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Best Casual Paris Restaurants
There are countless threads on Parisian Restaurants but none seem to cover exactly what I am looking for so I thought I would post. I have done fine dining in Paris, but I am not after that this time.
I don't care if the restaurants serve French(preferred slightly), Italian or whatever as long as the food is tasty. As far as atmosphere I am after the Brasserie casual style, no white table cloth fine dining types. Price isn't really the issue, but it seems like the best meals I have had recently on my travels are recommended by other travelers or locals and are in the mid-price range...like a little known gem. I am staying in the 7th in an apartment. I would love to hear experiences that cover dinner and lunch. Thanks for any advice you can offer.... |
Cafe Constant and Le Castiglione (in the 1st on St. Honore); both have excellent kitchens and bar seating available.
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Try Chez Papa -- several locations throughout Paris. The nearest one to the 7th might be the one on rue de la Croix Nivert in the 15th. There's another one in the 14th along the wall of the Montparnasse cemetery.
www.chez-papa.info |
From a recent trip the best casual restaurants are either wine bars or bistros a vin. For lunch you can sample a few glasses of wine and order a petit assiette of, for example, meat or one of cheese or, better yet a petit assiette mixe.
One which is fun for lunch is Le Baron Bouge... http://paris-talk.blogspot.com/2008/...uge-paris.html A second place is Au Vieux Comptoir. We did the same thing here, a few glasses of wine and something to eat, and it was so good that we went back for dinner. http://www.au-vieux-comptoir.com/ (For lunch and possibly dinner, the lady in the photo will wait on you and is very helpful making suggestions and explaining about wine) And a third is Melac. Again, lunch with several glass of wine and some cheese, and back for dinner... http://www.melac.fr/ We did not want desert here and so finished with two glasses of a very sweet wine instead, an Anjou. A nice source of information about such places is The Wine Bars of Paris. Pjk |
This is great! Thanks so much folks, my tastebuds are starting to tingle.
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One of our favorites is www.AuBougnat.com
It's 2 blocks from Notre Dame and the food is terrific at a good price. We,ve probably eaten there 8-10 times and never been disappointed. |
I had lunch at Les Cocottes yesterday and lunch at Cafe Constant today. Two of the 4 Constant places. I go to Constant restaurants ofte...good food, and certainly good prices.
There are so many, many to choose from.. Enjoy, Joan |
I googled Cafe Constant and the reviews were pretty mixed. Seems like they are casual wtih friendly service but very average food?
Thanks to all for the good information. |
About Chez Papa - Kerouac when you say there might be one along the wall of Montparnasse Cemetery, this must be the one at 6 Rue Gassendi/41 Rue Froidevaux (on PagesJaunes).
I have every intention of calling there before or after my Catacombes tour to see if I can finish a "Boyarde" Salad!! You said most people can't. Maybe it will take the two of us! For PlasticTraveler: Directions - Walk down Rue Daguerre as it's just as nice as Rue Cler with it's exposed produce, shellfish & cheeses. Then carry on through the pedestrian part until you crossover rue Boulard, then over rue Laland and finally you will arrive at rue Gassendi. One can double back and go to the catacombes or carry on and take in the view on the top of Tour Montparnasse. |
Christian Constant restaurants are very well thought of. Excellent bargains, for great food.
You will find people who say they didn't like some of the finest of restaurants. You have to know who the person is that is giving you this information.... The crowds for the Constants probably speak for themselves...get there by 7:30 if you want to get in most any evening.... Enjoy.... |
On recent visits I have enjoyed the following, all casual with terrific food:
Cafe Constant was terrific when I was there for lunch, with a reasonably priced menu. No reservations. Surprised to hear about mixed reviews on the food. Le Pre Verre, 8 rue Thenard in the 5th arrondissement. Very reasonable lunch menu, and also reasonable for dinner. Asian influences, but French. Cafe Baz Art, 36 blvd Henri IV in the 4th arrondissement near Bastille. Delicious and reasonable menu at lunch when I was there. Au Vieux Chene, 7 rue du Dahomey, in the 11th arrondissement. Casual ambience, wonderful food. Bistrot du Peintre, 116 avenue Ledru Rollin, in the 11th arrondissement. Lively, good food. Le Petit Prince de Paris, 12 rue Lanneau in the 5th arrondissement. |
Nikki - Yes definitely Bistrot du Peintre - initially recommended to me by a fodorite who no longer seems to appear on this board by the name od Dave-in-Paris.
I have been eternally grateful but was disappointed last year not to be able to dine there as they were remodelling. This May I'm headed to their doorstep once more! Dave described Bistrot de Peintre's food as "a pleasant atmosphere and very good food, like mom's if mom were a very good French cook!" Their Tarte Tatin was divine. |
Joan and all, we are now here.
