Connie L.
Yelp
I stopped by Petite MarieBette several times in the summer of 2019 while working in Charlottesville. I always had my order to stay and only came in on weekday mornings around 7 AM, so I never had trouble getting my order quickly, finding somewhere to sit, and getting some work done. I imagine it's harder to do this during prime time/weekends, but on weekday mornings it was pretty calm, although a few more customers tended to trickle in around 8 AM.
Hot coffee drinks tended to come with a complimentary mini madeleine on the side, which was a sweet touch. Note that this doesn't seem to be the case for cold/iced coffee based on my 1 experience getting an iced coffee to stay. In addition to plain coffee, I ordered a matcha latte and a chai tea latte on 1 occasion each. Both lattes tasted less sweet and more "real" than what I'd get at Starbucks, and the chai was definitely spicier.
For pastries, I had a pain au chocolat, a financier, a salted pretzel croissant ("pressant"), and an apple galette across several different visits. All of these were really good, although my favorites were the financier and the pressant. I could definitely see myself getting addicted to pressants if I lived nearby, and would recommend anyone visiting to try it! I didn't get to try many menu items (e.g. sandwiches, made-to-order breakfasts, etc.), but I did get a pre-packaged tuna salad 1 Sunday evening for dinner, when everything else nearby seemed to be closed. The salad was filling and did the job that night, but I would recommend sticking to pastries or maybe breakfast food here, since there's so many good restaurants in the vicinity for savory things.
The café has a very pleasant atmosphere; all the décor is vaguely "French" and very cute. Some of the tables near the back were really wobbly, which occasionally made for a precarious situation since they fill their coffee cups up all the way. The ladies' room was always clean whenever I used it in the morning. This location is a short walk from the Downtown Mall.