Help! Going to Paris on Wednesday and are looking for great, relatively cheap eats. We’re staying near the Place de Bastille but will be wandering around the Latin Quarter, Montparnasse… wherever our feet take us. Thanks.
Any particular dishes you are interested in? Ballpark budget(s) for meals?
I’m hoping someone can turn me on to someplaces where you can get good bistro fare, a nice dinner, for 3 people… 2 musicians and their 16 year old daughter for 100 euro or less. Am I nuts?
I wasn’t even able to do that for 2 people. The menus are around €30 per person, add wine and voila! You’re over
€100
If you look around you will likely find something to eat for less, but I don’t know if I would define it as “good bistro fare.”
Certifiably.
Kidding aside, regretfully, I must agree with John above. While there may be places in Paris where you can have a decent or good dinner for 3 for around €100, I personally don’t know of any, even excluding wine. It would, most likely, take a Parisian’s knowledge and experience to come up with an answer that fits.
For whatever it’s worth, though, you may want to check out the bistro L’Os à Moëlle at 3 rue Vasco de Gama in the 15th arr., they have good food at very reasonable prices. I had lunch there with my wife, and we enjoyed ourselves.
I happen to have taken a picture of their lunch set menu on the blackboard and, as far as I know, the price for the full lunch (€36/person) is still the same.
I don’t know if you can make out the dishes written, but I can e-mail you the full-sized pictures if you want. Just PM me if so.
Purchase Pudlo Paris, a local’s take on Parisian restaurants:
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Gilles Pudlowski lists @ 110 “Best value for money” entries.
I can think of one place that might fit the bill in the latin quarter. We had a €25 menu (starter, main, dessert) at Bistrot Laplace one night that was very enjoyable. The only downside was the wine pricing. We ordered a simple CdR without asking the price, and it was about €35. Ridiculous price for that wine.
Here are some recs we received a few years ago from a family member that spends quite a bit of time in France. The kids names have been changed to protect the innocent. We were only in Paris 3 days and able to visit just one of the below, Cosi which was just fine for an informal lunch.
PARIS RESTAURANTS
Ali Agnelli, 3rd, behind Place du Voges (rue Bearn??)(reasonable)
Have been going there for awhile as my friend Manu lived above the restaurant. Great salads, pastas, meats and desserts. Always full!! I usually am full just on their salads, as they are enormous (tomate mozzarella is divine). G, however, has no problem doing salad, pasta and dessert ( ma petite truckdriver).
Aux Charpentier, 6th, 10 rue Mabillon, 01.43.26.30.05 (reasonable)
Old, traditional Parisian bistro with straightforward food - roast chicken, beef fillet, duck, rabbit (not often enough) and sausages. Have daily specials which are very good also.
BMV, 3rd, rue des Archives?? (cheap)
Don’t know the exact address, but this is a great place for a fast, inexpensive lunch. You order at the counter and it’s delivered to your table. Very fresh, innovative. Also a flowershop and bookstore.
Brasserie Balzar, 5th, 49 rue des Ecoles, 01.43.54.13.67 (reasonable)
A sacred place in the 5th, close to the Sorbonne. Wonderful roasted chicken, fresh spinach, haricot verts. Read Paris to the Moon for the history of the place.
Camille, 3rd, 24 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, 01.42.72.20.59 (reasonable)
Great little bistro in the Marais. I have been taking N and G there since they were babies. Diverse, classic bistro menu. Lots to choose from (I usually have the chevre salad, G has the steak frites and N the foie gras or steak tartare. Very friendly staff, especially when the kids were little (I guess I should say younger, since they were never little).
Cosi, 6th, across from Fish, owned by the same man (cheap)
Great sandwiches for lunch - but huge. Best to share one. You choose the bread and fillings.
Fish la Boissonnerie, 6th, 69 rue de Seine, 01.43.54.34.69 (reasonable)
One of my favorites. Always has a pasta dish, meat and fish dishes on the menu, as well as interesting salads and desserts. It’s wine bar specializes in wines from the Languedoc region, which you can try by the glass or bottle (the owner is Austrailian and owns a wine shop close by). They just started their “Flying Fish” menu at lunch. For 10 euros you get a salad and a good size bowl of pasta. You should make reservations for dinner as it gets crowded. Most of the wait staff speak English.
