How much do you spend on food in Paris?
 

When we were in Paris last year we spent about 75 Euros per day for 2 people to eat
(Breakfast was included in our hotel rate)
We are young and not rich, just for fun how
much do you spend per day on food for 2 people. Also, Have we missed something by not having a 400 Euro dinner in Paris? We just got a new Bank one Visa with a hugh limit and I told my wife if she wants too I will treat her to a fine french dinner.

Oooh jeff, you are so sweet, come let me give you a hug!
There is no need to go into debt having a lovely meal in Paris. There are so many good restaurants that have great atmoshere and food, you will be happy whether it is budget or expensive.
We spend more than we should.
But let me tell you, I remember the meal at Le Violin d'Ingres and it was special, as was Helene Darroze and some fancy places in the past..
But the ones that stand out in my memory are eating in places like Allard where the waiter was so charming, where they gave us the menu with the date on it because it was our anniversary. Petit St Benoit where the owner gets happy when he sees us ( we eat there every single trip) and the owner at Le Perron where they gave me big Kisses as we left the last time..
I think you will make your own memories and they will have little to do with how expensive the meal was.
Have a wonderful time, when are you going?

Hi jeff,

> we spent about 75 Euros per day for 2 people to eat..<

That's about our budget.

>Have we missed something by not having a 400 Euro dinner in Paris? <

Yes. However, I recommend lunch at a major restaurant first. You can have the fixed price lunch at Taillevent for about 70E pp.

After that, decide if you want to spend the money on dinner.

((I))

Thank You Scarlett & ira,
WE depart LAX May 18 arrive May 19 2005
non stop. We depart CDG May 27 2005 arrive same day non stop. I will try The lunch thing first.

Lunch in a good restaurant is a great idea since it will less expensive than dinner. Expect to spend at least 2 hours which should not be a problem at the end of May since the days are quite long. This should give you ample time for sightseeing in daylight. If you are in Paris on Sunday it may be easier to get a fine lunch rather than a fine dinner.

I prefer picnic fare and eat at the cafe de park bench and spend at most 15 euros a day if i splurge. This is a serious response. If i eat out I go to Flunch and its in part unlimited food buffet - these French instituions are all over France. I'm not dissing fine restaurants or restaurants in general and i've done that. It's just that i enjoy supermarket fare - many now have delis for take out fare that includes gourmet items and to dine with a view, or in my hotel room.

For lunch while we were in Paris, we sometimes just had fruit and bread from the street markets and went to a big park to eat and people watch. Damn I love Paris!

Mine would have to be an average, because every Paris trip is different for me. Sometimes I am rather dull and just go to a cheap café for coffee and a tartine for breakfast, have a sandwich or salad at a place like the Brioche d'Or for lunch, and have dinner at a local bistro, and I may spend 35 euros for the whole day.

Other trips, I'm meeting friends for lunch and dinner and spending more like 75 euros a day. I suppose it average out to about 40-50 euros a day. But if I had to, I could eat very well in Paris for half that.

Spend whatever you are comfortable with spending, but be certain to allow enough for the wine. Good wine will make even the cheapest of Parisian meals much better. If $400 dinners are important to you then do it, but you will not necessarily be getting a meal that is four times better than a $100 one, particularly when dining in Paris, if it is possible to evaluate such things.

Hi folks, CalGirlSusan seems to be popping up all over the US Board and now the Europe Board. Negative comments always. So perhaps best to ignore. LOL.

Oh dear. I disagreed with a single comment about Italian cooking and now my posts are all seen as negative? I thought the idea of this website was to express one's opinions. Sometimes we don't all agree. Get over it, dear.

We live in Paris and dine mainly in the 11th arrondissement. Our dinners out typically cost from 45 to 100 euros for two. (Yesterday we had lunch at the most "upscale" of the three Asian food shops on the rue du Faubourg St. Antoine. It was 16 euros for two, and very tasty.) We've dined at three-star restaurants, too, but none of those meals has been as memorable as some we've had for a fraction of the price in 18 years of dining in France -- maybe in part because a portion of the three-star bill is for the "show" and in part because one expects great food in a three-star, but is surprised, and therefore delighted, when it comes unexpectedly in a much more modest restaurant. Freshness of the ingredients and something I think of as the chef's "honesty," which also might be called a passion for food, count the most, I think. That will come through in the service, too.

CalgirlSusan, perhaps you would be kind enough to thare with jeff some restaurants in Paris he might want to take his wife too. I am sure they would truly appreciate your advice.

Oooops, share is the word. LOL

I got some great answers from the replys
but, only 5 said how much they spend for food in Paris. Lovelitly and CalgirlSusan this question was just for fun, please don't fight, I am sorry if I asked the wrong thing.

