Hi - my husband and I will be in PAris next week - staying at Hotel Regina Place des Pyramides & Rue de Rivoli. Any restaurant suggesions ( not fancy!) within walking distance? Thanks in advance.

La Sourdiere<BR>4, rue de La Soudiere (just off rue St. Honore)<BR>Tel: 01-42-60-43-07 Metro: Tuileries<BR>This is a very wonderful, small, local family run restaurant near the Tuileries. Very good food with large portions. Menu at $24 - also a la carte very moderately priced. You can easily order one menu and one plat and share the entree and dessert. Bridgeet runs around taking care of everyone. Say hello for me.For more Paris information e-mail me: [email protected]

We just returned from 4 weeks in Europe and a 6 night stay in Paris. Our hotel was the Intercontinental, which was just a few blocks closer to Place de Concorde, than your hotel. We shied away from fancy restaurants because we don't like rich foods. The suggestions that follow were quite reasonable and the food was delicious. Don't miss Angelina's for hot chocolate... it was heavenly! We went for hot chocolate one afternoon, then ate lunch there another day, with of course, hot chocolate. It's located on Rue de Rivoli, in the direction of Place de Concorde. We also ate at Cafe Ruc, very close to your hotel. The salmon was wonderful, as was their onion soup au gratin. Take Rue de Rivoli toward the Louvre. Cafe Ruc is around the corner, to the left, at 159 rue Saint-Honore. Another night, we ate at Le Souffle. Walk down Rue de Rivoli, toward Place de Concorde. Turn right at rue de Catiglione, passed the Intercontinental. Then, turn left on rue du Mont-Thabor, one or two blocks down. The restaurant is in the middle of the block. Le Souffle serves souffles... we each had the price-fixe dinner: a cheese souffle for starters, salad, a salmon souffle for our main course, that an apple tart that for dessert that was fantastic. It was way too much food for the 2 of us. We would have been better to order ala carte and share each course. It was delicious. Do walk in the Tuilleries Gardens, it's delightful.

Please try Brasserie Flottes on rue Cambon, just off rue de Rivoli. They have the best Croque sanwitches (France's answer to the hamburger) and offer Aligot, a magical potato dish made with cheese and garlic that is to die for! Le Souffle should be tried at least once--they have a prix-fixe menu that is reasonable--you must reserve however (01 42 60 27 19). Close to your hotel is Le Rubis (Marche St. Honore), a great old wine bar with a zinc bar inside and outside huge standing barrels around which you will see locals sipping a glass of wine and maybe eating a quick lunch. A true Parisian experience.

Does anyone know if we would be allowed to share a prix fixe meal in Paris? My young teen daughter and I are not big eaters but we do like to sample unique foods and we have similar tastes. I would not want to ask to share a meal if it would be considered rude. Thanks. Laurie

The Marche St Honore is a lovely square not far from where you are staying (close to Le Rubis). It is full of good restaurants. Le Pain Quotidien is great for breakfast; their bread is fabulous. Bennett is a good place for a casual lunch and they have a 15? menu at dinner. <BR>Splitting a prix fixe menu would not really be allowed by most restaurants. But most casual places won't care if you order just a first course or just an entree (called "plat" in France). Good luck.

Sandy I just got a good giggle from your post! You said you don't like rich foods yet then listed the chocolate chaud, onion soup and souffles as things you ate. Wow! What do you call rich??? I'm not harassing you, just friendly teasing!

I must recommend La Robe et le Palais in the 1st arrd. at 13, rue des Lavandi&egrave;res St. Opportune 01 45 08 07 41. Absolutely great food and fabulous wine list. <BR>

Laurie<BR>Take the advice and just order a la carte rather than the prix fixe if you feel that will be too much food. The prix fixe, more often called the "menu" or the "table d'hote", is not a requirement. Note that if you want to look at the menu, you want "la carte."<BR><BR>If you are American, you will find that European portions are smaller than what you are used to, which compensates for them having leisurely meals with more courses.<BR><BR>Mary<BR>I stayed at the Regina a couple of years ago, loved the location. Some rooms had been upgraded and some not at that time, so if you don't like the first room, ask for another.

In reply to Wendy re: rich foods... I probably should have said "rich meals". After we ate at Le Souffle and realized we each couldn't finish a meal, we decided to eat "light". For instance, the onion soup we ate was dinner! We felt going to a "fancy" (Mary's term) restaurant and just ordering one item probably wouldn't have been well accepted. As far as the hot chocolate, we shared one order, hardly a full meal.

I can recommend highly two restaurants right off the Rue de Richelieu: Le Poquelin and Chez Pauline (I think both are in the Rants and Raves section). Both reasonably priced with delicious food, nice decor and warm, friendly service.