Paris---where to take a 13 yr. old girl for dinner???
 

We have been to Paris many times and of course have our favorite restaurants but we just can't decide on a place a teenager would like. Can anyone help?

She is used to dining out a lot at home and does enjoy some fancy splurge places from time to time. She likes any seafood & steak but is not fond of sauces.

What comes to our mind is:
Le Train Bleu----for the gorgeous, famous room
Monparnasse Tower----for the view
But both of these are a bit for an older crowd.

We'd like to take our chances and go to an outside place near Notre Dame on the Left bank for the fun of it but we've been in the area often and know that the food isn't that good and on a Sat. night without a reservation we might be wandering around aimlessly. The advantage would be to walk around N.D. plaza and along the river after dinner with all the street entertainment and younger people around.

We also like a few on Ile St. Louis but again maybe too dull and for older folks, like us.

I like the cow place--L'ilot Vache, on ISL(again an older group)
MDH likes the chicken place--Atelier Maitre Albert, left bank(too modern NY looking)
The fish place---LeDome---Montparnasse area(great seafood but again an older crowd)
We do make up our own names as you can see.

Anyway, If anyone has a suggestion we'd be thankful for your thoughts.

You could take her to a typical, or not so typical, Paris Bistro. If you take a look at Patrica Wells' The Food Lovers Guide to Paris, you'll find several good options. The guide is available as an app and has been updated (www.patriciawells.com/).

We took our daughter to Julien. It was the first time a waiter served her wine, without even checking if it was OK with us.

Reading you heading before reading your question, I immediately thought of le Train Bleu. An adult might find it overpriced, a 13 year old will find it magical.

We took our kids to Georges, on top of the Centre Pompidou, and they enjoyed that. Modern restaurant, and great view of the Eiffel Tower.

we took our daughters to the 58 tour eiffel for our 13 year olds birthday. had to book way ahead, it was expensive and the food was good but the views were wonderful and it was a very memorable experience.

We took our 12 year old granddaughter to Paris in 2011 and had a very fun dinner at La Fontaine de Mars. We were very lucky to be seated at an outside table with a view of the top of the Eiffel Tower. We had a really fun time, good service and good food. I wrote about it in my trip report - scroll down to day 5.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...nddaughter.cfm

For what it's worth, La Fontaine de Mars gets fairly good reviews on TripAdvisor.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...de_France.html

I took my 15 year old niece to an ordinary cafe in Brive la Gaillarde, where she had a croissant and told me - 'Toronto should have more food like this.' In fact it does, just not in the suburb where she lives. Anywhere that is different from what she knows would probably be great for her.

Great suggestions. Just what I was looking for.

Sarastro--that was my original thought as I had a wonderful B.Day dinner at Le Train Bleu

I've checked out Julien, Georges, and 58 Eiffel and while they look excellent, they don't seem to be what we are looking for on this trip.

john183---La Fontaine de Mars looks like an excellent choice but only if we were guaranteed a table with a view, where you were lucky enough be seated. With our luck we'd be seated inside. BTW, I so enjoyed reading your trip report. It was so funny & entertaining and it sounds like you had a memorable time with your GD---exactly what we want for this trip.

I wish we were going to be in Paris longer than 3 days---our usual would be 7-10 days---but this is what we have after London.

We are still open to suggestions but so far I think it will be Le Train Bleu

I took my 16 year old to L'Entrecote and she loved the steak and frites. Just ask for no sauce on hers. We went to the location in St Germain but they have several.

Montparnasse 1900 has an impressive interior which most teens would think is "cool."

Le Vaudeville [Bourse Metro] is a bistro-type place with terrific atmosphere. After dinner [or lunch] walk up rue Vivienne to the Passage des Panoramas, have an ice cream treat at Le Creperie.

A cool place to visit, by the way, is the Musee Grevin.

Crazy, modern, pop-art chic... Kong might interest her. Blend of paris and Tokyo....not the avergae spot.
It's on rue Pont de Neuf.

I would think l'Entrecote might be a good idea, also, but if she isn't mute, I presume she could order for herself and decide if she wanted sauce or not (I really would recommend it, it isn't the top quality cut of meat, of course, I don't know why she wouldn't like the sauce). She's 13, for heaven's sake, I hope she can order her own food.

I would also think Le Grand Cafe near the Opera might seem like a fun occasion for a teen, as it is really pretty inside, also, like Montparnasse 1900.

I don't think Le Dome would be so exciting for a teen and it's pretty expensive, anyway.

You could try Chez Francis as it has a view of the Eiffel Tower. http://www.chezfrancis-restaurant.com/

More good ideas to look into.
We have been to Entrecote several times in Paris and Toulouse. I like the sauce, MDH likes it plain. Yes, she orders her own food and would probably order it plain.

Kong looks like fun but we were hoping for a more "French" experience. That kind of looks like NY where she recently had a visit, except for the view--definitely Paris.

I will now check out Le Grand Cafe, Chez Francis, Le Vaudeville, and Montparnasse 1900.

RonZ---checked out the Musee Grevin and I will keep that in my mind. a place we haven't been and it looks like fun for a teen. We thought about doing the wax museum in London if she's interested but actually this one looks better. thanks for the tip.

I suggested Montparnasse 1900 when my college age granddaughter went to Paris with a school group, and they really liked it. On my 15th birthday ( a million years ago), my parents took me to the Folies Bergeres show. I was embarrassed, but quite impressed anyway! And I was thrilled to see a couple of movie stars in the audience. But for a 13 year old for dinner, I'd stick to one of the suggestions on here!

So, Chez Francis looks great for the view despite the bad reviews on the food. Price is not a problem.
But again, only if we could get a table with a good view which is not always the case. If we had bad food and no view it would suck.

At least at Le Train Bleu we wouldn't have to fight for a table with a view----the whole room is the view.

Still looking though----------

Le Train Bleu looks great but I'm sure you will make lots of fantastic memories no matter where you end up going - it's such a magical city to experience with a 13 year old. We were lucky enough to take both of our granddaughters. Thanks for the nice words about my TR - I'm looking forward to reading yours.

How about La Coupole, a historic brasserie?

http://www.lacoupole-paris.com/en/