"But the ones that stand out in my memory are eating in places like Allard where the waiter was so charming, where they gave us the menu with the date on it because it was our anniversary. Petit St Benoit where the owner gets happy when he sees us ( we eat there every single trip) and the owner at Le Perron where they gave me big Kisses as we left the last time.."

I love that reflection Scarlett! We had a similar experience right here at home in suburban Detroit at the conclusion of a wonderful meal. The service was so gracious, I gave our waitress a hug and verbal thanks. It made her day!

Hi, Jeffwill4you...
We are not 'gourmet' diners so have not visited any "wallet-buster" restaurants. We usually take the hotel breakfast (around 6-8€ each).

For lunch, we grab crepes, sandwich, pizza, usually something we can walk away with, and eat in nearby square or park. That will usually be around 5-7€ each, with a boisson.

During the day, we might stop for another coffee and a rest, so another 2-3€ each.

We nearly always have an afternoon break (right around "Wine:30", as my hubby calls it). We'll go to Monoprix or the like, get a cold beer(3€) and some cracker/cheesey/snacky things(2€), and find a place to enjoy/relax/people-watch. I will buy a bottle of wine(7-11€) to keep in the room. Now this may be a bit over the top, but I take a 'wine kit', which has corkscrew, vacuum seal, Lexan wine glasses and a flask. I'll pour wine into the flask, grab a glass and take with me to a favorite spot for the Wine:30. More discreet than lugging the entire bottle around.

We eat at brasseries and small bistros for dinner. This can be anywhere from 22-45€ for both of us (total) and includes a glass of wine, a soda, or maybe a bottled water. (I look for menus around 13-20€). I don't think we have ever exceeded 50€ for a meal.

So for an average day, I would estimate we spend about 75€ for food/drink for the 2 of us.

Thank you travelnut, Good answer.

One evening for dinner we walked thru the market street on Rue Lepic and purchased a roasted chicken right off the spit, some bread/cheese/wine/dessert for our apartment. Another evening it was Chinese carry out -- both very reasonable.

We would pick for lunch and splurge for dinner, or vice versa, and probably spent about 100 Euro a day. ((b))

Travelnut,
Can you offer any names of bistros or brasseries? We will be staying in St. Germain but will travel for good, cheap food! If not names, any telltale signs of a good, cheap place we should look for? Thanks.

We are staying at the Aramis Saint Germain, I would like to know the same thing about bristros you have eaten at.

I am pretty sure we spend on the average of over $100 a day. That can often be dinner alone.
But, jeff, we are going in March and I will keep up with the spending and post back..how's that ? :)

Thanks jimmyk((F))

Last year we spent about 75 Euro a day,
This year I have a budget of 125 Euro a day for food because, my mother gave us
a christmas gift of $500.00 by way of a post dated check cashable on May 17 and we leave on May 18! Mothers are smart.

Dave in Paris, I would love to hear about some of the places you especially enjoy; it sounds like you have tons of the kind of first-hand experience to which I aspire.

If you total it all up, including lunch, coffee, drinks, wine, dinner, etc., then we probably spend about $200 per day. But we can get by on a LOT less.
One of my favorite places for a tasty, inexpensive lunch is at Les Fous de l'Ile on the Ile St. Louis, on the rue des Deux Ponts (across from the post office). They serve a three course lunch for about 14 euros (wine extra, but their house wine is cheap). The chef shops for food daily, so the menu changes daily and is fairly limited. Usually four choices each for appetizer and main course and three choices for dessert. Don't arrive before 12:30 pm, as the place will be empty, but don't come after 1 pm, when it's completely full. Caveat: I haven't been there in several months as I don't get over to the Marais/Ile St. Louis area that much anymore. But if you are in that area, you might want to check it out.

It is interesting Jeff how few people have actually answered your question as to "how much" they actually spend for food. Maybe that's because the actual amount isn't so important as the idea of how important food is to them. I must say I have to agree that spending a huge amount for a meal in Paris is no longer important to me (I've done it in the past when as a working person I had a lot more "disposable" income). Nowadays, I ask myself "will I really enjoy that lunch at Tallivant that much more than at one of my favorite inexpensive brasseries" and the answer comes back from that guy in my head "no, probably not. I'll just feel guilty spending that much money". It has become one of those "been there, done that" things. It seems like every year in Paris we plan to do one really big splurge meal, but we end up not doing it, and not regretting it either.

But to answer your question:
This past July we spent an average of 72.90 euro on our 12 dinners, an average of 35.75 euro on our 12 lunches, and probably about 15 euro per day on our breakfasts (mostly juice and fruit from the market in our apartment, and coffee and maybe pastry out). All of those were for two people and included nice wines, including often wine for lunch and a tip as well. The most expensive meal we did was my birthday the last night in Paris at Le Fermette MarBeuf for 144.50 euro.

