Ok, this is my first trip to Paris and I am supposed to be researching affordable bistros/restaurants etc. The internet is making my mind spin!!!

Here is my itinerary
Day one Marais
Day two Clingancourt
Day three Musee D'Orsay
Day four The Louve
Day five Champs Elysees

I will be doing more that one thing each day but it will give you and idea of the areas I will be looking for bistros or any amazing but affodable food. Affordible being around 30euro or less. We could spend a little more

Here are some suggestions I have been given. Let me know if you have heard of any of these bistros.

Auberge D'Chez Eux
Chez Paul
Le Fumois,La Braisiere
AuBouguignon du Marais
Le Buisson Ardent

Please let me know if you have any suggestions for any wonderful places to eat. We are simple girls that like yummy food!!!!
Thank you for your time!
Angie

Oh yeah, one more suggestion I was given is
Robert and Louise in the Marais

You really don't have to do a notebook on where to eat in Paris every day. Just look at the outside-posted menus for places in your neighborhood and decide where you want to eat based on that. It's pretty simple. Also look for menus only in French and French people eating at places, and you'll be OK.

d'Chez Deux, btw, is vastly overpriced, IMO. It's just below the hotel I always stay at in Paris, so I can check it out often. The menu is off-putting, and from the looks of it, you're sharing tables elbow to elbow.

If you are "overwhelmed" and you are "simple," throw away the list and just settle into whatever looks appropriately priced and inviting, as StCirq suggests.

i went to paris armed with a list of restaurants in every arrondisment dd and i planned to be in.
guess what? we were so busy enjoying being in paris that we did not take the trouble to seek out the restaurants.
we stumbled upon some of them just walking by.
the rest of the time, we did exactly what st.cirq and kerouac advised - checked out menus and clientele and made our decision.
it was wonderful!

What are you planning to do by the Porte de Clignancourt. If it's the flea market, I would not consider that to be a priority for the first five days ever in Paris.

Paris: The home of good eating in almost every local bistro. Enjoy!

Thank you for the advice. I will be visiting the Clignancourt flea markets which is a top priority on my visit to Paris. I love flea markets!!! I will be in Paris for 6 days. Sat. we take a private walking tour of the cities main attractions. As abranz mentioned, I am sure we will be super busy and starving and not worring about the list. For some crazy reason I have to ability to eat at bad restaurants everywhere I visit and I did not want this to happen in Paris.

If anyone has suggestions for any hidden finds with good affordible food in Paris please pass them on. I will keep my list short thanks to your advice!!!

Here's the best suggestion I have ever received on how to find restaurants when traveling. Ask locally. Find someone who looks like you (for example for you a pair of young women) and ask where they enjoy eating nearby, perhaps give your price range. Not where they would recommend for you (tourist) but where they would eat (local). An alternative is a shop that seems to have the kinds of things you like whether clothes, books, shoes, music, whatever. Ask the proprietor where he or she would eat in the neighborhood.

I have enjoyed Paris recommendation from lefooding.com. You may want to look at their site to get some ideas.

Marche d'Aligre is good for bargains. Really good and inexpensives cafes next to flea market.

Clignancourt is in my opinion pricey.

http://www.discoverfrance.net/France...leamkts2.shtml

Merci beaucoup!!!! I think I am stressing myself out, laurie-ann is exactly right. When a friend and I were in San Francisco we found a wonderful girl working at MAC that gave us tons of suggestions. I am going to check out lefooding.com and am so excited about Marche d'Aligre.

Keep the wonderful tips coming, I really appreciate everyones suggestions.

Agree with everyone who suggested to have a look around and see what catches your eye. That said, I can give you a couple of ideas for the Marais.

DO NOT eat at the Royal Turenne, corner of rue de Turenne and rue Francs Bourgeois. The waiter there seriously scammed us into drinking (and paying for) much more than we wanted. Yes, we let ourselves be scammed, but in five visits to Paris I've never been treated that way before. The cafe across the street, L'Escurial, is our "local," however, the food is only o.k.

For the spring, I've been looking at a flat on Rue Charlemagne. Next door is a bistro called Le Framboisy. There are two lovely reviews for it on Trip Advisor, or you can enter it on google maps and get the same reviews. Sounds lovely and friendly.

You could also try the famous falafel at L'As du Falafel on the rue des Rosiers.

Enjoy!

