My wife and I love this place..one of the best French restaurants around. She usually orders Mussels or fish dishes from the price fix menu (like in most European eateries) and I usually get the French onion soup and steak. Dessert is amazing too! I think its priced well or maybe a tad high compared to more known French restaurants in N.Y.C. I'm not thrilled with the layout of main dining section though. People are constantly going in and out of the bathrooms or staff rooms in front of or behind you depending on where you are seated and its VERY distracting. Even if you sit facing away from the bathrooms the wall you are looking at is all mirrors so you see this non stop. I wish it was down a little nook but yes, I do understand how scarce space is in lovely JC. All in all, I would highly recommend Bistro La Source. read more

Cute neighborhood spot, so we decided to have a larger group dinner there on a Saturday night. We were seated literally right next to the bathroom bc the space is small, not ideal but not the worst thing. Sadly, my 10 friends all agreed that the food ranged from mediocre to poor. I ordered scallops and they came out cold and chewy; #fail for a French restaurant. read more

Used to love this place but the service has gone down especially during the weekends! Went there with my family, 5 of us total. First they took forever to take our order, our food arrived at different times, they didn't even offered us bread. We ordered three orders of French fries and we believe the waiter forgot to place the order as they arrived after we had finished our meal (after I reminded him). No service whatsoever. Sad to see... read more

Service here is a bit slower than I'd like. The outdoor patio is great in the summers but other than that, it's really cramped inside the restaurant. Foods ok, mussels are probably the only thing I get when I come here. read more

Great local place and I've never been disappointed here. Order the mussels!! Huge portion, delicious broths and mussels cooked to perfection. Good service but also make sure your bill is correct. I've done the pre-fixe menu before and was accidentally overcharged. Usually great service though and you can sit outside. They also have parking. Highly recommend! read more

After 10 months of me and my husband walking out of the place as they forgot about us for almost half an hour after seating us.... I decided to try it Again today with a friend for lunch on the patio as the weather is so nice and it's almost like first spring day of the year. Same experience ... there was hardly any crowd ... the host told us to take a seat anywhere we wanted ... we sit right under their noses right outside the door and the history repeats itself. We wait for 10 Minutes by the watch and then we catch the eye of the lady going around with drinks for other people who sees us and says 'will be right with u ladies' and forgets us for another 10 Minutes making it same like first experience of waiting without water, without smiles, without menus for yet another 20 minutes... sounds rude but we just got up and went to lighthorse next door for lovely cocktails and elaborate lunch. Either this place doesn't care about business or has something against brown skin!!! Never stepping in here again If you don't look white even though American spare yourself from this place read more

Marcia Marcia Marcia! No matter how delicious the food is, how on point the wait staff is, or how charming the decor is, some restaurants just don't get the love trendier spots stumble upon so effortlessly. Bistro La Source is definitely a victim of this and I must admit I'm guilty of not patronizing this place as much as I should. BLS will never be the "hot" restaurant. They aren't touting an "of the moment" dish, they don't display any IN YOUR FACE farm to table ethos, and they don't do crazy off the wall dishes. What they do succeed at however, is delivering very tasty and straight forward French inspired cuisine. Before my dinner here last night I hadn't been in here literally in years. I've never had a bad meal here (in fact I've had some great ones), but it's just so easy to get caught up in the JC hype machine with the constant influx of new restaurants we've been getting over the past few years. This place seriously has some great things going for it. First, it has a parking lot. Yes, you read that correctly. This is probably one of 3 restaurants in DTJC with a parking lot. It's a much welcome oasis in this urban desert we live in (LOL JK THAT'S WHAT A PRETENTIOUS FOOD BLOGGER/YELPER AUDITIONING FOR THE TIMES WOULD WRITE). The decor is awesome, with very warm and rustic French bistro vibeZzZ. Our waitress also couldn't have been better. She was very attentive, but not overbearing, and made a point of complimenting our selections. Call me a tool, but I like that shit. We started with an order of the seared Hudson Valley duck foie gras crostini CUZ WE FANCY and an order of mac and cheese. Both dishes were incredible. The crunchy crostini perfectly complimented the creamy foie gras and the plate was creatively topped with a delicious reduction. When I asked about the reduction, the server told me the name of the alcohol (can't remember) and later brought samples for me and my buddy to try. Now that's service. The mac and cheese was equally delicious. Very creamy, with mushrooms, truffle oil, and optional bacon lardons. For entrees we both got the hanger steak, which came with fingerling potatoes, sautéed spinach, and truffle butter. Mine actually came out a bit on the rare side of medium rare (and a bit cold), so she took mine back to the kitchen and had it cooked a little more no questions asked. The seasoning was on point and we were both very pleased with the dish. For dessert I had the chocolate torte and my friend an apple crumble. Both were decent but by this point I was too drunk and stuffed to really give an accurate assessment. I'll definitely be making my way here a lot more often and you should too. read more

