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Cheap + Chic Restos in Paris

By Paris Defined Magazine
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Cheap + Chic Restos in Paris

[Updated for 2023 ] For those times when you simply have more style than money, here are some Parisian restaurants that prove you can have taste without the compromise. Well, not too much, anyways…

Side note: we have excluded boulangeries because while the fresh, hot quiche eaten in a nearby park is a nice option that works in any neighborhood, we’re focusing on the real Parisian sit-down restaurant experience. Sometimes that means a sidewalk café, but that’s a good thing, right?

Ferrandi Paris

Fer­ran­di is some­thing more than a restau­rant — it’s actu­al­ly a school. French School of Culi­nary Arts and Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Man­age­ment to be exact, where hounders of stu­dents learn how to become *some­thing* in the French culi­nary sphere. Obvi­ous­ly, where there’s smoke, there’s also a lot of food that is served to the guests of their two restau­rants (Le Pre­mier and Le 28), ful­ly staffed by stu­dents. The menu changes dai­ly, and the avail­abil­i­ty depends on the class that is work­ing today (so you can have a french din­ner, medieval din­ner, dessert menu, wine pair­ing menu, you get it). Be sure to reserve in advance!

What’s near­by? Jardin du Lux­em­bourg (arguably the most beau­ti­ful one in Paris) and great-views-pro­vid­ing Tour Montparnasse.

ADDRESS: 28 rue de l’Ab­bé Gré­goire  (6th arr.)

MÉTRO: Vaneau (line 10)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Jardin du Lux­em­bourg / Odéon

PRICE: €€€

HOW TO BOOK: online

NUMBER: +33 1 49 54 28 00

DEETS: culi­nary school, chic but cheap, din­ner, tea time

INSTAGRAM: @ferrandiparis  (where some­times they share their favourite recipes, so if you’re feel­ing up for a chal­lenge, you can try to make some yourself)

Food Society

This is one of those places in Paris, where you can lit­er­al­ly spend the whole day. Par­tial­ly food-court, par­tial­ly cul­tur­al space, it cur­rent­ly holds the title of the largest food hall in Europe (for like 20 min­utes, I guess, but hey, we’re milk­ing it while we can). Brunch? check. Mini mar­kets with local arts and crafts or cloth­ing swap? Check. Dance floor with DJs and drag queen shows? Check. Wait­ers and bar­maids jug­gling bot­tles of wine or rid­ing on a uni­cy­cles? Check. All that on top of 15 dif­fer­ent restau­rants with food from all over the world. Oh, and it’s also child friend­ly. All in all, you just can’t miss with this one.

What’s near­by? Who cares, you won’t want to leave anyway.

ADDRESS: 68 Avenue du Maine,  (14th arr.)

MÉTRO: Gaîté — Joséphine Bak­er (line 13) 

NEIGHBORHOOD: Mont­par­nasse

PRICE: €€

HOW TO BOOK: hello@foodsociety.fr

DEETS: food court, ver­sa­tile, events, boho, shop­ping, nights out, classy trendslut

INSTAGRAM: lefoodsociety.paris

 

Vantre

Appar­ent­ly, in Old French, the word vantre meant « a place of enjoy­ment » (although none of us has actu­al­ly stud­ied that hard in school so it’s hard to con­firm or deny); but the restau­rant bear­ing this name def­i­nite­ly is worth check­ing out. Vantre com­bines classy with meat‑y (and French‑y on top of that). In this lit­tle place, just a few steps from Canal St. Mar­tin you can enjoy mod­ern ver­sion of tra­di­tion­al French haute cui­sine that you will have dif­fi­cul­ty to find any­where else (We’re talk­ing game meat here), pre­pared by their Japan­ese-French chef. There’s also a great selec­tion of fish dish­es, and more than 2 000 types of wine to choose from.

What’s near­by? Canal St. Mar­tin, where you can walk stroll and enjoy the city lights (or grab a drink in one of the bars if all that wine some­how was­n’t enough).

ADDRESS: 19 Rue de la Fontaine au Roi (11th arr.)

MÉTRO: Goncourt (line 11) 

NEIGHBORHOOD: Oberkampf / Folie-Méricourt

PRICE: €€€

HOW TO BOOK: contact@vantre.fr

NUMBER: +33 1 48 06 16 96

DEETS: chic and cheap, meat lovers, fish dish­es for days, great wine selection,

INSTAGRAM: @restaurant__vantre

 

The Hood Paris

Part Brook­lyn cof­fee house, part Asian can­teen, all style and cheap AF for the qual­i­ty, The Hood doesn’t scream “Hip­ster”; it is more like a soft strum on its gui­tar. You don’t go to France for an Amer­i­can cof­fee shop expe­ri­ence, but The Hood might be just dif­fer­ent that any oth­er locale. It has high qual­i­ty cof­fee from a local brû­lerie, deli­cious Asian street food (cour­tesy of an in-house French-Viet­namese chef) as well as a junk­yard-chic decor of old signs, instru­ments ask­ing to be played… Do we have to go on? In terms of food, it has appe­tiz­ers like Viet­namese fried chick­en and kim­chi and portable entrees like bahn-mis, not to men­tion house-made condi­ments and unique week­ly spe­cials. Don’t miss your slice of deli­cious green sponge cake called Pan­dan — You deserve it. And depend­ing on where you’re from, you most like­ly will not find most of this at home.

