Wiesel

I've been looking in guidebooks and they make it appear that dinner for two is going to be at least 60 Euros per couple, even for "inexpensive" places.

I'd like any recommendations for places to eat that will be cheaper. I assume that creperies will be common. I would appreciate any recs for cheaper types of places , or even specific places in Paris. We will be in hotels and can't cook.

Jocelyn_P

We also like to eat cheap in Paris, especially since we're not really into French Cuisine. Paris has a great variety of street food. The Latin Quarter in particular has a high concentration of inexpensive, multi-ethnic food: gyros, falafel, pizza, and of course crepes. In addition, cafes around the city will have well-priced salads, sandwiches, omelets, and usually a few heavier meals, such as steak with fries.

Where is your hotel?

Edward2005

Going to a great restaurant in every country is a part of the whole experience so you should definitely splurge in that area. But you certainly don't have to do this every night.

Some money-saving tips: Go to a market and pick up some picnic items to fix your own dinner.

Or ask around for restaurants locals go; they certainly don't dine 5 stars every night. Dining at a kind of European blue collar place can be fun.

Or go to a nice restaurant and don't order the works; for example, in Italy you could just get the primera and secondi dishes. Or have water instead of wine.

julia_t

There are many threads going about restaurants in Paris.

Last July I was in Paris for 3 nights with 3 teenagers and on a tight budget. We ate cheaply the first night for a total of 49 euros for us all (inc wine and soft drinks)in Cafe Rive Droit on l'Ile St Louis but it was fairly unmemorable. Ices after at Berthillon. We had walked past a restaurant on rue St Louis en l'Ile which has 2 courses for 12 euros a head and it looked great but was very small and full - people were waiting for tables to finish, so we walked on.

The next night we snacked on falafel and salad boxes we bought somewhere between the river and Bvd St Germain. They were yummy, and very cheap!

On our last night it was Bastille Day, and I had booked a table at le Petit Prince de Paris on rue Lanneau tucked away behind the Pantheon. We had one of the nicest meals in friendly and welcoming surroundings, for a grand total of 135 euros including wine and soft drinks. This was the 'splash out or splurge' or our trip, and still very reasonable for such fabulous food.

This little restaurant comes well recommended on this forum, as does le Coupe Chou which is opposite.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...name=julia%5Ft

As for other meals, we did not take expensive breakfast at the hotel, we walked to nearby cafes for coffee and croissants and pastries. Lunches tended to be baguettes, crepes, pastries, falafel, bought for very little at any number of bars, stands, counters all over Paris.

By staying away from the main 'tourist' areas there are many small restaurants offering plats du jour at very reasonable prices.

Have a great trip to Paris.

isabel

In Paris the largest concentratin of low cost restaurants is around Place St Michele. There's a whole warren of little streets just east of there full of restaurants with price fixed menus starting around 10€ for two courses. Things like steak and fries with either a starter or dessert. Then there will be several higher priced (12, 15, 18&euro menus. Often times the lowest priced menu is only available until about 7pm so eating on the early side helps. These are sit down restaurants with wait service and food that is perfectly acceptable (although certainly not "memorable&quot. There are places like this all over Paris, but the bigest concentration is in this area.

You can order a "caraf d'eau" rather than bottled water and it will be free. You have to specify or they will bring you bottled. House wine is cheaper than soda.

Paris is full of wonderful street food - sandwiches, crepes, etc. And buying makings for a picnic to eat in a park or in your room (if it's cold or wet out) is a great way to get some really good food cheap. Tons of ethnic restaurants like Greek, Chinese, etc. While there are some with wait service that can be higher priced, there are plenty with counter service and a couple of tables that are much cheaper (well under €10 per person).

If breakfast is not included in your room rate, don't pay the hotel price for breakfast - it's often €8-10. There are lots of places you can get a croissant and cafe for less. There's a chain of places called Brioch Doree that offters a morning "special" of coffee, juice and two croissants for about €4.

I find Paris one of the cheapest places in Europe to eat because of the variety.

julia_t

In my previous post I gave the wrong thread with recommendations for le Petit Prince - here is the right one

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34628038

bardo1

Wiesel,

You can get some great sandwiches/soups/salads etc. at many bars/pubs for about 5 Euro. I suggest you poke your head into some as you walk around. A meal w/ beers and a small tip will be well under 20 Euro for two people. These spots are quite prevalent in the 3rd, 4th. and 5th arrondissements.

ira

Hi W,

Where will you be staying?

