Dining in Paris 1st January need booking?

I think that would be advisable, if only to confirm the place you want to go to will be open. I have found that calling the restaurant directly works well, usually an English speaker answers, and if not there is one not far away. Calling between 14:00-18:00 Paris time is about right. With some restaurants you can reserve via email, and some will also ask you to call to confirm the reservation on the day of.

Absolutely. Many places will be closed. Your best bet is to choose a large brassserie, such a La Coupole, Brasserie Flo, L'Europeen (across from the Gare de Lyon), Bofinger, Le Select, Terminus du Nord at Gare du Nord, etc. But you definitely need to reserve.

Hi All,
Thanks for the info.

What about the Les Marais? I will stay near Centre Pampidou

Jen, it's hard to answer without doing the research to determine if a spot will be open. Having said that, Brasserie Bofinger is close to, if not within, the Marais.

L'Europeen at Gare de Lyon is walking distance, as is Bofinger near Bastille. Since you are staying near the Pompidou, most of the restaurants, cafes, in that area and Les Halles (Pied de Cochon restaurant, etc.) will be open because this is a well-trodden area with a lot of visitors. There are some very good hole-in-the-wall Lebanese places near the Pompidou that should be open. If you choose to go to the large places (Terminus Nord at Gare du Nord) or the classic brasseries in Montparnasse (Coupole, Select) you won't have any problem taking the metro on 1/1. You should have no trouble eating without a reservation, but for "dining", which is the word you used, you should have a reservation.

Since you are the second person to write this I'll pipe up and say something before more people copy the error--it's Le Marais, not Les Marais. Les marais are the tides, whereas le marais is a marshy area, which this neighborhood was back in the good, old medieval days.

You might try BookaTable or the Fork instead of random calling. Usually you can get a good idea of the price in the online systems. New Year's fixed price menus tend to be on the pricey side.

I've used The Fork (La Fourchette) several times and it has been a Godsend. I booked both my Christmas lunch and dinner for thins week on there as well. WE'll see how that goes!