How to make a reservation in Paris

Try this: http://www.lafourchette.com/ville/paris/415144

I understand that you can sometimes get discounted deals when you reserve on this website. Not all restaurants subscribe to it, but you may be able to make reservations on the restaurant's website.

Bon appetite.

Hi Ann, maybe pop into the restaurant and ask if they'll take a reservation for that evening or another night that week? You could check out the menu at the same time.

Call em on the phone and start with, "Bonjour, Parles vous l'Anglais?"

Hi Donna, thank you for your help. Much appreciated.

Is it possible to call a Paris restaurant from the States using my Eurobuzz phone and make a reservation that way? What would be the dialing format?

For most of the places we ate this summer, I found an email address and was able to email them. I found that easier than on the phone. :)

Kim

Agree with Donna from Cleveland. We did that exact thing last fall and never had a problem securing a reservation.

Just got my phone bill, I made a call on my landline, from west coast Canada, cost me .20 cents for a four minutes call to Paris, a few weeks ago to make a reservation!

I have used The Fork, www.thefork.com, in past for reservations in Paris.
Enjoy your trip.

Ann, while I understand you may not want to make a phone call to reserve, I do think it's possible that you'll be limiting yourself to those places that use La Fourchette or a similar service, or email for reservations. Often, it is the "hot" and popular places that don't feel the need to use a service like La Fourchette or email, and indeed they don't need to in order to stay plenty busy. Some places you must call.

I have found that by calling around 4-6 pm local time, especially in Paris, you'll get an English speaker and you can make your reservation as well as chat a bit about the restaurant and how they operate, seating times, etc. all very helpful, and inexpensive normally to make the call. I am pretty sure it costs a restaurant to use a reservation service, and not all of them need to pay to get customers in. When I called Le Pantruche for a res, the gentleman was kind enough to remind me that if we wished to have the table through both seatings (I was reserving for the first seating) that it was fine and the table would be ours all night, but they just wanted to know. I don't think you'll get that sort of option using a service.

I have the front desk person at my hotel make calls like that for when needed and slip them a pourboire for their help. Also when it's taxi time.

"Bonjour Madame/Monsieur, parlez-vous anglais?" No article before "anglais."

From an educational perspective , I would like to pick up on Pat's post above . Many phone providers now institute VOIP for phone service ( Voice Over Internet Proto call ) My provider ( optimum online ) also provides international calling at very low cost . As Pat illustrates - I recently called Helsinki about a reservation , fifteen minutes on the phone -- charge was $ 1 . 20 USD for fifteen minutes .

There's pretty much no chance of them all working the same, but if the restaurant takes bookings online, either through their own system or an OpenTable-type option, the link will be on each web site. I think that's the simplest way to start, before moving on to other methods.