Vie de France

Didn’t like the service today. Usually I order a sandwich and then go and pay for the sandwich and then come back and pick up the sandwich when it’s done. Many people do it. Has never been s problem for the last 5 years. It saves me time to pay while waiting for the sandwich to be made.
Today I was told that they can’t ring me out until the sandwich is done. The line to pay is empty at the moment I’m trying this. Super annoying. So instead I have to wait for the sandwich to be made. Then I grab my sandwich in a box. A box which could be anything. And then I go wait in line to pay which now has a few people in it. I go to pay and tell them what is in the box without showing the sandwich. Apparently telling them what is inside of a box and paying is okay. Just telling them what I ordered without the mystery box is not. I think I’ll avoid this place for a few months just for the annoyance factor. Don’t know if I’ll be back. They are okay, but there’s plenty of competition in the area to not have to deal with annoyances.

I went in today and ordered the Grande Platter. Ummmmm, the name belies the grandness of this breakfast. I will say that the service was impeccable and that from the woman who made the omelette to the woman who rang me up to the woman who was cleaning off the condiment table, everyone was super nice. On to the platter…
the omelette was the best part about this meal, made to order and properly aerated so that the fluffiness really came through along with the fresh mushrooms, tomatoes and cheddar that she superbly folded in to the omelette. However, the heat of the omelette melted into the styrofoam, so I am pretty confident I ate styrofoam, which I only noticed AFTER it was consumed and I looked at the destroyed container. :((pray for me!) Oh and there was no seasoning on it, womp.
The potatoes were diced in super small pieces, but believe me when I say that for every two potato pieces, there was one onion piece. :(

Its a great place to grab a simple sandwich and soup for lunch. They also offer lots of fresh salads, pasta salads, breakfast menu items and dont forget their delicious pastries. Also, they recently added personal size pizzas to the menu. For lunch you can do a Pick 3 of any of their cold salads or Pick 2 with your choice of half salad, half sandwich or small soup for $ 8.49
Breakfast — All made to Order — Bacon, Egg and Cheese Croissant or Quiche, or Eggs Bacon and Toast.
Lunch — offers 3 soups everyday so the menu changes daily. Thursday is the most popular b/​c of their Black Bean Soup. I also like the Chicken Tortilla and the Tomato Bisque. The French onion soup is okay and offered daily.
Sandwiches — I like the Smoked Turkey Cobb or the California Turkey sandwich which comes with premium toppings such as Avocado and bacon otherwise they charge extra for these items.
Salads — Fruit Salad, Pesto Pasta Salad, Tomato & Watermelon Salad (summer seasonal), Black Bean and Corn Salad, popular item is the Curry Chicken salad
Cookies/​Pastries — Plain Butter Croissants, Chocolate Croissants, Cheese Danishes, Peanut Butter Cookies, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Snicker-​doodle Cookies

This is my second Vie de France trip and I prefer their Rockville/​Potomac MD location more. The area didn’t seem like it’d been cleaned in while & their selections didn’t seem as large. They only had one of my favorite cookie (which is probably better for my waistline) but the people working there were very nice. I wouldn’t mind giving it another go on a different day plus it’s so convenient to the metro station.

Whenever I take a training class at Graduate School USA, I would stop by Vie de France and bring my family tasty treats from this store. We like their filled croissants. I have tried several flavors and they are all good. My son especially like the chocolate.
Since I usually stopped by in the afternoon, there was never a line unlike in the morning and at lunch. Service that I received from the staff was good.

Baked goods = SUBLIME!!!
From the Baguettes, and boules, to the cookies, macaroons and danish etc.
I love Vie De France for these reasons and more!!!

Vie de France is one of the few sit down restaurants in the L’Enfant Plaza area. That unfortunate mishap is its saving grace! The food is average at lunch time (French cheese steak and french dip are my usuals) yet the bread is addictively good. Happy hour is dominated by bar food appetizers and they are decent enough to make up for the limited selection of draft beer.
I don’t understand why my co-​workers frequent this place. The sarcastic joke is that «we go for the attentive service»…it once took 90 minutes to get in and out… and it was nearly empty. I called to complain to the management but nothing changed.
I go here because of peer pressure (which only works when it is raining, snowing, or we have a visitor) or if an extreme time constraint prevents me from going elsewhere for happy hour. I wish the nearby food trucks would hang around for dinner and could serve drinks. I sometimes need one after I go to Vie de France.

