Going to Paris with a 9 month old in a few weeks. Does anyone know of any babysitting services, or restaurants that open as early as 5 for dinner?
La Maison de L’Aubrac does continuous service and is a good option for beef. My son had a killer Lasagne there last month. We went in for an early meal upon our arrival into Paris after a long flight. I would book, as they were turning people away at 5pm. The wine list is ok, but prices have gone up substantially over the past few years.
take me and I’ll babysit
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I’m planning for an upcoming trip 2nd week of April. Our hotel is near the Odeon Theatre - looking for a solid french bistro near our hotel for our first night there. My 12 year old son has been promised steak frites and I want to make sure we start off on the right foot. Nothing fancy, but any recommendations are welcome! Thanks
Hi Ryan,
we always stay near the Odeon theatre. Au Petit Suisse is a good option for you. Classic Bistro, nice feel to the place and decent food.
cheers
Jeremy
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Quick 3 nights at the tag end of a Spain trip. Three solid dinners, didn’t go for any of the super wine list or Michelin tasting menu spots this time, but all honest delicious cooking.
Le Bon Saint Pourcain - great rec from @jprusack. A tiny spot in the sixth near the Luxembourg Gardens. Maybe 5 tables? Blackboard menu. Best veal I’ve ever had and the starter of polenta with egg and black truffle made me very happy to be back in Paris. Wine list interesting but almost NYC prices, we had a 2015 Rossignol Trapet Teurons that was drinking very well, but it was over 100e. Mostly locals. If you’re staying nearby it’s certainly worth a stop.
Bistrot Paul Bert - somehow our first time there, I don’t need to go into detail. Yeah it’s all Americans but the filet is delicious, and the potatoes alongside the steak for two are amazeballs. Good list a bit cheaper than the first night, we had a Paitaille Marsanay, it was 80e if I recall.
Semilla - our first dinner repeat in Paris for the past few years, we met up with berserker @EricZ. Delicious lamb shoulder and sea bass cooked in salt crust, both for two. Always a hit. Nice list, we had a Domaine de Marnes Blanches Savagnin aux Bois 2021 which is a wonderful beast that will reward some cellar time (though still good now).
Went simple for lunches and had excellent salads at Le Petit Lux (also near Luxembourg Gardens) and at the cafe in the Bon Marche.
Man there might be bad food in Paris but we haven’t been able to find it (unlike in Spain …ha…will detail that on another thread).
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Wendy Lyn recently posted this list of those which she views as the current best of Paris bistros. While I have a quibble or two, in my opinion, it is a very good list that includes many favorites.
The 12 Best Bistros in Paris 
All the restaurants in this collection are listed in no particular order and are based on recommendations from World of Mouth experts, including chef Bruno Verjus, food writer Wendy Lyn, and Sachin Obaid.
Head to the World of Mouth app to save your favorites to your wishlist. Which of these bistros will you add to your Parisian culinary journey? Let us know in the comments…
Bistrot Paul Bert @bistrotpaulbert
Parcelles @parcelles_paris
Le Bon Georges @le_bon_georges
Le Baratin @lebaratinparis
Bistrot Des Tournelles @bistrotdestournelles
BRUTOS @brutosparis
Le Grand Bain @legrandbainparis
Bouillon Pigalle @bouillonlinsta
L’Ami Jean @l_ami_jean
Chez Georges @chezgeorgesruedumail
Buvette Paris @buvetteparis
Café les Deux Gares @cafelesdeuxgares
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As @Ethan_A mentioned above it was my first trip to France for me and the wife. We spent 3 days in Paris, and with everyone’s help we picked Verjus, Le Coq and Semilla. The food/service at Verjus was outstanding, I am still thinking about the John Dory fish course, though my wife loved the chicpea/hummus “taco” from the starters. The Bresse Chicken at Le Coq was spot on, and better than another Bresse chicken we had in Lyon a few days prior. As Ethan mentioned above, my wife and I had the Cod for dinner at Semilla and it was very enjoyable. To me, all 3 were a hit! For lunch, instead of bistros we went dessert hunting - we ate at Des Gateaux, Pierre Herme, Jacques Genin, Jean-Pal Hevin and Alain Ducasse and forgetting a few smaller places we stopped by as well. On my last day to grab something quick, our hotel concierge (Paris Hilton Opera) suggested I go to the Galeries Lafaytte and there is a huge gourmet food court there so that was a nice surprise and anyone with a family that wants some mixed cuisine it is perfect as there is French, Spanish, Mediterranean, Japanese and several other cuisines served there along with 4-5 chocolatiers, a truffe shop and a wine shop.