We live in the neighborhood and have given this place a chance several times. I can only say that the best thing about this restaurant is the atmosphere and al fresco dining. Other than that -- the wait staff was rude, the food is mediocre, and they are not handicapped-accessible! When I went there last year in my wheelchair, I asked if there was any way I could get into their restaurant without having to get crutches, and they just seemed like they didn't care. They didn't even say that they were sorry that they do not offer handicapped access to their restaurant! I would not recommend spending your $$ here unless you just want to go for drinks and skip the food! read more

Not ALL terrible, but terrible if you want to get yelled at by the owner... My boyfriend and I gave it a second chance tonight after moving to the area 3 months ago and not having a great brunch experience. Had two wonderful apps--the goat cheese and beet salad and the foie gras, but the tuna tartare was so odd and chewy so we just didn't eat it. Then the entree came out completely cold and so we told another waitress (b/c we hadnt' seen ours in 20 mins) that we'd like to see our waitress or the manager b/c the tuna was funky and our entree was cold. The waitress came out, was so nice and polite, apologetic. THEN, the owner came out, with lots of attitude, and said, "oh, i'm sorry the tuna wasn't to your liking but it is NOT frozen, I only use grade A tuna", grabbed it and stomped off. We weren't being rude or saying we wanted our money back. I was appalled to be treated like that by an owner, especially when we were being polite and simply frank about the food. It's a shame b/c had the owner just let the waitress come out and say, hey, i'm sorry your dish was cold and that you didn't enjoy that app, I would definately go back but b/c of that experience I'll do everything I can to deter anyone in the neighborhood from giving that prick business. read more

Had a great experience. Large party. We had great service and the apps, entrees, and dessert were all great. Wine selection was also good. Plan on coming back soon. read more

Never in my life have I been more insulted by a manager. Myself and 2 friends were having the sangria (which is good, I'll give them that). When it came time to pay the bill the 3 of us put our cards into the book and the waitress took it to run the cards. The manager comes back with the book and goes "ummm, you really want to use your cards? Its only going to be like $7 a person, you don't have cash?". If it's your establishment's policy to accept debit/credit cards with no minimum then if I put my card down I intend to use that and don't expect to have an uppity manager come over to the table and try to weasel cash out of us or try to make us uncomfortable for using our cards. Do yourself a favor and go across the street to Light Horse. Better sangria and WAY better service. read more

Okey Dokey !! So i went here for Hudson Restaurant Week ( Thanks to a yelper Friend Stephanie for the Hudson week Info)!! The Prix Fix menu was pretty good and the price was even better Just $25 for a 3 course, which made my pockets pretty happy :), for appetizer ( they had few choices to choose from) I had the Mussles Mariniere (garlic, shallots white wine,butter) yum yum!! oh and wow the plate was a mountain of Mussles!! for my Main Course I had the Beef Short Rib Raviloi au ju with chanterelle Mushrooms which was deliciously yum yums!! For my happy ending ( dessert) I had the Chocolate-banana Crepe with Cinnamon Gelato uuuffff!!! My friend ordered the lobster bisk for app which was ok, and for the Main course the mediterranean Seafood Stew, OMG .. I had a taste and it was total yum yums! I must say that the portion sizes were pretty good, I thought that maybe since it was Hudson restaurant week , they would give you smaller portions considering the drop in menu Prices, I was pretty satisfied and enjoyed my first visit, They also had parking which was great!! I will be definitely dine here again..and now on to my next search... read more

Love this place, very homey with a Parisian feel. I would recommend it more for lunch/early dinner. I always sit outside and get the steak frites. Beer selection is very good. read more

