Paris Restaurant rec for American type food

I would look for places that advertised "English Breakfast". That means fried eggs, bacon, potatoes, tomatoes, toast and jam, and perhaps a few other things you don't have to eat.

Take a look at online menus in popular tourist areas. You will find loads of restaurants that serve roasted chicken, burgers, spaghetti, grilled chicken breast and the like. At lunch, lots of salads and the ubiquitous Croque Monsieur along with sandwiches. And there is always fast food like McDonald's and Five Guys.

Lots of cafes serve eggs along with croissants, baguette with butter and jam, oj & coffee. I've never heard of "Breakfast in America". My favorite neighborhood cafe has omelettes and eggs Benedict.

There's no need to travel far for "American" type food.

I have a family member who has those same restrictions about meat (not a vegetarian) and we had no trouble eating French food. We ate at mid-range places. Also consider crepes. Lots of great options in Paris.

There's a chain called Indiana that serves TexMex food of all things. It's fine. You won't write home about it. Casual.

Hippopotamus 🦛 is a steakhouse style chain that specializes in meat. Casual.

Buffalo Grill, like above but a little more casual.

Don't forget good old Mickey D's, They are all over the place.

Thank you for your feedback !!
People have told me we shouldn't have too much trouble but very appreciative of the specific
name suggestion before going : Hippopotamus & Indiana ! thank you!

For convenience we generally get a hotel’s breakfast buffet since they tend to have a large selection of items to choose from.

Most U.S. fast food restaurants have locations overseas, Subway, KFC, burger and pizza places, etc. it would be a shame to go all the way to France to eat American fast food. Good luck getting any meat cooked well done.

mhgogo,
Cuts of steaks are somewhat different in France. Delicious, but how they are listed on a menu is not the same as here...bavette, faux-filet, entrecote, to name a few. Steak hache is ground beef, but high quality, not like a hamburger patty. For well-cooked steaks order bien-cuit (well-cooked). It is easy to find great roast chicken meals, often served with fried potatoes. You don't have to stick with just American-centric restaurants. What a shame your traveling companions will miss out on some great meals, but they will still find good food within their limitations. (I am not fond of seafood, but love the variety of the meat/poultry/pasta options found in France.) Would they not be satisfied with some of the excellent pastry options for breakfast, or do they want to stay with the cooked breakfast American style? Lots of bakeries have servings of quiches that make a nice breakfast meal.
I have travelled with a relative who found it burdensome to have her salad at the end of a meal, among other things, but by the end of the trip she was fully acclimated to French meals. Best of luck!

I generalize, but most brasseries will have roasted chicken on the menu.

Will your family members eat something like beef bourguignon or other braised typed dishes?

OP MH,
We were just there again a month ago. Our tenth time.
En Face de Petite Perigordine is just north of the Pantheon. Decidedly not American cuisine but meat featured on their very good menu. *One might be able to do a 2-fer there, given that the nearby and smallish St Ephrem church often has candlelit classical concerts.
Our all-time fave is Le Temps de Cerises in the 13th. Its a no-reservations coop known for its home-style cooking and funky-boho, left-leaning decor and crowd. *Not to be confused with the chi-chi cafe of the same name up in le Marais.

Breakfast in America (sound of spit)...I'm aiming for a discreet tone here...we once had a business meeting scheduled with the owner there but he blew us off without the courtesy of any warning. We completely wasted our precious Parisian time that morn.
I am done. the meal

There's aso a breakfast place called Holy Belly that has uninpsired American dishes.

Though as explained above, your average restaurant/brasserie is going to have chicken and beef fishes and often sandwiches and everywhere will have fries.

Yes, I believe they would eat Beef bourguignon...

Thank you for the suggestion of En Face de Petite Peridgordine .. they do not offer a menu in english on line but
we will go inside and see if they have english menu. and look into see if St Ephrem has a candlelit concert !

Thank you for the note of different cuts of beef. Do know asking for well done (Bien-cuit) will be difficult at
some place, perhaps insulting to chef but this is the only way they will eat meat.
I am thinking it will be somewhat easy to find simple eggs etc. They do not eat pastries, croissants so
this should be so fun :(

I will continue to search and try and find brasseries that have roasted chicken as that would be perfect.
Many restaurants offer english for website but do not offer english for looking at actual menu.

Thank you all!

THANK YOU FOR HOLY BELLY ! Will def go!