What’s near­by? Trend­slut haven — Rue Jean-Pierre Tim­baud with beau­coup shop­ping, par­ty­ing spots (like Le P’tit Garage dive bar and Fifty/Fifty cock­tail bar)Guide to Bars + Clubs in Paris and so very few tourists.

ADDRESS: 80 Rue Jean-Pierre Tim­baud (11th arr.)

MÉTRO: Par­men­tier (line 3) or Couronnes (line 2)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Oberkampf, Folie-Méri­court

PRICE: €€

HOW TO BOOK: online

NUMBER: +33 1 48 04 82 46

DEETS: lunch, ear­ly din­ner, cof­fee shop, Asian, street food, stop in if near­by, more style than mon­ey, veg­e­tar­i­an friend­ly, 11th arrondissement

INSTAGRAM: @thehoodparis

Bouillon Chartier

Found­ed in 1896, the Grands Boule­vards loca­tion of the Bouil­lon Charti­er restau­rant resides in a pre­served 19th cen­tu­ry rail­way sta­tion. Ambiance at the Bouil­lon Charti­er is crit­i­cal. With its globe lights and gild­ed coat racks, the place sim­mers with a vin­tage vibe. The food, though inex­pen­sive and unmis­tak­ably French, pales in com­par­i­son to the expe­ri­ence of the bru­tal­ly effi­cient wait staff, the bois­ter­ous, crowd­ed din­ing room and the con­ver­sa­tions with strangers you will inevitably share a table with. Oui, here you can cross ‘les escar­gots’ off your list here — (six for €8) if you’re seek­ing the feel­ing of what you think French peo­ple eat (note: not really).

If you hap­pen to be in the Mont­par­nasse neigh­bor­hood, be sure to check out the much new­er Charti­er loca­tion, found­ed just the oth­er day in 1903. 

What’s near­by? The Pas­sage Jouf­froy; one of Paris’ most charm­ing cov­ered pas­sages from the 1800s is near the Grands Boule­vards location.

ADDRESS: 7 Rue du Faubourg Mont­martre (9th arr.) / 59 Boule­vard du Mont­par­nasse (6th arr.) / 5 Rue du 8 Mai (10th arr.)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Grands Boule­vards, Mont­par­nasse, Gare de l’Est

PRICE: €

HOW TO BOOK: they take no reser­va­tions, but the line moves quickly

NUMBER: +33 1 47 70 86 29

DEETS: lunch, din­ner, open dai­ly, clas­sic French, vin­tage, old school cool, more style than mon­ey, ambiance > food, worth the line

INSTAGRAM: @bouillonchartier

Bouillon Pigalle

The Bouil­lon Pigalle, found­ed in 2017, gets its name from, and duti­ful­ly rep­re­sents, a clas­sic, if not slight­ly bygone form of French din­ing called, you guessed it, bouil­lon –  a mix of copi­ous French clas­sics like foie gras and beef bour­guignon, a com­mu­nal, jovial atmos­phere and a com­fort­ably small addi­tion (check). Bouil­lon Pigalle is a suc­cess­ful revamp; sling­ing up chow as good as it is super­nat­u­ral­ly inex­pen­sive, paper place­mats that clash beau­ti­ful­ly with the suit­ed-up wait­staff and a chic upstairs open-air ter­race. Be sure to check out the afore­men­tioned beef bour­guignon or the oeufs may­on­naise.


What’s near­by? In the bot­tom of the 18th arondisse­ment/ top of the 9th arrondisse­ment, the orig­i­nal, Bouil­lon Pigalle (strad­dling Pigalle and Mont­martre) is with­in walk­ing dis­tance of the Moulin Rouge, and Sacré-Cœur. The newest Bouil­lon –Bouil­lon Republique — is next to Place de la Republique, strad­dling the faux­hemi­an Canal St. Mar­tin and le Marais neigh­bor­hoods in the 10th arrondisse­ment.