Some of the worst ice coffee I’ve had. Watery with hardly any coffee aftertaste. Avoid for a better coffee shop if you can. Definitely felt like money wasted.

Normally an okay stop for lunch. Today they were off and there appeared to be new staff, which might be why. I requested a chicken caesar salad, which normally is tossed and includes sundried tomatoes. The young lady who made my order (again, not someone I was familiar with) just piled lettuce into a container, squirted on some dressing and put some chicken on top. I asked about the tomatoes and she says they are out – might have been good to mention when I ordered it. I ask about tossing the salad, and she asks «is that what you want me to do?» Really? Anyway, I spoke to manager looking cashier (another newbie) and he was less than helpful (he also did not know how to ring up the salad). I hope regular folks are just on vacation, otherwise this bodes ill for food quality and service at this vdf.

i liked my sandwich and i also got lentil soup and a drink for like $ 8.50, which is pretty good for around here I suppose.
the cashier thought it was weird that my partner paid for me, I think that’s what he said, or what we think he said — he was mumbling — maybe because my partner also happens to be a female. come on man get over it

Came here with a reservation ahead of time we got here at our reservation time and had to wait 15 mins before being seated. Then once seated wait 10 mins before someone came to get drink orders. Then another 15 before taking food order. Once we ordered we had to wait another 30 mins before they came back and said they didn’t have any more crepes. At which point we had to reorder. Then we didn’t get food until 24 mins later. The service was very poor. Also never received refills until an hour later. Don’t go here during lunch time worst experience for a reservation. We will not be making reservations here again.

I had lunch in the bakery side. Great value in the trio salad sampler. They give you generous portions, and not to mention variety. Full of substantial nutrition to keep you satiated through the day. I had the seafood with pasta salad, the corn and black bean salad, and chickpea salad. The sampler comes with a mini baguette and a medium drink. I wouldn’t crave any specific salad I had today, but I would certainly come back for the quick service and great value.
It’s crowded between 1130 a.m. and 1 p.m. Cafeteria style service on the bakery side. There is also full service available at this location.

This Vie de France has two components: a fast-​casual component, and a sit-​down area with waitress service. The fast-​casual part is sandwiches, salads, soups, and quiche. It’s fine, but nothing amazing. The best thing they have are the heath bar cookies… yum! The sit-​down part has a much wider menu with some French (ish) favorites. The food is fine but nothing that knocks your socks off. I liked my crepes, but the three on my plate weren’t much bigger than a cigar… too small! Service was good, and this is one of the only sit-​down restaurants in the Southwest federal office area.

The food was not bad. I got their California gourmet sandwich on French baguette with sliced turkey, avocado, lettuce, tomato, mayo, and alfalfa sprouts.
Customer service was ok. Lady who made my sandwich seemed to get mad because I couldn’t hear or understand her accent. Guy at the cash register was talking to someone who looked like a friend.
Their kitchen area didn’t look so clean.

Vie de France. a convenient spot for lunch, not a convenient spot for your stomach.
When I asked my waitress what the salad of the day was she said «it’s a salad with chicken, almonds, and a dressing». What she should have said was «it’s chicken salad». I’m not one to hate on chicken salad, but I wasn’t impressed with luke warm, soggy, chicken with a few bits of apple and some bland almonds. How is it that this tastes worse than grocery store chicken salad? It’s possible. I took two bites of the chicken salad and had one of the oddly smattered tomatoes around my plate (which was luke warm as well).
My father ordered the teriyaki salmon. He said it was good… except that it came out cold. and so did the sides. When he finally flagged our waitress down, she did heat it up (we were on a time crunch so no time to eat anywhere else) and he was satisfied with that.
When we were finally done, the waitress took my plate and asked if I liked the food (she didn’t check on us at all when we ate). I told her no and she smiled and walked away. Seriously? Not even an I’m sorry? I’m not asking for a free meal but the least you could do is try to apologize in the hopes you don’t lose a return customer.
All in all, hard pass on this place. While Vie de France is convenient, it’s hit or miss. My father said he’s been here a few times (since it’s so close to work) and it’s never been this bad. The service was slow, the food was subpar .eat hear at your own risk.

