A few tips to help you decide where you want to eat:
If time is short (under 2 hours), go to a café or bakery ("boulangerie") for take-out rather than a restaurant. You can also order take-out from many restaurants now via the internet.
Restaurants are designed for multi-course dining and will expect you to eat at least two courses. It is difficult to have dinner and see a performance in Paris as restaurants do not expect you to arrive before 7:30 or 8 in the evening.
Smaller, side street restaurants off the tourist path will generally be less expensive than tourist haunts. A new one we like is called the Jardin St Germain, at 9 rue de l'Eperon, near the Odeon Post Office
Cafés are ideal for a quick lunch or dinner and usually feature daily specials at reasonable cost.
If you want to try a gourmet restaurant, check out the lunchtime menu as it is usually cheaper than dinner.
Cafés usually have three prices for every item: bar price, table price and terrace price—standing at the bar is the cheapest option. These prices are posted. Never order at the bar and then sit down with the drink.
Do not patronize restaurants that don’t post a menu outside the door. “Le couvert” (bread, silverware, napkin) are included in the price of the dish, as is tap water (une carafe d’eau). Bottled water is for sale, but tap water is fine to drink.
Getting the bill at the end of the meal may take time. If you are time-constrained, tell the server that you need to be at the theater at 8 when you sit down. To get the server’s attention, just say “S’il vous plait, Monsieur, or Madame” -- never “garçon.”
Tipping is different from in the U.S.: the basic price, by law, includes the tip and tax. If the service was super or you want to thank the server for great service, you can add a small tip (such as a few euros);don’t add 20% on for a tip. You can simply pay the total of the bill if the food was good and service was OK and you didn’t spill the drinks.
There are always lists for the best (whatever) in Paris. The annual competition for the best baguette is heated. See info in this Food & Wine magazine article, "The Best Baguette in Paris". There are some youtube videos with "Les Frenchies" for some interesting ideas
Hip Paris has an annual list of the best cheap eats in Paris. This is the Fall 2023 list. Many of the recommended spots are in our neighborhood!
the Danton (4 ESA stars!), right by the Métro Odéon, is reasonably priced, has good food, daily specials and fast, friendly service
La Palette, a café on the rue de Seine, near the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, attracts many students.
Cafés near the Ste Famille: Café de la Mairie on Place St. Sulpice
Cosi: salads and sandwiches on rue de Seine
Le Petit Lux -- a bakery up front but a variety of dishes in the restaurant (on rue de Vaugirard)
Sushi Lounge on Vaugirard (small plates in addition to sushi)
Café Varenne ( a little farther - near Rue du Bac on Varenne),
Judy, Cantine Qualitarienne (near the Ste. Famille dorm,18 rue de Fleurus) This cozy restaurant serves tasty vegetarian meals, fresh juices and great breakfasts (we heartily recommend the avocado toast!).
Montparnasse area: Crêperie Bretonne (Rue Montparnasse), Exki (Blvd. Montparnasse - organic take out - sandwiches, salads)
If you have several hours to eat and at least 30 euros in your pocket, you may want to try a restaurant. Lunch is available beginning about 12:30 and dinner from about 7:30. (If you show up at the restaurant at 6:30, you will likely find the cooks and servers eating their dinner.) If the place is popular, it may be a good idea to reserve—you could just drop by the place and take a look at the menu to confirm that you like the options. Remember that top-notch restaurants may cost hundreds of dollars, but many restaurants offer dinners around 35 euros, TAX & TIP INCLUDED.
Beginning in the early 19th century when the Russians were in Paris, the French adopted the system of eating in courses. Restaurants will expect you to eat at least two courses, an appetizer and a main course (hors-d’oeuvre and plat), or a main course and dessert, or all three if you are hungry. Many people have a drink before the first course (l’apéritif). Green salad with vinaigrette may be served after the main course, followed by cheese. Café (expresso) comes at the end.
After you are seated by the host(ess), look over the menu and select at least the first two courses, and close your menu to signal you are ready to order. Often you have a choice between à la carte ordering (ordering individual items from the whole menu) or making choices for a set price called “le menu.”
The price of the meal should be clearly indicated on the menu but may include supplemental charges. For example, you may have selected a 35 euro, three-course dinner, but you selected the “foie gras” with a 4 euro extra charge (supplément) and the filet with a 5 euro extra charge. So the total will be 44 euros. Remember that the prices include tax and tip.
La Ferrandaise, specializes in meat, about 40 e, 8 rue de Vaugirard
Le Jardin St. Germain, 9 rue de l'Eperon, near the Odeon Post Office, about 35 e, also nice salads
Le Méditerranée, specializes in fish, 2 place de l’Odéon, about 45 e
La Maison du Jardin, 27 rue de Vaugirard, about 45e, good variety
Hanoi, 61 rue Monsieur le Prince, near the Pantheon, inexpensive and good Vietnamese food--around 30 euro
Le Relais de l'Entrecôte, blvd Montparnasse, a well-known steak and fries restaurant where you get big helpings and lots of dessert choices, about 40 e.
Fast food appears in many guises in Paris from McDonald's to Chipotle to exotic cuisines from around the world. Perhaps the best values are the sandwiches and salads available in bakeries such as the Mulot Bakery on rue de Seine. You can picnic in the Luxembourg Gardens. Unfortunately, the burgers sold by the usual suspects are not very good. Crêpes make a quick, inexpensive take-away food.
The French government has a special student restaurant system to provide full meals at very reasonable prices, like 4-5 euros a meal. We will have an outing to such a restaurant so you can see how they operate—be sure to bring your student card. While the food is not gourmet, the meals are wholesome and cheap. You can also meet other students in these restaurants. The nearest to the dorms is rue Mabillon, but check opening dates in summer.
Tap water is free, but bottled water costs euro. Beer and house wines are usually reasonably priced, but bottles of wine can become expensive. You can ask what the server recommends with your meal, but check the price of the bottle. There are many French and Belgian beers available. Soft drinks can often be more expensive than a beer or glass of house wine. With a formule or menu, drinks are usually extra although some restaurants may include a glass of wine or bottle of water in the fixed menu price; this will be clearly indicated.
French breakfast is usually a hot drink and bread and butter and jam or a croissant—no bacon and eggs. French yogurts come in many varieties and flavors. Omelettes are not considered breakfast food.
Paris offers you a wide variety of restaurants from Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Thai to Mexican, Italian, and North African. Note that in the area around the Place d’Italie there live hundreds of thousands of people from China and Southeast Asia. Keep in mind that exotic cuisines have been adapted in many cases to French tastes.
The make-or-break guide has long been the Michelin red guide which is published annually.
Here is a website with numerous options around the city:
http://parisbymouth.com/saint-germain-our-guide-to-eating-drinking-it/
A smaller percentage of the population is vegetarian in Paris, and the French are not always used to providing vegetarian (and even less so vegan) menus, but you can consult this site to find options:
This has become a trend in Europe now so you'll find gluten-free bread and other gluten-free options in Paris. Road Map, a gluten-free blog, has lots of information about Parisian options.