Next time we go we’ll maybe focus on a Michelin rated restaurant and some casual bistro’s too. Not enough time to eat everything 
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Correction: the race is on the 24th of March, not the 14th.
More about it here (unfortunately in French):
https://www.eaudeparis.fr/rendez-vous/la-course-des-cafes-la-mythique-course-des-garcons-de-cafe-reprend-du-service
My wife and I had a recent five night stay in Paris (plus a sixth a week later) and I thought I’d share my thoughts. The week we were in Paris, unbeknownst to us, was during some sort of huge wine industry event, which made finding reservations at a number of the places I had been interested in booking challenging, if not impossible.
La Bourse et la Vie- a Paris By Mouth recommendation, it’s a decent, if uninspiring bistro. Our meal was solid, but nothing about it made me want to return.
Juveniles- we had a great meal here. The food was excellent. Nothing over the top, but very well executed and interesting. The wine list was solid as well. We had a PYCM St. Aubin and a Clape Cornas, both of which were reasonably priced.
Automne This place has a Michelin star and we had a really nice lunch here on Valentine’s Day. Food was very good and everything was well-executed. The amuses were all excellent and the scallop, chanterelles, broccoli course was truly excellent. Wine list was solid.
Verjus- We really enjoyed our meal here,. A couple of the amuses were melt in your mouth delicious- an egg yolk with herbed cream and a kuri squash/marigold “cannoli” stood out. I’d agree with EricZ that the John Dory course was the highlight.
Les Enfants du Marché- This place was pretty much exactly what I expected based on all the comments here. Some great food- a scallop crudo with chives, vinegar, and roe was a real standout, alongside a squid and blood sausage dish. We had a couple of glasses of Riesling from Alsace that was decent (“it just came in today” seems to have been the sole selling point). I would like to return on a day when we didn’t have a signficant dinner reservation booked for later and to hang for a few hours and try more dishes. I will say, the vibe is a bit more “too cool for school” than I would find ideal, but the quality of the food more than makes up for it.
Le Mazenay- this was a place that’s on the Paris By Mouth 50 Favorite list right now. We booked a lunch there (as that’s all I could find). Located in the Marais, it’s run by a couple. The husband, who is French, is the chef, and the wife, who is Vietnamese, runs the front of the house. The food was delicious (my wife had an excellent John Dory with cabbage and chervil and I had a roast pigeon with tarragon and orange). The pommes dauphine, deep fried clouds of mashed potatoes are pure melt in your mouth decadence. The wine list was good too. Even though it had been picked over a bit by the industry crowd earlier in the week, we were able to drink a lovely bottle of reasonably priced Raveneau. Lan, the wife is super friendly and very knowledgeable about wine (and chartreuse, if you’re interested). Almost everyone else who was dining there were clearly regulars (based on the way the were greeted by Lan). We lingered for a very long lunch, finishing with a great conversation with Lan and some Chartreuse. This was one of our favorite meals of the trip.
Raviolis Nord-Est- a hole in the wall on Rue St. Denis, this was a great place to grab some Beijing-style dumplings for an easy lunch. This was perfect on a cold, dreary February day.
Septime- best meal of the trip, for us. Every course was at least outstanding. The amuse, which was a brioche bun with Comte “cream” was incredibly light and refreshing, completely unexpected. The meal was vegetable-centric and the vegetable courses were, by and large, the stand-outs for us. We did go with the wine pairing. The wine list is almost exclusively devoted to natural wine and I didn’t recognize more than a couple of names. For the most part, the wines were decent, with nothing that was outstanding (though a vin Jaune style Savagnin from the Jura was delicious). It feels to me as if the wine is very much secondary to the “story” among the natural wine true believers- “This Jurançon was made by a pharmacist who had never set foot in a vineyard before deciding to give up her career an buy a small plot of Petite and Gros Manseng”. One of the wines we were served, I believe qualifies for the natural wine grand slam- from Georgia (“wine was made in Georgia for centuries before the French ever discovered wine. This is from the true birthplace of winemaking.”) and comprised of a field blend of three white and one red grape, co-fermented with skin contact in buried amphorae. It ticked all the boxes. And it tasted exactly how you would predict it would. Not for me. Ok, rant over. Our meal at Septime was sublime. I am sure we will return, and next time, I think I will order a Champagne off the list (they have bottles from both Lassaigne and Vouette et Sorbée on the list) and skip the whole pairing thing.
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100% agree. Food was good but meh vibe. Went one time for lunch and never went back.
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Has anyone gotten a sense from restaurant contacts what the plan is for summer? Ie will the usual first three weeks of August be vacations for restaurants, or will they be shifting it to during the Olympics (to avoid the craziness) or after the Olympics (to get Olympics business)?
