Paris Restaurants

John, Please be a little more specific. How much do you want to spend? What might be medium priced for you could well be too much for some one else. I can reccommend a great website:
http://hungryforparis.squarespace.com/ He has written a book on the best 102 restaurants in Paris. Very entertaining.

RS Paris Guide Book has numerous suggestions that you may want to use to fit into your medium price range.

Without knowing how "special" the celebration is, or how much "medium" means to you, I will mention that we like Au Petit Suisse, near the Jardins du Luxembourg. It's a "typical Paris restaurant/cafe," but has been in business since the late 18th century, which gives it a rather special feel. The food is solidly good-to-better. My husband loves their plain old steak - it's perfectly cooked, and never fails to make him roll his eyes with pleasure. The wait staff is friendly and efficient, and will do things like bring you a lemon wedge with your espresso without rolling their eyes. :-) The ambiance is romantic (sort of Deco-y decor), and the prices are medium. Ask to sit upstairs - it's fun to have a view over the whole place. Please note it is neither swank nor fancy - just a nice place, with good food and good service where you can have a nice meal and celebrate without breaking the bank.

A nice meal,, with a view of the Eiffel Tower,, not cheap, but not over the top compared to some,, Les Ombres. Look at Le Train Bleu,, I will be frank and say my meal was only ok, but my two companions loved their meals, and the decor and atmosphere is over the top out of this world,, check out photos on website!

Across Rue di Rivoli from the Jardin des Tuileries is the Imperial Cafe (about 1 block toward the Place de la Concorde from the Westin). In the evenings, this place turns into a very nice restaurant with great food. It's a contrast to the breakfast and lunch times, during which it's just a typical Parisian cafe. The food was really good in the evenings and not terribly expensive.

I would suggest checking David Lebovitz's web-site and get restaurant suggestions. He is an American who has lived in Paris for many years. He use to be the pastry chef at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Ca. If you are mainly interested in good food and not necessarily the "best" atmosphere, see his suggestions.
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/ He also has up-to-date recommendations for chocholate shops, boulangerie, pastry shops, and markets.

Another good website is Paris by Mouth. We're in Paris right now and following a lot of their recommendations.

John and I would like to send a big thank you to everyone who offered restaurant suggestions over the past few days! Your comments are very helpful! Many thanks to you all. Leslie and John Gardiner

Just wanted to second another poster's suggestion that you scroll your way through the www.hungryforparis.com website. We used it exclusively during our last trip, and his suggestions are flawless. It's also fun to read. Since I don't have the site open right now, I can't remember his name, but I know that he was the EUropean correspondent for GOURMET Magazine for ten years--and that he's also an amazingly good writer, so this dude knows what he's talking about. My wife just reminded me that his name is Alexander, but the last name is in the fog. Anyway, go to the site--it's great!

I don't know what medium priced is in your book, but for a special restaurant for a special celebration, I strongly recommend Jules Verne. It is in the Eiffel Tower, with it's own elebator. We went at 8pm for a sunset dinner in the Summer. But we had to make reservations months in advance. Enjoy.
Cary T., Brea, CA