Eating in Paris with Teenagers

Actually the area right around the Sorbonne has lots of cheap places for students, so there well be loss of good options there for teenagers too. At most French cafes you will find great salads, steak with French fries, soup, and many other meat dishes that aren't as adventurous as escargot or steak tartare.There are some decent cafes on the Place de la Sorbonne. This is quite a touristy area of Paris so most menus will have English.

Crepes are a very common and popular option. They can be sweet or savory and there are many spots in the Latin Quarter for them. There's also kebab and pizza stands for a quick bite. Cafe menus have omelets and soups and sandwiches on them, so everybody will find something they'll like. I think you might be surprised at your teenagers' willingness to try something a little out of their comfort zone, like a salade de chevre chaud, or hot goat cheese salad, or a croque madame. If you tell them it's filled with bacon and cheese they'll probably go cuckoo for it. There's also a lot of Vietnamese restaurants in the 13th if you need a change. Everybody likes, pho, right? I don't know anybody who doesn't :)

Mark ,,I took my kids.. and they always found stuff to eat.. pasta is a common dish.. pizza places all over, steak and fries as well as roast chicken and fries.. super common on menus.

I personally would not worry about it.. they eat or starve. .. that will " unpicky " them pretty quick.

Sandwiches there are a great fast lunch.. bakeries often sell them.. they are different then what you get here though.. a baguette .. some butter, some ham or salami , perhaps tomato or lettuce or cheese ( real cheese though, not orange plastic edible oil product slices common in North America)

Crepes.. if your kids can't find a crepe they like I would be surprised.. banana and sugar, lemon and sugar, Nutella( chocolate hazelnut spread) , ham .. etc.. I always buy them fresh from the street kiosks and vendors.

Stores sell pop/soda juices, premade salads , etc etc.. let them pick up some stuff and go have a park or bench picnic.. this will also save you a ton of money. Coke is very expensive at cafes and restos.. let them drink tapwater .. I let my kids order one soda a day ,, the rest of the time they had water, but we also had our stock of sodas and juices I bought at corner stores and stocked our hotel mini fridge with..

And there is always McDonalds.. I took my son there a few times as he wanted an Egg McMuffin for breakfast.. two of those and a hot chocolate is a cheap fast breakfast for a teen boy.

Maybe David Lebovitz could help guide and coach you -- http://www.davidlebovitz.com/paris/. You may find other useful information by exploring his website thoroughly, including some good very casual and not US chain places to go. Note that not all of his listings are for French food.

The last time we were in Paris, we rented an apartment in the Marais very near Marché des Enfants Rouges. There were lots of places to shop for food in the area in addition to that historical market. They included supermarkets like Franprix or Carrefour as well as the small kinds of specialty shops you might expect for cheese, wine, etc. What you may not expect is the number of places that have take out fresh chickens roasting on spits. I'm sure your neighborhood will be similar.

Our son took his two older daughters (10 and 12 at the time) to Paris last year. His rule was that they could pick what they wanted to eat, but they had to eat it before they were allowed to have any dessert. ("If you don't eat your meat, you can't have your pudding..." style). Chicken or steak and frites were popular items. He had no problems with them trying any kind of dessert. They also were big fans of crepes, both savory and sweet.

These are kids who are usually picky eaters, too. Mexican food is a problem for them when they visit us in AZ. Hard for this native Texan (San Antonio) to fathom since I can't remember a time when I didn't eat it!

If you are going to be in the St. Sulpice (of Da Vinci Code fame) area and you like Italian and pizza, I can highly recommend Santa Lucia, 22 Rue des Canettes, just off the square in front of St. Sulpice. We had lunch there after going to a service at St. Sulpice. Paris is an international city, so there are lots of different kinds of food to eat. Another place that we really liked was on David's list, Chez Omar at 47 rue de Bretagne, although that may not be in the area you will become the most familiar with.

One word of warning, if you order an omelet (not just for breakfast in France) be sure to have it "well done." I forgot about that at the corner bistro near our apartment, and it was a little too raw for my taste. I'm not a fan of underdone eggs or meat or seafood. In fact, in the best of all possible cultural immersion situations, you might get to sit next to someone who has tartare served with a raw egg which they will mix with the raw beef and eat with some condiments.

the food in most restaurants is not ALL that different from what you're eating now. Avoid the obvious expensive designer places and you'll find roast chicken, steak and fries, some kind of grilled fish, grilled cheese sandwiches, hamburgers, all the usual suspects.

