This place was recommended to use by two unrelated people and we finally got around to visiting on a random weeknight. We missed happy hour, but the restaurant was nearly full at 7pm, which is always a good sign. We managed to get lucky finding a space across the street on Greenwood Ave after circling for fifteen minutes--Parking in the area generally sucks. The Gainsbourg is a cool spot with a cool vibe, and felt like a neighborhood favorite. I ordered escargot and sauteed mushrooms for a pre dinner snack. Escargot was lacking flavor, but it didn't bother me. Love my snails. The mushrooms were delicious. Ordered steak frites for dinner and the Copper River salmon special. Both were delicious ... Probably my favorite steak frites in Seattle--cooked to medium rare perfection. Fun spot and reasonably priced. We'll definitely be returning to try a few more items from the menu. read more

We drove 20 minutes from downtown Seattle and walked up with our 7yo only to be told it's a 21+ restaurant. Cool if that's their thing but I didn't see that listed anywhere on their website or online. So FYI 21+ ONLY. read more

Lively spot for food and drink with plenty of character to boot. Brasserie-style food menu with plenty of French comfort food classics. Cheese boards, escargot, french onion soup, steak frites, duck confit and more. Pair with some wine or any of their specialty cocktails. Overall relaxed vibe makes for a comfortable spot for conversation over good food and drink. Friendly servers a plus. A popular spot for locals, the space can fill up but for a fun casual night out, Gainsbourg is worth a visit. read more

We mostly go there for the 4-6pm daily happy hour. Their burger is $7 on happy hour which is an awesome deal! The frites are separate but only $3, which is a really good price considering it's still Seattle. The wine selection and cocktails are really good too if you're looking for a drink. Only thing that drags it down is the service and somewhat the location. Parking is annoying but manageable, but the space is very loud and crowded. It's also the type of place that you seat yourself any open chair, so if you don't like the idea of sharing a larger table with others it isn't your place. The service is can be very slow, even on a weekday. It's not the friendliest either unless you're seated at the bar, because the chef is a really nice friendly guy. You'll be waiting a while for food but cocktails seem to turn out pretty quick. Overall it's good if you're looking for a cheap happy hour, but it will cost you time and possibly a headache for parking. read more

We went in early August on a weeknight for a simple dinner. We didn't make the happy hour though do to work. The neighborhood in my opinion has cleaned up a bit and parking was tight but manageable with patience. Really a nice evening to hang on the sidewalk getting "French" food. However this use more French inspired and quite American. Sort of French bistro mixed with edgy American bar. No frills really. I've always wanted to try it and glad we did. My French dip was good and made with nice ingredients however very rich, and a just that was more onion soup. Good but not treated like a dip jus. So a good quality very rich version of an American staple. My standard is a good "American French style" roll with just really good thin sliced roast beef not from a package and a rich salty jus. This is beyond that which I like but do not prefer. My wife was not pleased with her steak frites. Their frites are actually really good but the hanger steak was just stringy and not good. Good drinks, very kind yet edgy service, and a fun neighborhood vibe. We came a long way to try it so we won't be back probably. Except they do have a great happy hour deal!! And a few other things there I'd like to try do you never know? read more

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First-time visit on a Monday night. Wish this place was much closer to us, but then again, that might not be a good thing. Tried various items: - Escargot: Good enough to satisfy our craving. Would've liked more parsley and garlic to go with our bread. Happy hour price can't be beat though. - Duck entrees were so delicious! Breast was juicy, tender, and done just right. Maybe crispier skin? - Creme brulee and chocolate mousse: Pretty good. Maybe a touch of sweetness in the mousse? Service: Checked in often. Kitchen got slower as the place filled up. Ambiance: Lovely, dark, a little run down, but cozy. Overall, we were very happy. Good food at good prices, such a rarity in Seattle these days for this kind of menu. read more

Came for Happy Hour. Ordered the burger ($7), escargot ($5) and beet salad ($5). Cozy place and staff friendly. Food was tasty and the prices are reasonable. Music a little loud but it was 70's and 80's much so definitely a plus! Coming back for sure! Especially since we can walk to this place!! read more

