universitylad

Does anyone have any good medium to low priced restaurants with excellent food to suggest in Paris, France? I'll be leaving tomorrow night.

Powell

Le Pamphlet in the Marais district. Traditional French fare. Make a reservation.

Patrick

Just for the record, I'd think "medium priced" means between about 80 to 120 euro for dinner for two with a bottle of wine, and "low priced" is anything below 80 euro for two. Is that what you're thinking?

mamc

A low priced restaurant that we liked on our last trip to Paris is Petit San Benoit on the Rue San Benoit in the 6th. It is very traditional bistro - nothing at all fancy - just the basics like boeuf Bourgignon, etc. Search on this board for moderate restaurants in Paris. This question is asked frequently.

JulieVikmanis

I encourage you to go to the Chowhound website and search on mnaughton. That's the e-mail address for a retired professor from Michigan who spends about 6 months a year in Paris and reports on reasonable/cheap restaurants he's eaten at. He has excellent taste and wonderful writing skills (he was an English professor)At one time I think I counted over 30 reviews he had put on that site. He's a gem and his reviews are wonderful. worth searching for.

Michel_Paris

One thing you should also know...restaurants post their menus and pricing outside, so you can look at what they offer and what it will set you back. Mnay restuarants offer prix-fixe selections, which essentially are a set menu (soup, entree, desert, coffee) for a set price. Often, they will have 2 or three, at different price points. They are usually a better deal than ordering individual items from the menu. Also, to keep prices down, don't order soft drinks at a restaurant. If you are offered water, it will be bottled spring water, and you will be charged. TO keep my costs down, I usually have a coffee and pain au chocolat/petit dejeuner for breakfast, sandwich from a boulangerie/crepe from a street vendor for lunch, and then a resto for dinner.
You can get great takeout in Paris, for reasonable prices.
If you are in downtown Paris you will see lots of restaurants. Avoid the restos in the St Michel area where street hawkers try to get you to come on in.

I can say that I have never had a bad meal, but part of that is looking a guides such as Fodors, Michelin, Time Out, and Gault Millau. What I find is that you will see certain restaurants recommended is several books. This forum also has a wealth of recommendations, and you will see names coming up regularly. Look for "bistrots", restaurants that tend to serve good, basic foods.

Ile St Louis has several nice places (Gourmet de L'Ile, Reine Blanche), Ile Notre Dame also has le Vieux Bistro (near Notre Dame) that I foind good. I also like the Left Bank, along the Seine, heading eastwards from St Michel (direction towards the back of Notre Dame). There are several nice restaurants on the street running above the Seine (Montebello, Rotisserie du Beaujolais). Also near the Seine , left bank, are Chez Rene (14 Boulevard St-Germain), Chez Henri-Moulin a Vent (20, Rue des Fossés-Saint-Bernard), Le Petit Zinc(11 Rue Saint-Benoît).
Good luck, good dining, and bring us back your finds!
Mike

richardab

Quickly go to my websight and click on "PARIS-EAT" on the left column and you will get all my restaurant reviews of where I ate in Paris.

One note, skip "Gourmet de L'Ile" as noted above, the place is horrible.

Direct link to all my restaurants....

http://richardab.typepad.com/iheartp...eat/index.html

yy4me

A couple of quick suggestions, If you find yourself near the Louvre, Restaurant Lescure, 7 rue de Mondovi offers a great Paris meal at a great price. We have been several times and always sat outside as the place is small and smokey inside. Go to mappy.com and check out the location on their maps. A very nice mix of locals and tourists seem to find this spot. Not all carrying travel guides. Someone has to tell about this spot as it is pretty well hidden. Also, I know it has had a ton of publicity but the Cafe du Marche on rue Cler offers some very good food at very reasonable prioces. Plus its a great spot to people watch. We're 9 days behind you and will be going back to both places.
Have fun, you really can't go far wrong in Paris, all menus are posted outsside, look for places crowded with French people, the locals know the best spots.

elaine

I've been to Lescure myself, though not recently. It's nearer Place de la Concorde than it is to the Louvre.
In the 5th, I'll suggest Le Perraudin on rue St Jacques
Not sure if it falls into your low or medium-price category, but we thought it a very good value. Casual. Good food.

universitylad

Just arrived back from Paris and thought I'd share a few good restaurants I enjoyed. Richardab, your blog was extremely helpful--I enjoyed a few of your recommendations. Here are a few I loved.

*** L'Endroit ***
24 rue des Tournelles
Metro: Bastille
01 42 72 03 07

L'Endroit was also my favorite meal on this trip. It is a cozy wine bar/bistro not far from the Bastille metro stop. The staff speaks English well. I had a an excellent spinich and chicken salad for a first course and my travel partner had scallops with a truffle sauce I believe. We both had duck with fig sauce for the second course--it was to die for. I enjoyed the cheese course for dessert--excellent. The wine list is extensive and the waitstaff are very helpful in suggesting. Also, you can order a bottle and pay for only what you drink out of it. I think it was about 80-90 Euro total for two people with the menu and wine. If in the area, you MUST visit this restaurant.

