Lunch in Paris recommendations needed
 

We will arrive at our hotel around lunch time and I thought it would be nice to already have a reservation or a special place picked out for lunch. Our hotel is in the Latin Quarter on Rue Bernardins and I think after such a long flight we won't want to stray too far from there.
Something light and contemporary would be good.

We always find it best to keep our arrival day without plans. It's easy enough to find a nice place for lunch without reservations, and I'm sure they're plentiful in the LQ. You'll probably get a number of Fodorites suggeting nice spots. Lately, we don't make dinner plans for arrival day either. There have been trips when we've reserved a special resto for dinner on arrival day... and can hardly remember what we ate. Just a waste of money in my view. We generally unwind, get to know the neighborhood, and eat when the spirit moves us. Have a wonderful trip. EJ ((#))

I agree with Elsiejune. There are restaurants about every five feet in Paris; you won't be in want. I would just stroll around and find a place with a menu you like (most are posted outside the restaurants).

I would never plan a special meal upon arrival in Paris. For one thing, your body clock will be totally off and you might not even be hungry - I never am. Save it for when you're over jet lag and just go someplace nearby that has a pleasant menu posted outside.

Normally, I never do anything like that either. In fact, I never go to any of the "in" places that are mentioned on this forum or in the guide books and think that spending hundreds on a meal is not for me. I have rarely made a dinner reservation in Europe at all, actually.
I prefer simple food that is simply prepared with fresh ingredients. Yet, I read so many posts about meals and reservations made in the different cities and the details of what people eat. I thought, well, maybe I'm missing something by being so "spontaneous". But I see by the responses that I have received thus far, which were not at all what I expected, that I will just stick to what we normally do which is go by our intuitions about which restaurants to choose.
I will add, though, I've been to Europe over 20 times and I'm always starving when I get there!

Well, I'm always starving when I get there, but that's at about 7 am. Lunchtime on the first day I'm usually pretty ambivalent.

I agree you should just wait until the hunger hits and do something spontaneous.

There is a certain subset of Fodorites that goes to Europe specifically to eat and try certain restaurants. They post wonderful reports about their meals, which I always enjoy reading. I'm not one of them, though I AM a foodie and love to eat and cook and try new places. But when I'm actually "on the ground," I tend to go back to old places I've loved over the years or just check out menus and walk into someplace that seems to have a good atmosphere, decent prices, and a menu that appeals to me

Here are the names of some restaurants in the 5th. I don't know if they are all open for lunch:

Les Papilles at Rue St. Jacques/Guy Lessac
Pre Verre on Rue Thenard/Rue Summerard
The Rose of Summerard on Rue Summerard/Rue St. Jacques
Cosi on Rue Cujas

Thin

I agree not to make a reservation, I always walked around til hungry and luckily always found a delightful place. This gives you a chance to actually look at the buildings and the intersting details on the top as you look where to dinne.

Maybe a not so stupid question...
Are posted menu's in English?

No,menus are posted in French. If they are posted in English, you don't want to eat there.