ADDRESS: 22 Boule­vard de Clichy (18th arr.) / 39 Boule­vard du Tem­ple (3rd arr.)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Pigalle, Republique

PRICE: €

HOW TO BOOK: online

NUMBER: +33 1 42 59 69 31

DEETS: lunch, din­ner, open dai­ly, clas­sic French, old school cool, more style than mon­ey, stop in if near­by, out­door seating

Trois Fois Plus de Piment

Trans­lat­ed quite lit­er­al­ly as “Three Times the Pep­per,” this Sichuan Chi­nese restau­rant is a bright, spicy and pos­si­bly dan­ger­ous gem amongst the sea of deli­cious (some­times bland) Parisian food offer­ings. There’s noth­ing wrong with reg­u­lar French food (quite the oppo­site, as the world knows), but if you’re crav­ing the unique expe­ri­ence of food that phys­i­cal­ly hurts but is too deli­cious to stop eat­ing, this is the place to be. Known for its fla­vor­ful pork dumplings and noo­dle soup (with hand­made noo­dles), Trois Fois plus de Piment lets you choose your own pain by select­ing a spice lev­el from zero to five. With five loca­tions, includ­ing sis­ter restau­rants Deux Fois and Cinq Fois de Piment, and easy online order­ing, it’s worth check­ing out no mat­ter where you are. For the record, I love spice but still can nev­er go above 0.5—a mere one lev­el above no spice,—without pain. You have been warned.

What’s near­by? The old­est res­i­den­tial build­ing in Paris, the Nico­las Flamel house at 49 Rue de Mon­moren­cy, which dates back to the 1600s.

ADDRESS: 184 Rue Saint-Mar­tin (3rd arr.) / 17 Rue Fred­er­ic Sau­ton (5th arr.) / 58 Rue des Math­urins (8th arr.) / 9 Rue Rodi­er (9th arr.) / 53 Rue de Mon­treuil (11th arr.) / 27 Rue Mou­ton-Duver­net (14th arr.) / 117 Rue de Toc­queville (17th arr.)

MÉTRO: Ram­buteau (line 11)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Le Marais, Latin Quar­ter, Saint-Lazare, Rue Lafayette/Rochechouart, Faidherbe/Charonne/Aligre, Ale­sia, Batig­nolles

PRICE: €

HOW TO BOOK: online

NUMBER: +33 6 52 66 75 31

DEETS: lunch, din­ner, closed Mon­days, Asian, veg­e­tar­i­an friend­ly, worth the line, where the cool kids hang

INSTAGRAM: @plus.de.piment

Sapporo

Sap­poro is a hip Japan­ese noo­dle bar locat­ed less than a block away from the Tui­leries. Known for its fresh ingre­di­ents and large por­tions, it’s a lit­tle island of cheap in a sea of Dior and Chanel.  Ramen dish­es aver­ag­ing at less than €12 each are the main draw, and if you snag a bar seat (which I rec­om­mend), you can watch the Japan­ese chefs pre­pare it right in front of you through the open kitchen. Be sure to also check out Sap­poro 2 on rue Sainte-Anne in the heart of a Japan­ese restau­rant hub. 

What’s near­by? The Lou­vre, Place Vendôme and Palais Roy­al.

ADDRESS: 276 Rue Saint-Hon­oré (1st arr.) / 37 Rue Sainte-Anne (1st arr.)

MÉTRO: Tui­leries (line 1)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Lou­vre-Riv­o­li

PRICE: €

HOW TO BOOK: online

NUMBER: +33 1 40 15 98 66

DEETS: lunch, din­ner, open dai­ly, Asian, Japan­ese, more style than mon­ey, out­door din­ing, worth the line

Breizh Café

If you vis­it Paris you have to have crêpes, and if you are look­ing for good, inex­pen­sive ones, you should prob­a­bly stop by Breizh Café. Not only does their high qual­i­ty, organ­ic ingre­di­ents set them apart from the ever encroach­ing pack, but the chef’s Bre­ton back­ground and Japan­ese influ­ence infuse the menu with an intrigu­ing, cross-cul­ture vari­ety. Breizh Café fea­tures clas­sic sweet crêpes, savory buck­wheat crêpes called galettes, oys­ters, maki and arti­san sparkling ciders. While the Marais Breizh Cafe is the orig­i­nal and busiest loca­tion, there are few oth­er loca­tions scat­tered across Paris includ­ing a cave-like cider bar in the Mon­torgueil neighborhood.

What’s near­by? Musée Nation­al Picas­so Paris and the his­toric Marché des Enfants Rouges: the old­est food mar­ket in Paris.

