Petit Louis’ Bistro – Roland Park, MD

This is one of my favorite restaurants in America.

Yelp continues to be one of my favorite places to go for restaurant picks, but I am surprised that PLB doesn’t have such a huge following. I think this is due to the combination of it’s Roland Park roots and it’s high-falootin’ atmosphere, neither of which tends to appeal to a majority of the Yelper subset. It could be that the Yelp community in Bawlmer isn’t that vibrant. I don’t know. . . Let me see what they say about Cafe Hon . . .

Let me continue by saying that I am biased. I worked here for a month and made it through the wine classes, ingredient memorization, mise en place layouts, and teamwork serving training. What really sets this and the rest of the restaurants in the Charleston Restaurant Group apart is Tony and Cindy’s exemplary standards for management and staff alike. I am pleased to say that I have been a part of this organization, however so briefly, and I may not have fit in that well in the beginning (I tend to be a bit of a know-it-all about things and like to find shortcuts), they were able to mold me into an excellent server over the course of the two months I worked there.

When I see places like Pazo and Charleston getting less than four stars, it chips away a little in my faith in the reviewers on Yelp. I’ve had more than one client of mine indicate that they believed Yelp was something more for college kids and wouldn’t appeal to their older, more affluent, and dare I say more refined customer base.

I’m sorry, I’m getting into a bit of a rant here (speaking of which, can anyone e-mail me WaiterRant’s Yelp profile? I am dying to see it), but I have to agree with them. Don’t get me wrong. Look at a few of my reviews and you will see a few five star dive bars at the top of my list. I love a good dive bar. I love cheap eats. I am a sucker for comfort food. All I ask is that you start to factor pretentiousness out of your reviews.

The diners are probably stuck up snobs, you’ve got every right to say that. It doesn’t mean that you take away a few stars on the food, decor, and service.

OK, let’s actually review the restaurant. Decor – fantastic. Wine selection – Ridiculous. Cheese service – holy crap. Service – some of the best you will ever receive. Food – Come on.

If you come here, bring a date. Split the soup that sounds most tempting, the eggplant napoleon, and one of you make sure to get the roast chicken. It’s like they substituted angel wings for the chicken . . . just expletive amazing. Come and be prepared to spend $120 including the tip to have one of the best meals of your life.

Please remember to turn your nose up at the hipsters on your way out. The less they like it, the easier it is for me to get a table.