Le Chat Noir

We order Coming to LA shanwa was an exquisite experience. We have ordered, I don't know, it's perfect. Poirine de poulet au provincial. Adrian What's accommodating? And we were excited to hear him speak French, love the décor and the tight flower invaders. We will certainly do it again.

Had the sea bass with risotto, salad and creme brulee. Delicious 👌

Sea bass in garlic was one of the best fish dishes I have ever had. Shrimp was also delicious. Créme brulee was fantastic. The staff was excellent and made us feel special. It did require reservations but the day before they still had a time that worked for us. It really was a fantastic experience all around. We will be going back!

Me and my boyfriend came here for a date and it was perfect! The food , the servers and the whole vibe of the place. It was very comfy and the food was amazing. Our server Johannes was incredibly attentive and kindly explained some dishes to us because it was very new to us. I recommend for anyone who is open to trying new things. The price for the dishes is worth the taste. I hope to come back many more times.

Amazing. This place is awesome. The service, incredible. The food, amazing. I just wish I would have tried this place sooner. I'll definitely be back. This is the way service at restaurants used to be. Very refreshing.

Loc Nguyen

Great food. Best soupe d'onion outside of France (not too salty nor too sweet). Very good service too. Everything was made on premise by Jean Pierre.

Adoree Hyde

Wait staff is attentive and knowledgeable with the menu providing accommodations to food allergies such as celiac. My partner and I got the escargot as an appetizer and the onion soup for mains we got the rack of lamb and the pheasant. All dishes were filling and well seasoned cooked perfectly retaining moisture in the meat. For a night of fine dining this is a place to return to many years to come

Amorcito

Really enjoyed this place, first time I have tried french cuisine. Had escargot, lamb, and duck breast. All were delicious as was the creme brulee for dessert. Will definately be back!

Jose Flores

The mushrooms were extraordinary. The fish and the steak were great. They also make great mixed drinks if you ask for them. I would highly recommend this place. Don't pass on the mushrooms. They were so good I don't have pictures of them.

Nom De Guerre

We’ll revisit this place for a more detailed review shortly. But for now let’s just say you’re missing the best thing in Riverside if you don’t dine here. This is superb ‘down home’ southern French cuisine done exceptionally well combined with exquisite service. Chat has all the ‘bells and whistles’ but most impressive is its solid coverage of the terroir of this cuisine. The ‘country brassiere’ style sweetbreads were as good as any I’ve ever had in France. The chef’s manage of blue cheeses and berries in a lamb sauce were worthy of a Cordon Blu master. His handling of duck was perfection. The setting is pure ‘homage’ with exactly the right blend of formality and neighborhood eatery. You can’t go wrong here whether you’re celebrating a special occasion or just enjoying an indulgent regular dinner out with the friends. This spot is a jewel. For myself this lovely brasserie/restaurant might be the single best thing in Riverside and is actually worth a trip there all by itself.

Myn Black

The food was incredible. The experience was incredible. The service was incredible. The escargot was magnificent. The salmon and chicken was delicious. Every single dish we ordered was fantastic. It was such an authentic, modest French experience that was unforgettable. Absolutely LOVED it.

Roman Rios

We have been coming to this restaurant for many years. This is literally one of the nicest restaurants. You can go to just about anywhere. The people are great. The menu is great. The attention to detail is great. The food is great. The service is great everything about it is great, the servers are awesome. The atmosphere is great. We have come here for many, many birthday events for mother-in-laws, Mother's brothers wife, everybody, we come here often and love it all the time every time we can, it's great.

Gerrald

Had the sea bass with risotto, salad and creme brulee. Delicious 👌

RAIDER GUY

1/20/24 The place is small and quaint. The service was great. I believe Johann was his name, he was very attentive to us. Everything that we ordered tonight was 10 out of 10..!! We ordered their Venison and their Filet Mignon for the main entree. Their Escargot and Onion soup for starters. For dessert, we ordered their Napoleon and Crème Brûlée. Everything we ate hit the spot.

