Restaurants in Paris

arleneb

We've begun researching restaurants and they can get quite pricey in Paris. Anyone have any newer, upscale restaurants to recommend in Paris that won't break the bank? Ideally in 2nd arrondissement near The Opera but location is not as important. I know the director will provide restaurant names but we would like to reserve 2 dinners before we go in mid-June.

Claudia Sails

I think you need to define "break the bank". Everyone has a different definition. Also do you want a full dinner - starter, main, and dessert or something less?

FYI - the Opera district is the 9th. The hotel used for this tour - Hotel Scribe - is across the street from the Intercontinental Le Grand that Tauck uses for some of their other tours. We stayed there as part of the French Waterways cruise. It's a beautiful hotel. It's main restaurant is Cafe de la Paix which is where we had breakfast every morning. You might look into it. The building is triangular shaped and the restaurant faces the opera house - lovely. There is also a more casual option in the center of the hotel in a sort of atrium.

There's a ton of restaurants in the area - especially down Blvd Capucines - which is a lovely walk. Also there is dining at the Galeries Lafayette on Blvd Haussman about a 5-10 min walk from the hotel. The Galeries Lafayette is a beautiful shopping center with several different dining options from casual to fancy. There is also a roof top terrace with a great view of Paris - it's free and doesn't require walking up a ton of steps. Escalators.

Just my opinion, but I wouldn't make reservations at this point unless you want to do something special like dining at the Eiffel Tower. By the time you hit Paris you may be tired and not interested in dressing up to go out, you may have met some others you want to go out with, you may want something very simple after days of eating well, etc. And you're right, the TD can be very helpful about making suggestions and probably even helping you get reservations if needed.

Have fun, Bon Appetite

British

CLAUDIA, you sensible advise is right on. In addition, I have never had a bad meal in France, even if it is a simple crepe or croque monsieur. Agree that after days and days of Tauck meals we often want something small and simple to eat. I have a good appetite but I even have to skip some meals on a Tauck tour.

Claudia Sails

Thanx British. Our first trip I had illusions of a dinner out after the end of our first full day. After clocking 15 miles on my fitbit I'd had enough and just wanted to put my feet up. We stopped at a Monoprix a block from the hotel for a take out salad, bread, cheese and a bottle of wine. Bought a cork screw from a souvenir stand and had a relaxing evening in bed ready to tackle the next days adventure.

Wanna go back to the Gallerie Lafayette. They had the best - non tacky - Paris souvenirs that we saw anywhere.

rabo

We were in Paris for several days before our French Waterways and Vineyards cruise. We stayed at the Hilton Arc de Triomphe (prior to it being sold/rebranded as the Hotel du Collectionneur Arc de Triomphe). We asked the concierge at the hotel for a casual (but good) restaurant recommendation. He told us about Le Riva, just a few blocks from the hotel. We had dinner there that night, and it was so good we returned another night. Both the hotel and Le Riva are in the 8th Arrondissement.

arleneb

Thanks for your thoughts but we want a special meal to celebrate special occasion. We're staying an extra day at the end so that it is the night we plan to have a romantic meal without the group. Several places we have looked into already are booked and it's more than a month out.

Claudia Sails

You might try looking at a website called www.thefork.com. It's part of tripadvisor but specifically about restaurants. Great search tools - location (what area of Paris), type of fare, price range, etc. Once you click on a restaurant is has pictures, menus with prices, ratings, and will let you book it online. Of course, like any rating site, you kind of have to take the advise with a pinch of salt.

Looks very useful. It can often be hard researching restaurants in Europe unless they have a good english language website with menu posted.

Good luck on your special occasion.

BSP51

Also try Thrillist.com. Go to travel, cities, Paris. There is a lot of information regarding restaurants. Plenty that have great ratings and are not expensive. Plenty that ARE expensive as well.

vivamus

My husband and I have visited Paris about 5 times in the last 30 years, never staying more than a few days. I do not recall that we ever made advance (ie, before leaving from home) reservations. Upon arriving, we often asked the hotel concierge to make our reservations for us as we spoke so little French. Paris is such a wonderful walking town, we often strolled around a neighborhood and there are so many restaurants. As most Parisians dine later in the evening, we often found ourselves among the first to come to a restaurant. Menus are generally posted out front so you can see menu and prices before going in. I cannot recall a bad meal there. In addition to the resources listed, my husband and I relied on Patricia Wells "Food Lovers Guide to Paris." The book has a variety of restaurants and I believe she does have a set of pages with compilation by arrondisement. From her book, we found some really cute smaller places that we would never have stumbled upon that were just fabulous. I also do not recall paying huge prices for any of the meals. We generally order house wines and were always well satisfied-- and some were extraordinary. Her book was recently updated in 2014 and I have purchased it for upcoming trip with Tauck to Paris later in the year. If I remember correctly, both Gourmet magazine and Food and Wine magazine may have travel guides for Paris restaurants posted on the internet with their recommendations, too. Have a wonderful trip and am sure you will have more than one special meal in Paris!