A tiny but delicious French bistro in a sleepier part of Santa Monica. I’m a huge fan of French cuisine and I’ve pretty much been to all the other options in Los Angeles but for some reason I missed this place. Everyone at our table was really happy that we chose this location because we all had a great meal and great service. Our server was very polite and all of our items that we ordered came out very quickly. The owner was also there and gave a very sweet goodbye when we were leaving. The menu is not very large, but it has all sorts of bistro classics that you would expect and everything that we ordered really had a great taste and a fair price. They also have a large free parking lot attached, which is a huge bonus, especially for Santa Monica. The restaurant size is really tiny but done well and it really feels like the French countryside. It almost feels like you are dining in someone’s house, but with professional service.
Being our first time we wanted try some of the classics on the menu. We both started off with the French Onion Soup and thought it was fantastic. It wasn’t overly salty, there was loads of cheese, and great overall flavor. For my entree I ordered the Sanddabs Meunière because I love those flavors and sand dabs are a California classic fish. Only found on the West Coast so I order them anytime I get the chance. Everything was very light and buttery and it just had tremendous flavor. I was honestly sad when I finished it. We wanted to order a dessert, but by the end of the meal, we were just too full and decided to save that for next time.
Overall a fantastic bistro and I would recommend to any fan of French cuisine or anyone searching for a great dinner option.
David Krivit
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December 01, 2024
Wow we are new fans. After spending the summer in Paris we were jonesing for some regular French cooking and Mimi came through with a smooth and refreshing salmon mousse, a lamb stew and a snapper, all specials of the evening. Great wines and folks in a comfy room. Back soon for more. Merci.
Henry Ting
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February 03, 2024
It's hard to give Le Petit Chez Mimi 5-stars when I give Pasjoli 5-stars. But if you want simple but good French cuisine, in a simple, home-like and charming atmosphere, then this place is for you. Whereas Pasjoli is on busy Main Street in Santa Monica, Le Petit Chez Mimi is located at the storefront of a business park, at the T-intersection of Yale and Colorado. I pass by all the time either on the way to work, or running errands, but this place always looked closed: Only open for dinners Tues-Sun, and brunch on Sundays.
Therefore I made an effort to finally try this cute little place with my family. The restaurant, the food and the service is very reminiscent of eating at a local cafe in Paris. You know, you walk around, look around and finally pick a place for dinner, any place, because so many of the restaurants in Paris are good. This is how I felt of my first experience at Le Petit Chez Mimi.
Many who dined tonight (Friday night) seemed to be regulars and locals. The service staff dressed casually (blue jeans) and the service was good. Whereas Pasjoli, the wait staff are uniformed and professionally trained - what you expect from a Michelin recognized establishment. With Le Petit Chez Mimi, its simply good food, not particularly IG worthy in its presentation.
Surprisingly, the prices were higher than I expected. I guess I was expecting a simpler, quaint French cafe to be more reasonably priced. But I guess this is to be expected for French cuisine.
Now for my food review:
-Escargot. Not bad. I've had better. I felt it needed salt and more of that greenish garlicky sauce (pesto-like.) Please excuse my lack of knowledge of the correct ingredients.
-Onion Soup. Excellent! One of the best French Onion soups in town. The portion size was perfect. Sometimes, the portions are so big, you dont have room for the remaining courses, but theirs was perfect. Nice gooey cheese!
-Entrées: the 3 of us had 2 different steaks and one pork chop entrée. Again, all were tasty and the steaks were perfectly cooked, but the pork chop was overcooked. This place isn't Michelin-worthy because of the simple presentation (not much presentation at all.)
-Dessert: The Tarte Tatin was excellent. It was like warm apple pie with fresh cold whip creme. It was perfectly spiced, slightly tart, and not overly sweet. Someone posted on Yelp! that this was an "award winning" dessert. Hmm, it maybe?
David Shapiro
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July 29, 2022
I’d give it 3.5 stars.
All of the dishes we tried were fine to good. Nothing was spectacular.
Service was solid.
Pepper steak was probably the best thing we had. The sauce is creamy and tasty.
Pass on the frog legs in the future but glad we tried them.