ADDRESS: 109 Rue Vieille du Tem­ple (3rd arr.) / 14 Rue des Petits Car­reaux (2nd arr.) / 1 Rue de L’Odeon (6th arr.) / 112 Quai de Jemmapes (10th arr.) / 23 Rue Paul Bert (11th arr.) / 31 Rue des Batig­nolles (17th arr.) / 93 Rue des Mar­tyrs (18th arr.)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Haut Marais

PRICE: €€€

HOW TO BOOK: online

NUMBER: +33 1 42 72 13 77

DEETS: break­fast, brunch, din­ner, open dai­ly, crepes, Japan­ese, mul­ti­ple locations

INSTAGRAM: @breizhcafe_fr

Bouillon Julien

The walls of the art nou­veau trea­sure known as the Bouil­lon Julien are a bright seafoam green, and yet they some­how match every­thing. From stained glass ceil­ings to del­i­cate murals on the walls, mahogany wood pan­el­ing to the mosa­ic tiled floor, the Bouil­lon Julien is drip­ping with class, and it’s not light­ly con­sid­ered one of the pret­ti­est restau­rants in Paris. On top of all that, they also man­age to serve good, cheap French food with pret­ty much every kind of meat imag­in­able, includ­ing duck leg con­fit, calf’s head, pork muz­zle and snails. There is also an exten­sive dessert list and a short but sweet cheese menu called “the last salty touch.”

What’s near­by? So many side­walk bars absolute­ly stacked with 20 to 30-some­thing Parisians that it will become evi­dent there real­ly are about 10 mil­lion mem­bers of human­i­ty liv­ing in Paris and its suburbs. 

ADDRESS: 16 rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis (10th arr.)

MÉTRO: Stras­bourg-Saint-Denis (lines 4, 8, 9) or Château d’Eau (line 4)

NEIGHBORHOOD: St. Denis/St. Martin/Poissonniere/Paradis

PRICE: €€

HOW TO BOOK: they don’t take reservations

NUMBER: +33 1 47 70 12 06

DEETS: lunch, din­ner, open dai­ly, clas­sic French, more style than mon­ey, posh, vin­tage, ambiance > food, 

INSTAGRAM: @bouillonjulienparis

La Résidence

La Rési­dence is a restau­rant-food truck com­bo inside the Ground Con­trol com­plex. Ground Con­trol is a for­mer train sta­tion repur­posed as a resto-bar park whose mis­sion is to pro­vide work for refugee chefs as part of the Refugee Food Fes­ti­val, an orga­ni­za­tion that match­es refugee cooks with careers. La Rési­dence is just one of sev­er­al sim­i­lar restau­rants act­ing as a spring­board into the French culi­nary world and it cur­rent­ly fea­tures West African cui­sine from a Mau­ri­tan­ian head chef. The restau­rant menu fea­tures dish­es like roast­ed egg­plant and chick­en yas­sa, while the food truck out­side offers Mid­dle East­ern cui­sine like falafel and shawarma. 

What’s near­by? La Petite Cein­ture, Paris’s own High Line-style for­mer-train-tracks-turned-park, and, of course, Ground Con­trol itself, which is worth a visit. 

ADDRESS: 81 rue du Charo­lais (12th arr.)

MÉTRO: Gare de Lyon (lines 1, 14) or Reuil­ly-Diderot (line 8)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Cour St. Emilion/Bercy

PRICE: €

HOW TO BOOK: it’s basi­cal­ly an indoor food truck with you’re-on-your-own seating

DEETS: lunch, din­ner, West African

INSTAGRAM: @groundcontrolparis

Miznon

There are three Miznon loca­tions in Paris with the orig­i­nal one locat­ed in the Marais (and the orig­i­nal orig­i­nal locat­ed in Tel Aviv). What dif­fer­en­ti­ates Miznon from its sur­round­ing Mid­dle East­ern restau­rants (includ­ing the cult favorite L’As du Falafel) is its focus on pita sand­wich­es rather than falafel and its strik­ing­ly veg­e­tar­i­an menu, which includes the pop­u­lar roast­ed cau­li­flower along­side more tra­di­tion­al meat offer­ings of beef and lamb. Miznon is a bit prici­er than its com­peti­tors, but it’s made up in qual­i­ty of food and ambiance that is slight­ly more chic than your nor­mal fast food joint. The menu is a giant chalk­board sign, the food is made right in front of you and the seat­ing is usu­al­ly scarce among the large crowds, so take what you can get, or take it to go.

What’s near­by? The charm­ing Rue des Rosiers shop­ping + food district.

ADDRESS: 22 Rue des Ecouffes (4th arr.) / 3 Rue de la Grange Bate­liere (9th arr.) / 37 Quai de Valmy (10th arr.)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Palais Garnier/Grands Boulevards

PRICE: €€

HOW TO BOOK: online

NUMBER: +33 9 71 34 53 84

DEETS: lunch, din­ner, veg­e­tar­i­an options, Israeli, Mid­dle East­ern, open dai­ly, worth the splurge, worth the line, street food, where the cool kids hang

INSTAGRAM: @miznonparis

Chez Alain Miam Miam

Chez Alain Miam Miam is the Sub­way of Paris if Sub­way made cus­tom crêpes in addi­tion to sand­wich­es, and if each one were filled to the brim, hand­craft­ed by a well-known, retired chef. Chef Alain Roussel’s cre­ations look mon­strous, but are actu­al­ly very sim­ple: choose your meat (or no meat), choose your veg­eta­bles, choose your cheese, choose whether you want it all in a sand­wich or a crêpe, and pre­pare to be blown away. Tucked inside the Marché des Enfants Rouges, a cov­ered food mar­ket in the Marais dat­ing back to the 1600s, Chez Alain Miam Miam fre­quent­ly has a long (but worth it) line which you can skip by arriv­ing ear­ly or order­ing ahead online or by phone. 