After several visits here, I've figured out what's missing. Flavor. I love the atmosphere both inside and out, however I must emphasize the blandness in most dishes I've had. Ironically, I'm not a heavy spice person but I do not expect watered down gravies & sauces. I was also disappointed with canned mushrooms still retaining the "canned" taste. I realize it must be cost efficient for these choices in a very tough business,but it might drive some away. The menu is still quite varied to please any palate as long as you're willing to overlook the lack of flavor. This also goes for specialty drinks, again, I'm not a booze hound but enjoy trying new cocktails. I will most likely return for its ease of parking( they have a small lot), the outdoor seating,the pleasant staff. Btw, the mussels are probably your best bet for portion and taste. I truly wish the owners all the best in this very competitive industry. They have an excellent staff & location. Just need more flavor, please and don't skimp on ingredients! read more

A bit of Paris tucked away in downtown Jersey City, this tiny cafe offers homey French staples that hit the spot and not the wallet. Easy parking lot, outdoor seating, and a small, but great menu selection. Oh btw, this is one of the few French places that serves filling portions. Say Whaaattt??? Yes, that's right, you actually get more than a teaspoon of food as an entree. read more

Went on Labor Day Monday and they were serving brunch - which was great! I had the crepes with fresh berries and orange marmalade - so good. Shared a side order of duck sausages with my husband - delicious! Had some of his home fries... crispy on the outside, perfectly cooked on the inside. Will definitely be going there for brunch again! read more

THE MUSSELS, people. You come here for the unlimited mussels on Mondays. Very chill vibe, attentive service, and a great selection of beer.

I really wanted to like this place. Have passed by several times and wanted to give it a try . On the positive the fried chicken and mussels were amazing. The charcuterie plate was disgusting . The service leaves a lot to be desired. read more

Very disappointed, service and food are so so. As a French person, I don't think I will go back there again even though it is in my neighborhood. read more

We had eaten here few years ago and had food poisoning from the tuna... awful feeling. Figure we give it another try today for lunch. We both left with horrible stomach aches and we both ate different dishes. I'm never going back here again.. either the food is dirty or they are serving rotten food. Plus sitting outside ... was nice but not the swarming of flies that may have come from the kitchen. No thank you. read more

If you simply scroll through some of these reviews, you will see some common themes for this place that should not be ignored. This review is simply regarding my experience there and not regarding the food (which is irrelevant to me given the negative experience we had). $12 Unlimited Mussels Monday is usually a disaster (have been about 3 times). Extraordinarily busy, incredibly disorganized and the worst part for me is the food quality suffers because of this. The question you need to ask yourself if you are considering going here on Monday is whether the deal is worth having a subpar service experience combined with hastily prepared food. In my humble opinion, absolutely not. Our waitress took our initial order and ended up stopping in only once during the entire meal. Even when we tried to flag her down, she asked another waitress to see what we were asking. I was only able to order 1 plate and after waiting for about 25 minutes for the second plate (which still had not come out even after asking for the check), we decided to end the meal and cut our losses. When explaining the situation about how unpleasant the whole experience was to the manager/owner (bald headed man with glasses), he had the nerve to blame the customer for coming on such a busy night. His exact words were: "We are extremely busy on Mondays because of this deal, it's part of the deal you're getting when you come". Here's an idea, how about staffing the restaurant appropriately if you anticipate that you will receive more traffic because of your "deal". Long story short, there are a lot of fantastic restaurants in the Paulus Hook area of Jersey City and understandably, they can't all be great. Bistro La Source is a blemish in an area otherwise full of fine culinary establishments. read more

Sea Food Stew and Cassoulet were very salty! Service was slow.

Not sure how this place only has 3 stars. I've eaten here at least a dozen times over the past few years and never had a bad experience. I was there last night and had the seafood stew which was amazing. read more

Great outdoor seating, but maybe throw on some bug spray. Pretty good food. Nice overall.

The Source. Ahh I know you! The source is one of my favorite watering holes. No not cause its some crazy party OR because they have an insanely large selection. I like the staff. The bartender in particular is my favorite. Extremely polite does buybacks, chatty ahh yes. That's the magic here the staff. The food isn't super duper ultra good but they make french fare if your in the mood for it (and cant get a Madame Claude reservation). Like most french restaurants I recommend the hanger steak with frites and a nice craft beer or some red with mussels. Obviously the fries are good or maybe I just like fries..... well anyway, though not my favorite restaurant in the area it is worth a look. read more

What a stellar dining/drinking experience. The food was great. I have eaten here a few times now and I have to say the Porchetta, the Pork Loin and the French Onion Soup are MUST eats! Even the mash potatoes are great. The owner is very knowledgeable about the amazingly diverse wine selection and the servers and bartenders are all down to earth and helpful. I am looking foward to going back soon. read more

