Cheryl Clark and Paul Parker have decided to move to France and close Chez Sophie. A new restaurant owned by Andy Brindisi has taken the place, visit the new Union Grille.
Check out our complete guide to fine dining restaurants in Saratoga Springs
Chez Sophie Chef Paul Parker, and his wife, Cheryl Clark, present simple preparations of the finest and freshest ingredients in an elegant, yet cozy dining room at The Saratoga Hilton in Saratoga Springs. Parker honors the cooking style passed on to him by his mother Sophie, a talented chef who learned her love of food on her grandmother's farm in the north of France. The couple maintains a cellar featuring 400 French wines and 40 Belgian beers and works extensively with local farmers who use organic and sustainable methods to produce the highest quality food. The dining rooms and courtyard also serve as galleries for the sculpture, drawing and paintings of Paul's father, Joseph C. Parker, who founded the restaurant in 1969 with Sophie.
Reviews of Chez Sophie
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Let me first say that I had been going to Chez Sohpie for many years. I will not go again. Unfortunately Chez Sophie is exactly what is wrong with the restaurant industry. The restaurant location, facility and decor is excellent. However, there is very little substance behind the face. I so much wanted to love this place, enjoy it and feel good about my experience. The service sent me a clear message that people were just going through the motions. From the hostess to the bartender to the wait staff. I did not see any pride or passion in what left the kitchen. What I did see and hear was excuses, staff caring more about being right and not caring at all about the customers. That was truly sad. The food was poor and the presentation was as well. The wrong wine was brought to the table as a substitute to the one ordered. That fact wasn't brought to our attention except one diner noticed it, and the wine was twice the price of the one ordered. One appetizer was perpared incorrectly. More than one entree was cold, room temp, etc. Others were dried out as if they were sitting under heat lamps or in a salamander for far too long a time. Nobody cared. Thus, neither will I. I will never go back.
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This place needs a major overhaul in many areas. Decor and environment? Very nice. A great setting. But I am sorry to say that's where it stops. I was extremely dissapointed in the two most important areas, food and service. The quality of the food was fair. The preparation of the food not good at all. The service was poor, very poor.
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Anonymous
January 27, 2009
Was highly recommended by friends. Went with another couple and was very disappointed. Very nice place. Nice ambiance. Food presentation was nice but the food was just OK. This environment and these prices, this place should have great food.
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Anonymous
November 30, 2008
Very dissapointed. I dined in the original location several times, the new location when they first moved in. The place WAS excellent. I have no idea what happened. If I would have read the reviews here, I still would have gone, and that doesn't speak to the other people who made comments, it's more that I've had numerous very good experiences here. Chez Sophie WAS the best restaurant in Saratoga Springs. Again, I have no idea what happened. Perhaps as another poster said, they got too big. I am not sure. The food quality seems good, but the preparation and implementation was poor. A few salads had spoiled greens, two soups were cold and two appetizers were poorly prepared. What made matters worse was the service. While we were not treated poorly or rudely, we were barely treated at all. The entire staff, from the hostess to the waitress was doing nothing more than going through the motions. It was very impersonal and robotic. I am sorry to say this place has gone very downhill. They will be trading on their reputation alone and that won't last long. They will probably get default business from hotel guests, but I've spoke with several people who have dined here and they were all unimpressed, some even saying it was horrible. I would think that about 25 people I've spoke with will never go back. Whatever has happened to Chez Sophie, it's too bad. Go to Springwater Bistro or Prime.
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Anonymous
November 16, 2008
Food was average at best. Several dishes had to be sent back. One dish ordered medium was presented rare bordering on raw. What was worse was the service and staff. It was if they felt everything was OK and therefore we were wrong. The manager's attitude was that we had no right to complain. I wouldn't go back under any circumstances. Marcie H.
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Anonymous
September 29, 2008
I was terribly disappointed in my dining experience. I had eaten here before in the former location and always enjoyed it. No longer. Our waiteress was clueless about the menu - unable to answer questions about the dishes or the wine list. While service was ok in the beginning, it swiftly deteriorated, leaving me and my dining companions waiting far too long between drinks and courses. Even though the dining room was quiet, we repeatedly had to wave down our waitress or another member of the wait staff. One appetizer was so flavorless it was left virtually untouched. One entree was served with an inedible sauce, causing my very temperate companion to send the dish back. We ended up having to 'adopt' another waitress as ours simply seemed to stop coming to the table. She was seen several times at the bar on her cell phone and in the hotel lobby...again on her cell phone. Not only would I not reccomend Chez Sophie, I would flat out tell people NOT to go there. There are so many other wonderful restaurants in Saratoga that there is absolutely no reason to waste one's time and money on over-priced sub-par food and deplorable service. While the physical restaurant is very attractive, there is nothing at all redeeming about the overall experience. Hopefully the spot will soon be taken over by a restaurant worthy of the setting, the town and its patrons. Chez Spohie is most certainly not it.