I have not talked to anyone but I personally can’t imagine they will not take those weeks off. It is an interesting question however about if restaurants decide to close during the Olympics or if there will be a lot of buyouts which I have already heard about from one of our favorites here
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Great write up.
And exactly that on septime. Champagne is the way to go.
Thai Toutain told us that they were closing during the Olympics, decamping from Paris, and would likely do a pop-up somewhere else in Europe or beyond. She indicated that they weren’t alone in their thinking, but didn’t specify anyone else.
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That makes sense to me.
We just got back from 5 nights in Paris and 3 in Reims.
Paris:
Sat (Lunch) Les Arlots (10th): Artichauts barigoule, superb fish poelee, and their excellent herb sausage with mashed potatoes. Tried the chocolate mousse, and it was fab. Outstanding quality to price ratio. We loved it. Busy at lunch. They suggested a trio of whites to choose from, and we went with Inebriate Nerei 2022, from north of Montpellier which worked nicely with food.
Sat (Dinner): Les Resistants (10th) We had beef carpaccio and smoked St Jacques to start and both were excellent. Beef liver for mains was delicious for me but my wife was not a fan. Other main we chose was an Einkorn grain vegetarian dish which didn’t work for either of us, so a fail. Should have gone for the octopus as it looked great. Somm was great and she suggested a Rene Bouvier Aligote VV, and it was perfect. They are super focused on ingredients, and sourcing of food etc. Everything very fairly priced and not expensive. Would definitely go back.
Sun (L) Dilia (20th): Tried out this italian place with choice of 5 or 6 or 7 courses for sunday lunch. Near Belleville. We loved the food, the service, and the wines. Little amuses were super tasty. A polenta break stick, one au naturel and one with some lovely guanciale. Then a little pizza with chicory, pickled celery and burrata. Last amuse was a bagna cauda with endive + noisette. The first course was lamb tortellini with bottarga and rhubarb In a chamomile broth. Next a red mullet with sea urchin hollandaise, lemon, and cabbage. Main plate was duck with smoked pickled beets and buckwheat. A cheese course followed - buche de Raina, Tomme fort St Antonio, and Tomme de brebis du bearn hiver. All delicious and new to us. There was a pre desert of a custard with tangerine flavors and the. dessert of Banana with peanuts, lime and verbena. Nice to contrast creative italian food with what was mostly french elsewhere.
Sun (D) Daroco Bourse (2nd): Were meeting friends, so this was recommended for wood fired pizza and home made pasta. Booked for 7pm, was there on time, queue outside to get in, was raining, and they made everyone wait in rain as hostess processed everyone 1x1. Fail. Pasta was unremarkable. There was a new wood fired pizza oven, which wasn’t working/up to temp, so no pizza available. Wouldn’t return.
Mon (L) Caves Petrissans (17th): I have been coming for years. Good cave, and classic bistro food. Had lunch special of a pork jarre, celeri remoulade, rognons de veau, & a boudin noir (Christain Parra sourced) which was delicious. Alain Voge VV Cornas 2016 was perfect accompaniment.
Mon (D) Willi’s Wine Bar : Unremarkable minestrone soup, followed by a decent confit de canard and a pork dish that was fine as well. Stephane Robert Dom du Tunnel Cornas 2017 as we were on a Cornas roll by that stage. Maybe one french couple audible in the place. Mostly anglophones. Overall, most of the food was good, wine list for rhone rangers, but with so many options in Paris, I probably would not go back for a while.
Tues (L) Arpege (7th) 1st time, and indeed 1st time to a ***M in Paris. Wonderful, lengthy, expensive, creative, tasty … maybe 70% of dishes were excellent but wasn’t overawed. Highlights were a Cevennes onion gratin, beet tartare, squash soup, hot & cold egg (warm egg, cold cream, sherry vinegar, 4 spice, maple syrup, chives), and a ravioli in broth, The color and beauty of the dishes is often just sublime. Made a rookie mistake of accepting a glass of rose champagne to start instead of looking first at the wine menu. 100Euro later for 2 glasses of Laurent Perrier brut rose, I thought i could have spent that 100 Euro a little more wisely, but c’est la vie. It was tasty, and not an everyday event. Somm Florian suggested JC Bessin Chablis Le Foret 2017 and it was lovely with the 4 course lunch we chose (probably 8-10 course or more all told, as we lost count). Really wanted to see what was the “ne plus ultra” with vegatables, in Michelin world. And it is indeed very, very impressive. Made me think a little differently about vegetables and for that I am grateful.
