Chez Claudette, Renovated
One of my old favourites recently got a face lift. Time for a follow-up from the breakfast doctor (that would be me, of course).
The outside didn’t change much.
It’s weird that they would make these changes and not erase the old look. You can still see where the old vertical sign used to be because they didn’t bother to repaint the metal siding. The exterior doesn’t look any better, it just looks a little different. I wonder who their designer was?
I’m not exactly sure why they renovated. Usually it means that the new owners want to make more money so they slap on some paint, throw in a few new light fixtures, and jack-up the menu prices. This does not seem to be the case.
It seems that the ownership may not have actually changed hands, as the staff was the same, and the food - as good as ever - tasted exactly the same, so the cooks must have survived this strange unnecessary make-over. Miraculously, the prices did not go up. The old look was a hodge-podge of red and white checkered tablecloths and unmatched furniture, appropriate for the type of restaurant that is Chez Claudette. The new look seems to be going for the imported, assembled restaurant furniture picked out of a catalog look, which they have achieved. The interior is a little classier than it used to be, but lacks any character.
If you look closely, you can see that the red brick wall is actually some sort of glued-on plastic sheeting that looks like bricks. Very classy. 
The poster on the wall is a replica of The Last Supper, but Jesus and the apostles must have missed their reservation and have been replaced by Elvis, Marylin, Bogey, and other Hollywood stars.
The place will look perfect in 15 years or so, once the new look ages a bit.
The Lady had big eyes and ordered the “Brunch”, two over-easy eggs, sausages, home-fries, brown toast, and…
…a side of french toast ($8.95). Whoa, la - dats a lot of food.
I ordered the “mini choice of meat”, which is just one egg (over-easy) with bacon, and brown toast…
…and opted to “Quebec’ my breakfast and morph my home-fries into a home-fries-poutine ($6.50).
Dynomite!
June 14th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
mmmmm next time I’m in town, I’ll check it out… not so much for the changes, but just because it’s been so long.
October 8th, 2007 at 9:12 am
I’ve been meaning to try Claudettes ever since reading this blog post and I finally did yesterday, I have to say… it was GROSS!!!!
The food looked nothing like the photos you posted!
And I am pretty sure our waitress was on drugs. Apart from the awkward mumblings and twitchings and strange refusal to make eye contact, she didn’t understand the difference between home fries and regular french fries, neither relayed in English nor French.
Half the things we tried to order on the menu weren’t available.. no waffles, none of the fruit juices. I ordered the French toast and a cup of coffee and orange juice.
The French toast came with a big black curly hair on the plate, which was the only other thing on it… no baked beans or any sides. Just an empty plate with three sad looking pieces of toast. I’m surprised to see the decorative tomato and lettuce in your photo. I would have never expected even the barest of accoutrements after our visit the other morning.
The o.j. was typical minutemaid and the coffee tasted like hot water. Even the plain old water was bad! In fact, it was the worst I’ve ever had in this city.. it tasted like chalk. Something was definitely wrong.
The place was dirty, the service was horrible and they played offensively bad “classic rock radio” at way too loud volumes. In the twenty minutes or so that we were there, had to endure not one, not two, but three renditions of ‘These Eyes’ while eating our soggy French toast and coffee flavored water.
By far the worst breakfast experience I’ve had in this city so far… and I hold this critique up to “greasy spoon” standards, not fine dining context. I don’t know if your elite blogging status got some pull with the Claudette staffers, but this was without a doubt the most disgusting breakfast I’ve swallowed in a long time!
October 9th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
@Oliver:
Wow. I’d wager that the place has been sold since I was there last OR you ate there on a very bad day.
Restaurants have no idea I’m going to “blog” them when I eat there - in fact I’d wonder if the waitress that served me even knows what a “blog” is.
I will check this out for myself…. thanks for the tip!