Wiesel

We will be staying in the Latin Quarter, but eating near the hotel isn't a big priority. I also didn't mean to target just Paris specifically, although the advice is very helpful. Half our trip is there. We just haven't quite figured out where to spend the other 4 nights yet.

Travelnut

Like Jocelyn, we're not foodies.. we rarely spend more than 40€ for 2 on cafe/brasserie dinners with glass of wine... We like an Asian deli-type place near our hotel - you point, they heat and weigh, you eat, very yummy for under 25€ for 2 if you load up.

All establishments post their menu outside, so you can study and choose before going in to get a table.

Also, the boulangeries often have small salads, quiches, 'pizza', sandwiches, sweets - you can eat there if they have seating, or take away (emporter). They will warm up anything you want.

moldyhotelsaregross

One of our best budget helping alternatives is to pick up bottled water at a supermarché or an épicerie. Granted, yes, it added a little weight to our bags, but it did help in the money department!

One food item that I always buy in Paris when dining inexpensively is pizza. I love the crust that has that certain wood burning oven flavor.

Don't forget - it is required that all restaurants post their menu with prices outside.

BTilke

If you make lunch your main "restaurant" meal, you'll save money as luncheon specials abound--a 3 course lunch may cost half as much as a 3-course dinner and the food is just as good. (This only works if you're the type who can keep going after a sizable hot lunch instead of retiring for a nap and you do NOT find that a big lunch only makes you hungrier for dinner!)

You could then have dinner snacks--sandwich, crepes, frites, a salad. If your hotel doesn't mind, you could eat some cold charcuterie (pasta salads, bread and pate, bottle of wine, etc.) in your room. Some hotels are fine with it; some turn a blind eye; still others really disapprove.
Take advantage of the food stalls at street markets--the rue Cler abounds with them, as do many other street markets.

sandi_travelnut

As all have said, just look around for pre-fixe menus that are within your budget and they are plentiful. My son also found a small shop, next to our hotel, that sold sandwhiches and sodas. He fell in love with the salami and butter on a baguette for 2e.

Michael

Many cafés have lunch prix fixe for 12€ to 15€.

If the weather is nice, we sit on a park bench and picnic.

francophile03

When you are in Paris consider having a sandwich for lunch. I find this is what the locals do alot. Sure there are many who have a nice, sitdown meal, but it does add up. Many times I notice the locals going to a boulangerie and getting a simple ham sandwich or any various sandwich for cheap and eating it while walking. It costs about 3 euro for a sandwich jambon and it's made with a nice baguette. That way you can spend for a nice dinner.

Seamus

Agree with most of the above suggestions - especially the carafe d'eau - it's a standing joke about US travelers unwittingly asing for water only to learn when the bill arrives that they "ordered" expensive bottled water.
One other thing I love is crepes - vendors on the street serve up really delicious concoctions for just a few euro that make a great lunch or light dinner.

StCirq

You might also want to try that venerable Paris institution, Chartier, for both a cheap meal and an "experience."

suze

Many bakeries sell nice ready-made sandwiches to take out.

If you drink wine buy from the grocery store for your room rather than in restaurants.

You can set up a hotel room with a few basics without a kitchen... wine, water, crackers, cheese, fruit, cookies, nuts, etc.

Street food is often a good option, pizza, hot dogs, crepes, salet (sp? little cheese pies).

moldyhotelsaregross

Oh, something else to add into the equation...


Will your room have a fridge/mini bar? If so, you can put your extra lunch meat/cheese/etc for the next day.

merrittm

Just back from Paris. Try Polidor at 41 rue Monsieur-le-Prince, Paris 75006. They have a 20 Euro fixed menu - soup, entree, dessert. Carafe of house wine 11 Euro. Excellent value, wonderful experience! I will check through my notes for the two Latin Quarter restaurants I visited.

This was the most expensive place I dined at. Most of the other bistros were between 13 and 15 Euros for the fixed menu and all were good. Ethnic food is less expensive (cous-cous, Thai).