I have heard about Le Jules Verne, Taillevent, le Grand Vefour, etc..... but can anyone reccommend a restaurant in which one can have a great meal and not need to have reservations 6 months in advance (or not have reservations at all!!). THANKS

I guess I'll stick my neck out here with some general comments.<BR> <BR>First, there is a difference between really good restaurants and &quot;great&quot; restaurants. The ones you mention should never be referred to as good, but instead as great.<BR><BR>Secondly, it is hardly possible to imagine a great restaurant or even a REALLY good one in Paris that isn't well known. If it is exceptional, then it has certainly been &quot;discovered&quot;, written about, and is going to be popular.<BR><BR>But more importantly, there are hundreds, no, make that thousands of good restaurants in Paris. In fact I think it is a lot easier to find a good one at random than it is to find a bad one. Although I've done some of the &quot;great&quot; ones and spent a fortune, to be honest I tend to enjoy the lesser ones more. While some may rave about the creme brulee at one of your mentioned restaurants, for example, I'd be willing to bet that if they did a blind tasting with one from most good bistros they couldn't tell the difference. What really makes those restaurants &quot;great&quot; is the total combination of decor, over the top service, incredible wine lists, and amazing prices, which combined with the food (which, yes, really is great) make for an exceptional evening.<BR><BR>Generally in Paris I seek out new (to me) restaurants each trip, mixing them with my favorites. I look for a place one night that is clearly busy, especially if it looks like locals and see if I can make a reservation for the next night. That's my favorite trick. <BR><BR>There are a lot of specific ones that could be recommended and hopefully some others will do that here, but I think it is just as much fun to &quot;discover&quot; one on your own. And if you are in Paris 7 nights and try 7 restaurants on your own, I think you would be extremely unlucky to get more than one bad one, and more likely to get all &quot;good&quot; ones. Who knows, you may even get a &quot;great&quot; one.<BR><BR>

Very well-said and so true, Patrick! Let me also add that while I've done some of the tres cher dining experiences, is it really such an accomplishment to find an outstanding lunch for $100 or more? One would suspect not. Moreover, I know that I am not enough of a gourmet to even appreciate the finest points of certain haut cuisine. (I'm not saying it's on par with casting pearls before swine, but there comes a point where the lily is being guilded with me; I have limitations in this respect). Lastly, I've found that with many things in life, there comes a time when for each 10 percent increment of increase in quality, the cost begins to grow in a very disproportionate fashion. I've never been one to let &quot;perfect&quot; become the enemy of &quot;very good&quot;. For those who have honed their senses to that level, I raise my glass of Bordeaux to you -- but it need not be first-growth to satisfy me.

Restaurants without a reservation we have loved were Chez Francis, Clos de Lilas. Procope was fun , we also sat at that wrought iron balcony, but food was not exciting there. Petite Zinc was fun talking to adjoining seated people on the terrace.

I agree that I don't know what is the measure of &quot;not well-known&quot;. This place has a website - - http://www.buttenvigne.com - - but I have never seen any mention of it in any guidebook. And since it it up on Montmartre, it is inevitable that some tourists (maybe a lot) are there. But I found it to be a great evening out. Accommodated our group of 13 well.<BR><BR>Great food. Prices seemed entirely reasonable.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Jimmys Grill is the best! Oops I saw that you did not specify in your title where you were looking, it would surely help!!

There are dozens and dozens of dining destinations in Paris where you can enjoy a moderately priced meal in charming surroundings. The food is every bit as delicious as you'd find in those temples of haute cuisine. A good online resource is www.reservethebest.com - among my favorite printed guides are the Access Guide to Paris, Routard Paris, and Bistros of Paris by the Hamburgers. Favorite Bistros (or something like that) by the Seass's is excellent as well. <BR><BR>I'd also highly recommend the Leed's Good Guide, which you can download off the web. It's a little pricey, but well worth the price. Chock full of gems you won't find (with all due respect) in Frommer's or Fodor's. <BR><BR>Though neighborhood gems do not require reservations months in advance, reservations are advised the day before or the morning of the evening you plan to visit. Most are small and very popular because of the wonderful food at modest prices. And, in the overwhelming majority of restaurants in Paris, tables are booked for only one time each evening and are not &quot;turned over&quot;.