I feel we ate and drank extremely well for that price. We never felt we were "pinching pennies" but admittedly avoided doing any really huge splurges.

The restaurants:
dinner:
Aux Charpentiers (twice)
Leon's
Le Temps Perdu
Chez Jenny
Le Petite Prince
Demi Lune
Astier
Silver Spur (Disneyland Paris)
Le Petite Cour
Reine Blanche
La Fermette Marbeuf

Lunches:
Partie de Compagne (Bercy Village)
Le Village D'Auteil
Mandunga
Gyros at some little place
Blue Lagoon (Disneyland Paris)
Corner Cafe (Kleber)
Le Bijou Bar (Conflans)
Petite Bofinger
D'Orsay Restaurant
Convivium
Polidor
A nondescript cafe for Croque Monsieurs

I don't know that I've eaten at places that one should "travel" for... I do some research beforehand, looking for a few potential candidates in our "neighborhood". I use the www.pagesjaunes.fr site to get some names, then do Fodors and Google searches to see if they show up on any websites w/ feedback.

The last couple of trips we have stayed in the 14th, and decided that we would explore our own local cafes rather than travel around for dinner. Other times, we just read the menu posted outside and see how the place looks, then go in. I mostly check the menu for 1)price range, 2)dishes I recognize as something we'd eat.
(Note: my dining critique has a limited vocabulary, "decent" means "tastes good, I'd eat it again").

These are some places we have visited that I can remember, and would go to again (most any quartier will have its own similar types):
6th - Pizza Vesuvio; casual and crowded, Italian and French dishes; may be the first restaurant that ever brought us free water. (we used to go to the branch <i>off</i> the Champs, but decided the quality has declined).
7th - Brasserie Ecole Militaire; good food, comfortable dining experience, always crowded
15th - Brasserie le Suffren; very busy place, need a reservation; we sat at a small table and the woman next to us started up a conversation (she was a Professeur). One of our first really &quot;French&quot; dining experiences (1997).
17th - le Gourmand 27; we were staying by Villiers and just started walking... cute little place with husband/wife team; decent food at reasonable price
14th - Chez Charles Victor; very small bistro, nice but not fussy, blackboard menu; make a reservation or you might not get in
14th - Caf&eacute; d'Enfer; sat out in the enclosed terrace, didn't see the inside. Decent food, will try it again.
14th - Caf&eacute; le Rendezvous; had a casual window-seat meal (roast chicken, moules, etc) and had an inside meal (veal w/mushrooms, forget what h. had); enjoyed the waiters both times - a bit playful. The first one told my husband, in English, &quot;Yoor Franch ees tarrible!&quot; but he was funny (and probably serious).

I also like those Asian deli/traiteur places, where you point at what you want, they weigh it for the price then heat it for you. Very inexpensive but really very tasty. I just take a good look first to make sure it looks ok. (food looks fresh, shop looks clean, etc).

We are guilty of returning to the same places instead of adding new ones, and I'm trying to break that...

Here are a couple of threads about restaurants in the 6th:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34530561
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34540103

and evidently there are a number of good ones in the 7th:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34494701

and one called &quot;Reasonably priced restaurants in Paris&quot;:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34549503

Though I'd like to, I can't answer the question precisely because I don't keep track of a daily travel budget. The tought never occurred to me. I'm not a wild spender and use my ATM card when I need more loot, seem like...

I usual am in the $50-75USD per person per day including everything but hotel bill. Most often I travel solo or with a friend, so we split expenses but I don't consider our budget as one together.

For jeffwill- if you did it on 75euro 2 years back and this trip you have 125euro... sounds like no worries!

Thanx suze, it was sept '04 when we were there. I think most posters replying to this thread misunderstood
what I was asking? I wasn't trying to get advice on where to eat in Paris or
how much I will need to per day, I was asking YOU how much do YOU spend per day in Paris? I just wanted to see what the other travelers spend on food just for the heck of it. thank you all for the advice, I have wrote down some choices for restaurants we will try.
Thanx for the the threads travelnut.

Nikki,

A few &quot;honest&quot; places in the glorious 11th arrondissement, all under 60 euros per person, and all very good:
Le Bistro du Peintre, 116 avenue Ledru-Rollin
Astier, 44 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud
Sot L'y Laisse, 70 rue Alexander Dumas
Le Temps au Temps, 13 rue Paul Bert
Le Paul Bert 18 rue Paul Bert

And one quirky favoite with an 18 euro three-course menu: Ravigotte, 41 rue de Montreuil.