f1mas46

Hello - I know there have been tons of recommendations listed here, but I have one simple question. I am celebrating my 30th birthday in Paris in April. We are taking friends out for dinner, so I am looking for a place that is fabulously fun, great wine, but not overly expensive (Jules Verne is out, I am afraid). Can you recommend something we will never forget! We are staying in the 6th, but can go anywhere. Many Thanks!

Underhill

What do you mean by "not overly expensive"?

f1mas46

I guess less than $100 pp with drinks? There will be 5 of us, so I am thinking if we can get out less than $500 we will be doing good!

Seamus

Le Cosi, 9 rue Cujas in the 5th would be a good choice if you are looking for excellent food in a nice atmosphere that is not stuffy. Do make reservations - phone is 01 43 29 20 20 and fax is 01 43 29 26 40.
Menu is billed as Southern Italian, includes more of a variety of meat and fish dishes than you would find in a typical "pasta place" and they have a nice reasonably priced wine list, too. Service is great and very friendly, prices are moderate. We had dinner for three with wine for about $110.

BlueSwimmer

Check out this website: http://troi.cc.rochester.edu/~tdip/Restaurants.html

Someone else posted it on another thread a few days ago. It seems to be by an American professor who lived in Paris for a few years. He is a hilarious narrator.

In the restaurant section, he mentions lots of choices, including Chez nos Ancêtres les Gaulois, where everyone gets drunk on the all-you-can-drink wine and sings folk songs.

I actually recognized this place from my study abroad days almost 20 years ago. I have no memory of the food, but we thought the place was a blast. (Of course, I was 19, at a table with 20 college kids and flowing wine, so...) I'm sure it is quite campy, but it sounds like fun.

A serious recommendation would be L'epi Dupin. I'm not sure of the prices, but the food was wonderful.

Happy birthday!

StCirq

Armand au Palais Royal might be the spot. It's been a couple of years since I was there, but I think you could eat for under $100. You can google it and maybe find the menus. It's very special.

ira

Hi f1,

>...fabulously fun, great wine, but not overly expensive ...<

You can do 1 and 3, but not with 2, for $100.

Do you want great food in a nice room or a great room with nice food?

mamc

I agree that L'Epi Dupin is a wonderful restaurant but it is more for the delicious food than "fabulous fun". The menu is about E30 per person. Perhaps one of the Flo chain of brasseries would suit. Some of them are quite festive.

shellio

Depends on what's most important to you: atmosphere, wine, food, etc.

A few possibilities include:

Les Bouchons de François Clerc at 12 rue de l’Hôtel Colbert in the 5th arrondisement is atmospheric with stone walls, several small dining rooms, etc., good food and a good selection of wines at cost. Tel:01 43 54 15 34.

Chez L’Ami Jean. 27 rue Malar in the 7th. Tel: 01 47 05 86 89. A new Basque chef previously at La Regalade, excellent food, small, smoky, noisy, young neighborhood crowd.

Julien, 16 rue du Faubourg St-Denis, in the 10th. Tel: 01 47 70 12 06. A stunning Art Nouveau brasserie with OK food, party atmosphere, especially late.

JulieVikmanis

I second the suggestion for Le Bouchons de Francious Clerq. We have been there 3 or 4 times and have never been disappointed. The service is pleasant, even friendly, so you can have a relaxed and happy time. You can get better wine for less than anywhere else and the food is always good and sometimes beautifully presented.

You might consider Train Bleu in the Gare de Lyon with truly over-the-top decor. Or you might arrange to go there for a drink before having dinner at Bouchons--to get you in the mood.

On another thread here yesterday, there was a debate about Bofinger and Fermette Marbeuf, both beautiful art nouveau decor restaurants with respectable food where you and your guests could have a good meal and a good time for less than $100 each. Do a search on Bofinger and you should be able to pull it up.

If you're willing to consider a more modern venue, consider Bouquinistes in the 6th on the Quai des Grands Augustins. We've eaten there twice in the last year and enjoyed both times. Food is both tasty and inventive in some instances and the decor is quite attractive.

My husband loves Chinese food and he celebrated his 60th birthday at Chez Vong in the 1st, off the Rue St. Denis beyond Beaubourg area. It is quite the most beautiful Chinese restaurant I've ever been in with palms and a sort of cave-like atmosphere. Food is better than the average Chinese and beautifully presented but you'll want to be careful to order for yourself. If you let the maitre d (actually the owner) just bring things, you can run your bill beyond your budget.

