Le Paris French Bakery, Albuquerque

When I went into use my $10 Groupon, I was extremely disappointed with the service, atmosphere and baked goods/menu options and prices. When I walked in, hoping to be met by the delicious smells of a French Bakery/Bistro, I was assaulted by the smell of cleaning fluid. The selection of baked goods was very limited, and it was only 10am. There were no prices listed for the baked goods, and when I asked, I was told that a tiny pain au chocolat (literally about 1.5 inchX1.5 inch) was $2.50. I had come in looking specifically for pain au chocolat, so I ended up selecting several of these, plus two jam filled danishes. When I got up to the register and pulled out my phone to provide my Groupon, I was told that they would only accept a paper printout copy of my Groupon. It clearly states on each Groupon vocher, "print or pull it up on your mobile app," to redeem,and I generally like to shave paper, so I use my phone. I had driven clear across town specifically to use this Groupon and to get pastries to take to a brunch. I was told, they were sorry for the inconvenience but that due to customers abusing their vouchers and using the same one multiple times, Groupon had told them not to accept any more vouchers unless they were printed out. It is unfortunate that people are taking advantage of Groupon offers, but it seems that it is up to the businesses to make sure they are keeping track of vouchers that have or have not been used. And if it says you can print or use an app to redeem your voucher, then businesses have to abide by that or notify voucher holders that only printed copies will be accepted. After much discussion on this matter, the owner finally, begrudgingly agreed to accept the voucher. Then the owner proceeded to inform me that the prices she had originally told me for the pastries was the "discounted price" and that because I was using my voucher, the price would be higher. My total for four very, very small chocolate croissant and two not much bigger jam pastries, was over $18. I was so stunned by the whole situation that I didn't think to protest and pulled out my credit card to pay what was owed after my voucher was added. At that point, I was told, they only accept cash. I only had $3 cash and the total after my Groupon was over $8. I asked them to figure out what I could purchase for $13 ($10 Groupon, plus the $3 I had on hand), at which point the woman told me there was an ATM across the street that I could use to get more cash. I calmly said (although I did not feel very calm), no, please just subtract several pastries and I'll pay with the cash that I have. I ended up leaving with two tiny chocolate croissant (at $2.75 each) and two small jam danishes (at $3.25 each) for $13. RIDICULOUS! I should have just left when I was told I could not use my Groupon on my phone. The service was terrible, and to be told there was a "special higher" Groupon price for goods, makes the Groupon pretty much worthless. The pastries tasted ok, but heck, at that price, I expect melt in your mouth amazingness, which they were not. Needless to say, I will never be returning, which is unfortunate, as I like to support small, local businesses, and I love French bakeries. And Groupon, please communicate with businesses to let them know that customers can use either a printout or their phone app, and at the very least, you could refund my voucher for the fiasco that it ended up being to use it.

Paris Bakery is an excellent restaurant with a friendly owner and helpful staff.

Not permitting the groupon to apply to coffee purchases makes this deal not very attractive.