Can anyone recommend any restaurants/bistros in Paris with teens who are not particularly adventurous eaters? Thanks a lot. We like to mix popping in to places we see with a few recommended places.

I think any of the famous Brasseries would be good.

The Brasserie Zimmer near Notre Dame/Saint Michel area has the most wonderful to-die-for hamburgers! I had one a month ago and will be having one in 3 weeks on my way to visit my family in Boston. Yum. Bien cuit (Beeyen cwee) for well done and it's like a US medium rare in my opinion.

Any brasseries or cafe will have something that anyone will eat (steak frites or roast chicken frites or omelets).

But - isn;t it time that they expand their cuisine horizons? The longer they get away with this the more trouble it will make for them later in life. Understandabkein toddlers - but silly if they're still doing it as teens.

(My stepdaughters were introduced to a variety of cuisines early and often - and it was just assumed that they would eat something. Naturally they still have likes and dislikes - as do we all - but they'll eat any cuisine - and enjoy almost everything.)

It makes trips more enjoyable for everyone and does;t cause problems when they're invited to houses of friends or beaux - and will stand them in good stead when they do business dinners or interviews over dinner. (Imagine the image a scholarship candidate of potential intern will make if they say they eat nothing but chicken fingers and mac and cheese.)

I would pick a couple of nicer places and tell them they need to try some new things - as part of the broadening experience of travel.

We had friends whose four teenage children would only eat street food crepes and a baquette with Nutella, so I'd say you aren't alone.

This might sound like a strange recommendation, but the food court at the Galleries Lafayette is really good. The kids could eyeball everything before they bought it--and if they liked it, they can go back and buy more. I told this to a friend of mine with three tall teenage boys who are picky eaters but inhale food. Ended up while she and her husband would have lunch at a nice bistro or cafe, the boys would just head over to the Galleries and eat away. She said they were then "reasonable" about trying a nice restaurant in the evening, especially because they were associating the names on the menu with things they had actually eaten during the day.

Just walking in front of people eating on outdoor terraces should excite their curiosity.

I commend your efforts to do research in advance. We took our kids to Paris when they were 13, 11 and 8. I had been to Paris twice before and was of the opinion that you couldn't get a bad meal in Paris. Well, I was proved wrong when we ate at some of the "kid friendly" places in Paris.

One child is quite picky. I mistakenly thought that we would be able to get roast chicken, a steak, or an omlette just about anywhere. Wrong. Quite a few times, we walked away from utterly charming little places, because the menu featured maybe 5 entrees (all of which sounded great to me!), none of which appealed to my kids.

I think that if my French had been good, I could have asked that they prepare something special for my picky eater, but I'm no where near that good.

I will tell you that of the chains, we enjoyed Bistro Romaine. We thought the food was pretty good (as opposed to Hippopotamous, which was like an overpriced Denny's).

Keep looking....I'm sure you'll get some great recommendations.

Hi keefmick,
We just got back from a 10 day trip to France (four in Paris) with our two teens. I'm in the process of a trip report--the Paris portion is already posted. You can click on my name to see it.

My girls are adventurous eaters (escargot, sushi, pate, rabbit) and when people say I'm lucky, I tell them it's because we exposed them to restaurants and ethnic food since they were babies. And I think it's never too late to learn to at least try new things.

That said, my 16 year old was totally enamored of croque monsieurs, and ate one almost daily for lunch. They are really just a ham and cheese sandwich, and I'm sure your picky eaters will feel safe eating them, yet can boast of eating French food. Any cafe will serve them.

Also, they loved the insanely rich hot chocolate at Angelina's, and the ice cream everywhere in France, but especially at Berthillon.

You can expose kids to "different" foods, but I don't think you can make them like them. I have three kids. The first two are only 21 months apart. The older is a VERY adventurous eater....he'll order things at restaurants that I won't even order. The younger is picky in the extreme. They were exposed to the same kinds of foods, with very different results.

I was a very very picky eater as a child...now, I've learned to like almost everything but beets. Don't force it; they will either become more adventurous, or they won't.

Hi K

http://www.vesuviocafe.com/index-gb.htm has very good wood-fired pizza and other Italian foods.

Keefmick, I am wondering what the meal situation is at home. Have varied meals been proposed at home every day, or is it a case of burgers and pizzas & everybody for himself?

LOL kerouac - All keefmick said was that they "were not particularly adventurous eaters". That describes the majority of teenagers that I know.
No need to question the child rearing practices.
There are some other good suggestions here keefmick.

The famous Harry's New York Bar has one of those hot dog machines that rolls weenies to keep them hot.

http://www.harrys-bar.fr/

Pjk