Looking for simple food in Paris. Please help.
 

I arrived in Paris yesterday and I'm hungry ! I have to admit I'm not a foodie at all. I like simple food... meat and fries, or chicken and potatoes...
I'm a very plain eater.. I can't even order a simple salad. I'm allergic to lettuce. Yes t's true.. and I don't like most other veggies. I'm not a seafood eater either.

I know, so what am I doing in Paris? I'm staying in the Marais area, if anyone has any suggestions, I'd be very happy.

I've bought a bagguette and some cheese, but I can't live on that for 4 more days.

Find a branch of Hippo - very simple but good quality food.

Many restaurants post their menus on doors or windows. Read them to see what they offer. It isn't difficult. Don't recall if the name was "Hippo" but tarquin is right. There are a lot of simple lunch places that offer a menu of a sandwich and soup and a drink, (they offer salad too, but you've already mentioned you don't eat lettuce.)

Look at the menus outside any café or restaurant, especially the corner bistros and brasseries. There will be something you can eat: food in France is not all haute cuisine and super-complicated. Steak-frites, omelette-frites, a plain escalope, onion soup - they will all have something simple they can offer you.

I have to admit I thought this was a joke, but I checked kodi's profile and she is apparently a regular. Her travel tip? "Take a jar of peanut butter if you are on a budget. You'll always have something to eat."

Well, kodi, I am sorry you did not follow your own advice, but you will quickly learn that two staple Parisian meals are steak and fries and roasted chicken and potatoes. Enjoy!

How about pizza? Lots of them around. If you find a Franprix or Monoprix in your neighborhood, they'll have simple take-away sandwiches. And fast-food places are available, same as in US or UK.

Apart from reading the menus, which are posted, go to a grocery store. Or get a crepe or something from a street vendor. Or a pizza place. If you can't find something to eat in Paris, you've got a serious problem.

Lettuce is 90% water, btw. It's very dubious that anyone can be allergic to lettuce.

Just a quick comment about lettuce allergies. After a quick search I found that while not common, many people are allergic to lettuce.

According to ImmunoCAP, lettuce can cause an allergic reaction, producing common food allergy symptoms such as nasal congestion, digestive complication and skin reactions.

As has already been posted there are lots of restaurants that serve simple food.

One sure can be allergic to lettuce. A man I knew had constant health problems and after the medical people he was seeing were not being able to figure out what caused his problem he finally went to a doctor who discover that he was allergic to lettuce, tomatoes and some other vegetables.

Hello, kodi! I have never been to Paris but I was always under the inpression there are restaurants there that serve Italian food. The experts will correct me if I am wrong. Anyway, if there are I believe you can eat pasta dishes and that would sure fill you up! Thinking of you and I hope you are having a lovely time and that you find food you can eat.

I am sure there are closer places to you, but on our last trip we were in the 1st, very close to the Louvre, and ate sandwiches from Gosselin almost every day. We didn't plan on having those for many lunches and dinners, but we liked them so much that is just how it turned out. They were very inexpensive as well, I think 3 euro and we usually shared one.

Whatever you find, enjoy your time there:)

Hi! When you go to the spice store (if you go to the spice store) have lunch at our local restaurant.....good basic bistro food and Luke and Malika are charming (tell them to hold the salad and give you more delicious roasted potatoes!)

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/p...m-chicago.html

Also - the food court at Galeries Lafayette (behind the Opera Garnier) has a terrific selection - you'll be able to fill your larder for days.

And here is a bistro that has a good selection of simple to complex items - nearish you (ignore what we had)

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/p...-mesturet.html

xoxo Liz

Another thought - if you're in the Marais, walk down to the bottom of the rue des Archives at lunchtime, and try the cafeteria at the BHV. That way you can see what you're getting; and there are plenty of other cafés around for checking out menus.

Take the metro to Concorde, across the street is a brasserie, Chez Flottes. Steak frites, poulet roti frites, confit canard frites etc, etc. Plus a variety of croques. Sit in the bar area or at the bar. No pressure, open all day.

Restaurants flunch : Repas, Adresses, et horaires d'ouverture. - [ Translate this page ]
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Well the FLUNCH cafeterias all over Paris are exactly what you seem to be looking for - plain downhome food that the French flock to and unlike proper restaurants where dining is a few-hour event FLUNCH is quicker too. Chose what you want - unlimited amounts of everything about except the meat portion.

go to the Quartier Latin, Saint Michel, theres a lot of Fast food (ut not really) options, like in general, italian foo, crepes, kebab, libanese... Thats easier, and cheap, if you dont wanna risk your apetite...

sorry but how can somebody ask where to find a steak with fries in a city like Paris? Does one need instructions to find it? OP questions sounds like a joke....

It doesn't really matter where you are located, just go to any casual bistro or cafe and you'll easily find some meat and potatoes on the menu (and often not exotic recipes, in fact, it is getting harder to find some of the more complicated ones as they take more time -- I love potatoes Dauphinoise, for example, and it's not as easy to find a cafe serving them as it used to be.

Go to Chez Clement on bd Beaumarchais just a bit north of the Bastille column (on the west). Lots of choices and ordinary things. Just about any cafe serves chicken and potatoes, though, so I don't understand how you couldn't find a place to serve that. Lots of steak, also, although it's often a cheap cut if you get the special, but still, it's there.

Well, since I never order steak frites, and it really isn't on every menu, it is what it is.
Roast chicken, pasta, baguette with ham and cheese (maybe even brie). There are a LOT of things that don't have lettuce.
But I agree--it did sound trollish. LOL

kodi is a kind, helpful and well respected poster here on Fodor's. I find it hard to understand why anyone would take her questions at anything other than face value or respond in anything other than the respectful manner she always uses towards others.

I'm very glad to see that she's gotten some very helpful responses.

I think just about everything has been said, but I too am not a foodie kodi, so I never go very fancy in Paris. You'll find something from the suggestions above, and I'd just like to say enjoy your stay in Paris. I'm so wanting to go again, I really miss it.