Tues (D) 228 litres (9th) After large lunch we chose this wine bar, and it was perfect. Had the home made terrine and beignet de grenouille which were both delicious. Never had frog leg fritter before and it was tasty. Another cornas - Mickael Bourg Les petits bouts 2021 - on the more natural side. Would go back as place was rocking, and rest of menu looked great, both food and wine.
Wed (L) Le Rigmarole (11th): Superb hosts, Jess & Robert. Superb food - essentially Jess will ask you what you feel like eating … meat, fish, veg … lunch is $65 or $85, both 7-10 courses of small omakase type plates, the price difference being slightly more expensive ingredients for $20 extra. The scallop tartare with seaweed is shown below, and the fish i think is haddock. Heavenly. Nothing less than you would expect from a couple who met cooking at Guy Savoy, after one had cooked in Japan and the other had studied chemical engineering at Berkeley. There was a chicken skewer which initially gave me pause as it was cooked “rose” - Jess said it would be fine- & it was delicious. Gotta try new things when traveling I guess 
. They curate a largely natural wine list, and we enjoyed her recommendations. Lovely savennieres and abruzzo rosato. Mostly anglophones eating here. Would come back again and again and again. Lovely 3 hour relaxed lunch with great food & wine. A highlight of the trip.
Wed (D) Cafe les 2 Gares (10th): our last meal in Paris was at the Cafe les 2 Gares, as it was across the street from our hotel, its sister, the Hotel les 2 Gares. Perfect bistro, mostly natural wine list, busy and fun, with excellent staff who were young and super friendly. They had lost our reservation due to some computer snafu (make sure you get a confirmation email if you reserve online and call / email of you do not). It didn’t bother them a bit - they said give us 5m and we’ll sort out a two spot for you, and they did.
We had oysters to start (delicious), followed by a Jerusalem artichoke confit with shallots, white celery, bottarga and ginger. Main course was a pork loin with endive celery radish garlic and it was excellent. Also a plaice cooked in butter with fennel and kiwi and a smoked cream sauce. Delicious. We had an Anthony Tortuga natural white which went very well with our food. Jonathan Schweizer is the chef I believe and he can cook. Definitely would go back.
Overall, would go back to Les Arlots, Les Resistants, Dillia, Caves Petrissans, 228 litres, Le Rigmarole, and Cafe Les 2 Gares. Very happy with that success rate. No bad meal - Darocco might tempt me for their pizza if it was up and running, and Willi’s for the wine and maybe a snack. Arpege was excellent but might do a splurge on another **M or ***M venue next time.
Reims:
We decided to dip our toes into Reims, never having been before, and would just visit one of the big houses in town. A friend recommended Ruinart, which we did, and enjoyed immensely.
Thu (L) La Grand Georgette: We stayed at the hotel Caserne, and this is their restaurant. Food was very pretty, presented with biscuit toiles on top of the food for a lacey effect. We had the set menu for E39 of starter and mains … beef tartare, mushroom soup, chicken supreme, scallops … all very good, with a nice Oger from Vincent. Its across the street from Reims cathedral, so a nice view.
Thu (D) Au Bon Manger: Some wine folks had recommend we go, and boy were we glad. It was a wonderful evening where the hosts, Aline & Eric, source the finest products for their epicerie/wine store. They do food on Thu/Fri evenings and St lunch I think. Perhaps the best smoked salmon and rillettes we have had, were here. Just a nice wine bar with fun folk that like to drink. Elise Dechannes chardonnay, Barrat-Masson Margannes and Rupert-Leroy Fosse Grely were three champagnes we tried and loved all three which were very different. We also had a natural croatian red, Kaamen as well as an Oregon red, Tzum Fionn, which was delicious. They ship anywhere, which several of the wine caves in Paris told us too. I guess shipping to US is getting a little easier, but it varied from E250 to E350 a case, from what i remember various places tell me. Both the somm at 228 Litres, and at Arpege knew of this place, when they asked where we were going in Reims, and recommended it.
Fri (L) Racine: M** in Reims itself, and it was excellent. We had lunch, ostensibly 4 courses, but it numbered many more. Nice friendly staff, in a smaller sized dining room, with 6 tables from what i saw. Chef Tanaka knows his stuff and we really enjoyed his food. He came out twice to finish dishes and we had a few words with him. Nice fellow, on the quiet side. Wine list, in nice wooden binder, is very good, with nice prices from E35 to Exxxx Good to see in a **M. We had a wonderful white asparagus dish, scallop with morel, mackerel & root vegetables, lamb saddle, and various desserts varying from coffee to vanilla to fruit. We had a Riceys from Nowack, and a light Alsace pinot noir from Beck-Hartweg, with a glass of green chartreuse to finish. Wonderful meal, nicely paced, and never too full afterwards. Would go back.