We went on a Monday afternoon for the all you can eat mussels and the food was very good. We had three of the mussel flavors available and liked all of them. The Thai flavor was our favorite. Service was pretty food. We arrived right during a shift change for the wait staff and after the shift, service was very good. It was just a little slow during the transition. Overall good experience and plan on coming back. read more

I went on a Thursday for all you can eat mussels and I must say I do not eat mussels, but my friends do. I had a steak instead which was cooked to perfection. The portion size was small however but with a salad it is the right amount. I also has a cheese platter with 3 cheeses (make sure you eat the goat cheese). My friends raved about the diablo sauce with their mussels. They had a good section of wines and I recommend you taste the cabernet and the malbec. But I do understand not everyone likes the same wine as I do. All in all it was a great experience and the staff was extremely helpful and friendly. read more

OMG, unlimited mussel Mondays! Would you believe we happened into it by accident while looking for a place to eat mussels? The mussels were perfectly cooked, the bowls were huge, and all the flavors we tried were delicious. This may become my Monday night date spot. read more

Tried this place last night for the first time before going to see the fireworks and had a great time! The mussels and escargot were excellent. We didn't like the gazpacho very much but that didn't ruin the meal. The service was wonderful and they couldn't be nicer to us and our pup. Will definitely go back to try other dishes. read more

Came here for business lunch yesterday. The place was quite empty at 12.30pm. No need for reservation then. The service was quite attentive. Food was good though nothing special. I'd hope the lunch menu has more variety. We ordered the organic French wine which was really tasty and they were certainly not greedy on pouring the wine. So all in all, it was not bad experience. read more

I was a little weary about trying this place out because...well...there was some pretty negative reviews here. I can ignore reviews about the service staff being mean or the fact that the food was a little bland or the drinks did not have enough sugar. That is not to say that people's opinions and expectations are not valuable, but I feel like that kind of opinion is like saying "My meals have more salt, why did they not use more salt?". What gets me worried about a resturant is when people say they have gotten sick from the food and when you see that a couple of times each month, it make a person wonder if the food is not safe to eat. Hopefully those folks who have gotten so sick from the food decided to call the city to complain and did not just vent on yelp and hope that their negative reviews would be enough to force a change in the quality of the food. With that being said, I decided to try this place with my folks and girlfriend. My folks have been here before and my dad loved the mussels so much that we felt like it would be safe to eat here. Like last time, my dad had the mussels, the octopus and a lot of fresh bread. I do not like curry so I did not have any, but my dad and girlfriend loved the mussels and both lived to tell the story. My girlfriend had the Orata fish (which she loved), my mom had the Alsatian Choucroute Garnie (which tasted great but I felt like it missed the mark on sausage, pork and bacon. they also forgot the potatoes and carrots, but my mom loves sauerkraut so she was happy) and I had the Berkshire Pancheta (which tasted good, but they did miss the mark here again. The meat was very fatty, yet it tasted great. The roasted onions were okay but could have used some help, which I did with the salt on the table and the corn, well, it just got cooked to long). Our waitress was really nice, helped us with our menu items, suggested a good wine and port and was attentive to our needs. The food was okay, not knock your socks off, but not a waste of money. I would suggest this place to others to try, but I do think their is a lot of great resturants in the area that I will try before I go back here...but I would go back again. read more

Love this place, especially Monday night endless mussels. I have never been disappointed by any meal here. Their brunch/breakfast options are fabulous. Quite affordable for NYC/NJ dining. I miss living in the neighborhood and I definitely miss La Source.... read more

Went here for restaurant week and the food was good but the service was terrible. We were seated between two other tables that arrived after us but were served immediately. I actually felt discriminated against and questioned if our server was racist. We finished our entrees and didn't get a dessert menu for 40 minutes even when I was trying to get the attention of our server Rachel. Then another 20 minutes to get our dessert. I won't be coming here again. If your skin is light then maybe you'll receive good service. read more