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Anonymous
September 27, 2008
I was almost certain that I would disagree with the posters, Don and Michael, below. I too have been going to Chez Sophie for many years and at both locations. Unfortunately in the past year or so this establishment has drastically changed and for the worse!!! Of course the restaurant is beautiful; spacious and very pleasing. That is where the postives end. The attitude from everyone is extremely poor. Upon arrival, from the hostess to the bartender, we were made to feel as if we were intruding. The hostess had an utter disdain for people in general as the party behind us experienced the same attitude and complained as well. Note -- their complaint was dismissed and turned around so that the blame was 100% on the customer. I witnessed the entire incident. The bartender did not want to be distracted from his own personal activities and when we were served it was an effort to give us bar napkins, a straw and a glass of water. Our waitress did the bare bones minimum -- from bringing us menus, to allowing us to order a drink and arranging for us to get water. She wasn't rude, but she wasn't anything more than fair and even, although her lack of attentiveness was very annoying and broke up the flow of dinner. Constant waiting, for bread, drinks, water, another drink, and this continued. One of our appetizers was forgotten and did not make it until everyone else was already done with theirs. It was rushed and arrived partially raw and extremely cold. This was very predictable. Never once was their an explanation or apology. Not one person, staff member, etc. even acknowledged this was a problem!!! This was disgusting. Even after all of this time and delay -- we still had to wait for our entrees. Shockingly one arrived late! I couldn't believe this. I asked the waitress and she shrugged her shoulders and chuckled. Our food was poor to fair at best. This is not the Chez Sophie of years ago. As a restaurant reviewer I will say that in part they "got too big" size-wise, and they also got "too big" of a head!!! Bad attitude. Extremely poor service. Disdain for the customers. They don't care at all and don't take pride in their food, service or reputation. All of this makes for a very disappointing and very terrible experience. Henry.
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Anonymous
September 1, 2008
I too, like Michael posted below, had an absolutely terrible experience. How we were treated was worse than the food, and the food was certainly sub-par. A manager or someone who seemed to be a manager dismissed our initial complaint due to the timing -- she was too busy socializing with a patron friend of hers. I watched the entire situation develop, and when she learned about our complaint, she rolled her eyes and reacted as if we were disturbing her. She then called one of the guests an idiot and said we should be happy that we got served at all. I have never been treated like this at any restaurant anywhere in the world. The owner -- the chef -- was not the least bit interested in hearing about this because in his eyes the customer was an idiot and with that being true the complaint had zero credibility and shouldn't even be heard. In witnessing this entire evening, I can simply and truthfully say that this treatment was the most offensive and insulting I have ever witnessed or even heard of. The very next night, the very same group went to Prime (the new location) and we were treated to incredible food and incredible service and treatment. I will never go back to Chez Sophie ever again and I will recommend that all of my clients and friends never go there as well. Don M.
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Anonymous
August 25, 2008
I have been going to Chez Sophie for many years. Unfortunately, my most recent vist will be my last. This was a terrible experience, from beginning to end. First, we waited for 15 minutes for our drinks. The bar was not that crowded, however our waitress didn't appear to follow up with the bartender on our drink order. We also waited for a long time for our wine and were brought different wine glasses. We waited 10 minutes for the remaining correct ones to be brought. Second, we waited for 25 minutes for our appetizers. One did not make it with the others, another was cold. Our inquiry as to the time and missing appetizer was handled with an insulting attitude. The reason given was not only vague but didn't speak to our inquiry at all. Our main course was not better at all. One steak, ordered medium, was rare. Another dish had the sauce "caked" on and around the entire dish as if it sat under a heat lamp for an extended period of time. The plate was hot but the food was not. After a polite complaint, we were shocked when one of the owners came over. Our complaint was met with a take it or leave it attitude, and was trivialized to the point where "we" were to blame. I was shocked that customers would be treated this way. It was an effort just for this woman to come over to our table. Since they moved into this larger space, they have gradually declined in many important aspects -- food, service and treatment of their clients. The gradual decline has now become rapid. This was an all-time low and I will never return to this restaurant.
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Anonymous
May 14, 2008
Chez Sophie is not your typical hotel food. They have a beautiful dining room, a very throrough bar and they are extremely attentive. It's a shame they have such a rap, its really delicious. I ordered room service and met some friends when I was staying at the hotel. I had the NY strip, and really enjoyed it and the next night I just had a goat cheese salad that was excellent. Give them a try when you're in town!