Fri (D) Glue Pot: Great wine list, with burgers and steaks and simpler food, which is what we wanted. Burger was excellent, hadn’t had jalapeño poppers in years, and Graillot Hermitage went nicely with it. At Ruinart, the following morning, a few staff enquired as to where we ate in the area, and all love and go to Glue Pot frequently. A pub with a good wine list.
Sat morning 9h30am Ruinart tour: We had a good visit, just the 2 of us and 5 italian winemakers from the Dolomites (Maso Martis winery). Nice guys, and the tour guide was friendly and knowledgeable. We saw the huge caves that they have, and then tasted the BdB and BdB Rose, as well as the Don Ruinary version of both. Good tour, takes just under 3 hours, and nice to see a big house and how they operate. They are building a newer bar/restaurant/welcome center which opens October I think. LVMH splashing around the cash. We had just come from another LVMH operation in Paris, the Foundation, for the Rothko exhibit, which was great, and our excuse for visiting Paris this time.
Sat (L) La Table des Halles: Simple restaurant near the market, where we had the set menu for E24 (starter main or main dessert). We shared the leek starter, had the haddock and pork as mains, and shared the creme brûlée. Simple, and nice, with a white StJoseph to accompany everything. Locals seemed to like it as it filled up and they turned folk away, as they don’t turn tables.
Sat (D) Le Bocal, L’Etal de la poissonnerie: Fishmonger in the market with restaurant attached. Delightful with nice wine list. We had another Riceys from Drappier, and 2 types of Oysters, roasted mussels, Tuna tartare and red mullet poelee. The fish is offered 2 ways - a choice between either having it tartare or cooked simply and panroasted with salt/pepper/oilive oil, which is what we did with tuna and red mullet. I probably should have gone for the Ledru Goutte’10 for $190 as I just saw it pop up in an email sale over here today for $500. Finished the meal with the fromage blanc and it was good.
Next time, we might not stay in Reims, and would explore more, and visit smaller properties, but we enjoyed our visit to the town, and loved AuBonManger, Racine, LeBocal, GluePot.
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I will soon be wrapping up 6 weeks in the Marais. This thread has been so valuable that I thought I would briefly contribute my own two cents to the discussion, building on what others with more knowledge and experience have already shared:
Restaurants:
Parcelles (twice) – best overall & one of my favorite restaurants anywhere. It is precisely the way I like to dine – casually nice but not stuffy, excellent personal service, lively vibe, rustic decor, outstanding food and wine, all reasonably priced.
Le Mazenay - great food, lovely owners, excellent wine list. A glass of 1980 Mas Amiel Maury pipetted from a demijohn was special and delicious.
Verjus – fantastic food & wine experience
Maison Nicholas Flamel – 1-star level of food and formality, very good dining, nice list
Clamato – spectacularly delicious lunch, perhaps THE best food of the trip despite the super casual setting
Marche Enfants Rouge – cool and fun with excellent food
Bistrot Volnay – classic bistro, very good burgundy list with some aged gems
Glou – small neighborhood place that I frequented for lunch. Inexpensive, solid, traditional food, nice BTG, laid-back vibe. Just the kind of rock-solid neighborhood place you love to have nearby.
Les Bon Georges – old school wine bistro, with a list like an early 1980s Yellow Pages. Classic food, expansive list (though not as many older wines as I would have hoped). Total classic and will return again for dinner and multiple bottles.
Wine bars:
Freddy’s – great wine bar with delicious-looking small plates
Mary Celeste – great night spot for a glass of wine. Food pretty limited
Le Barav – natural wine focus, super popular and crowded with young professionals. Not quite a wine geek vibe though
Willi’s – solid dinner, great list especially in the Rhone
O Chateau – bigger, busier, good mix of old and new. Solid choice for wine and decent food, but maybe less French feeling
Ambassade de Bourgogne – small Burgundy-focused wine bar. Gougeres and a glass of Rully was cool, lots of big-name retail selections in the basement
Verjus wine bar – cool, subterranean vibe and decent natural wines BTG
Caves Legrand – fully booked but we dropped by anyway and it seemed cool in an old-school way
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Thank you @Kevin_Sidders it is always great to get recent feedback. Oh what I would not give to spend 6 weeks in the Marais!
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We are staying at a VRBO near the Rambuteau metro stop for 9 days at the end of the month. We already have reservations at Maison sota,the Clown bar,
Les enfants rouge, and Le Mazenay mostly due to this dining thread. Thanks to everyone for the comments.
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