Finding good Paris restaurants on my own.
 

I am getting dizzy trying to remember all the recommended bistros, restaurants, brasseries, etc. in Paris. I've printed out a ton of recommendations. What are my chances of just stumbling onto a really good little place on my own while just out walking around? I'm tempted to just wing it and see if I can find that little gem that no one knows about, yet. Has anyone tried this approach?

I love simply walking around, seeing what I see and stopping at whatever looks interesting. Recommendations are great, but not ever bistro is to everyone's taste, explore on your own!

It's a little like kissing frogs to find a prince, somewhat chancy. I suggest instead you find some recommeded resturants, bistros in the area near your hotel. Much more likely to find a good meal.

Hi
Of course you can.
My only caution is that on the most touristed streets, there are traps that have mediocre food at prices that, even if cheap, aren't worth it imo.
I think it's a "sin" to dine poorly in Paris, even on a strict budget.

Barb,
I highly recommend to find places on your own. If you're not doing this in very touristy areas, your chances are absolutely given that you find what you're looking for.

It's exactly that way I discovered my now favourite places and most of them are never mentioned here nor on any other forum.
I just came back last Friday from Paris and most of these gems seem still undiscovered by most tourists, usuallyt locals around. So you will understand that I am not going to list them here. Sorry. Also, I am not sure they will be at everybody's taste anyway.
Depends also a bit in what area you will be staying or where exactly you plan to start with your bistrot searching. Chances to make terrific finds that way are very high in a lot of arrondissements. Most have streets where small bistrots are fairly concentrated and easy to find.
Do you have a clue where to start? If not, try the Montparnasse/Denfert-Rochereau/Alesia neighbourhoods.
And by all means, avoid Saint-Germain and the Quartier Latin. I am not saying the bistrots there are bad, oh no, but they are touristy and that's not what you're looking for. But still, you can make finds there, if you avoid the tourist crowds. I did.

Hey, I like your idea. Have fun!

I'm with Ursula. If you want any kind of chance of "discovering" a little place, you best not be in the 5th or 6th.

I can relate to your dizzy feeling! I love to try to plan my trips down to the last detail but after several trips to Paris we find it best just to stop and eat when you are hungry at a bistro that looks good to you. Read the menu of the day that may be posted outside. We have not had any "bad" food in Paris. My biggest frustration is that I have trouble choosing between all the establishments that look good! Too much good food too little time! Bon Appetite!

AJ you said it exactly. It boils down to if you want to plan your trip around food and eating, or if you want to plan it around sight seeing and enjoying wherever you are. We also just returned and just ate wherever we felt like. Of course there are so many incredible suggestions just from this site, I am sure we could have tried a new one every day (for months). But we just ate nearby where we were...like the Louvre, or the D'Orsay. We tended to eat bigger meals for lunch, and just eat lightly in the evening. The cheeses are exceptional, the wines amazing, the breads incredible...picnics are so easy.) Have a wonderful time, and relax about the food! Just enjoy being there!

Barb, when you find your own places, it really makes your trip special. And the bonus will be that it will most likely have a French cliental.

Hi Barb,

If you don't really care whether you are the person to "discover" someplace that no one else in Paris has ever visited, wandering around the 4th - 7th will provide you with a very large number of perfectly lovely and inexpensive places to eat.

There are too many good restaurants in Paris to worry about where you are going to eat.

Merci to all - I'm staying in 5th, but I want to explore all over - maybe the first night I will eat in 5th, but from then on who knows, wherever my nose will take me. I am thinking of Polinder on the first night just because I get into town early evening after flying all day, so I will want something close to my hotel. What do you think?

That is the best way to find them!

Before I frequented this board I thought the only way to find hotels and restaurants was on my own with a little help from guidebooks and hotel staff (for restaurants). Now, after being around for a few months I'm convinced that's still the way for me.

Opinions on airlines, hotels, restaurants and even attractions are so subjective that without knowing the contributor's standards those opinions are useless to me. I don't know whether an opinion is based upon a single experience or a lifetime of experiences. Frankly, hunting down that restaurant that someone else has recommended is a waste of my time.

Ursala, a few postings back, said it better than I. Follow her advice and have fun.

SInce the restaurants have their menus in the windows, you can make an assessment without going in. Also, my daughter thinks this is crazy, but I have found that if a restaurant has nice curtains (clean, cute, or fancy, but nice) the restaurant is usually okay. I have found a lot of inexpensive restaurants that way. Also, never be looking when you are very hungry, or very tired. Check out places while you are walking around, then go back to them. My biggest mistakes where when we needed a restaurant for a "starving" child.

My experience is that your chances are very good of finding great food on the fly in France are very good. Just avoid places that cater to Americans (offering french fries and steak), and always, always save enough room for dessert, because desserts in France are to die for.

While there may indeed be a significant percentage of American tourists eating in Parisian restaurants which offer steak and fries, steak and fries are not a menu item which is shunned by the French so it's not as if you notice steak and fries on the menu you should automatically avoid the restaurant.

If you did, you would, for example, avoid places like À Ma Vigne in Lyon.

From this website, "The Bouchons of Lyon,"...

"For me, though, nothing in this part of Lyon matches À Ma Vigne, a cubbyhole that?s lovingly tended by Joséphine Giraud and her son Patrick. ... Joséphine and her sister Francine cook tripe with the best of them, but almost everyone orders three other dishes in succession: moules maison (mussels cooked in white wine), the best steak and fries in town (the former awash in a beurre noisette the color of hazelnuts, the latter satisfyingly crunchy), and an exquisite lemon tart,..."

Steak and fries certainly may not be to everyone's liking -- whether they're American tourists or French natives -- but I don't think it's right to imply that they're only eaten by American tourists.

Forgot to post the link to that "Bouchons of Lyon" website...

http://www.saveur.com/article.jsp?ID=4109

I meant to add earlier, I tend to avoid any eatery in any country that touts their "tourist menu"--some will have placards posted outside, sometimes in serveral languages.
Nothing wrong with a good fixed price menu, but those set tourist menus are not for me. In France, a "menu" is a fixed price meal; what in English we refer to as the menu (list of all offered dishes) is called "la carte."

Thanks for the tips! and thanks Capo for the link on Lyon - that's my next stop after Paris! I know from traveling in Italy, to try to avoid places that have menus in English, or that cater to tourists. What I'm looking for is that little family-run place with beautiful curtains. BTW I really enjoy a good steak once in awhile and I plan on having that avec frites.

I don't know, I like taking recommendations. I mean, not just from this board but from people there in France. I've wandered many times and ended up in a variety of eateries....60% of the time were not so good. You CAN have a bad meal in Paris!