Lorenzo
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January 11, 2025
Very attentive service and the owner takes pride in her small little gem! I had an amazing date night here after craving French food for months
A tiny but delicious French bistro in a sleepier part of Santa Monica. I’m a huge fan of French cuisine and I’ve pretty much been to all the other options in Los Angeles but for some reason I missed this place. Everyone at our table was really happy that we chose this location because we all had a great meal and great service. Our server was very polite and all of our items that we ordered came out very quickly. The owner was also there and gave a very sweet goodbye when we were leaving. The menu is not very large, but it has all sorts of bistro classics that you would expect and everything that we ordered really had a great taste and a fair price. They also have a large free parking lot attached, which is a huge bonus, especially for Santa Monica. The restaurant size is really tiny but done well and it really feels like the French countryside. It almost feels like you are dining in someone’s house, but with professional service. Being our first time we wanted try some of the classics on the menu. We both started off with the French Onion Soup and thought it was fantastic. It wasn’t overly salty, there was loads of cheese, and great overall flavor. For my entree I ordered the Sanddabs Meunière because I love those flavors and sand dabs are a California classic fish. Only found on the West Coast so I order them anytime I get the chance. Everything was very light and buttery and it just had tremendous flavor. I was honestly sad when I finished it. We wanted to order a dessert, but by the end of the meal, we were just too full and decided to save that for next time. Overall a fantastic bistro and I would recommend to any fan of French cuisine or anyone searching for a great dinner option.
Wow we are new fans. After spending the summer in Paris we were jonesing for some regular French cooking and Mimi came through with a smooth and refreshing salmon mousse, a lamb stew and a snapper, all specials of the evening. Great wines and folks in a comfy room. Back soon for more. Merci.
It's hard to give Le Petit Chez Mimi 5-stars when I give Pasjoli 5-stars. But if you want simple but good French cuisine, in a simple, home-like and charming atmosphere, then this place is for you. Whereas Pasjoli is on busy Main Street in Santa Monica, Le Petit Chez Mimi is located at the storefront of a business park, at the T-intersection of Yale and Colorado. I pass by all the time either on the way to work, or running errands, but this place always looked closed: Only open for dinners Tues-Sun, and brunch on Sundays. Therefore I made an effort to finally try this cute little place with my family. The restaurant, the food and the service is very reminiscent of eating at a local cafe in Paris. You know, you walk around, look around and finally pick a place for dinner, any place, because so many of the restaurants in Paris are good. This is how I felt of my first experience at Le Petit Chez Mimi. Many who dined tonight (Friday night) seemed to be regulars and locals. The service staff dressed casually (blue jeans) and the service was good. Whereas Pasjoli, the wait staff are uniformed and professionally trained - what you expect from a Michelin recognized establishment. With Le Petit Chez Mimi, its simply good food, not particularly IG worthy in its presentation. Surprisingly, the prices were higher than I expected. I guess I was expecting a simpler, quaint French cafe to be more reasonably priced. But I guess this is to be expected for French cuisine. Now for my food review: -Escargot. Not bad. I've had better. I felt it needed salt and more of that greenish garlicky sauce (pesto-like.) Please excuse my lack of knowledge of the correct ingredients. -Onion Soup. Excellent! One of the best French Onion soups in town. The portion size was perfect. Sometimes, the portions are so big, you dont have room for the remaining courses, but theirs was perfect. Nice gooey cheese! -Entrées: the 3 of us had 2 different steaks and one pork chop entrée. Again, all were tasty and the steaks were perfectly cooked, but the pork chop was overcooked. This place isn't Michelin-worthy because of the simple presentation (not much presentation at all.) -Dessert: The Tarte Tatin was excellent. It was like warm apple pie with fresh cold whip creme. It was perfectly spiced, slightly tart, and not overly sweet. Someone posted on Yelp! that this was an "award winning" dessert. Hmm, it maybe?
I’d give it 3.5 stars. All of the dishes we tried were fine to good. Nothing was spectacular. Service was solid. Pepper steak was probably the best thing we had. The sauce is creamy and tasty. Pass on the frog legs in the future but glad we tried them.
Very attentive service and the owner takes pride in her small little gem! I had an amazing date night here after craving French food for months