We ate tonight at LesCocottes for dinner tonight at were very happy with everything. First off, the food was terrific at a great price. Second, the atmosphere was casual but still Parisian and somewhat upscale(in just the right amount). The wait staff was excellent also. When you first get in, and need some immersion they were really great working with us on our French but spoke good Anglais as well. We did pop into Cafe Constant to read the menu and look around and you were right.....they had just started to fill up around 7:30 or so. I think we might try them tomorrow for lunch. These are all good spots and I am quickly finding that the advice here is wonderfully reliable. I will make sure to give back with posts about eating while we are here :) |
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plastic and all who love to eat in Paris..
please take pictures of your plates and share with us... and make notes on what, where, how much $$ .. Thanks |
One place we always make a point of going to is La Cave de l'Os a Moëlle in the 15th. It is very casual, and they serve excellent food, family-style, so you sit with others and eat whatever is on the menu that evening. It is wonderful and each time we make friends that we keep in touch with!
http://www.foodtourist.com/ftguide/Content/I2302.htm |
Nikki, I loved Le Petit Prince. Friends invited me there.
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Dave lives in the 11th.
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Plastic,
Only Constant open on Sunday is Fables de la Fontaine..fabulous starred seafood restaurant. Davoli on r. Cler has wonderful things...only open til about 1:00. I am going over this morning to pick up some things. I just hope my eyes are not bigger than my stomach as I don't need leftovers..leaving in morning for a touch of Provence for 3 nights. Enjoy... Joan |
Plastic,
I just posted on my Fodor's running thread re Davoli for today..take a look at it, if interested... Joan |
Will do on the pics and what Joan said in her last post.
Today was a bust food-wise. We went to the LeMarche Couvet Saint Germain Market to pick up some supplies for a picinic(trying to be optomistic about the weather). Mrs. Plasitc is not much of a fish lover and the market is pretty full of fish and the smell of them as well. The baguettes did not look great, and the cheese counter was average. Since it was cold and rainy we ended up back on Rue Saint Dominique(n we were going to hit Cafe Constant for lunch, but as Joan just pointed out above, they were closed. Out of despiration we ended up at LaFontaine de Mars . You could tell it was old-school. The service was great, but the menu lacked creativity in every way. Two chicken dishes, a steak dish, two duck dishes and three fish. We ended up just ordering appetizers. MP(Mrs. Plastic) ordered a goat cheese spread that was pretty good and I had a steamed leek with vinaigrette of some type poured over it. Wine choices were poor. The total cost was $37 including one glass of wine. For dinner we ate at Fouquets on the Champs just because we were there and the Parisian that checked us into our apartment had written it down for us as decent. Again, in this day and age how about some creativity on the menu? Coke Lights were 9E! so we passed on them. Turned out that all you could order outside(yes I know you pay for sitting outside) was a club sandwich. It was a decent club sandwich, it was $14.50E. The sun did crack out this afternoon and the forecast looks good for the next few days. The rest of our days are a bit better planned out so I can now start checking the suggestions offered here against the areas we will be at and make some better dinner reservations. Merci Au revoir! |
It has been a few years, but I also loved Le Petit Prince. We had an excellent dinner there.
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How can anybody with half a brain eat at Fouquet's?
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We have enjoyed Le Temps Perdu in the past. The owner, a very lovely lady, was kind enough to serve us very, very late one evening when they were about to close...of course, we had our son and his friend with us, and they looked very tired and hungry. I returned again last year with my oldest daughter and we couldn't have had a better meal or a more delightful waitress...it was our first night in Paris and she helped us greatly with our french. And the food was, again, just wonderful. It's at 54 rue de Seine...easy to find. I am not a foodie, so please take that into account.
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bookmarking!
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PT, thank you for starting this post. It has given me a good list of restaurants. I'm looking forward to reading more of your dining adventures, hopefully all positive after today ;;)
Deborah |
I forgot to mention Le Rubis, just off Marche St. Honore, one of the oldest wine bars, still with it's original zinc bar. It hasn't changed in more years than I care to mention; the staff, menu and patrons seem unchanged, at least to me. This is the Paris that Hemingway must have experienced.
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Be nice kerouac...living in Paris does not give you license to be a jerk. I have read some of your posts and I couldn't agree more with your concept of going "down scale" for eating. That is in fact, EXACTLY what I am looking for.
I just re-read my own post....I should have been more clear about my dislike for the Fouquet's. It is exactly what you DON'T want when eating in Paris. I did not like it and it was an overpriced borish restaurant well past it's prime. I would have been better off with a baguette, a bottle of wine and some cheese. |
I always make it a point of having at least one meal at Cafe Roussillon in the 7th, at the corner of Rue Cler and Rue de Grenelles.
They have a fabulous steak for 2, duck breast as well as numerous salads named for a region i.e Salade Normande, Salade Provencale etc. Wines are available by the carafe for as little as 9 Euros. It is often frequented by locals. Give it a try.. |
Love Le Petit Prince but just down the street is Le Pescatore where I have had many lovely casual meals.
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bookmarking for my July trip!
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Bookmarking too! Thanks for the recommendations.
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Great info!
Bookmarking. |
great thread. thanks...
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I just got back from a trip to Paris with my teenage son. We also tried to eat at more reasonably priced casual restaurants. We had made reservations in advance and ate at Le Temps Perdu, Le Petit Prince and Le Caveau d'Lisle. They were all good and had nice prix fixe menus. Of the 3 we liked Le Petit Prince the best -- best service, ambience and food! We also had a nice lunch at Chez Janou and at the tiny crepe restaurant/stand on Rue Cler. In addition, we had good sandwiches for lunch one day at the Paul patisserie on St. Michel.
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I like Le Petit St. Benoit, on rue St. Benoit, which runs from Blvd. St-Germain to rue Jacob, in the 6th.
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