Dinner at CDG?

I’m not sure what terminal you’re staying in - but we have found the offerings to be surprisingly limited at CDG. Last time we went through, we stayed at the Sheraton and figured we’d find something. But after a fair amount of wandering, we ended up with dinner at McDonald’s with dessert pastries from Paul:)

We did not try eating at the Sheraton.

I was unhappy to learn that the restaurant in my large CDG hotel (don't remember which one) started serving at 7 PM. That didn't work for me, because I had an early flight and wanted to crash as soon as possible.

I Googled "best food at CDG" and got a lot of hits. Have no idea about their reliability.

CDG is not in the midst of any neighborhood, thus going to Paris is perhaps the proper culinary solution. That being said we’ve eaten at the Hilton & Pullman. Hilton has passable food (much improved from my first stay in 2005) and a nice open area for dining and Pullman is ok but with a terrific bar. Roaming the terminal and ending up at McDo is sort of sad so I would say retreat to your hotel. If your hotel room has a microwave there are some M&S outlets that have some tasty items to heat in your room. We always snack out of M&S when crashing at a hotel on arrival at CDG.

As always there are opinions that are in the thread to help or complicate your search.

The worst meal I ever had in Europe was at the Airport Hilton at CDG -- I was furious -- we are not that picky -- I expected it to bne expensive which it was, but it was dried out and borderline inedible. And the service was surly. This was probably 20 years ago but I still remember it with anger. We had a long day driving from the Dordogne and stopping to have lunch with friends in tours and were tired and hungry when we got to the hotel where we were spending the night. I assumed it would have an adequate restaurant. It was awful.

Our rule now is that we eat in Paris and then take the cab or train to the airport for our hotel if we are staying at the airport.

Thanks for your input, everyone. CDG does not sound like an ideal place for dinner. Unfortunately, we, like Janet Will be traveling from the Dordogne And will not get in until evening. Not enough time to unload our bags, return the car and take RER or other transportation into Paris for dinner. At least we won’t get our hopes up so thanks again to one And all.

Most people in France eat dinner no earlier than 20h00, restaurants are not open earlier than 19h00. There is no restaurant at or near CDG that I might recommend. The few restaurants I have tried at CDG were not particularly noteworthy.

People stay at CDG to be in position for an early morning departure, not for the dining opportunities.

I stayed at the Citizen M hotel at CDG and they offered a surprisingly good dinner and breakfast. It’s near the CDG Hilton. I assume you could have dinner there even if you are staying somewhere else.

One strategy for this trip is to find a good hotel dining room in a smallish town on your way north for a lovely lunch. Hotels -- even kind of crappy hotels -- in rural France tend to have excellent restaurants which serve the whole area. You could even do a little homework and identify a particular place with good reviews and make a reservation. Then plan for 'dinner' to be a light meal. You could pick up things at a bakery on the road or just go to one of the restaurants available to you at the airport with low expectations and get a light meal.

The hotel along with its dinner at CDG I would go to for the last night prior to flying out the next morning to SFO is "Golden Tulip, " a four star establishment but prices can be quite reasonable.

The hotel's restaurant is well worth it. The shuttle from Terminal 2 gets you there. The shuttle station is marked with the "N" sign.