What about Au Pied de Cochon http://uk.pieddecochon.com

Serves 24/7 and has great seafood and our favourite onion soup (you must love cheese to order this!)

nytraveler: that is it, exactly. This will be our one meal of the day, and I enjoy life a lot more if I can sit down in a restaurant and eat hot food. If I had this problem in NY, I can think of a lot of places I could go. Right now, without even thinking, Veselka is dancing in my brain.

France can be a PIA in this situation, I agree.

jamikins, we have been to Pied de Cochon. I'm going to look at their menu now. Some other brasseries I've looked at had outrageous prices, but I'm going to look.

We will go out afterwards but we will still need a meal before the ballet.

I read this as wanting something prior to the performance and THEN they will have a meal afterwards so it isn't their only meal of the day--except now that it will be apparently.

I second Au Pied de Cochon. Perfect idea!

This might work if you're in Paris after it re-opens. I think the food is very good:

http://www.lesediteurs.fr

In NY the more formal restaurants typially close int he afternoon - but there are quite a few decent places (up from the neighborhood bistro) that are open all day - but perhaps not with a full menu.

We have found this a huge problem in provincial France - many smaller towns serve next to nothing between 2 pm and 6 pm - and we sometimes like a later lunch. Often all that is available is a sandwich in a cafe (and no we don't do sandwiches from the market or cook ourselves or do a lot of picnics - we are at the stage where we want to sit down and enjoy a meal - even if only a simple omelette and glass of wine.

If you were willing to eat afterward, one other thought would be takeaway: Within a few hundred feet of your place on St. Andre are several takeout places where you could grab a bite and eat in the room. There are several kebab/gyro type places, a crepe place and a surprisingly decent pizza by the slice (with mini somewhat tolerable wines).

If you did that, there are several good options to eat after ballet that literally are on your block or extremely close to your apartment.
In addition to the previously mentioned, Vins et Terroirs should be right there.

Almost next to Little Breizh on the side street off Rue Buci(so roughtly 1 block from you) is a very inexpensive bistro that I thought was terrific fun: Bistrot Saint Germain. Very friendly, classic little spot. Very cheap 3 course meal.

Huitrerie Regis for oysters is a bit further away and pricier.

Don't forget the coffee at Melongo!

I think Au Pied de Cochon is over-rated. I make a better onion soup than they do. Maybe La Terrasse at Ecole Militaire or Les Editeurs in St-Germain?

I can't see getting fussed about food in Paris, but that's just me. If I have to skip a meal, I just do. Days go by and life goes on.

I think Cafe le Nemours is open all day. It is in Place Colette at Palais Royal metro stop. We've eaten there several times over the year. I love their goat cheese quiche. It is also on the way to the Palais Garnier

I forgot - Les Editeurs is indeed closed. Unsure when it opens again. I walked by it a few weeks ago and noticed all the scaffolding.

There are so many good suggestions here; thank you.

Les Editeurs website says that they will open on August 1, long before our trip.

I rethought that "we will go out after" because really, we may not. It will have been a long day. Perhaps dessert or a snack.

I have an idea for you! On my last trip to Paris we grabbed a late afternoon (4-5 pm) "snack" at Le Comptoir du Relais St. Germain on our arrival day. http://www.thepariskitchen.com/revie...es-camdeborde/

We were able to get a great sidewalk seat at this popular spot because of the "off" hour and if memory serves me correctly we had a couple of salads, some escargot, pate and good wine by the glass. It was reasonable and delicious, and even though it wasn't full at that odd hour, the restaurant felt cozy and warm and there were several occupied tables.

Good luck planning - I am with you, every meal counts in Paris!

brasseries are open all hours.

lynnalan: a great suggestion. It's a cool little place that I doubt we could get in at regular hours, so going in the late afternoon would be perfect. I didn't know they had any sort of continuous service.

cigale: I've been researching a number of brasseries and price vs. quality ratios don't seem great, but I haven't given up. Fussy, I know.

lynnalan: every meal and every dollar. ;-)

Another vote for Les Editeurs. It's one of our favorite spur of the moment spots, and the food is always outstanding. They have great weekend brunch specials as well. Also it's a great people watching spot!

With such a discussion, you are setting yourself up for certain disappointment as people rave about their favourites to convince you.

Well, I wanted a list to work with, asked for it, and that's what I got. It's up to me to research the menus, photos, reviews, etc. I'm grateful to those that made recommendations.

As I said, I often recommend restaurants that I've enjoyed. I hope by doing so hat I'm not setting people up for certain disappointment.

Should we not ask for and consider recommendations? This is a serious question. Do you find such discussions pointless? I am curious.

I think recommendations are fine but it can be more than a little offputting when the "response" is full of reasons that whatever was recommended doesn't somehow meet some unknown group of "standards which may or may not be revealed.

As to Paris (and a lot of other cities) sure, there's "food everywhere" but that doesn't mean you want to eat any of it! But I gather the point is that certainly with all those choices everybody would be happy eventually. But around here, I sometimes wonder if that's true.

It's tough around here: if one reveals all of one's standards, then one is sometimes accused of being too particular and exacting. If one doesn't do so, then one is sometimes accused of being too vague.

We are a tough tough crowd.

If you cannot get into le Comptoir du Relais, you can cross the street and go to Les Editeurs.