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I'd say our experience was a 3.5! Food was good but didn't blow us out of the park. I'd come back but maybe order something different. It is a lively place with good service and great drinks. read more

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Gainsbourg has become a favorite for me and my boyfriend. Their steak is probably one of the better ones in Seattle, and their daily specials never disappoint. The place is adorable with a cozy yet fun atmosphere. Service has always been good. Wine list is great for Seattle, but honestly, I'd expect more from a place with good French food. Prices are very reasonable for Seattle, and I'd consider it a really great date spot if you don't mind waiting for a table. read more

Effortlessly cool spot with dark moody lighting and amazing art all over the walls. Excellence in all dishes - the beef and lamb burger with gruyère, the garlicky macaroni and cheese, the house salad with strawberries and chèvre, the potato curry soup of the day, and the rich and creamy chocolate mousse. Ronnie is a complete delight as a lovely and talented bartender and server! Cocktails and wine selection are fabulous. Will be back to try the charcuterie and fromage à trois. read more

Funky environment and fun that you share tables. Upbeat service with a hint of attitude. A little slow at times, but understandable given the vibe. Best french dip that I've ever had! Au jus is delicious, gruyere makes it work great, and the beef was tender. read more

This is a cozy, neighborhood French restaurant in Greenwood. Parking is surprisingly extremely difficult for a Sunday early dinner, where we went around 5pm to take advantage of their happy hour. $3 baguette, $4 escargot, $5 beet salad (this is with them raising the prices already literally after the New Years). Wow! Why 4 stars not 5 stars? Food is kind of hit or miss. We got the beet salad, escargot, baguette, French onion soup, duck confit, steak frites, and creme brulee. We also got 3 glasses of wine (the house red and white and brut rose) as we wanted to drink up but not spend too much - wine was $1 off during happy hour. Beet salad is pretty decent with 5-6 pieces of beet and lots of arugula and blue cheese. It was a great starter. Escargot is a little mediocre but what else do you expect if it is $4? I have never seen a dish this inexpensive even if I traveled to France for escargot. However, it felt overcooked and the amount of garlic butter is not a lot, but the baguette on the side is nicely toasted and soaks up the small amount of sauce well. I would 100% order again though because 2 of this dish is enough for a nice meal, if you want to pinch pennies. Baguette was $3 and is served with some butter. It is pretty solid, but I wouldn't have gotten it if I researched to see that escargot also had baguette. However, more bread didn't hurt at all. In fact, we ate every single piece of it because it was delicious! French onion soup is very good. It is baked with bread and cheese, and the onion is super flavorful. There is not too much soup but the whole thing is very well-rounded and satisfying. Duck confit - duck was very tender, but I wished it was a bit more flavorful. It is served with some vegetables and potatoes that were decent. $22 for a nice large piece of duck is good value. Steak frites - requested medium rare and we received it more like medium, but it was fine. The steak was a little tough but I really liked the sauce. More longer fries would have been good as they were smaller shoestring fries, and they looked more like leftover fries due to all the small fragments of fries. This dish was $26 and I expected more as there weren't a whole lot of meat. Creme brulee - $9 was pretty standard but it was burnt. We had to sadly toss out most of the caramelized sugar on top to eat a few spoonfuls of the cream. I would only recommend the beet salad, escargot, baguette, French onion soup, and duck confit, which I will gladly go again during happy hour. Service is decent. It seems like there were 2-3 people working the bar, kitchen, and serving, but it wasn't too long of a wait for anything. The server did have a few mishaps like dropping the blue cheese on the table (but he gave us a generous cup of blue cheese to make it up) and forget our glass of brut rose I ordered during happy hour (but he owned up to his mistake and comped the glass), so it was all good. I would write service off as a positive because of that. read more

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This place is classic - large community tables, small 2-tops tucked away, plenty of bar stools and a real vibe with candelabras and sassy servers. The cocktails are great the burger is too. A great place to have a dinner with a friend or solo - I really like it here. read more

