Food:
Service:
Decor:
Romance:

Many restaurants, like real estate brokers, worry about location, location, location. The theory being that if you don't have the foot traffic, the restaurant won't be able to survive.

Au Pied Bistro, has the location problem beat. After moving from their Wisconsin Ave. location to their current M St. location in Georgetown, location is not a problem. Georgetown has a tremendous amount of foot traffic from the local universities, tourists, and locals that like to eat there.

Early one evening while on my way to a wine bar, I passed Au Pied Bistro and got the "hard sell" from two of the waiters out front. I told them I might be back later, and they gave me a menu as an enticement to come back. Later in the evening, I decided to try the restaurant and see what the current offerings were like.

I used to eat at the Wisconsin Ave. location of the restaurant a number of years ago. I was familiar with their menu and decided to see what the slight name change -- and new venue had to offer.

I arrived and was promptly seated at a table with a great view of M St. I ordered a glass of wine and perused the menu. The wine showed up pretty quickly. All in all a good start.

The menu was pretty much like the old menu I was used to. I picked my dinner -- the seafood crepes -- then I sat and waited, and waited. Probably a good ten minutes before someone came back to the table. They took my order and disappeared again. This time for probably about fifteen minutes. I had finished my glass of wine by that time and had to wait until my entree came out to get anyone's attention so that I could request a second glass.

The food was what I remembered. It's slightly above average -- especially given the 11.95 price tag. When I finished, I found myself waiting again. When I turned around and looked across the large room with the wonderful wooden floors I realized the problem. First, except for the gentleman sitting next to me, I was the only diner in the restaurant. Second, both waiters were watching TV at the bar and talking with thefew people that were at the bar -- and obviously not paying attention to the dining room.

I myself really appreciate a leisurely dinner, but when I feel like I'm alone at sea in a raft, that's a different story. Au Pied Bistro has got location, location, location down pat - now they just need to get service, service, service down.