I've been going to this restaurant for over 20 years - in their 3 locations. It was one of my favorites. I was there about a year ago last and have things changed.
I should have known since more than 1/2 the tables were empty on a Saturday night - I've always needed a reservation in the past. (Post Review Note: True to Sean's response that 8pm may have been a bit late for a full house)
This restaurant used to have the best french onion soup, escargot, caesar salad and crepes in the city.
The onion soup was below average - pretty bland and almost no cheese at all. The escargot is now in a puff pastry. The pastry was obviously frozen - not done in house - the snails were like rubber. The salad was all pepper. (Post Review Note: I upgraded "horrible" to "below average" and yes we did finish the soup as 2 of us shared one small soup.)
I didn't even attempt to have a crepe since there are only 6 on the menu now - none of which are the old staples that kept people coming back. (Post Review Note: maybe I should have tried a crepe but there was no appealing items on the small crepe menu).
I starting discussing this with the waiter who then started to walk away in mid sentence. I told him I would appreciate if I could finish before he walks off. Post Review Note: waiter was having a bad night for sure ...)
He told me "new chef" - took the escargot off the bill and called it a day.
Post Review Note: I've upgraded my star rating as I appreciate Sean's comments. New chef is supposed to bring new life to a restaurant, unfortunately for me it was not what I had come to expect and thus the extreme disappointment. I wish Sean best of luck with his new format for the restaurant.