La Madeleine, the chain of cafeteria-style French country cafes, opened on Thursday morning at Pike & Rose in White Flint/Pike District.
The new location (11610 Old Georgetown Road) brings back what was one of the most popular restaurants in the Mid Pike Plaza shopping center.
The shopping center and old La Madeleine building were demolished to make way for Pike & Rose, the second phase of which is starting construction.
The restaurant opened with its “Rompre le Pain” promotion, hoping to “break bread” with a new group of customers. The first 50 customers to enter the location got cards allowing them a free baguette or loaf of bread each week for the next year.
The promotion usually draws a long line of customers waiting outside. On Thursday, with wind chills below zero, restaurant management had the customers wait inside.
The water wheel in the original Mid-Pike Plaza restaurant wasn’t copied in the new location. The wheel was for more than show and was intended to grind grains into flour for the restaurant’s bread.
