The Left Bank Bistro, St. Petersburg FL

Simple, elegant restaurant, in the heart of St. Petersburg, with a lovely outdoor patio. Excellent food. I ordered the crab cake and lobster cake (delicious). The garlic mashed potatoes - best I've ever had.

We always look forward to eating at Left Bank on our frequent trips to St Pete. Our experience today was very disappointing. The food was delicious as always but service was atrocious. Waitress was slow to respond and did not refill empty water glasses. She could have sold more Bloody Marys if she had been a little more attentive. The prices for the same entrees and dessert have skyrocketed but the actual menu does not change. For the very high prices we expect much better service.

Our favorite restaurant-the food is always excellent, and service usually just right. We noticed some price increases and a slightly limited menu-sign of the times. We realize not everyone wants bread before dinner, but think you should ask if diner would like bread, and provide the small loaf free of charge.

The Left Bank Bistro is St. Petersburg's French treasure of a divine experience.
Starting with the moment you enter the chic establishment, your senses are submerged in beautiful decor, and you are immediately greeted by a friendly and attentive host happily escorting you to your table. Cocktails, appetizers, main entrées and desserts fills your expectations with an endless array of fun, fabulous live jazz music and delicious dishes! Let the good times begin!
Laissez commencer les bons temps!

Ordered The brine chicken, which was super dry. Gave you a chalky dry mouth feeling. We had the veal Piccata which was so dry no flavor. The Service was so slow, and a forgetful waitress.the waitress forgot our dishes, silverware and didn’t pick up the credit card for 15 min, she kept walking by over and over. I would not come back here for dinner. The atmosphere is amazing and feels so cozy but the food and service was horrible!

Leaving a one star review is not something I do lightly, but we feel especially gyped after a recent experience at this restaurant. For starters, we received two of the four crab cakes that the menu said were part of the appetizer we ordered. The menu was severely limited since several items were unavailable. After we placed our order and waited awhile, our waiter told us one of the entrées we ordered was also unavailable. We ordered another one and waited longer while the staff shouted in the kitchen that they were running out of food. By the time our food arrived, several tables left empty handed.

Our server offered us a round of wine and a free dessert, which we accepted, but we still spent 2+ hours at the restaurant, over $200, and only had cold, overcooked, tiny plates in the end. Even if the dishes had been perfect, I don’t think anything was a good value here. This was without question one of the most disappointing restaurant experiences we’ve ever had.

Food took an hour to arrive, is mediocre at best, and we had to send some back because it was cold. And everything is wildly overpriced. Waitstaff tried their best.

I had the veal piccata which was absolutely delicious. The vegetables were al dente and flavorful as well. The waitress and all staff were personable yet professional. Atmosphere is “old school” and what I thought was going too “Paris France” but instead turned out to be friendly southern France”. The wine pours were good and at a reasonable price for an upscale dinner. The old fashioned was fantastic. Great job.

Our waiter kept disappearing and twice he came to our table and did not offer to refill empty water glasses. Food was OK and we can walk home after delicious cocktails, so we will go back.

I have been here many times and it's always a bit of a longer wait for food to arrive. Today, however, was over an hour and maybe because I was annoyed, the food wasn't as good as I remembered in the past. Honestly, I get that kitchens get busy and backed up, but when that happens, the waiter should be checking in with updates, maybe an offering of some bread to make up for the long wait. But, no- we had the be the ones to bring up the obvious elephant in the room that the food was taking an unreasonable amount of time. The waiter's response was, "Well, we are a busy, bustling Sunday brunch place. " Ok- but tell people that the food will take over an hour before you eat them. I've been to lots of busy, bustling Sunday brunches that don't take that long. It seems the more recent reviews echo my experience, so something has changed there and not for the good. Also, we had to park like a half mile away. I used to love this place, but something has changed.

I've eaten at Left Bank several times and the food is always fantastic however the last 2 times I've been it's taken FOREVERRRR for food to come out. My last dinner took over an hour after apps to come out. No explanation or free dessert or anything, and it was not particularly packed either. Then I had a business lunch recently with an appointment after and we both ordered salads - again damn near 45 mins for 2 salads to come out but at least that time the server topped off our wine. I hope they can get it together in the kitchen. The food is worth a trip but go when you have time to spare, not sure I'd do as a quick business lunch again.