What’s near­by? Bon­temps tea salon for some­thing sweet after.

ADDRESS: 26 Rue Char­lot (3rd arr.)

MÉTRO: Tem­ple (line 3), Arts et Métiers (lines 3, 11) or Filles du Cal­vaire (line 8)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Haute Marais

PRICE: €

HOW TO BOOK: it’s a food stall in a mar­ket, you just show up

DEETS: break­fast, lunch, crepes, sand­wich­es, veg­e­tar­i­an options, worth the line, where the cool kids hang, street food

INSTAGRAM: @chezalainmiammiam

La Cantine Bretonne

La Can­tine Bre­tonne, as the name sug­gests, is a crêperie ded­i­cat­ed to the cui­sine of Brit­tany (Bre­tagne in French), a region in the upper-north­west of France. Home to cities like Nantes and a rich cul­tur­al his­to­ry, Brit­tany is also known for its dark brown sar­rasin (buck­wheat) crêpes. La Can­tine Bre­tonne takes this tra­di­tion very seri­ous­ly, earn­ing its rep­u­ta­tion of authen­tic­i­ty and serv­ing “the recipes of our grand­moth­ers”: organ­ic, savory buck­wheat crêpes and their sweet coun­ter­parts as well as sev­er­al Bre­ton entrées. In addi­tion to their calm­ing pink and blue aes­thet­ic, and their sea­son­al­ly chang­ing menu, La Can­tine Bre­tonne also offers pear and apple ciders, an in-house store of Bre­ton food­stuffs and a dessert menu worth indulging in even after the sweet crêpes. 

ADDRESS: 22 bis rue de l’Ourcq (19th arr.)

MÉTRO: Our­cq (line 5) or Crimée (lines 5, 7)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Canal de L’Ourcq/La Villette

PRICE: €€

HOW TO BOOK: online

NUMBER: +33 1 42 00 86 09

DEETS: open 8am-1pm, open dai­ly, vin­tage, break­fast, lunch, crepes, gluten free options, stop in if near­by, out­door seat­ing, cool space, more style than money

INSTAGRAM: @lacantinebretonne

Café du Coin

The Café du Coin (coin as in the French word for cor­ner, no mat­ter how tempt­ing it is to think oth­er­wise) has two obvi­ous attrac­tions: the whim­si­cal car­toon duck that pre­sides over the restaurant’s door and the rea­son­ably priced €19 lunch for­mules (prix-fixe menus are pop­u­lar at French cafés) that peo­ple flock to in droves. More sub­tly, Café du Coin also offers inex­pen­sive nat­ur­al wine and an airy, ter­race-like ambiance that few can repli­cate. The lunch for­mule at the Café du Coin includes an appe­tiz­er (usu­al­ly a pizzetta), an entrée, most like­ly a visu­al­ly pleas­ing and inven­tive com­bo of meat and bit­ter greens, and a home­made dessert. Though open for din­ner, Café du Coin reverts into a wine bar in the evenings with only its sig­na­ture pizzettas avail­able to eat. 

ADDRESS: 9 rue Camille-Desmoulins (11th arr.)

MÉTRO: Voltaire (line 9)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Bastille/Arsenal/Roquette

PRICE: €€

HOW TO BOOK: online

NUMBER: +33 1 48 04 82 46

DEETS: lunch, open dai­ly, neo-bistro, resto­bar, more style than mon­ey, where the cool kids hang, worth the line

Urfa Durum

Urfa Dürüm is a no-frills Kur­dish sand­wich shop that gets its name from dürüm, a flat bread cooked over a fire that the restau­rant own­er makes fresh at the front of the store. When we say no frills, we mean it. Your choice of meat (chick­en, beef or lamb) is grilled, then placed in the dürüm with some sparse veg­eta­bles, then nice­ly rolled up and bam!, there’s your sand­wich, have a nice day. No sauces, no fries and no need for them either. Urfa Dürüm has been tucked away in a small, wood-pan­eled store­front for over 15 years, and with sand­wich­es ring­ing in at around €6 each, it’s easy to see why. Save this spot for good weath­er as the seat­ing is out­side on wood­en bench­es along the side­walk next to a roil­ing crowd of young locals in one of the most hop­ping, up-and-com­ing (or up-and-already here, depend­ing on your view) micro neigh­bor­hoods, the Petites-écuries hood. After your dürüm wrap, blow the cash you saved at any of the also inex­pen­sive and packed bars around the cor­ner, hid­den away on Cour des Petit Ecuries. 