I recommend 'The Paris Cafe Cookbook' by Daniel Young if you are keen on cooking, as well as eating in Paris! It showcases 50 Parisian bistros with a recipe or two from each. Some are very well-known (Cafe Beauborg for example) and some are not so well-known. A good mix. A personal favourite of mine in Paris is 'Aux Charpentiers' near Saint Germain - good authentic cooking, buzzy atmosphere and friendly waiting staff.

I don't know about no reservations at all, but same day would probably be okay. You need a place that doesnt get written about in the press much, just a place that locals know. I won't say &quot;great&quot; either, I reserve that adjective, but I will say very good:<BR>My old favorite restaurant is Chez Julien, in the 4th, corner of 1 rue Pont Louis Philippe and 62 rue de l’Hotel de Ville.. Telephone 42-78-31-64. Closed Sundays. These days it will cost at least 60 euro each, not counting wine. You can spend less if you order the fixed-price menu. It is simple but pretty, with very good food. Not very dressy, but not jeans. The restaurant had a short appearance in the film “The Accidental Tourist” when William Hurt was briefly shown dining there.

I have recommended some of these in the past. We stay in the 7th so these are in that neighborhood.<BR>Le Florimond, 29 Lamotte-Picquet<BR>Bistrot du 7eme, 54 Latour Mauborg (16?!)<BR>La Fontaine de Mars, rue Exposition and Ste. Dominique<BR>For a brasserie experience Le Pied de Cochon near St. Eustache/les Halles<BR>Le Clos des Gourmets, av. Rapp<BR>I agree with the post saying that there are MANY possible wonderful eating experiences in Paris.

as others have said, there is a substantial publishing industry dedicated to reviewing and selecting the good Parisian restaurants. I too have followed the check one day and try to reserve for the following. I had two instances where the restaurant was fully booked but I showed up at seven and promised to be out by nine. That allowed them to squeeze me in since some of their regulars for that evening wouldn't be in to dine until nine.

I posted the original message, thanks fro the replies. I guess the general consesus is that it is very difficult to find a BAD restaurant in Paris. I do have one question. I have read the 3rd post (by Jim Rosenberg) several times and cannot understand it for the life of me. Someone please translate!

Hmmmmmmm.... Okay, let me put it this way. For me to spend a LARGE amount for a FANTASTIC meal is a waste, because I can be very happy with just a VERY GOOD one. I can tell the difference between a decent dinner and eating at McDonald's, but I don't have enough sophistication to decide how many Michelin stars a given chef deserves. (For those who can, congratulations!) And I think any fool should be able to find a good lunch for $100. Is that straight enough?

'ata boy. much better - I see what you mean! THANKS!

I understand, dan, I have read Jim Rosenberg's post about 5 times and I still haven't the faintest idea of what he is saying. Some people like to quote phrases, and do simile or metaphor until the true meaning is completely lost in the translation. I guess Jim is one of those people. He think he's something about expensive restaurants aren't worth it to him, but I'm not really sure. I guess his last post helps to clear it up, but in comparing it to the original, I still don't get it.

I had no idea that leaving the &quot;e&quot; out of &quot;haute&quot; would render everything so incomprehensible. ;-)

Jim, you do waffle on, even without leave out the &quot;e&quot;.

I don't think it's polite to appear without a reservation. The vast majority of restaurants, however, will have a table for you if reserve the day before. It is true that many a wonderful meal can be had in moderately priced and even inexpensive Paris restuarants. But it also is true that consistently good food comes in higher price restaurants. Patrick's crowd gauge is a good one. I use it too. (For good and reasonably priced meals I also cheat and look for a &quot;Routard&quot; sticker on the door or window). Another gauge is a glass or small pitcher of the house wine. If the house wine is very good, the meal will be too.

Just curious - - what prompted to bring up this old thread from well over two years ago?

Perhaps there is a connection to some other most recent thread that I don't recognize.

Best wishes,

Rex

Rex,

I'm sure what happened is that I did a search for a recent string and then, within a minute, forgot (yet again!) that the index I was looking at had been called up that way. Maybe the Fodor's folks could help to make this foolproof. I doubt my memory can be improved.