My brother is planning a surprise trip to Paris for his wife's birthday and some of the restaurants that the tour he is looking at include Le Procope, Le Pied de Cochon and in Montmartre, Consulat. From the searches I have done on the above, Le Procope gets really different reviews. Anyone with personal experience with these. From what I could gather these are not really four star restaurants. Help please??
Thank You...Barbie

Years ago we had dinner at Pied de cochon and had a great time . We went very late and it was packed! We had a great time and liked the food.

Le procope, I loved dining on the balcony and it's huge historical place founded in 1686 and where Voltaire dined but I did not think the food was memerable. I have heard good things about Le Pied de Cochon( You gotta like a place with a name like that!)

If the tour includes these three restaurants, it is perhaps because Le Procope is one of the oldest in Paris and catered to many famous French and Americans; because Au Pied de Cochon has been there a very long time also, is open 24/7, and serves the onion soup that the old Les Halles was famous for; and because Le Consulat was painted by Utrillo. I have not eaten at Utrillo. I go to Au Pied de Cochon fairly often because of the ambiance; the food is fair, not great. I have eaten three or four times over a period of many years at Le Procope, but I won't go there again. Their humungous sea food platters may be good; I haven't tried them. If I had to choose one of them, I would go to Au Pied de Cochon. If your brother wants to treat his wife, he can find much better restaurants, in my opinion.
I think the max Michelin gives is three stars, and none of these has a single star.
Boots

Our last couple of lunches at Le Procope were just OK, but the service was very slow.

I've eaten at Le Procope and wouldn't especially recommend it. The food was okay, not exceptional, but one of the main problems was that they were out of almost all of our first choices.

The service was so abominable that it became funny. The ambiance seems a little too packaged for tourists. I suspect I would have enjoyed being out on the balcon. The prices were okay.

You know, for all the pictures I've seen of Le Consulat, I've never known of anyone who's actually eaten there! Sure is a pretty little spot, though.

My traveling companion and I dined at Au Pied De Cochon just last month and it was very good. We especially enjoyed gawking over the tables near us...people ordering pig feet and snouts like mad! we opted for safer fare of escargots, onion soup, and steak...which were all very good. The ambiance was lively and cheerful, and the service wonderful. I managed to swipe an ashtray (bad, bad i know). Highly recommend it!

Perhaps for the history, maybe even the ambience, but none of the above for the food.

If your brother and his wife love good food, I wouldn't recommend any of these restaurants. Is it possible for him to take the tour but without the restaurants included? Has he considered going to Paris independently, without a tour? It is a very easy city to do on your own. There are so many people on this forum that could recommend restaurants with both ambiance and delicious food.

Are the dinners an extra/optional expense? If so, your brother could retain the 'comfort' of doing the tour, but he and wife could opt to have dinners elsewhere, based on excellent recommendations by Fodorites...

Hi bb,

These are places that will give an impression of belle epoch Paris. They are not known for the quality of the food, but they are not bad.

For a couple on a birthday visit to Paris, I think it will be a pleasant experience.

Here are some links:

http://www.pieddecochon.com/

http://www.procope.com/

http://france-for-visitors.com/photo...-consulat.html

This thread has made my stomach turn again!! We had a "memorable" dinner at Le Procope in October. The service was non-existent. The waiters played "good cop bad cop" to blame for it. The food was OK--we eat at mid level places with MUCH better food. We were seated under the Benjamin Franklin bust. The final straw was (after repeatedly complaining about the service--an appetizer arrived with the main plat, for example, 30 minutes late) they charged us for the martinis that never arrived. They were going to "comp" us a dessert (and that was "a" to share for 8 people) of a plate of profiteroles. We declined. Son, who is quite mild mannered when it comes to restaurants raised holy H about the overcharge, etc. and finally got one bottle of wine removed from the bill.
If it is a question that he must choose from among these, I would go to Au Pied.
By the way, this was a celebration of my birthday--recommended by our hotel. I have LISTS of restaurants at all levels but I wanted to be nice about accepting this--never again!!

Oh Gretchen, your experience at Le Procope sounds so much like ours! Wish I could figure out how to link to my original post about it. Then again, I wouldn't want to turn your stomach any more.

Why do I suspect that we had the same waiter? Older gent, thin, genial, but totally confused?

If your brother and sister in law would rather not cope with a French-language menu, they could go to Le C'Amelot, on the rue Amelot in the 11th arrondissment near the Bastille, a very pleasant bistro at which there is virtually no choice of dishes. They simply bring you very good food, and you leave happy.

The tour is an all inclusive with a 4 star hotel, several day trips and tours, and dinners in these 3 restaurants. I had asked about the tour company with NO responses. I could not check out the hotel as they did not state WHICH 4* hotel they would use but from the sounds of the restaurants and with no Fodorites ever hearing of the tour company, I am going to tell him NOT to book with them. They are charging him much $$$ and I am not seeing the value. I advised him on Michael and he is trying to get in touch. I also researched and sent him alot of links to hotels that Fodorites have recommended. I think that based on the restaurants he can do alot better. But I think that I am opening up a can of research worms for myself but the trip will turn out much better and probably for alot less.
Again, thank you for confirming what I thought. I think he was expecting these restaurants to be something totally different especially for a surprise birthday present.
Beachbarbie

I guarantee that a good compromise can be made for planning a trip himself and utilizing some 'canned' tours and walks to help bridge any uncertainty about sightseeing or logistics.

1. book the flight via preferred airline
2. book the hotel (tell the forum a price range and preferred style to get personal recommendations)
3. take a taxi from the airport to hotel
4. use an escorted tour for overview of sights (ParisVision or l'Open Tour or such)
5. study the Paris Superthread for links and guidance on using the metro and many other topics
6. choose a few recommended restaurants and then try finding a few himself (while walking about in Paris)
7. Pick one or two museums
8. See Jardin de Luxembourg
9. Take a Seine cruise, preferably one that departs about 20-30 minutes before sunset
10. Make sure the Tour Eiffel is viewed at night, on the hour, when the 'sparklers' go off
11. Sit at every corner cafe you can and sip wine,beer,coffee, while people-watching

See, that's already a full 3-4 days...!

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34519236