ADDRESS: 58 Rue de Faubourg Saint-Denis (10th arr.)

MÉTRO: Château d’Eau (line 4)

NEIGHBORHOOD: St. Denis/St. Martin/Poissonniere/Paradis

PRICE: less than 10€

HOW TO BOOK: no reser­va­tions

NUMBER: +33 1 48 24 12 84

DEETS: lunch, din­ner, sand­wich­es, street food, closed Sun­days, Kur­dish, stop in if nearby

INSTAGRAM: @urfadurummmm

Flam’s

Flam’s is a wild­ly suc­cess­ful chain restau­rant that spe­cial­izes in the Flam­mekueche. Okay, what’s that? Lit­er­al­ly trans­lat­ed to “tarte flam­bée” in French, it’s a flat­bread topped with creme-fraiche sauce, onions and bacon that’s cooked in the heart of a wood fire. Kind of like the Ver­sion Français of piz­za. The Flam­mekueche is native to the Alsace region in north­east­ern France, which has a unique­ly Fran­co-Ger­man hybrid cul­ture and lan­guage. Flam’s serves the tra­di­tion­al Flam­mekueche along­side many vari­a­tions, includ­ing beef, chick­en, veg­e­tar­i­an and dessert options. They also insist that all their Flam­mekueche can be bacon-free. You don’t think “chain restau­rant” when you think of Parisian din­ing and cul­tur­al explo­ration, but with four loca­tions across Paris, a whop­ping €10 main dish and an offer­ing you most like­ly have not heard of before, this is maybe the cheap­est, most con­ve­nient way to accom­plish all of that.

Note: not all of their loca­tions are that charm­ing. We rec­om­mend the one in the Pas­sage des Panora­mas, a cov­ered pas­sage that is pure, dream-like Paris. 

ADDRESS: 11 Boule­vard Mont­martre (2nd arr.) / 62 Rue des Lom­bards (1st arr.) / 101 Rue Saint Lazare (9th arr.) / 32 Avenue du Maine (15th arr.)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Opera Garnier/Grands Boulevards

PRICE: €

HOW TO BOOK: online

NUMBER: +33 1 42 21 10 30

DEETS: lunch, din­ner, open dai­ly, veg­e­tar­i­an options, clas­sic French, worth the detour

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Le Pantruche

Le Pantruche is a rel­a­tive­ly new and hop­ping French bistro with a homey yet chic feel and an era-hop­ping clas­sic aes­thet­ic that man­ages to be simul­ta­ne­ous­ly fan­cy and under­stat­ed. The fan­cy comes from the chef’s pres­ti­gious back­ground. The results being real­ly cool food like oys­ter tartare with bright green cream of let­tuce soup, hand­made foie gras served with a lay­er of fat, nut­meg scent­ed creams, deli­cious sauces and oth­er not-so-com­mon­ly found foods. The under­stat­ed comes from the price: a prix-fixe menu where a starter + entree or entree + dessert costs €19 at lunch, and all three cost €38 at din­ner. Le Pantruche is a favorite among French locals and a pret­ty good rea­son for the rest of us to envy said locals, as if sim­ply liv­ing in Paris wasn’t rea­son enough.

What’s near­by? Le Moulin Rouge and Sacré-Coeur.

ADDRESS: 3 Rue Vic­tor Massé (9th arr.)

MÉTRO: Pigalle (lines 2, 12), Anvers (line 2), or Saint-Georges (line 12)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Rue Lafayette/Rochechouart

PRICE: €€

HOW TO BOOK: online

NUMBER: +33 1 48 78 55 60

DEETS: lunch, din­ner, closed Sat­ur­day & Sun­day, vin­tage, worth the line, more style than mon­ey, where the cool kids hang, neo-bistro

INSTAGRAM: @le_pantruche

Le Jardin du Petit Palais Café

If you’ve ever picked up a guide book to Paris, which you prob­a­bly have if you’re read­ing this, you might rec­og­nize the name Petit Palais. It’s an art muse­um on the Champs-Élysées, and while that’s all well and good for anoth­er time, the café inside the (free, BTW) muse­um is where it’s at. The food does not mat­ter, nor does the inte­ri­or restau­rant part of the café. What mat­ters is the trop­i­cal gar­den par­adise that serves as the café’s court­yard ter­race. But just to be clear, the food is quite good. It’s a plas­tic tray affair, but it’s good.

Tiny café tables are inter­spersed with palm trees, bush­es, flo­ral gar­lands and the stone columns uphold­ing the walls of the palace. It’s quite a view, even by art muse­um stan­dards, and worth the hefty tick­et price to get in (again, free). Stop in for lunch as it clos­es ear­ly for pri­vate events, or go to enjoy an after­noon tea. 