If in doubt, read the menu BEFORE you enter. If it only has stuff that doesn't appeal to you, do not go in.

In Switzerland we bought premade sandwiches for lunch at supermarkets, it was like going to Subway.

You will find menus posted outside the restaurants, bistros, etc., usually on a window. Therefore, no ugly surprises. Time for your big children, nearing adulthood, to make life easy for Ma and Pa and cheerfully choose from a grown-up menu.

Teach them this French: to order "hamburger with chips, please" say this:
(phonetically)
bohn-jouhr muh seur (or mah-dahm), ahm-bur-gehr a-vek freet, seel vu play.

A classic French meal is roast chicken and potatoes. You can get this in many restaurants (menus are always posted outside) and you can pick up a roast chicken at a butcher shop (and sides if you like) and have it at home. You can also get sandwiches as well as various things they will heat up like mini quiches at bakeries. A classic French lunch is a baguette sandwich, a pastry and a drink -- sometimes a yogurt or fruit cup -- all put in a sack with a napkin at any bakery for about 7-10 Euro. Steak frittes is also a commonly available food.

Or go to a classic French bistro like Chez Dumonet, Josephine -- they have beouf bourguignon i.e. beef stew that is really good, but also duck confit which is a confit duck leg/thigh crisped under the broiler with potatoes and salad and they also have hanger steak/frittes. And they have really yummy grand marnier soufflets easily shared by two as well as other scrumptious desserts.

For a really good range of crepes go to a crepe restaurant. The basic crepe for dinner is ham egg and cheese (complete) But there are lots of varieties including seafood, chicken etc etc and lots of dessert crepes. One evening when I didn't really feel like dinner my husband chowed down on a fat stuffed crepe with meat and cheeses and tomatoes while I had a lovely dessert crepe with ice cream chocolate and oranges at Josselin on Rue Montparnasse in the 14th near the Edgar Quinet metro stop. That street has several great crepe places.

There are also snack crepes available as street food but they are nowhere near as good as going to a crepe restaurant.

Since Paris is home to people from almost everywhere, it has food from almost everywhere. But really, why spend thousands to fly across an ocean and look for Tex-Mex? As noted, all the menus are on display so it is easy to shop around. The advice about steak frites, confit of duck (just as cheap as chicken and cheaper than a steak), salads with lots more in them than lettuce, and "soupe" (or potage, which is creamed soup) is all practical. I also like "pintade", a bigger cousin of chickens. Taking a stroll through a farmer's market, easy to find on Google or ask your hotel, will open everybody's eyes and palate. And they sell lots of semi-prepared food to take back to your flat.
Like other forms of falling in love, you have to take some risks to find out what moves your heart. It might increase the chances if the teens and the parents alternate in choosing where to dine.
(My first two sentences apply to London too, if you accept that curry is as much the national dish as fish and chips. Pubs that boast of making their own meat pies are a better bet than the usual pub-grub.)
(Another PS: The best duck confit I ever had was in Singapore. So who knows?)

Thanks to all of you or the great suggestions and encouragement. I feel much better now, even excited, about our food experience to come. Now if I can only locate my passport . . . .

If all else fails, order a croque monsieur (open-faced grilled ham & cheese sandwich.)

Something that has worked for me with kids traveling is to let them pick out some of the restaurants rather than just the adults. This worked well for a 9 year old who was a picky eater in Paris. If there are sites online with menus try that. Getting them engaged in the process is usually more successful than taking them somewhere and having them veto your choices. I also let him make an itinerary for our week in Paris after giving him the guide book and letting him know what I wanted to see. Just the fact that he was in charge made it his trip.

Our family just does not care about food that much and complicating matters is kids are very picky (plain foods). We walked around the streets of Paris and had tons of ham and cheese crepes as we walked around, glamorous?, no but we were very happy (you can also have plain cheese, no ham). .

i was not happy to pay $18 per plate for pasta with butter on it for a 10 year old, so staying in an apartment was very helpful for us, plus I love going into food markets to see "real" people doing their grocery shopping, noticing how some things are the same and some different, and simply picking up jam and butter for quick French bakery breakfasts, snacks for afternoons, etc

This is YOUR vacation, eat what YOU like, not what you feel you should like. Enjoy the sites and don't worry about the food (although watch your food costs if $ is an issue, BTW you can ask for a pitcher of tap water, not carbonated, usually free in most restaurants--this saved us quite a bit of money, sometimes $20/meal).