Le Petite Bofinger, 4th, 6 rue de la Bastille, 01.42.72.05.23 (reasonable)
Usually has reasonably priced, good daily specials at a fraction of the cost of it’s parent restaurant across the street
Le Petite San Benoit, 6th, 4 rue San Benoit (cheap)
A family-style restaurant that has been around forever! The staff is curt, the menu limited and you feel like a sardine in a can. Who knows who your sitting next to or on top of, but the food is simple, delicious and cheap. No reservations and can be a bit of a wait. Best to get there early.
Restaurant des Beaux Arts, 6th, 11 rue Bonaparte (cheap - reasonable)
Where lots of the art students go to eat. Usually have a prix fixe menu for about 20 euros. Good, basic food, lively ambience.
Rue Mouffetard, 5th (cheap)
Behind the Sorbonne and Pantheon, the street has numerous great, little restaurants that are very cheap.
Rue d’Buci, 6th (cheap)
Great Chinese and sushi in a tiny little hole-in-the-wall, next to the Bar Marche on the corner of rue d’Buci and rue de Seine (around the corner from Fish and Cosi) G and N insist on going there for lunch and before-dinner snacks (as I refuse to eat Asian for dinner when I’m in Paris).
Willie’s Wine Bar, 1st?, rue des Petits Champs (reasonable)
Great wine bar and the food and ambience are great too. Can eat at the bar, as I often do. G claims their foie gras is the best… The staff is wonderful.
We had a blast at Willi’s, but I don’t think it’s possible for three people to eat there for under €100. The menu alone is a budget-buster at €35 each. That said, if you don’t mind going over a little, it’s worth it. Loved the wine list! I only wish we’d had the stamina for two bottles.
Fish in the Latin Quarter is a great place for you.
You can eat a meal for about 27 euro.
With a glass of wine it will be about 35 euro.
If you child doesn’t drink, you will be fine here.
There are several fantastic bistrots in the 6th and 7th that cater to what you want.
I will try to find the list I received from Sharon Bowman a while back.
Cheers,
Repeat message.
Daniel,
there are many places like this, but you will have to try your luck - it’s actually half the fun! I’d recommend “Café de l’Industrie”, it’s a couple of blocks from Place de la Bastille and within your budget - they have a selection of wines by the glass or bottle, usually quite cheap.
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A “brasserie” within your budget as well, near Place du Chatelet, is Le Trappiste (http://www.fra.cityvox.fr/restaurants_paris/au-trappiste_89091/Profil-Lieu" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), re: food I would suggest the mussels, the steak tartare or the croque-monsieur, and the fries! Other stuff on the menu is a bit hit or miss. Very large selection of beers. For 100 euros you will get a main course each, a large order of fries to share and a couple of pints each.
As I said there are many other places that could fit your budget, although in a city like Paris a full menu + wine for around 30 euros will always be tough, but just wander the streets and check the menus and you will probably find something. Also note that Paris is full of decent and super cheap Japanese restaurants, and it’s also an opportunity to discover great North African cuisine - I knew a good one in the 6th but it’s closed 
D’oh! That’s something I really wanted to try while we were there, but it slipped my mind until after dinner on our last night. Do you have any others you like? I’m hoping to get back to Paris with my daughter soon.
Melissa, there are plenty, but I’d have to do some research to find some good ones… remember I left Paris some 10 years ago! The other issue is that there are many places that I know how to go to, I don’t know their name, their address, their telephone number. My indications would be more like: get off the metro at that station, take the exit on the right, go past the church on the left and it’s after the music shop. That’s not always very helpful 
One more suggestion-- contact board member Michel Abood for a link to the Paris guide he wrote and keeps on his blog. It’s a tenth the size of a typical tour book, but he’s done a great job of condensing a lot of information into quick passages on what you absolutely need to know. He has restaurant recs by area too.
A list of possibilities:
L’Ami Jean
La Cagouille Seafood and Outdoor Dining
Les Papilles
La Rose de France Simple food well done with an astonishing view
24, Place Dauphine (Île de la Cité)
Au Bon Acceuil
Fish is owned by an American guy, who also has a wine store that’s great called La Dernierre Gout. I think they used to offer free or low cost corkage at the restaurant on wines purchased in the shop.
And near Willi’s Wine Bar is Juvenille, where I ate a couple of weeks ago. Prices were pretty reasonable, but it’s definitely more down ‘n’ dirty than Willi’s. Very nice people and a decent selection of wines by the glass and bottle. Staff all spoke English, as it appeared that most of the customers that night were American or British.