Le Yaca French Restaurant

Our party had a major issue with the manager on duty the day we went. I know my review might come across as Karen-ish, but we were there for my milestone birthday and I expected a little bit of professionalism. I will preface this by saying that my husband runs a high end, high capacity restaurant with anywhere from 100-250 employees under him, depending on the time of year. He is not unaware of how to handle large parties and he's been in this business since he was 16. We made an original reservation for a party of 7 - 5 adults and 2 children under 9 - for my 40th birthday. However, we were surprised by my older sister, her husband and two children - both younger than 6 - as well. We called well ahead of time, and the person we spoke to said they could add them to our reservation, making our party 7 adults and 4 children. There was no mention of changing our menu or being unable to access a "regular" menu. Our original reservation was made weeks ahead of time and the change happened with more than 24 hours notice. We also have a person who is gluten free and low dairy as well as another person who is vegetarian. We mentioned all this when changing our reservation and we were assured that the full menu would be available and that they could accommodate us. We were brought to our table by the manager and immediately, hastily printed prix fixe menus were handed to us. It was literally a piece of paper, mine already had an oil stain on it. My husband asked where the menu was and the manager told him that our party was too big - once we hit 8 people, we were no longer offered the regular menu. Now, mind you, the children were not offered the same menu as us, but the regular kids menu that is offered online as well. So, in reality, it was 7 adults. I could not find anything on their website saying any of this. I get it, the kitchen gets overwhelmed with so many different orders coming in at once. We understand that and for the most part, we were ok with it - except there really was no gluten free/low dairy options available for the person who needed those. There was a single vegetarian option available and it included some food the vegetarian person does not like. My husband asked the MOD if he could at least see a regular menu and the MOD declined, telling him that he had his prix fixe menu and that was it! Even after trying to explain that he just wanted to see the regular menu to see what substitutions could be made for gluten free items, the MOD refused him. That was our last interaction with the manager. He did not check in with us once during the rest of our meal - even for a large party spending over $1000 in his restaurant. Not even when his staff was there to sing happy birthday. Not even as we left, walking right by him. Our server, however, was the saving grace. I wish I caught her name, but I was so appalled by the angry tone and aggressive manner this manager took with my husband that I missed it! Our server went through each item on the prix fixe menu with the gluten allergy person and vegetarian person to see what would be substituted, what could be added, etc. Eventually, she got the OK for two different meals to be added to the prix fixe so they would be able to enjoy a meal without substituting items that might not otherwise go with it. She made sure the kids were happy with their meals, checked in with us regularly and made sure the drinks were filled. She was truly a professional waitress and my husband even joked about poaching her for his place! The food was delicious, the atmosphere was alright. Even the actual Frenchman in our party (my brother in law) was impressed by the food and our waitress. The dessert was great and my wine was delicious and served at the perfect temperature. All that being said, I would not return here, if only because I would not want to encourage that type of behavior to customers. It really did feel like the gluten allergy/low dairy person and the vegetarian person were just thorns in the side door this manager and he did not care if they ate or not.

We reserved one of the dining rooms for our wedding reception dinner. It was a wonderful experience! We had a great time planning and coordinating with Howard who is really helpful and knowledgeable. The food, wine, and desserts were absolutely spectacular. The restaurant is already beautiful so we only added a minimal amount of floral arrangements for an elegant dinner. Service was lovely and our Day of Coordinator worked seamlessly with Le Yaca staff to set up. We definitely recommend ordering plenty of amuse bouche. There were incredible gluten free options for all the courses. The pastry chef made us DELICIOUS cake and dessert options. I really couldn't have asked for anything better. Highly recommend Le Yaca French Restaurant for anything from a formal dinner to a casual lunch. They WILL take care of you.