Eating in Paris

If I told you, I'd be drummed out of the Secret Society of Paris Locals.

I won’t tell anyone!!

Great post! Need some new places to discover!!!

Likely the places that are packed, don't have English menus, and most patrons are speaking French...

Go to districts ie, the arrondisments . not in so-called tourist areas.

Local students look for the closest, cheapest kebab place. Or cheap ingredients at the supermarche.

Even places Rick Steves recommends, while there may be others there with familiar blue-and-yellow guidebooks, will certainly get some locals.

Not cheap, but Cafe Floret is iconic. Bouillon Julien in the 10th.

Just ate at Bouillon Julien and Bouillon Chartier - food quality is mediocre at best.

Café Roussillon, Café Rostand, Fuxia and Café Nemours are good.

the locals buy groceries or take out and eat at home for the most part. Anything published on a travel forum as a local treasure will soon be ruined.

Locals eat everywhere from chains to holes in the wall. Just look around the neighborhood where you are staying for little restaurants. Some areas you have to look a lot harder, such as the 8th or 1st, but they are there. Use là fourchette to search, too. As for the so-called bouillons, thèse are modern interpretations of huge old restaurants where some people ate daily; the originals still have the boxes on the wall where the individual cloth napkins were stored for the week. The food is old-fashion comfort food and young Parisians love them. They have huge menus, but whenever a place has a huge choice of meats or fish in sauces, you know it's probably microwave reheated. The first courses are usually made off-site, too
Personally, I think some of the factory-made microwave reheated dishes are a tasty value. Evidently, a lot of French do too, as Picard, the frozen food store, is very popular in France.

I agree with Claudia, we ate at Bouillon Julien in Sep 2019 and loved it! The appetizers were quite good and the main course was pretty good. Even without decent food (which is, after all THE reason for choosing a restaurant) I could've sat for an hour just looking at the decor. A wonderful example of Art Nouveau. Maybe we were just lucky to eat there on a good night. We also aid in another Bouillon where we did not care for the food and we very much did not care for the waitstaff. But I quickly forgot the name! Maybe it was Bouillon Chartier. The name is familiar. Kerouac2, any idea which sushi places are good?

I responded with this on your Trip Advisor cross-post:

"TBH, during my recent trip to Paris (late Sept to last week) there were so few tourists in Paris that everywhere I ate was filled with locals"

When are you planning to travel?

Kay, we like Sushi Shop, and we’re picky. They have many locations in Paris.

Not for at least a year. I know things can change rather quickly but just gathering information. Thanks!

I can't say that only locals eat there but here are three places that I like where I hear primarily French being spoken by the other customers: Le Cadoret, Papy Aux Fourneaux (I first ate here in 2017 when i stayed across the street at the Hotel Apollon Montparnasse and I was so charmed by the energy of their team), and Nico]3

I always write down places I want to eat when traveling but we have discovered we just eat when we get hungry, which lands up being a cafe wherever we are. I do make reservations for maybe 1 or 2 nights or if there is a special restaurant we went to go to that requires a reservation, but we usually just wing it and do not land up doing any restaurants on my "list". I really need to get better at that. I will be following this thread for suggestions. There is a you tuber that does all food named Jay Swanson in Paris, I get a lot of ideas from him.

I usually stay in the 7th because I like walking around the Champ des Mars & hanging out on the Trocadero. In & around rue St. Dominique, the area has developed into a huge eating destination over the years (say, between Blvd. de la Tour Maubourg & Ave. de la Bourdonnais). Also, a walk down rue Montorgueil in the 2nd has interesting eating places & mainly local residents spend time there (Mo. Sentier but go out the east exit for rue des Petits Carreaux to get directly on the rue M). Neither would be considered a hotbed of tourists (Eiffel Tower not withstanding) but I think both areas are very French (whatever that is).

Le Select Montparnasse, in the 6th, near luxembourg gardens.

As far as chains go, I love Léon de Bruxelles and La Criée. Tourists and locals alike frequent them.

As is their house cocktail. FYI.

I usually eat out for lunch. I wonder around the area I'm in and look at the menu (posted outside the restaurant). Some of my go to places if I'm not feeling adventurous are: L'Escargot, Les Marronniers, L'As du Fallafel, Schwartz's Deli, Louis Philippe, Maison Rouge. I can't say if these are still open. My last trip was spring of 2019. Hoping to find most of these still around when I return in spring of 2022. I'm not too picky, so I've never really not enjoyed a meal out in Paris.

I'm going to piggy back on Karen's post - has anyone eaten gluten free ( not celiac, gluten sensitive, so x contamination not that much of an issue)? I'll probably be staying in the 6th or 7th, but also will be going up to Montmarte and the Mara is, as well as the area around the Arc Dr Triomphe. Merci beaucoup!

@Catherine -- I traveled with a friend in 2014 who had celiac and had to be gluten-free. She wrote a succinct paragraph to the effect of "must be gluten free, what are my dining options here?", translated it to French and printed it out to carry with her. Everywhere we went, she simply started with "Sans gluten?" and the waiters instantly knew what she meant and pointed out what she could safely eat on the menu. Only once did someone not understand and she had to pull out the card. They still didn't understand (and honestly it turned out to be the worst place we ate the entire trip - food and service) -- but everywhere else it was no problem at all.

Le Wepler at Place de Clichy is a favorite of mine. As is Grand Cafe Capucines near the Opera. Both serve delicious French fair in timeless settings.