So sad to say that the new "improvements" and menu revision make me want to probably never come back. I proposed to my wife here, had birthdays, anniversaries, celebrated promotions and new jobs here.yet the prices go up and the food quality goes down. My wifes steak was so chewy it was inedible.and the "demi-glace" tasted like guinness gravy out of a can that divey irish pubs sell atleast the fries were good- $37. Veal Piccata tasted delicious but was a super tiny portion compared to the mound of risotto, was missing the mushrooms its supposed to come with. $44. Our favorite options are no longer available and the house cocktail menu is also cut down. Maybe there was a change in ownership or they fired an all-star chef?

We have been there twice and would have been three but.
Mixed review. The food is good and the staff in person is very nice but they definitely have some problems management wise or something. Before our first time going I e-mailed and Facebook messaged them a question about something and received no reply ever. I ended up calling and got an answer from them. Food and staff were lovely so we went again a second time.
The other week I called and made a reservation over the phone for a third visit for someone’s birthday dinner for a 7pm Monday. They happily took the reservation. On our way to the restaurant that day I Googled to see how long it would take us to arrive and saw they were open on Mondays but only until 2pm. They took our reservation for a time they were closed. Why would they do that without saying anything‽ You can’t take a reservation for a time you are closed. This was a bit upsetting for a planned birthday evening with friends. We tried to call the restaurant but they were closed as noted online.
We ended up going to another French restaurant in Safety Harbor and had a lovely time and meal there instead.

I don’t think we will return to Left Bank Bistro who can’t reply to e-mails or Facebook messages and apparently don’t even know when they’re open. Bit of a mess communication wise apparently.

After a slight delay in our initial service, the server was attentive, and nice, the food delicious, and the decor style was really nice. Afterwards we visited the market at left bank, their two story gift shop, that contains tons of unique modern and vintage items for sale. Between lunch and the gift shop you could spend an entire afternoon here.

The Left Bank Bistro is an absolute gem when it comes to French culinary experiences! The atmosphere is very warm and inviting and makes you feel like you’re eating inside an old bungalow. The attentive and knowledgeable staff made excellent recommendations, ensuring our taste buds were tantalized with each carefully crafted dish. The escargot appetizer was a standout with succulent snails adorned in a delectable garlic butter sauce. The Left Bank Bistro is a must-visit for those seeking an unforgettable dining experience that embodies the very essence of French cuisine.

The food was alright, but not at all worth high price. Baked brie and the lamb special were good. However the coq au vin was bland and onion soup was mediocre. Cocktails were nice. Service was slow. Overall, not worth the price.

I feel so bad leaving this review, I wish I would be leaving a 5 star instead of 1. This was my birthday dinner, and it was so disappointing. They should really change the restaurant and menu description to maybe international cuisine because IT WAS NOT FRENCH. The most watery and flavorless onion soup I have ever tried in my life. This was the first hint that I should of gotten up and left, if a French restaurant can’t execute a French Onion Soup correctly you can be 99% sure the rest of the items will not be done correctly. I left my whole soup and expressed it was bad and they left it in my almost $300 bill. Secondly my Coq Au Vin chicken was not Coq Au Vain. It was a dry and flavorless baked chicken. Almost no broth, no wine in it, obvs no flavor, it was so bad. So the Beef bourguignon of another table and it was missing all the broth and sauce. I’m sorry but kitchen staff need training in French Cuisine or just say that you are no longer a French restaurant. Just having the server say the menu changed a bit and we have a new chef is not enough. The food was not French. My husbands hanger steak tasted Sergio like it was about to go bad, appearance very dark. The red wine sauce had no reduction it was pure wine and sugar. The French fries not only on my table but at EVERY table we’re so dang soggy, oh my gosh, how can you serve fries like that you can see they are hanging soggy from the plate. Wow. 2oz crème brûlée was $16 and not cooked correctly either. Such an upsetting dinner experience. Will never visit again or recommend to anyone. Only pros: gorgeous dining room with beautiful live music, just a shame the food is not up to par and severely overpriced.

I would like to know why good workers keep coming and going. Why is Susan stressing over money when clearly her staff is drunk most of the time