Yes, tap water is fine, ask for "l'eau du robinet" (loh due robinAY). Good advice here from all posters, there's plenty of everything to eat in Paris (and London). Tex-Mex might be a stretch, though.

You might want to experiment with cheeses, either from the market with a baguette or as an assorted cheese plate (assiette de fromages, "ass-ee-ET duh fro-MAZH") in a café. Or try some duck (canARD) or snails (ess-car-GO). Bolder eaters than me would try sweetbreads and such. I like veal and learned the meaning of "rognons" when I ordered those. Kidneys, lesson learned!

Have fun eating and hope the kids don't tall in love with anything too expensive!

Try Paul's bakery at practically every train station - lots of choices of typical French sandwiches, salads, pastries.

If you want to extend your horizons a little bit, have one person order something they've never tried before (I'd start with dessert) at each restaurant/crepertie/bistro. Travel is adventure!

Do not ask for "eau de robinet".. its not really "done" at all ( although I know online translation sites will give you that. its a crude translation ) .. you want to ask for "une carafe d'eau" .. and it IS free in any restaurant or café as long as you order food.

Menus are REQIURED by law to be displayed outside all eateries... so no need to look only online for menus.

One suggestion that is distinctively French but probably wouldn't upset a picky American eater is the Flams chain. They sell flammekuche, which are the Alsace variety of pizza - compared to American/Italian pizzas they are square, and very thin and crispy. The basic topping is cream cheese, onions, and bacon, but you can get other extra toppings like Swiss-style cheese or mushrooms.

Avoid ordering steaks. They will not be nearly as good (or as big) as you are used to. One of you is bound to do it anyway, but you've been warned.

Do not expect much spicy or hot food. If you find something labeled Tex Mex or Mexican it will likely be very bland. (This applies in Canada as well.)

Canada is a huge country. To say spicy or hot cuisine is largely unavailable in a country several thousand miles wide is indicating a great deal of travel and expertise on the subject, but I see no reference to that. We are a pluralistic society with restaurants coast to coast offering cuisine from around the world, some spicy, some bland, some crappy, some superb. You want it? We have it. I personally do not consider "Tex Mex" interesting at all, but a bastardized version of two cuisines better left to their original versions. But that, as they say, is just me.

Hot and spicy food really is not easy to find in Paris.. I tried Szchewan food in Paris and it was BLAND which is completely opposite of what it should be..traditionally French palates do not favor strong spicy flavours.. BUT they do have a lot of ethnic foods that have become popular over last few decades.. Morrocan, African etc.. couscous restaurants are popular. You might have better luck finding some spicy food in some of them..

Texmex.. well I have not seen that .. but that doesn't mean there isn't one or two such places in a city of millions.. but I wouldn't spend any time looking for it myself..

I also agree very much with Karens post re: steaks.. we are spoilt here .. I have found steaks usually chewier, fattier and gristilier in France.. honestly.. I have had a few decent ones but never a great one.. and a few really crappy ones.

Stick to chicken, pork, rabbit ,duck, they do those great.

My kids (17, 22,23 at the time) and I stayed in the same area in Paris 2 years ago. Walk around the Latin Quarter and there's lots of small restaurants with picture menus so your kids can visualize what they're ordering. We did discover this crepe lady that had this tiny store tucked away next to a McDs that I recommend you go to. She had 2 crepe makers in front of her, a sandwich press behind her, took orders without writing anything down and then made the orders (2 crepes and a sandwich at a time!) and hand them out seamlessly. It was like watching a well choreographed dance! It was very entertaining. Look for the McD's on the corner of Blvd St Germain and Rue de la Harpe, right by Blvd St Michel, and her little store is right next to the McD's facing Rue de la Harpe. Ive noticed a lot of places selling crepes use pre made crepes that they just warm up. Look for one that actually will pour out the batter to make a fresh crepe, they taste so much better. Please do try to find the crepe lady. And please see if she has a sign above her store with a name on it and if possible let me know so I can stop telling people to just find the crepe lady! Behind her shop was a tiny supermarket that we shopped at. There's also a gelato chain called Amorino's that forms the gelato in the shape of a rose instead of just giving a standard scoop that we loved going to. Well, maybe it was me more than my kids since I love gelato lol. There's one on Rue de Buci. The ham and cheese baguette sandwiches that you can get anywhere are just scrumptious. I do find that ones you get at a patisserrie are better than the premade ones at sandwich stands.