JulieVikmanis

If scene is inportant to you, try Georges in the Pompidou Center. It's the restaurant in Le Divorce where Kate Hudson meets her lover's former wife. Zagat rates it 17 for food and 53 per person (that's euros to cover dinner, one drink and tip) I can't speak to the place personally except that I walked through it once and it would probably afford that experience you'll never forget, though you might forget the food.

Art_Vandelay

The owners of "Cosi" and "Chez Vong" would be quite offended if they knew you described their cuisine as being respectively "Southern Italian" and "Chinese", since the former is - extremely proudly - Corsican (it screams it on the menu, from cold cuts to the wine list) and the latter Vietnamese. That said, for the OP's request, I would discard Nos ancêtres les Gaulois, extremely tacky and touristy. I think the best place for a bunch of inevitably noisy 30 something Americans is a brasserie. I like Bofinger, because it is not tucked away in some remote 10th arrondissement street, but in the middle of the action on place de la Bastille, and then you can prolong the night visiting the many watering holes in the Bastille area. Or if you want fun "à l'américaine" with a Parisian touch, the Hollywood Savoy is a fun place, next to the Bourse (stock exchange).

Seamus

Art -
Right you are about Le Cosi - billed as serving "specialties of the South." Corsica is indeed in the southern portion of Italy, but the food is different from, say, Neopolitan style. More "earthy", more meats, but all of it quite delicious.

Grasshopper

You know, you could have lunch at the Jules Verne for that. We paid $150 for two. It's also a lot easier to get reservations and the views are great in the daytime.

I think the most fun birthday in Paris story I ever heard was the Fodorite who celebrated her husband's birthday with friends and their goal was a drink in every arrondisement in 24 hours. They got pretty creative as they ticked off those boxes.

grandmere

I had thought of mentioning Le Train Bleu, also, and agree with Julie's recommendation of it. Whereas I would not call it "fabulously fun", it is a gorgeous place the evokes a by-gone era.

In fact, I will (if US Airways still flies!) be in Paris for my b-day (not my 30th,alas!)in May and think I will celebrate at LTB.

Maybe more suitable for my (ahem, BIG) birthday than a 30th!

Statia

f1mas46, I don't have any restaurant recommendations for what you are seeking, but just wanted to say congrats on your big day. My husband took me to Paris and London for my 30th one April and it was extremely memorable.

Have a wonderful trip!

Underhill

One possibility: Le Bistro de Breteuil, in the 7th. It's a lively, fun place with good food--for 31 Euros you get an apéritif, 3 courses (with quite a few choice within each), a bottle of wine for each 2 people, AND coffee. Hard to beat!

StCirq

<<Corsica is indeed in the southern portion of Italy>>

Seamus - unless there has a been a coup very recently, Corsica belongs to France, not Italy.

Marie007

To BlueSwimmer ! Bonsoir !

Thanks a lot for telling us about this website ! I love this kind of humour ! All the more funny as my husband is a... dentist ;-) !!!

<<you will not find there (or anywhere, for that matter) the obsequious service so annoying in a lot of American restaurants ("Hi, I'm Buffy, and I'll be your server.&quot For the French, being a waiter or waitress is more like a career than it is in the U.S., and they take professionalism very seriously. You don't expect your dentist to say, "Hi, I'm Darrell, and I'll be your dental professional today!">>

Super ! Encore merci ! Bon après-midi ! Marie

greece

4 very good restaurants inthe 8th and 16th arr.:
1.Le Cafe Faubourg -very chic & upscale restaurant inspired by Alain Dutournier - starter at 15euros main plat at 30 euros dessert at 10 euros plus wine, 15, rue boissy d'anglas, place concorde , Hotel Sofitel Le Faubourg, www.sofitel.com
2.La Salle a Manger -roccoco style restaurant with nice ambiance & service- menu at 60 euros 17, ave kleber, Hotel Raphael , metro Kleber , www.raphael-hotel.com
3.Man Ray - a hot spot in Paris, a very good restaurant housed in an old cinema -menu at 50 euros-, 34 rue marbeuf, www.manray.fr
4. Le fouquet's - a legendary restaurant in the Champs-Elysees with good cuisine and pastries- 48 ave george V www.lucienbarriere.com