Hmm-I thought I posted this reply last night but don't see it-so excuse me if I am repeating myself. There is a good (relatively 2008 I think) book called Hungry for Paris written by Alexander Lobrano, Gourmet magazine’s European correspondent. Not only will you find some of the usual suspects like some that you have listed above, but he also gives some great newcomers on the scene. Here are a couple of threads about it:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-for-paris.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...d-the-book.cfm

we love chez eux. have eaten there 4 out of our last 5 paris trips. cassoulet to die for!

For something different, a very reasonable choice for lunch in the Marais on rue des Rosiers is L'As du Fallafel. You can eat indoors, or get your falafels to go.

We were attracted to this restaurant, based on its appearance and posted menu. We were very happy with it:

"Had our favorite meal on Ille St. Louis, at Le Caveau de l’Isle, at 36 rue Saint-Louis en l’Isle. Great menu, with a three-course fixed prix around 30 EU. Excellent and friendly service. Small and atmospheric place."

Last time I had a spreadsheet that I created based on comments from here, Chowhound, some paris bolgs,etc.. I had it sorted by arrondissements, with the address and a comment ("great chicken",etc)

In the end, I did not use it that much. When I was in the Marais after a walking tour, ended up at Place des Voges. Looking around, saw Cafe Hugo which had seats outside and the menu looked good, so stopped there.

Anotehr day, finished a walking tour and decided it was time I went back for lunch Brasserie de L'Ile St Louis, which I had been to before, I had read good reports, sunny day...so went there and grabbed an outside table.

Another time, decided only wanted a sandwich and sweet for lunch...went looking for Patisserie Paul (chain with stored all overplace) but instaed found another place Miss Manon on Rue St Antoine that had a lineup.

For dinner, I was staying in the 16th and asked the front desk for a couple of suggestions, but what they mentioned did not interest me, so I walked up to one of the main streets and ate at the Rotonde de la Muette which I spotted while walking along. Very nice fish dinner.

Another night, I had heard of the Bistrot du 7ieme, so I made a specific trip just to eat there, then had a nice walk along the Seine to Eiffel tower afterwards. Nice meal of veal in a creamy muchroom sauce.

Another night, I was in St Germain area and after a classical concert went to Chez Clement, another resturant I had read of. On the way, passed by and checked out Balzar, and added it to my "next time" list.

So essentially, I blend in a mix of places I've heard of and places I see along the way. For lunch I tend to keep it simple, so one of the many sandwich shops is fine.

I have to think hard about whether I've had a bad meal in Paris and nothing comes to mind. I tend to prefer French food, so while I had a good Moroccan meal at L'Atlas in the 5th, I prefer bistros and brasseries. One trip I used the Michelin Red Guide to pick dinner places near my hotel in the 5th. Not starred restaurants, but ones that are lower cost. So Chez Henri- Moulin a Vent and Chez Rene were choices. I've also found a few french restaurant blogs for Paris that I am keeping as references.

So...go, have a few names, but allow yourself to be guided by where the crowds are. Since menus are posted outside, you can judge beforehand based on price and selection if you want to go in. Also, I never make reservations, based on the fact you probably don't need one for anything other than the classic/trendy places, secondly because I know there are so many around that if one is busy there willbe another, and lastly becasue I don't want to be locked in to a restaurant if my day elsewhere is going really well.

There are a number of old-fashioned dives in the middle of the Clignancourt flea market where I have had quite adequate meals for about 12€.

I never do much planning about restaurants when traveling, and just eat in places that I see that are convenient and priced right, and I like the menu. I suppose I've had a couple of less than stellar meals, but nothing to get upset about, most are fine. I just don't like planning to go to a specific restaurant that is outside where I end up being at that point in time. I don't travel to get to restaurants, at least not far.

As for flea markets, what exactly are you expecting when you say you love them? Because Clignancourt is not a flea market like the term is used in the US, for example. Nor is the Marche Aligre, in fact, I didn't think it was even called a flea market, it's just a market (and has lots of cheap stuff and junk), but it isn't similar to Clignancourt at all, so they aren't interchangeable. Some of the food at that market looked a little questionable to me, but it's for people who want really cheap stuff. So I'm not sure I'd get excited about it, I didn't find it exciting. Some of the clothing sold there was stained and discolored, for example (from being stored in bad conditions, or faded due to lights, things like that).