Brandyn Rubeck

Attentive and knowledgeable servers. Quiet and relaxed atmosphere. Food came out in a professional pace. All dishes were solid. The escargot and pate were really special. Entree and dessert had all the textures and flavors you could want. Nommy!

Lara Batshon

We order Coming to LA shanwa was an exquisite experience. We have ordered, I don't know, it's perfect. Poirine de poulet au provincial. Adrian What's accommodating? And we were excited to hear him speak French, love the décor and the tight flower invaders. We will certainly do it again.

Mike H.

Sea bass in garlic was one of the best fish dishes I have ever had. Shrimp was also delicious. Créme brulee was fantastic. The staff was excellent and made us feel special. It did require reservations but the day before they still had a time that worked for us. It really was a fantastic experience all around. We will be going back!

bubblegum tea

Me and my boyfriend came here for a date and it was perfect! The food , the servers and the whole vibe of the place. It was very comfy and the food was amazing. Our server Johannes was incredibly attentive and kindly explained some dishes to us because it was very new to us. I recommend for anyone who is open to trying new things. The price for the dishes is worth the taste. I hope to come back many more times.

David Pate

Amazing. This place is awesome. The service, incredible. The food, amazing. I just wish I would have tried this place sooner. I'll definitely be back. This is the way service at restaurants used to be. Very refreshing.

Eddie Joseph

I was curious about this place and wanted to try it out and surprise my mom and man was we in for a treat. The waiter was very respectful and prompt with refills and providing customer service. The Hors d' oeuvres was amazing (I strongly recommend the escargot!!) The Filet Mignon was awesome and the French Onion soup was good too... The Sorbet Maison was so refreshing and it took it over the top for me. It's great place to relax, dine, and/or talk business.

E M

Food was delicious and service was amazing. We ordered a mix of everything and loved it all. Wine was really good as well. I think the service from the whole staff is really what made our visit exceptional.

Drew Davis

Dang...feels like a French bistro. Service top notch, intimate inside and the food and wine...sheesh! Definitely a local haunt, and highly recommend everything here. Likely need rezzies bc it's busy!

Arturo Solis

As a server you provide exceptional service to customers to make them feel comfortable and as part of this family, I went to have dinner with my family and the experience was great, my mom was very happy and she loved each of our dishes, I was happy to share my experience as a server and as a customer with my family. Merci Beaucoup

My wife and I love this restaurant. It's a cozy little place on 9th in downtown Riverside you would never expect to find here. Make a reservation, especially on weekends or special occasions like Valentines Day. And you have to call them to make it - I like that personal touch. I've never had a dish that wasn't amazing; appetizers, entrees, desserts all good. I recommend the Filet Mignon and the Lamb. There's a little parking in front, but you might have to use the garage across the street. It's often free, but sometimes not, so be prepared. Dress decently, or fancy, but not really a shorts and t-shirt place (though some do wear that and are not turned away). Expect to pay $100 - 150 per person especially if you have a beverage. They have pre-fixe menus on some occasions - dont hesitate - you will be well fed. The wine is great, and I loved my Manhattan. Go to Le Chat Noir - it's fantastic!

Emery dish is enjoyable. The main dish is one of the today’s special. The desert is a little bit sweeter than my expectations but still enjoyable. They wrote the tips for us which makes us not so happy. Is it a rule for a group of 6 ppl maybe? In total about 500+ for 6 ppl including tips.

Tingwei Meng

Emery dish is enjoyable. The main dish is one of the today’s special. The desert is a little bit sweeter than my expectations but still enjoyable. They wrote the tips for us which makes us not so happy. Is it a rule for a group of 6 ppl maybe? In total about 500+ for 6 ppl including tips.

De'Von Walker

Great service! This is a perfect place for a date and romantic night out. We tried the onion soup, escargot, Fillet Migon, and Pheasant. Everything was really good. The surprise was the delicious fresh bread!!! Definitely recommend.