ADDRESS: 1 Avenue Dutu­it Petit Palais (8th arr.)

MÉTRO: Champs-Élysées,  Clemenceau (lines 1, 13)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Arc de Triomphe/Champs Élysées/Concorde

PRICE: €€

HOW TO BOOK: no reser­va­tions

NUMBER: +33 6 68 89 25 66

DEETS: lunch, open dai­ly, more style than mon­ey, ambiance > food, old school cool, touristy but cool, worth the trip across town

INSTAGRAM: @petitpalais_musee

Blend

Blend sounds like a cliche name for a cof­fee shop, right? Sur­prise! It’s a burg­er joint! A pop­u­lar gourmet burg­er joint actu­al­ly, with five loca­tions across Paris noto­ri­ous for their veal and beef pat­ties and their top­pings-heavy burg­er con­coc­tions, which can include every­thing from caramelized onion com­pote to 18-month aged arti­san ched­dar. They even have home­made buns and fries, and a spe­cial lim­it­ed edi­tion chick­en sand­wich. What’s tru­ly spe­cial, how­ev­er, is the dec­la­ra­tion on their menu that every­thing has a deli­cious­ly com­pa­ra­ble veg­e­tar­i­an ver­sion and, hold your breath, a bacon­less ver­sion too (tru­ly a rare gem for us sans pork Parisians).

ADDRESS: 44 Rue d’Argout (2nd arr.) / 18 Rue Duphot (1st arr.) / 1 Blvd. des Filles du Cal­vaire (3rd arr.) /4 Rue de l’an­ci­enne Come­die (6th arr.) / 15 Rue de Charonne (11th arr.)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Sentier/Covered Passages/Bourse

PRICE: €

HOW TO BOOK: no reser­va­tions

NUMBER: +33 1 40 26 84 57

DEETS: lunch, din­ner, Amer­i­can, worth the line, veg­e­tar­i­an options, open dai­ly, 2nd arrondissement

INSTAGRAM: @blend

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Brooklyn Pizzeria

The Brook­lyn Pizze­ria, self-pro­claimed the “cheap­est pizze­ria in Paris,” with their €6 Margheri­ta piz­za, is a text­book exam­ple of a func­tion­ing iden­ti­ty cri­sis. They’re a Parisian restau­rant serv­ing organ­ic Neapoli­tan piz­za with names like “Cheesus Christ” and “Hot Like F*ck” in a venue that com­bines a breath­tak­ing ivy-cov­ered ter­race with a bor­der­line night­mar­ish­ly kitschy Amer­i­can inte­ri­or, and some­how it all works beau­ti­ful­ly. The life-sized yel­low taxi cab and the trilin­gual blender of a menu only sell the bit that much more suc­cess­ful­ly. Plus, there’s a prix-fixe brunch menu on the week­ends (your two options are a “healthy” brunch and an “Amer­i­can” brunch, we see you). So, whether you’re a home­sick tourist or just real­ly, real­ly curi­ous about the taxi cab, it’s worth stop­ping by any time of the day.

ADDRESS: 33 Boule­vard Beau­mar­chais (3rd arr.)

MÉTRO: Bréguet-Sabin (line 5), Chemin vert (line 8) or Bastille (lines 1, 5, 8)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Haute Marais

PRICE: €

HOW TO BOOK: online (only for groups of 15 or more)

NUMBER: +33 1 48 87 98 92

DEETS: lunch, brunch, din­ner, piz­za, open dai­ly, Amer­i­can, Ital­ian, worth the detour, veg­e­tar­i­an options, ambiance > food

INSTAGRAM: @thebrooklynpizzeria

Au Rendez-vous des Amis

Au Ren­dez-vous des Amis is a clas­sic French din­er with a homey feel locat­ed in the Marais. They serve clas­sics like oeufs may­on­naise, duck con­fit and plen­ty of beef with a slight Asian influ­ence. There is a spe­cial sec­tion of their menu ded­i­cat­ed to “shar­ing with friends,” fea­tur­ing the likes of cheese plates and fried calamari.

What’s near­by? Le Cen­tre Pom­pi­dou, Hôtel de Ville and Les Halles.

ADDRESS: 23 Rue Gabrielle (18th arr.)

