Dine Like a Parisian

I usually ask a local for a recommendation!

Enjoy Paris--it's my favorite city!

Is this a trick question? They eat al fresco, crowded indicates good, but not necessarily great, food, and since there are so many choices, we will hope to hear back from you on YOUR recommendations on your return. Echoing the above post - my favorite city as well. Have a great time!

The link below takes you to the well known (in France) online site of the Michelin Red Guide.

http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/viamichelin/gbr/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm

When you get to the site, click the restaurant tab and look on the left for other options to click. The Bib Gourmand category is popular with those looking for good food at (what for Paris is) reasonable prices.

I attempt to find places away from the tourist areas and ask locals for recommendations. Paris is my favorite city too!

Kent is pointing you in the right direction. Without knowing what you mean by "reasonable", what you want (there are many styles of French cooking and you'll find them all in Paris) and what neighborhoods you'll be in, it's hard to give you a specific recommendation.

You might like David Lebowitz's list--it's full of casual places, and he has a very good guide on dining out/restaurant etiquette in Paris at the end.
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/paris/

Remember to bring a menu translator if you don't read French--you won't find English menus at most good restaurants.

Sharon, I found a delightful small book at our library. It's called "Clotilde’s Edible Adventures in Paris" - the author is Clotilde Dusoulier. It's in English and describes restaurants and food resources in every area of Paris and in every price range. If you can't find it locally, maybe you can find a copy, new or used, on Amazon. The book is small enough to take along. Another charming small book is "Markets of Paris - Food, Antiques, Artisanal Crafts, Books and More - with Restaurant Recommendations". The authors are Dixon and Ruthanne Long. It's arranged by areas, has suggested daily itineraries and restaurant listings and an index of markets plus another index of restaurants, bistros and brasseries. Definitely a take-along or read before you go and make a list of places to visit. I'm taking it on my next trip.

Patisserie Stephane Secco, on Rue Jean Nicot, near Rue Cler, Rick's favorite neighborhood. We stumbled upon it accidently, just walking in the area, looking for a cafe. There was a line up out the door, spilling into the street - all locals. We spoke to a woman in line - originally from New York City, now living in Paris. She told us there used to be a lot of places like this - now they're rare. It's a deli really with ready made dishes. We ordered something like a shepherd's pie, some quiche, a slice of wonderful pizza and some fantastic ratatouille. We bought drinks from the G20 supermarche across the street and took our treasures to a bench along the Seine to enjoy our picnic. It was wonderful.

By the way, our lovely picnic for 2 cost only about 13E for the 2 of us.

So will we! Hope people post you good suggestions! Sounds like street side cafe and right off the markets is best.

In my experience it is restaurants in Paris that specialise in French regional cuisine that offer good value for money as well as good authentic food. Perhaps because they cater to people who have moved to the capital from the provinces and want to eat their own specialities. So look for anything that specialises in Breton, Corsican, Alsatian, Lyonnais, southwestern food etc. It's all good!

We do what Parisians do: as we walk around, we look at menus, remember what looked good and go back. We tend to eat our "big meal" at lunch and picnic at night and it saves money. Also, we tend to make excursions out to neighborhoods so we hit places that are off the tourist route. We generally stay near Rue Moufetard so we go to the markets there (down near Place Monge) to get our picnic items.

Ah, a question that brings back happy memories! We went to the desk of our favorite little hotel in our favorite little neighborhood (sorry, can't tell) and asked the desk clerk for a lunch recommendation. He dropped what he was doing and escorted us about 2 blocks to a little cafe'. It was full of locals. The food was solidly "good" and memorable; no three star ratings; no fancy prices --just good food washed down w/ a few glasses of decent wine. So, yes, if you strike up any kind of relationship with a local, ask for a recommendation... I'm guessing you won't be disappointed.

I was in Paris last week, and stumbled upon a wonderful restaurant by the name of Oscar Restaurant. The staff bent over backwards to ensure we had everything we wanted - the food was superb! As we people-watched, it was obvious that some folks were returning guests and others were new. One gentleman in particular must have been important as everyone approached him to introduce themselves. Even the chef was gracious and mingled with the guests.

I don't see an internet site but here is the contact info: Oscar Restaurant; 6, rue de Chaillot, 75116 Paris; phone #01 47 20 26 92 (thanks to the little cards that were in all the restaruants!) Enjoy your trip - I fell in love with the city and can't wait to go back.

Cafe du Marche on rue Cler is great -- Rick promotes it heavily, and other guidebooks do also. It's very reasonable, friendly and good. I had lunch at Le Grand Colbert last week, a bit more posh and pricey, but it was very nice.

I got food poisoning from Cafe du Marche on rue Cler and spent the last 48 hrs of my precious time in Paris on the bathroom floor in 105 degree heat (2003). It was horrible. I realize this can happen anywhere, but because of what happened to me, I do not recommend Cafe du Marche.

BG, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the Grand Colbert. It is a beautiful restaurant, made famous because it was in a Jack Nicholson film (sorry, don't remember the title). It has a reputation of being a tourist trap. Also the restaurants in rue Cler will be filled with Americans, but the food is fine. Nothing against us Americans, but in France it's nice to eat w/a few locals.