WHAT AN AWFUL EXPERIENCE! Last night 11.16.15 We walk in as we normally do once or twice a week. As always I think it's the owner who always greets us with a lovely smile and lets us choose our seats. Here comes the waitress from hell (I didn't know at the time or else we would have gone running for the hills -our girls and 1 guy wasn't there this monday) She the waitress puts a bottle of tap water on the table -Normally our waitresses ask would we like tap or sparkling water... she just leave the two water glasses on top of one another and didn't pour us glass. She leaves and comes back and ask -would you like something besides water I ordered the Pouilly fume and my partner wanted a red wine asked her to recommend a nice dry red and she couldn't. I asked her to ask the owner if he knew what my partner normally drinks. My partner tries the wine it was alright. We order the beet salad (Its one of MY FAVES) ... then I realized as we are waiting for the salad -The normal bread and butter was never served. We didn't make a fuss, it was fine. Monday's are busy we assumed she was new because we are there all the time and have never seen her before. I ordered the Foie gras with the apples oh my gosh it is Devine!!! The tall thin waitress whom I adore suggested it one night, I tried it, and fell in love (she was not there last night) and mashed potatoes, my partner order and bacon cheddar cheese burger medium. Okay here comes dinner No mashed potatoes, no bacon. Our waitress says, "YOU did NOT order bacon" he said indeed I did and then you asked what type of cheese I would like. Instead of apologizing she says "No you did not order bacon" I tell the other waitress to get my waitress attention because if she didn't put the mashed potatoes in I was going to tell her no worries, however my partner still wanted his bacon for his burger. Here comes the waitress from hell with three BRUNT TO A CRISPT BACON for my partners burger. She puts the bacon on the table and walks away ... she never offered him ketchup for his burger and fries nothing! I said oh I am going to address this right now. I asked her where is the manager and/or the owner of this restaurant. She said, "he left whatever you have to say to him say it to me". I grab 1 of the BRUNT bacon strips and asked... would you eat this? She stepped closer to me POINTED in my face and said "DON'T YOU TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!" A woman at the bar says, "Well she didn't cook it!" I said this is unacceptable behavior you are our waitress and should look at the food before presenting such discuss to the customer. She answers with her finger STILL pointed in my face, "I AM NOT YOUR WAITRESS, I ONLY WORK HER ONE DAY A WEEK!" I laughed, and thought to myself I thank god I don't hire such people at our business in NYC. -Needless to say we left! I have never experience such ill manners in my life at a restaurant and refused to go back in forth with someone with no class. As much as I enjoy ALL of the employee with the exception of this one night a week classless woman -We will never return. It was highly embarrassing and seriously ruined my evening. As a business owner you don't want trash representing your place of business. Businesses take a lot of time, energy, and passion -and when Me the owner steps away from a job I should like to think my employees uphold the same standards as we have each and everyday. If you would like to see this video of the waitress from hell I am posting it online. I had a friend in the restaurant that night and they took a video of the waitress from hell. I hate to give this place 1 star, but one person can really ruin a loyal customers experience. read more

Now I know why this place has 3 stars, despite the tasty mussels and Monday night special. The mussels are delicious (but not consistent) but the service is terrible. The servers are nice, dont get me wrong.. but they are also nonexistent. And to top it off 20% mandatory gratuity for bad service annoyed me more. It took us 10 mins for menus, 15 mins for our drinks, and forever to get mussel refills, the bill, etc. Expext to be here twice as long as you would like. This place desperately needs to invest in more staff. Anwyay on to the food - the traditional mussels and thai ones were excellent, but honestly all of them were pretty good. I even tried the normandy ones (with bacon and parmesan).. quite tasty. But I noticed that for some reason the 1st round was very good (tons of garlic, flavor and sauce) and the traditional ones were not nearly as good after that.. they had much less sauce and no garlic. Im not sure if this was intentional or just because they were busy.. but it was disappointing. The thai ones were good every time, however, and were my favorite. read more

First off I want to say thanks for providing parking! This place has a romantic flare. It's very low key and cute and I love that the staff were very friendly. I ordered a bottle of rose wine which was so so. You MUST try the pumpkin ravioli I think it was one of the best dish that they have in this place. I would probably go back for that read more

Came for brunch on a Sunday. Very relaxing atmosphere and super nice staff. I had the escargot and eggs Benedict so delicious. I can't wait to go back. Sangria is a must! read more

The food here is great and mussel Monday is a fantastic deal. However, it's clear the owner of the restaurant is not great nor is he fantastic. We arrived to get seated. A few tables outside, a few inside. Oh do you have a reservation he asked... why no we do not. The owner said we have a lot of reservations tonight and we're not taking walk-ins. Ok fine. We leave. Guess what ? I check open table and there were plenty of times available to make a reservation. We won't be coming back. read more

Mussels Monday was absolutely delicious!! They had a great variety of different broths. For example, a Thai anda mushroom bacon creamy Normande it was to die for! The service was very attentive and friendly. You feel like you're in a small cafe in Paris. read more