Great hidden spot in Greenwood! You find a table for yourself - we sat in the communal tables in the middle and shared with another couple. Service was a little slow but not much staff for a lot of customers. Amazing prices and cocktail selection - loved the steak frites and escargot! Very lively and loud environment at all times. read more

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We walked in on a buzzing Saturday night. Tables are seat yourself with a bar, booths, and some communal tables in the middle. The vibes are much more loud bar than sit down restaurant. This place has a great selection of food and drinks for a loud bar vibe! Food prices are reasonable, although portions are smaller. I ordered the French Dip. It seemed like it was half a sandwich. I would've paid more for a bigger sandwich. The other half of the plate was a good portion of French fries. To drink, I had the Ugly American - can't go wrong with a whiskey and Rainier! The drink prices alone would entice me to come back. Service was ok. We would've ordered dessert if they would've come back sooner after we said we were still deciding. But, again, this is more of a bar than a sit-down restaurant so maybe the service wasn't going to be the same anyway. I would recommend and return here, especially if you are out with friends and looking for a bar with good food options other than traditional American pub food. read more

I feel compelled to write an update review here because I no longer patronize or recommend this place. I was a regular here for about 10 years. But in recent years it has seemed that cleaning has become a lower priority I had largely stopped eating here because the bathroom/dish-pit area just never feels clean, the floor feels sticky, the chairs/bar stools feel rickety/unsafe, and our friend even got zapped by a lamp on one visit. Their most recent food inspection with violation for pests and handwashing seems consistent with my own experiences. Then, a concerning element started to show up at the bar with a big, scary, guy with nazi tattoos hanging around the bar and making the female staff, in particular very uncomfortable (this isn't a patron-- just someone who seems to come in and make change). On top of that, service has just fallen off. We used to hop in here for a quick/late night drink/dinner/snack etc but it's just not on our rotation any longer, even for drinks, based on cleanliness, weird interactions, and lack of service. We do try it again periodically just in case. Miss the untamable whiskers! read more

This is a nice and cozy little French restaurant located in Greenwood did you get pretty busy and service is pretty slow because of that however the vibes of this place is great and the food is good too! We got the steak and Fritz and for appetizer we got their baguette. I think the steak was pretty good for the price, but their baguette was just ok I would try a different appetizer next time. read more

Gainsbourg - French Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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Tuesday, late afternoon, in time for HH, there was one impressive employee serving at least a dozen people. She was nice enough and efficient. The space is extremely loud. I'm hearing impaired and found the laughter in an adjacent booth deafening. The booth sits on a severe angle. The tables seem to be level though. The $7 HH burger had a good bun, decent quality meat with good, chewy texture, but it's cooked well done (we weren't asked our preference of doneness so that was the yellow flag). Cheese is extra (and so, presumably, is anything else you want on the burger). There was a horseradish-like taste along with a sharp goat-cheese-like taste that I found unpleasant. Our poutine had very skinny fries, a lumpy but reasonably good flavored gravy and very little cheese. The very worst item was the sauteed mushrooms - nothing but lightly sauteed mushrooms and so little tarragon it didn't add flavor and no salt. No salt. Judging by the pictures, this restaurant is highly unpredictable. Look at the pictures of French onion soup and it looks like the cooks all make it differently. If I lived in the neighborhood, I'd stop by occasionally. I would not travel more than a mile to visit again (but I'm looking for food, not a fun bar scene). read more

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Hidden gem if you are looking for steak frites/burger/french dip/french onion soup/escargot fix. No reservations so you must be prepared to wait if you come in during peak hours. I loved the quirky ambiance here. It is on a louder side so you do need to speak up a little! I ordered steak and fries and loved the perfect amount of portion and fries with the dipping sauce. The steak comes with caramelized onions and mushrooms which is a nice plus. My friends got french dip, soup and escargot which they all enjoyed. If youre looking for more fries i recommend getting burger or the french dip because the portions larger than when you order steak fries. read more

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We came here as a party of 2 on a Sunday evening. We split a charcuterie plate. I love the heat of the mustard they provided and the meats were good. We think the plate was overpriced for the amount of food we were given, though. I would be open to trying them again in the future. read more