If I were you, I'd avoid Hippopotamus, which are restaurants that mainly serve meat dishes that are eaten rare in France. It's possible that your understanding of "well done" doesn't quite match their practice, and that it might not be "well done" enough for you.

However, French cuisine isn't just about "steak and French fries." On the contrary, meat dishes are often cooked for hours, like beef bourguignon, beef stew, pot-au-feu, daubes, etc.

Lamb can also be cooked for a long time, like "agneau de 7 heures" (cooked at a low temperature for at least 7 hours, as the name suggests).

If you have any doubts about duck because of the cooking time, know that duck confit is cooked in its own fat for hours.

In short, apart from the beef dishes mentioned by Judy, such as bavette, faux-filet, entrecote which are generally eaten rare or well done in France, there aren't many other "rare" cooked dishes in general.

Do they like soup? You may find something they would go for at lunchtime.

Painis, which is directly across from Notre Dame, has excellent hamburgers. Touristy, but good views of ND.

I have two French friends who eat beef only if it's cooked until it's gray. They speak French, so they don't have a problem imposing their preference even if they have to send the meat back to the kitchen for further cooking. I don't know how easy it would be for an English-speaker.
Just say "très, très, bien cuit" (tray, tray be-yen kwit.)

A word of caution: If your people like their eggs like they like their meat (overcooked and dry), they might have not be wild about the way the French cook eggs, either. "Scrambled" eggs will be soft and creamy; same with omelets. I don't have a French-language solution to this, but they should be prepared with one.

It sounds like you should veer towards Italian and Chinese places, lots of variety there

mhgogo,
I have been informed by my computer engineer son that you can hold your smartphone over a menu or sign and it will translate the menu for you. I haven't used it for that, but have used it for a newspaper article for a couple of phrases. It works!

Scrambled" eggs will be soft and creamy; same with omelets.

First hand experience, on a group trip some members complained that the scrambled eggs were runny. "Au contraire." we replied. "They were perfectly done and now you know how scrambled eggs should be prepared."

If they would eat Boeuf Bourguignon the best i have found in Paris is Chez Dumonet Josephine. You can order a half order which is plenty for most people. They also have excellent duck confit and steak frittes. When I ate there with my son he got steak frittes and had me order a full order of the boeuf bourguignon so he could have some of that. They also have the most amazing grand marnier souffle -- my favorite dessert is their version of this and I love chocolate -- so to choose a non-chocolate dessert as 'best' is saying something.

You are right about the correct preparation of scrambled eggs, Sam. That's how I cook them, and I invite my guests to put them back on the stove and ruin their portion.

Many restaurants offer english for website but do not offer english for looking at actual menu

Put a picture of the menu in ChatGPT or whichever one you use and it translates the menu and gives you pictures of the items. This was very helpful in France last October.

If you're heading to the 12th for anything, there's a great spot that can meet the needs of lots of different people. It's near Gare de Lyon. Ground Control

For BBQ and burgers, there are the Melt restaurants in Paris. Several locations.

You certainly can get a menu in English on line at En Face de Petite Peridgordine.

Here is the link. You can change to whichever language you like, but this should come up in English. You can also make a reservation online.

https://www.enfacedelapetiteperigourdine.com/menus-carte/

Wonderful feedback THANK YOU! I prefer my meat, eggs not well done so probably will could eat everything no problem
but need to research for these folks only eat well done and I my opinion " ruin" it too :) G3myCee...

JoLui..Thank you for comment on Hippopotamus, will skip as we need well done. As you and Judy say, will look for
beef bourguignon and stew etc cooked long. If we they are ordering Steak Frites good to know if
we say tres, tres bien cuit ( Elizabeth) may help!

Good to know that scrambled eggs might be tough because yes, they like them well done too and ruin them :)
Melt and Cafe Panis will be very good options thank you !

DebH.. the link for En Face de Petite Peridgordine did not open to english menu but will try snapping photo and put in ChatGPT
to see. you are the 2nd person to recommend this restuarant .. must be good !

Thank you so very much so helpful!

Are you also considering lunch in addition to breakfast and dinner? If so consider a ham sandwich from a bakery. You can also get it with butter on it, if you really want to push the envelope. Some bakeries may have a “formula” menu — drink. sandwich, pastry which can be excellent and a good value. Remember to greet the bakery staff with “bonjour” at the first opportunity as this is the polite way to engage. Extra credit if you can order it in French. It will take about 10 minutes to learn how to do that.

