Traveling to Paris in early July with my 6 and 8 yr olds. Looking for help with appropriate restaurants. Anyone with recent experience? They are generally good dining out but thinking casual is better. Any help would be appreciated!
Mike,
We were there in October with our 1 and 4 year olds and found a couple of really great spots (good enough that we plan to return on our next trip in a few weeks). We were quite uncertain about how places would respond to little kids but everywhere we went they were very gracious. Our favorites were Mallory Gabsi and Frederic Simonin.
We found that lunches were generally much more comfortable with kids than dinners. For most of our dinners we just collected things from shops in the neighborhood and ate in our apartment, which was both delicious and worked out great with a one year old. If we could pull it off, youâll have no problem at 6 and 8.
I mentioned this on a couple of other threads, but flammekeuche at lâAlsacien is always a hit with kids. Itâs like a pizza but thinner and made with different ingredients.
There are two: one near Hotel de Ville and a second near Republique.
Mike -
Timâs recommendation is a good one, and the one near Hotel de Ville is in the center of the everything - near the Islands, the Marais & the Seine (& the Paris beaches they will have set up in July - the Paris Plages).
Breizh Cafes (multiple locations) has excellent (authentic!) Bretagne crepes, both savory & sweet, and of course kids also love it. The one in Odeon (the 6th) is a 10 minute walk from Jardin Luxembourg.
Finally, the walking market streets - e.g, rue Cler near the Eiffel Tower will have numerous outdoor restaurants (i.e., places with large outdoor terraces) where its generally very easy to take care of kids. (And for that matter, the large outdoor terraces at many, many places throughout Paris should be pretty easy/kid friendly - and the weather will be perfect in July for same.)
Beyond food, for kids (& adults), Paris Plage (the Paris summer beach) will be fully open on the Right Bank of the Seine, so there is 1 mile plus of places to walk, ride bikes, scooter, kids play areas, and enjoy the sun (& hudreds of Parisians), and there are several restaurants on boats (open or w/ roof top terraces) which are very fun & kid friendly.
Finally, as you may know, some large parks (Jardin du Luxembourg, Champ du Mars next to the Eiffel Tower, Tuilleries next to the Louvre) all have chlildrensâ playgrounds, toy sailboats for kids, and still for 2024 pony rides for kids (they are banned starting in 2025), as well as cafes right in the parks. These are all of course also great picnic areas. (And if you wanted to be super Parisian/get a break from your kids for a while, there are enclosed playgrounds in Les Halles - center of Paris, Right Bank - where you can drop the kids off for an hour+ at a time to play with other kids their age under adult/chaperone supervision, while you go to the terrace of Au Pied de Cochon for cocktails or hit Bourse de Commerce/Petit Commerce for art or a quick bite/drink).
The beginning of July is 2 weeks before the Olympics - Paris should be exciting then, but note some key areas/streets will be fully blocked off to traffic due to the competition venues theyâre building (e.g., Place du Concorde, Invalides). (For that matter too, I wonder if 1/2 or more of Paris Plage this year on the Seine will be cancelled, as they have to build grandstands for the Opening Ceremony on certain parts of the Seine.)
Theo
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When our kids were young, many restaurants were more gracious to dogs than kids. Theyâve gotten better.
I agree with Theo on Rue Cler, etal. And donât forget Berthillon for ice cream on Ile Saint-Louis (there is one just across the bridge from Notre Dame (and an Alsatian restaurant that would work fine for kids right across the street)
Weâve been to Paris 3 times in the last 2 years with our (now) 6 and 10 year olds, so very similar age. They are good eaters which makes it a bit easier but weâve really had very little trouble eating pretty much wherever we wanted with them. The only tasting menu we did was David Toutain,(at lunch), who is happy to serve a normal plate for kids rather than a full menu, though both our kids went for the shorter tasting anyway (they were hit or miss on the food but there was enough that they didnât leave hungry, and they really enjoyed the experience). For another fancy spot Le George was a hit and the most beautiful room - I think most family-friendly hotels will be fairly welcoming to kids at the restaurants. Le George had coloring books for them to play with during the meal.
Besides those weâve mostly gone to more casual places recommended here, Paris by Mouth, or Wendy Lynâs IG. Some of the more modern-ish places have been a fit more hit or miss as far as food the kids liked (Le Saint Sebastian and Les Enfants for example). But in general weâve had tons of great meals, I think the biggest hits for us have been the bistro-ish places as the food is very approachable - Vantre, Paul Bert, Au Petit TOnneauâŚetc.
Also the cafe at the Bon Marche was excellent.
Great! Thank you all
I would echo Ethanâs comments. Eat where you want to eat. We took our two boys to Paris for the first time when they were 6 & 8. It was long enough ago, that it isnât worth trying to remember restaurants, but we ate at decent bistros (many of the places recommended in âParis by Mouthâ would be equivalents) & we were treated extremely well everywhere we went. Once the waitstaff recognized that our kids were polite (they at least knew âsâil vous plaitâ & âmerciâ), knew how to behave in a restaurant, & werenât asking for chicken strips, we were given the royal treatment. It was a fantastic experience that my wife & I still treasure. Iâm excited for you to have a similar experience!
If I could make one specific restaurant rec, based on a great meal we had a couple of months ago, it would be Le Mazenay. Below are my comments from the Paris restaurant thread. There were a couple of families with young kids there at the same time my wife & I were & they got lots of attention.
Adding - the playground at the Luxembourg Gardens is really great, you have to pay a few euros to enter. We had lunch at a great little spot called Le Petit Lux right on the edge of the park - great salads and a few cooked options. The trampolines in the Tuileries are always a hit though the playground there is a bit smaller (though free).