My kids fell in love with "galettes" in France. That's the darker version of crepes, made out of buckwheat flour and served with a variety of savoury fillings. I'd go for goat cheese, the kids had theirs filled with ham and cheese. And they are cheap and available in any creperie.

We still make them regularly at home now.

@Claudette -- There is no sign on the crepe stand. I've seen it but never stopped there. Your description makes it sound so great, I will check it out this summer.

Is this it? http://tinyurl.com/l7mffu8

Norma, I knew that would get your spicy goat! And you're right-Canada is a big and wonderful country, and they must have some spicy food somewhere. I just haven't found it in my few weeks in Nova Scotia or 4+ weeks in Ontario. But I haven't been to Toronto or Montreal, so I'll keep trying.

As a general rule on this planet, food gets blander as you travel north, and spicier as you go south. Since the OP Mark is from Dallas and loves Tex-Mex food, I'd hate for them to get their hopes up if they see a sign for Tres Bons Tacos.

Karen.. come to the west coast. .our Thai food will kill you .. lol.. seriously.. some Thai food leaves your lips burning half an hour after eating..

Thai food is popular here too( as is Chinese, Japanese, Vietmese etc.. its the Pacific influence) .. but we are not really a "Tex Mex" sort of place.. in Victoria our one real Mexcian type restaurant burned down last month.. and I am thinking no one considers the Taco Bells in the mall food fairs to be real anything.. lol

So mark, please report the results from your trip.

Oddly enough, I had some good Mexican food in Montreal in Old Town. But it made my brain hurt, trying to mix English, French and Spanish.

I know what you mean, phred. I took French lessons a long time ago with my (then) boss from a Berlitz teacher. My boss was from Argentina but his first language was English, his second language Spanish.. So his way of learning French was from English into Spanish into French. Our Parisian teacher would roll her eyes and say "Ooh la la .... quelle salade!" (what a mixture).

Traveled to Paris with teens on two separate occasions and we always found plenty they liked. I think it was in the Latin Quarter, and I am sure there are many, but 'doner' was always a hit... along with frites. I also do not spend a fortune on food... we love good food, but it does not need to be fancy. Great bread, some cheese, fruit and chips and chocolate and we have a picnic. Do what will make the kids happy and not cause stress, or a fortune. They will find one or two things that are French that they will enjoy.

Traveled to Paris with teens on two separate occasions and we always found plenty they liked. I think it was in the Latin Quarter, and I am sure there are many, but 'doner' was always a hit... along with frites. I also do not spend a fortune on food... we love good food, but it does not need to be fancy. Great bread, some cheese, fruit and chips and chocolate and we have a picnic. Do what will make the kids happy and not cause stress, or a fortune. They will find one or two things that are French that they will enjoy.

My daughter, though a picky eater at home during her pre-teen and teen years [we joked that she only ate beige food], got much more adventurous when traveling, so your kids may surprise you. Croque monsieur, crepes, pasta - it all worked well. We also made a point of buying and trying different chocolates, just the ones you find in the food halls in department stores or the grocery, not necessarily the fancy handmade chocolates [though we certainly tried some of those too!]. You've gotten lots of good advice. Have a wonderful trip!

Yes JHK that's it! Thanks for posting that picture. Definitely stop by and then let me know what you think.

Trip Concluded:

Well, we are back from the trip that started this post. I was able to take much of the advice offered here in this forum and we ate well. We indeed found there to be good options for crepes, pasta, pizza, mussels, roast chicken, fixed price menus, and of course, croissants. It was still a bit expensive, but at least with the current exchange rate I took comfort that I was getting Paris at a 20% discount. With so much walking in Paris, my family got hungry often, so I'm very glad that I asked for the advice here. My daughter's most frequent saying on this trip was "Can I have a bite?"

Money-saving tip: Avoid the soft drinks. They are about $5 in Paris restaurants, so I limited the kids to one per day. We would ask for "une carafe d'eau" for a pitcher of tap water.

Thanks to all who helped!