Ham Sandwich is great idea for lunch. Bonjour first always .... or Bonsoir if dinner time ?

I wouldn't ignore Hippopotamus. If you ask for your meal well done, they'll do it. They're used to tourists in Paris. They have more than steak too - ribs, chicken, etc.

Out of curiosity, I took a look at the menu at La Petite Perigourdine.

In the list of main dishes:

Regarding the meat dishes: ,

• Tartare de bœuf, frites maison , mesclun

• Tartare de boeuf à l'italienne, frites maison et roquette

These two "Tartare" are raw meat: (tartare is always coarsely chopped raw meat)

• Saucisse du buron "Aligot" is a traditional mountain dish from the south of France (in Aubrac). It's a sausage accompanied by cheese blended into mashed potatoes. See how we traditionally eat it (sorry, but it probably won't be like this in Paris).

https://youtu.be/mrcwcfZ5L4Y?t=43

• Confit de canard, pommes de terre sarladaises. . As I've already mentioned, is a duck leg cooked in its own duck fat. So there's nothing to worry about; it won't be "bloody". It's a specialty of the Dordogne region.

• Escalope de veau, linguine aux morilles , is generally well-cooked, but you should check it because it can be slightly pink.

These two beef dishes:

• Pièce de bœuf du boucher (O. France), frites maison, sauce béarnaise

• Côte de bœuf env.1 kg (O. France) pour 2, frites maison, mesclun

These are cuts of beef, and even if you ask for them "well done," they might not be "well done" enough for you, since "well done" in France is close to "medium well" for an American.

By the way, speaking of Hippopotamus, we have a joke in France:

-What are you doing tonight?

-Tonight I'm going to Hippopotamus.

-Okay, but where are you going to eat after that?

Just a thought, is there a French restaurant near you that you could visit before you go?
It might be an easier environment to experience what is on a ‘typical french’ menu so that they have a clearer idea of what they might like to order when they get there.

Also what do they actually like to eat? People might be able point you in the direction of something similar?

OP, I hope you encourage your picky eaters to broaden their tastes by trying "new to them" foods. They may be pleasantly surprised. Sometimes you just need to take that first bite. But, try to find a restaurant that serves a good version of the dish. Not all Boeuf Bourguignon or Coq au Vin are the same.

As mentioned up thread, duck confit, with its crispy skin and served with garlicky potatoes, is a different taste and texture from grilled duck breast. I discovered hot goat cheese salads on an early Paris trip and now serve it occasionally at dinner parties. Even those who insist they hate goat cheese eat every bite.

And note, just like on American menus, Steak Tartare is not a cooked dish. It is finely minced beef combined with seasonings and served raw. It's a taste I haven't acquired, but is enjoyed by many.

How kind of you JoLui!

This makes the menu so much more clear !
It all sounds delicious to me .... sadly no veal or duck will be eaten by these folks.
I do think they can order the beef suggestions and hope with a cooked we tres bien cuit it will be!

JeanM.... I have many yrs experience trying to expand their taste so that's why Im trying prepare ahead:)
With your explanation on duck confit , this might be good trial ! and I do know warm goat salad would
be a huge love ... if we can find a spot that has !
Thank you!

The Great Canadian Pub! Left bank. 25 Quai des Grand Augustins in the 6th.
Also, there was a Chipotle on the left bank.

Great Canadian Pub looks so easy and ... to Chipotle will definitely ( sadly) be a stop .
Good to know there are there ..Thank you !

THANK YOU FOR HOLY BELLY ! Will def go!

Huge lines at the weekend. Only attempt going on a weekday, and don't travel far for it: it's nothing to write home about.

Thanks for the note on Holy Belly.....only on weekday

I would not go out of my way to go to HolyBelly. I go there with my son and husband if we are otherwise going to be in that area only because my son has to have American breakfast every so often. There is often a line and they started adding a tip of 20% to the bill. As to the food, as my 20-year-old sone would say "they fell off." I hate to be one of those "oh it was so much better before" people but that is definitely the case with HolyBelly. How does the fam feel about barbecue? There are locations of Melt, a Texas barbecue place in the 15th and 11th arrondissements and I think the 17th. I mean if you are willing to go to HolyBelly which is in the 10th, you might be willing to go to Melt.