coming here if you are planning on having a hassle free experience. There are many nearby places, the Tavern is another restaurant in the same building, with wonderful service and great food.
(1)Michelle W.
Yuck. I did not like this place and am pretty tempted to never go back. The service was okay, but the food we got didn't seem anything like the menu descriptions. The artichoke dip was ok,but the tomato ravioli soup was disgusting. Do not get it. The broth was brown and tasted foul & it said it comes with "mini ravioli" in it but what you actually got was 3 giant ravioli that I'm pretty sure came out of a chef boyardee can. Gross. It was inedible & made me completely lose my appetite. Nothing else I saw looked or smelled good either.... Anyhow, they have drink specials a lot, so maybe I will stop in for a drink at some point. I doubt I will ever try to eat food from here again though.
(2)Jon V.
Terrible restaurant, don't know how my brother enjoys it at all. We had a reservation for 5 o'clock on a Saturday. Upon arriving we were told we only had 90 minutes to eat because they had double booked our table. Drinks were way over priced, so a couple of us went with the cokes and waters, which isn't terrible, but at one time we had 8 glasses at our tables waiting for refills, don't know how that ever happens. Upon ordering our meals, they screwed up two of them. My dad ordered the Baked Seafood Penne, defiantly wasn't anywhere near baked, I order the New Orleans Linguine without peppers and it came with extra, and my friend order the Ravioli and eneded up with Spaghetti. The food was very sub-par and would recommend anybody that is looking for good food the olive garden is close by, not over priced and the food is a thousand times better.
(1)Martin R.
When I see three servers and a supervisor standing behind the bar chit-chatting on a slow Sunday night when I walk in the door, I'd at least expect some kind of attentive or, at least, indifferent service. Instead, my party and I were greeted with un-refilled glasses, a trip to the bar for silverware, and very poorly timed salad and main courses, all while the (entire?) waitstaff chatted behind the bar. The supervisor spent much of his time texting people, neglecting to stop by our table to see how things were. A prior party's dishes were left sitting out on a table nearby for nearly the entire length of our stay at the restaurant. The food was markedly so-so in flavor and quality, and was overpriced for what you get. $5.50 for a side salad? Save your money and go to Mama Maria's, where you'll get better quality pasta, a salad included and bigger portions, all for less than what L'Bistro charges. The "inspirations" Pasta Milano was bland and uninspiring and the Chicken Parmesan entree was laughable, served with a very small portion of spaghetti and dressed like an entree at a much fancier restaurant. If you're stuck at the hotel due to blizzard or special event, this is the place to go. Otherwise, you'll find better pasta and pizza elsewhere in Grand Forks.
(2)