MÉTRO: Abbess­es (line 12)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Mont­martre

PRICE: €€

HOW TO BOOK: online

NUMBER: +33 1 46 06 01 60

DEETS: French, lunch, din­ner, open dai­ly, open late

Pierre Sang

Pierre Sang the restau­rant gets its name from Pierre Sang the chef, a cool dude and minor celebri­ty (ver­i­fied on Insta­gram) due to his appear­ance on Top Chef. The restau­rant, a small plates-style meld of Kore­an and French cui­sine, lives up to the blue-check hype and is prob­a­bly one of the most afford­able estab­lish­ments in the Miche­lin guide. For about €20 (depend­ing on how much wine you order), patrons can get a three course meal of fusion dish­es like tem­pu­ra zuc­chi­ni with egg­plant sauce, beef cheek with kim­chi sauce or raclette with coconut sauce. There’s a theme and it’s deli­cious. Pierre Sang has sev­er­al loca­tions all over Paris, but plan ahead no mat­ter which one you choose. Each day the place is usu­al­ly packed.

What’s near­by? Le Marché des Enfants Rouges and L’Atelier des Lumières.

ADDRESS: 55 Rue Oberkampf (11th arr.) / 6 Rue Gam­bey (11th arr.)

MÉTRO: Par­men­tier (line 3)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Oberkampf /Folie-Meri­court

PRICE: €

HOW TO BOOK: online

NUMBER: +33 9 67 31 96 80

DEETS: lunch, French-Kore­an fusion, open dai­ly, small plates, in the Miche­lin Guide, where the cool kids hang, worth the line, more style than money

INSTAGRAM: @pierre_sang

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Astair

Astair is a classy, shiny, upscale take on the old Paris brasserie with a wicked­ly time­less aes­thet­ic. Locat­ed in the Pas­sage des Panora­mas, the old­est cov­ered pas­sage­way in Paris, Astair takes advan­tage of its beau­ti­ful glass ceil­ings and mar­ble walls by offer­ing some chic “out­door” din­ing. Inside, the restau­rant is a salmon explo­sion of ’50s and ’60s-era inspired booths and barstools, and a show-stop­ping cir­cu­lar bar, all with an ele­gant, jazzy feel. In terms of food, Astair offers their rea­son­ably priced, delight­ful takes on French clas­sics, like octo­pus sauté à la proven­cale (i.e. with some com­bi­na­tion of gar­lic, toma­toes and olive oil), “snail style” grilled sausage with aged mus­tard and warm goat cheese salad. 

What’s near­by? Pas­sage des Panora­mas, Opéra Gar­nier and Grands Boule­vards.

ADDRESS: 19 Pas­sage des Panora­mas (2nd arr.)

MÉTRO: Grands Boule­vards (lines 8, 9) or Riche­lieu-Drouot (lines 8, 9)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Opera Garnier/Grands Boulevards

PRICE: €€

HOW TO BOOK: online

NUMBER: +33 9 81 29 50 95

DEETS: lunch, din­ner, neo-bistro, open dai­ly, cool space, vin­tage, posh, ambiance > food, more style than money

INSTAGRAM: @astair_paris

Canard & Champagne

Tucked away in the Pas­sage des Panora­mas, a beau­ti­ful and excit­ing cov­ered pas­sage­way, Canard & Cham­pagne is blunt in its mission—the French love duck and cham­pagne, so why not just sell that? Their menu con­sists of duck con­fit, duck breast, (no, just a burg­er), a dai­ly spe­cial, some sides and a sur­pris­ing­ly sub­stan­tial dessert list. It’s sim­ple, eclec­tic, inex­pen­sive, deli­cious and in a great location. 

What’s near­by? Museé Grevin, Palais Gar­nier and Galeries Lafayette.

ADDRESS: 57 Pas­sage des Panora­ma (2nd arr.)

MÉTRO: Grand Boule­vards (lines 8, 9) or Riche­lieu-Drouot (lines 8, 9)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Sentir/Covered Passage/Bourse

PRICE: €€

HOW TO BOOK: online

DEETS: brunch, lunch, din­ner, closed Sun­day & Mon­day, pre­fixed menus

INSTAGRAM: @canardetchampagne

Le Valentin Jouffroy

Le Valentin Jouf­froy is a fam­i­ly-owned bak­ery and sand­wich shop locat­ed in a cov­ered pas­sage­way near the Grands Boule­vards that spe­cial­izes in Alsa­t­ian pas­tries. Grab an indi­vid­ual pas­try to sat­is­fy your sweet tooth or have a whole meal of croque mon­sieur or quiche. Still need a big, carb-fueled, Amer­i­can break­fast? Split a cof­fret petit déje­uner con­sist­ing of house-made jam, but­ter, two drinks, bread, bread and more bread with a friend. It may be the best €19 you’ll ever spend.

ADDRESS: 30 Pas­sage Jouf­froy (9th arr.)

MÉTRO: Grand Boule­vards (lines 8, 9) or Riche­lieu-Drouot (lines 8, 9)

NEIGHBORHOOD: Palais Garnier/Grands Boulevards

PRICE: €

HOW TO ORDER: online

DEETS: break­fast, lunch, pâtis­serie, open dai­ly, sweets, quick stop

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