L’Entrecôte is rightly an institution, if not a legend, in Bordeaux. It serves a unique dish (a sirloin) with French fries and a secret sauce recipe that has made the property famous, and causes long queues every day at all services.

When I drew up the list of restaurants where I would dine during my stay in Bordeaux, I immediately put L’Entrecôte at the top of my list. L’Entrecôte is a bit like my Proust’s madeleine, and I used to eat there almost every Sunday lunchtime during the almost ten years I lived in Bordeaux. I’d been back to Bordeaux two or three times since then, but never had the courage to queue up for lunch again, but this time I thought I couldn’t not eat there. Nostalgia was too strong.

You’ll find all the articles about this Bordeaux getaway at the bottom of the page.

The Entrecôte concept (and a bit of history)

It couldn’t be simpler: the restaurant offers just one dish. A walnut salad for starters, followed by a thinly sliced sirloin with fries and a secret sauce that no one has been able to copy or match for over 60 years.

The only thing you’ll be able to choose from is cooking, drinks and dessert.

But you’ve probably noticed that other similar chains exist in France and even abroad: Entrecôte, Relais de Venise, Relais de l’Entrecôte… and you can read all sorts of stories about the authorship of the original concept. To mark the occasion, I took a closer look at the history of this property, a family affair in fact. So I’ve been trying to put the pieces together, hoping I haven’t missed an episode.

In 1959, Paul Gineste de Saur launched the concept in a restaurant on Boulevard Pereire in Paris (17th arrondissement) next to Porte Maillot, called the Relais de Venise. He originally acquired the restaurant to promote the wine his family produced in the Toulouse region, in Gaillac. He will add “its entrecôte” to the restaurant’s name and offer his concept: a very simple, unique menu consisting of a salad and a two-course piece of meat served with French fries. But the restaurant’s greatest success is its sauce, often copied, never equaled.

In 1962, his son Henri decided to export the concept to the French provinces and then abroad. “L’Entrecôte” was born, first in Toulouse, then in Bordeaux, Nantes, Montpellier, Lyon and Barcelona. I think I even remember there was one in Lima in the 2000s…

In 1966, Paul Gineste de Saur’s daughter Helène, who had taken over from him, decided to export the concept abroad, still under the name “Le Relais de Venise”. Today, you’ll find them in London, New York and Mexico City. They are the true heirs of the original concept.

And what about the Relais de l’Entrecôte? Another family affair, as it was another of the founder’s daughters, Marie Paul, who launched the restaurant, which now has locations in Paris (Marbeuf, St Germain des Près, Montparnasse), Zurich and Geneva.

Why three chains ? It would seem that while the son, Henri, went off on his own with his father’s consent, the rest is just a matter of squabbles between two sisters who each wanted their share of the cake. On the other hand, they all seem to use the original sauce recipe handed down by their father.

So here it is for all those who have tried an entrecôte and think they know the original: the one and only true restaurant is the one at Porte Maillot, Relais de Venise its legitimate heir, L’Entrecôte a legitimate heir living its own life and Relais de l’Entrecôte a dissident heir. But for the customer, the differences are minimal, if not non-existent.

Anything that doesn’t belong to one of these chains is just a copy with no connection to the original concept.

The setting

While at l’Entrecôte the contents of the plate don’t vary, the same goes for the decor (and even the staff’s attire), which hasn’t changed since the restaurant’s creation.

Tartan patterns on the walls, yellow tablecloths, chairs and benches… a good old bistro or brasserie decor.

In Bordeaux, the restaurant occupies three floors.

The menu

As the starter and main course are compulsory, you’ll only have a choice of drinks and dessert.

The dinner

L’Entrecôte doesn’t take reservations, which creates a queue as legendary as its sauce…and as people attract people…

Not wanting to wait too long, the restaurant opening at 7:00 p.m., I arrived at 6:20 p.m., thinking I might have time for an aperitif in the neighborhood. There were already 20 people in line… so I decided to join them.

A minute later there are already 5 people behind me. 10 minutes later the queue stretches to the corner.

The restaurant finally opens, and I climb the stairs to the 1st floor from where we are divided into the various rooms. Oh, I’m being given one of the tables I used to eat at back in the days.

The waiter comes to me immediately. Oh, there are men now? I’d never seen one before.

” What kind of cooking for your meat?”

“What would you like to drink”.

Two sentences, my order is taken. simple and efficient.

Looking around, I recognize a manager who looked after me for almost 10 years and always greeted me with a big smile. Of course, for once, she didn’t recognize me… well, it’s been almost 20 years since then.

Within 10 minutes, all 3 floors were full, and the next customers in the queue will enter as the installed ones left.

My walnut salad is brought to me almost immediately.

Simple and fresh, but strangely enough I’ve always found it rather good.

Then my meat arrives in a dish that will keep it warm.

A third will be served on my plate with fries and sauce, and the rest will stay warm for me to help myself at my own pace. I can’t wait to get started.

I’ll pour even more sauce over the meat and French fries…

The meat is top quality, thinly sliced and cooked exactly as I requested. The fries are fine and perfectly cooked. And the whole thing, topped with sauce, is just…a treat.

Did you say Proust’s madeleine?

I’m served French fries several times.

I’ll meticulously mop up all the sauce…an insult to dietetics, but it’s too good.

For dessert I’ll have chocolate profiteroles, as usual.

Very good.

Incidentally, l’Entrecôte Restaurants has the Maitre Restaurateur label, which means that all its dishes are home-cooked in accordance with the conditions laid down by government decree. We’ll have to tell you more about the “home made” label in France and what it implies, because we’re very sensitive to it at TravelGuys.

I’ll finish this meal with a coffee. The bill will be brought directly to me at the same time.

It’s 7:50pm. By 7:52pm the table will be set and ready to welcome new customers.

By the time I get out, the queue will still be full.

The atmosphere

Nothing to say on this point, no particular atmosphere but the room isn’t really noisy for the number of people present.

The staff

Smiling, friendly and fast. Very fast. It’s hard to expect anything else from them, but at least they do what they have to do very well, in a concept that doesn’t really encourage interaction with the customer.

Bottom line

L’Entrecôte is a concept in itself. You know why you’re going, you know why you like it, you know what’s involved, and if you don’t, you don’t go.

Plus, for me, returning there brings back tons of memories of a certain era.

To someone who said “but that’s not gastronomy”, I simply replied “it’s worse, it’s gluttony”.

I hope I won’t have to wait another 16 years to go back, but at least the wait made it even better.

Otherwise, just across the street, there’s Le Pressoir D’Argent Gordon Ramsey with two extra stars.

Articles on this Bordeaux getaway

Review #	Type	Post
#1	Diary	Preparing a getaway in Bordeaux
#2	Hotel	Moxy Roissy
#3	Flight	Paris-Bordeaux – Air France – Economy
#4	Hotel	Sheraton Bordeaux Airport
#5	Hotel	Moxy Bordeaux
#6	Restaurant	Tentazioni Bordeaux
#7	Restaurant	L’entrecôte Bordeaux
#8	Restaurant	La Tupina Bordeaux
#9	Restaurant	L’Embarcadère Bordeaux
#10	Restaurant	Cromagnon Bordeaux
#11	Restaurant	Un Soir à Shibuya Bordeaux
#12	Restaurant	Maison Nouvelle Bordeaux
#13	Diary	Bordeaux travel guide
#14	Flight	Bordeaux-Paris – Air France – Economy
#15	Diary	Debriefing this stay in Bordeaux