*** Le Petit Prince de Paris ***
12 rue de Lanneau
01 43 54 77 26

We loved this place so much we actually ate here twice! It's a quaint little place on a tiny little street next to a Univerity Building. We happened by it while doing a walk from a guidebook of the Latin Quarter. Food was superb and waitstaff could help translate the menu. It seemed very popular and busy. They seemed to sit the nonsmokers up front, which was nice. Excellent cheese course for dessert.

*** L'Ardoise ***
28 Mont Thabor
Metro: Concorde

We were actually looking for the restaurant Cosy a few doors down based on richardab 's blog. It was closed for the May Day holiday; he had liked this place too so we tried it. It's near the Louve museum. We ate early (around 7) so we didn't need reservations. It seemed to be mainly tourists at this hour, though there were 2 or three tables of French people. The waitstaff spoke a little English, but not much--enough to help a little with the menu. Food was good, and definatly worth a visit. Not too smokey.

richardab

I am glad you liked a few of my restaurants! I loved L'Endroit and want to return to Paris just to eat there!

L'Ardoise was good but not one of my favorites. It gets really good reviews though.

Cozy is nice but not real formal. Just yummy food.

Keren

Another good one is Le Sept Quinze, 29 av. de Lowendal, in the border between the 7th and the 15th, near Unesco. I had a very tasty two-course lunch for 18E. With dessert it would have cost 24E.
This is a good place for vegetarians, too - at least two of the offers for main courses were vegetarian.

shetraveler

The NY times posted an article on this very topic entitled "Does the Affordable Paris Bistro Still Exist? Oui.", by Mark Bittman (3-13-05). Go to NY times.com and type in "affordable paris bistro" in the search feature to access. I concur with his choices, particularly that of Chez Denise, near the Pompidou Center. As Michel_Paris mentioned, look for the prix fix items - they offer the best value (the same goes for the formule at lunch ... generally less than 15 euros). Another that Bittman does not mention is Le Petit Keller on 13 rue Keller, near the Bastille (75011). Stripped down atmosphere, but real French cuisine in generous portions. A good sign was that there were no americans, and very little English spoken. The tiny bistro had mostly locals eating there. BTW, the NY times archive has loads of articles on Paris, things to do, places to eat. Feel free to email me if you have more questions about Paris.

nini

We liked Seraphim which is just a few blocks from St Sulpice. Friends who live in Paris took us there for lunch. It is a quiet neighborhood restaurant with excellent food--would be considered lower priced.

richardab

Seraphin is a very nice restaurant with good service and food. I have eaten there many times. i would consider the prices reasonable, but not low priced.

Patty

richardab,
I wanted to thank you for the restaurant recommendations on your blog. We tried two of them back in January and both were great. We enjoyed lunch at Le Caveau and dinner at Cosy. We liked Cosy so much that we returned for drinks and nibbles on our last evening. They were having a birthday function but welcomed us at the bar and would have gladly served us a full dinner if we wanted one. The atmosphere was so convivial, we even got introduced to some of the birthday party guests. By the end of the evening, we felt like we should've been greeting everyone that walked through the door! Their food and wine prices were incredibly reasonable too.

Another place we really liked was Juveniles. You might want to give that a try next time. It's a tiny, brightly lit wine bar with some innovative tapas type dishes and also a full menu. I recommend reserving ahead. We were lucky as they just happened to have one unreserved table that evening. Others that came in after us were turned away.

Patty

BTW I had the magret du canard at each place and would rate them -

1. Cosy
2. Juveniles
3. Le Caveau

kerouac

I cannot believe what some people consider to be a moderate price in Paris! One of the best deals known to all Parisian is the small "Chez Papa" chain (4 restaurants in all), specialized in Southwestern France dishes ( = duck, etc. ). The portions are enormous and the entire meal is usually less than 20 € per person, including an excellent local winelist. For a very filling lunch, just get a "Boyarde" salade with lettuce and roasted potatoes, cheese, egg, dried ham, tomatoes, etc. -- it's 7 € and you can barely finish it. Of course, we are talking paper tablecloths and paper napkins here, so some of you snooty people should avoid it.

HowardR

I too recommend Perraudin on rue St. Jacques. A delightful dining experience in a restaurant patronized mainly by Parisians! I understand that they now accept credit cards.

Travelnut

Patrick's assessment of "low priced" and "medium priced" is way over my usual.

I can't bring myself to drop $100 on one meal unless maybe it's my 50th wedding anniversary or something.

I can't complain about any meals we've had within our evening budget of 40-50€ TOTAL (that would be the "medium" price, and I usually have wine or a mineral water).