Never will return.... the onion soup tasted watered down and maybe had 3 onions in it.... the lamb was tasteless and the venison was tough and grisly.... I expected soooo much better, but left very disappointed.... p.s. wait staff was good... dessert was also pretty good....

I never had been to a French restaurant before but never have I gotten terrible service like this before. The old bald waiter with a goatee gave me a sarcastic remark if "there is an emergency reason to be on your phone?". No greeting, no introduction, we havent been served yet, we havent even been given water, I was just waiting for the waiter to take our order. He tried to play it off as a joke after I didnt respond positively but clearly me and my partner werent laughing and now uncomfortable. It was uncalled for and straight up rude. It wasnt as if I had my plate and was ignoring it to be on my phone. Then for him to say coldly, "I just got notified that we ran out of chicken, I hope this doesnt upset the wallet." Im glad he feels entitled to care more about our wallet than our enjoyment. We were contemplating to go to Mario's instead but my partner wanted to give this place a chance. The place was so small with little to no privacy from other tables or booths. I shared a seat with other customers. We got 4 escargots and cheese stuffed in mushrooms for 15 bucks. Also they charge you for around 5 bucks for two little slices of bread which added up to our bill. The bread was small, hard, and unpleasant to crunch on. It took an HOUR for our plates to be served which they tried to compensate by charging us with rounds of little $5 breads and butter. The presentation on our lamb loin and lamb rack with little two asparagus and a singular carrot was sad. The berry sauce wasnt even enough to use for all slices of the lamb loin, I dont get why the berry sauce was vertical instead of horizontal, it looks more for decoration than for enjoyment. I liked the berry sauce too so this was disappointing. The snails were too salty. The lamb loin was charred too much in certain areas, it tasted dry around those charred areas. Being charged 35 bucks a plate for something this small after dealing with the employee's backhanded comments, the dish didnt feel worth it after. I wanted to give the imported french wine a try but rejected it since all I wanted to do was to get my food and leave. I felt like we payed for decoration rather than fulfillment. So we payed and tipped less than 5 and left. We regret coming here, we will be going to Mario's Place next time. I felt bad that my partner had reserved a time at this place ahead for a late valentine's day dinner which was ruined by the service. I only stayed and didnt make him feel obligated to change restaurants because I didnt want his effort be wasted by someone's else's power trip on me over restaurant etiquette. We overheard the same waiter tell others that this is a small business the chef and their family started and if thats true, they should be embarrassed to have hired such an abrasive waiter and correct his behavior on hospitality. I could tell he was frustrated with his job; a stickler, a know-it-all, pacing around, sighing, and dramatic about hosting. Not my fault he signed up for a 5-10pm shift so next time dont take it out on your customers. If hes willing to ruin our experience, im willing to write a review over it.

My husband and I were looking forward to celebrating Valentine’s Day at Le Chat Noir, and made a dinner reservation WEEKS beforehand. My husband called, spoke with a gentleman to make a reservation for 6 PM, and provided his credit card information to guarantee his reservation and to make sure that we actually showed up (as the gentleman he spoke to said it was required). So imagine our surprise when we showed up to our reservation on time and they had no record of us having ever made a reservation. (Mind you, we drove over 30 minutes to get there.) Shocked and frustrated is an understatement to how we felt when we found out that despite my husband giving his credit card information to guarantee his reservation, that we, in fact, had no reservation at all. Despite how upset we felt, my husband politely apologized for how frustrated we were at the hostess and acknowledged that we know it wasn’t directly her fault, and that if there was any way that we could still be accommodated, that we would still like to dine there. She said, “you’re right, it’s not my fault”, took our phone number, and told us that she would give us a call within 20-30 minutes to let us know if we would be able to be accommodated or not. We waited around in hopes that we would be able to dine there, or at least get a call that they wouldn’t be able to accommodate us, but we never got a call back. We are extremely disappointed because we had heard nothing but good things about Le Chat Noir, food wise and service wise, but our experience was quite the opposite.