Oh, Vie de France. What to say about you? Honestly, I didn’t really think that it was truly worth it. There are so many better places to eat out in DC, and I probably would have not gone here if it wasn’t for the group I was with. However, the food wasn’t bad, just absolutely nothing special about it.
Walking in, it was definitely catered for a more expensive lunch crowd. (Hey, it’s France they’re going for… gotta have some class right?) I ordered a simple Californian with a green salad. Simple, simple, simple. Something that they said was their specialty, I didn’t find really special. The meal to me was honestly just substance. Something to hold me over to the next meal.
As far as service goes, I believe this pushed them to a 3 star. The waitress was very helpful and gave us plenty of bread! That was the good thing about this place.
So overall, you can get all the bread your heart desires. However, I doubt you’ll get amazing food here though and if you do, please tell me.

This review is for the bakery adjacent to the restaurant itself. I came in here about 15 minutes prior to closing time to pick up some baked pastries. Man, was that a bad idea. That croissant and brownie bar were harder than a petrified trunk. Ugh, I should’ve known since they were sitting out ALL day. Damn, at least offer me a discount for crap you’re probably going to throw away or give to the homeless. I had to cough up $ 4.99 for my trouble.
The inside of the bakery is well-​maintained and I like the self-​service stations for condiments, forks, cream, napkins, etc. They don’t shy away from using signs to explicitly alert you that free stuff like that are for customers only.

Cyndy’s Bottom Line: a convenient spot to grab a cup of coffee and a croissant.
The croissant was delicious with a good amount of yummy chocolate.
The coffee was rich in flavor and smooth tasting.

Oh boy, I was hoping to get a lot more out of this place for the price I paid…
Service was a little higher than at a Fast Food joint. Since I ordered three different items, there were three different plates. When I was done with an item, it just waited on my table, and waited, and wasn’t removed until I left. I was there alone, so it wasn’t a big deal. Also, even though I had a plate with bread in front of me, when something came out of the kitchen, they just, gently slammed it into that plate, and left it there on the side of the table. No one came by to ask how everything was, and I had to call someone over to get a refill on my iced tea.
As for food… here is what I ordered…
= French Onion Soup
= Ceasar Salad
= Beef Bourguignon
The Soup was as French Onion Soup should be, oily, salty, with melted cheese on top, and lots of salt. (I am not a fan of salt, but if it should be there, so be it) Although, I think I’ve had better French Onion Soup at the 99 restaurant.
The Ceasar Salad was a joke. I paid almost four bucks for it, and what did I get? Lettuce, croutons, and the sundried tomatoes that are supposed to be in it? I got two tiny pieces. What I will give them points for is that it was lightly dressed, and not saturated in dressing.
The Bourguignon doesn’t taste like dog food, but it did taste worse than stuff found at a college cafeteria, and since the food at my school is mediocre at its absolute best, this is saying something. It had very little flavor, and no complexity. Possibly because there was so much salt in it, that it overwhelmed every other flavor in it. Yikes…
Actually… if a dog had a very rich owner, it would probably eat this happily.
If you do choose to go here, be prepared to relive your days at a college café… not so great food, for too much money.
I gave 2 stars instead of one for the Soup, and the dressing. Without one of those, I would have given 1 star.

(3.5 stars) I have a love affair with sandwiches– that’s right SANDWICHES. I think there’s nothing better than quality deli between fresh bread topped with fresh veggies and spreads. That said I’m writing this review for the Café portion that’s an order & go.
For $ 8– I like the ½ soup, salad or sandwich combo with chips or a drink. Its cheaper than the gazillion food trucks outside and most likely healthier too. The variety of options usually leaves me trying hard do decide do I want chicken salad, garden salad, pasta salad… which pasta salad? THEN I get to do it all over again for the sandwiches. Whatever sandwich I get its usually got their pesto mayo which is to die for, bean sprouts & avocado. Also the tomato bisque soup on Thursday is excellent.
Working across the street this place is my go to for a good sandwich for lunch.