Gainsbourg - French Near Me - Seattle, Washington

My husband and I am met at this place for our first date 10 years ago! It hasn't changed a bit. The ambience is very romantic and delightful for a little dive bar. I love that they play silent movies on a projector screen in the back of the bar and the melted candles everywhere in the candelabras as well as the chandeliers throughout the bar are truly eclectic and unique. We always have great service here, even if they're swamped, which can happen rather often surprisingly even on a Tuesday night. But the servers and bartenders here work their butts off to make sure everyone is happy. And oh the food, it's French inspired, and everything is delicious. The escargot, the French onion soup, the beet salad, the burgers, croque madame, the duck confit, the steak frites.... chocolate mousse, crème brûlée... Yes, I've been here a few times and had almost everything on the menu and I've never been disappointed. And the prices are pretty reasonable too, especially for going out in today's economy. This is a go to place for us, which is why my husband chose it for his birthday recently, and we had another fabulous meal with great service. read more

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Delicious meals and drinks, with a very focused menu. Friendly staff will know your name after a few visits. Serge Gainsbourg's portrait will regard you with faux disinterest from across the room, but you will feel welcome all the same. read more

Burger is fantastic! Ambience is fun and cozy. Negroni is excellent A+ experience overall read more

We had been wanting to try this place out for a while but would always have our 2yo in tow so couldn't make it (it's 21+) We finally got to try it last night and it exceeded our expectations! We were able to get a seat right away at a comunal table but it was pretty busy (8pm ish). They also have booths and bar seating. Started with the escargot and warm baguette + butter which were already so good! Then I ordered the Steak and Frits which was cooked to perfection and so flavorful! My husband had the pan roasted duck which was also super tender, juicy and filled with flavor. Also, it's very reasonably priced. I feel like they could definitely be charging more for what they offer. We'll definitely be going back to try other dishes and their specials. Highly recommend! read more

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If you can, sit at the bar. The chef is delightful (as is everyone who works there). Drinks are top-notch. The happy hour menu allows for some things to share and are delicious. read more

Always busy for good reason. The specials are worth trying. The quality has been good for all the long years this place has been open

I was delighted to find this place for happy hour after I moved to the neighborhood. The interior is so cozy and the food was delicious (brie ice cream!) read more

Gainsbourg - Escargot on happy hour! - French Near Me - Seattle, Washington

A great place to gather, and fun vibes that cross between French, pub, art-house, and divey. The food is fantastic and surprisingly reasonably priced given the quality and authenticity to the French cuisine. The drinks are great too, and the service is nice. As another reviewer said, it is simultaneously nice but unpretentious ambiance. It gets loud on the weekends, but I'd recommend this place to get together with friends or date night if that doesn't bother you. read more

Came to Gainsbourg after hearing they have a great happy hour every day of the week! I came with some friends around 5pm on a Saturday, and they were already quite busy. They had some nice HH deals like $3 fries and the $7 burger. We ended up getting the mac and cheese, french dip, brussels sprouts, and fries. Overall the food was decent! I actually really liked my mac since it was super garlicky although it did get quite oily towards the end. It also came with a side salad, which was great to lighten up the meal, and it was really yummy! My partner's french dip was good too! He said he's had better but it was decent; I thought the meat was really tender. The brussels were covered in a mustard sauce, which wasn't my fav since I don't do well with horseradish but the caramelized onions in it helped. Lastly, the fries were okay. They all seemed like the scraps but they did come with a nice aioli. The drinks are also quite spirit-forward, so if you're a fan of lighter, fruitier drinks, this is probs not the place for you. read more

4.5 stars! It is so cute in here! Unfortunately, there are big group tables in a small space. So, if you're not in the mood to rub elbows with strangers, you have to wait a bit for a seat on a Saturday night. The food is so good, I am still thinking about the amazing bread a week later! read more

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We went here before going to Taproot Theatre. It was a very crowded and lively bistro, but the service was still great. We ordered a variety of dishes between the 6 of us and tried some great specialty cocktails. From the duck to the chicken to the frittes , to the beet salad, we were well-satisfied. They have booths as well as tables in addition to the bar. Their Happy Hour is very well attended. read more

If you're looking for the social media hyped $20+ cocktail spot, this is NOT for you. And that's exactly why Gainsbourg is great. If you appreciate French-inspired food and classic drinks with warm and friendly servers, you'll love it here. We had the duck confit and the French dip - both were excellent, and our drinks were also fantastic. Their prices are reasonable and justifiable for the quality, which is a rarity these days in Seattle. Overall great find in a casual bar environment! read more

From the moment we walked in, it felt like we were unwelcome. There are no signs indicating to seat yourself so we stood at the door for a few minutes. No one acknowledged us so we found two seats at the bar and sat down. We waited a few minutes and were still not acknowledged despite the waiter seeing us. The restaurant was busy so we had no problem waiting, however, when the waiter did come over, he slammed the menus down without a word or any eye contact and walked away. We felt so bad and walked right out. I have no idea what prompted that interaction but I will never go back. read more

Food We both ordered delicious entrees! I went with the duck confit and it was bombastic! The wilted kale and potatoes were a fantastic accompaniment to the main protein. I used my hands to enjoy the rest of it. My date ordered the Gainsburger and his was super mouth-watering delicious! I'd eat his meal anytime! Service Great! The server had intense eye contact Ambiance This was a cute little restaurant with bar vibes where it's not super heated at all. I was freezing so sat at the bar with my date so as not to feel the draft. It was also a little on the darker end with oil paintings on the walls as their decor. The food is fantastic! I'd come here for the food and extra layers of clothing! read more

Love this little restaurant in Greenwood. How can you go wrong when it's all day happy hour on Mondays and the staff is great. Both times I've been here, I ordered the $7 burger + $1 add Gruyère cheese and a side of fries off the hh menu along with a glass of cava. The burger is a full portion and absolutely delicious. Fries are fried well and the aioli sauce is yummy. Their other food on the menu is reasonably priced and looks tasty - can't wait to be back!! read more

Gainsbourg - Burger and fries - French Near Me - Seattle, Washington

My go to for a late night bite out. Not only because of the hours, but also because it is absolutely delicious. I love that the specials change often and the food is clearly fresh. Drinks are always a fun pick, so many creative choices and I love the presentation. Open "cabaret-style" seating. read more

Gainsbourg - Halloween Nightcap - French Near Me - Seattle, Washington

We love the food here! Sit at the bar when you go so you can watch them cook the food. Great service and atmosphere. Highly recommend the crocque madame. read more

Authentic French restaurant with a bar ambiance. I have never had a French dip at an authentic French restaurant. I had no clue how delicious they could be, it was definitely the best one I have ever eaten. The restaurant had outdoor seating and wide open doors to the inside. We came on a chilly late night, so we sat inside. It was very loud, but the candelabras added an elegant touch. It was also an open kitchen. Our waiter was Duncan. He was attentive and very knowledgeable about the menu. We started with a baguette and butter. Duncan told me that they order the bread from France halfbaked, then bake the rest here. It was so soft and fresh. The sandwich is what my boyfriend ordered. It came with a French onion au ju, the combo I had never had the pleasure of trying either. He added cheese (I forgot which kind, but it wasn't Swiss). It even came with house made ketchup! I have never had such delicious and fresh tasting ketchup. The fries were amazing too. Thin and crispy. I think I ate half of his I ordered the catch of the day, which was halibut. It came with local asparagus and crispy scalloped potatoes. I'm not sure about the green sauce on top, but it really was the cherry on top of the dish. I would eat that sauce with halibut every time, it compliments it perfectly. I truly already want to return. I am glad to live close to this gem. read more

Gainsbourg - Catch of the day - French Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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Cool atmosphere and vibe! Friendly attentive staff, great drinks, and fantastic food!

Wow. Tres delicieux. Formidable! Hanging tender steak cooked to perfection, sauteed mushrooms, & roasted brussel sprouts. Amazing. My wife enjoyed her pan-fried duck in demi-glaze sauce with mushrooms. OMG. Served at a nice leisurely pace exactly as in France where I have traveled frequently. If you're too busy to go to France, come here. Bon appetit! read more