Aloha group! I am in some desperate need for some help. I fully admit I haven’t scoured the board yet for recommendations but plan to starting today. I am taking my 19yo daughter to Paris for 5 nights (staying in the 6th at Hotel D’aubusson). This will be my 5th time to Paris in the last 6 years however I am always with my husband. We usually eat at a lot of fine dining (Alliance, Aspic, Perception, Septime etc). This is not my daughter’s type 
. I am hoping for some exceptional bistrot suggestions or whatever you can think of (I know all the main, typical suggestions like Cafe Flore etc but I am hoping for better food than those). Last year my husband and I ate lunch at Bistrot Instinct and loved it, so similar to that. I know I am completely at fault for not doing research and I swear I will. It has been an incredibly hard year for us where we live here on Maui and so I think that has a ton to do with my lack of motivation. We are meeting my husband later in Switzerland and I can’t even bare to figure out something new so I am even worse off there.
Mahalo in advance!!!
If you want something in walking distance, try Huguette on rue de Seine or Brasserie du Prés on the Cour du Commerce Saint-André (passageway between boulevard Saint-Germain and rue Saint-André-des-Arts). Both young, vibrant, good food but not gastro like Bistro Instinct, and very enjoyable.
Depending on when you will be in Paris and the weather, Seine-side Maison Maison on the lower quai on the Rive Droite side near the Pont-Neuf is another possibility likely to be appreciated by a 19-year-old. Stairs down from the Quai du Louvre.
Check out Freddy’s at 54 rue de Seine. It’s a lively wine bar with lots of space and seating (mostly stools). I haven’t been the past couple of years, but previously found the small plates excellent.
Pix from 2019:
Small world!
I too will be spending a few days in Paris with my kids sometime in April. After a few days of Michelin star food crawl in Spain, the main part of our eating itinerary in Paris will be focusing on traditional, classical French bistro fare. In addition to valuable inputs on this board, we have also performed our own independent research.
Besides ’ Josephine Chez Dumonet ’ ( for their Foie Gras Stuffed Morel mushrooms, Boeuf Bourguignon and Pigeons two ways ), the rest of our choices are less known and had not been mentioned anywhere on this board, though all received pretty high review ratings?!
They include: Au Petit Tonneau ( 75007 )
Chez Fernand - Rue Guisarde ( 75006 )
Chez Germaine ( 75007 )
Their Google ratings are all around 4.6 - 4.7. ( compared to the 4.2 - 4. 4 ratings of say Chez George, Chez Denise, Bistro Paul Bert…etc )
Do check out their website. Maybe there are things on their menu that tickle your fancy?!
Good luck and have fun choosing!!
I love Huguette for oysters, but neither my wife nor I enjoyed their cooked food at all.
My top recommendation (well, Parn recommended it first) is Les Parisiens. It’s a bargain at lunch, and the fish dishes and desserts are fabulous. Just resist all temptation to order any mains that are not fish.
Depending on what you and your daughter like to eat, you could also line up for the very touristy (though not mostly American tourists) Le Relais de L’Entrecote for steak frites. My teenage (now twenty-something) daughters enjoy it.
And if French with an Asian flair appeals to you, I also recommend Oktobre, practically around the corner from your hotel.
Just want to understand what you think is your daughter’s “type?” More casual, I get. But is there some vibe or kind of food or special dishes she really likes?
If she likes fish, I think Soces would appeal. (Small plates, creative, vibrant and fish.)
Reyna I suggest for creative Filipino cuisine. A woman chef who is very approachable. Great wings (three different ways/spiciness).
ChoCho is another small plates restaurant with creative food and vibrant atmosphere.
Breizh Café or Crêperie Gigi for crêpes
Dilia for Italian food
Tekes for vegetarian Israeli food
Kubri for Lebanese
Les Enfants du Marché if it is warm enough (good food in the market for lunch)
Restaurant 975 or Café les Deux Gare for unfussy, good French food
Thanks for your responses and recommendations! I am checking them all out!
What I mean by not really into it, is discovery menu with no choices. My husband and I are the opposite when traveling, we love the surprise and long meals.
My daughter just wants to make sure there is some choice in the menu . I don’t mind some super touristy for lunches and a cafe but am hoping to find some cute bistros or restaurants that dont have a 10 page menus with out of season food. If I could find little bistrot instict type places that would be amazing.
I have been to Breizh Cafe several times and was defiantly planing a lunch there. Was just hoping for a not so quick meal but not 3 hour Michelin star one if that makes sense
I don’t know if anyone remembers this place or not but in the 6th there was a place called Cezambre (think I have it close to the right spelling) it closed during covid. Does anyone know what happened to the chef? Or a similar find?
Re Cézembre, the chef Anthony Hamon moved back to Bretagne where he set up a new restaurant. But good feng shui because the resto, Source, that replaced it on rue Grégoire de Tours is also very good… maybe a possibility because it offers à la carte as well as a tasting menu.
There are scores and scores (and scores) of restos like Bistro Instinct but, because it is so excessively popular with tourists in search of clichés, not as many in Saint-Germain-des-Prés and the cutesy bits of the Quartier Latin as in other parts of Paris. Are you willing to hop in taxi or uber for your dinner ?
Absolutely I am used to going all over the city for a good meal! Not at all stuck near where we are staying
I think I would add a Beatriz Gonzalez’ restaurant to your list to take a look at. @onzieme has written about them recently here: Neva Cuisine, Coretta and Taco Mesa (I am thinking one of the first two for you and your daughter). None of the restaurants I suggested are no choice menus. (I can’t eat a steady diet of those myself!)
I second the nearby Oktobre recommendation to you. Although you can go for the tasting menu, when my cousin and I ate there in early January, we both ordered off of the à la carte menu. It’s a short menu, but we were both very satisfied with our choices. (I think I wrote it up here…) Anyway, the food is fantastic, and the service very committed to the diners’ enjoyment.
Chantoiseau, up in Montmartre, has very appealing menu (to me and two others at the dinner) and wonderful cooking. @ParnParis is right: there are many excellent bistros in Paris. (Take a look at the menus and see what appeals?) LÁssiette is another favorite of mine (escargots and crème caramel supernal), and it is open Sundays lunch and dinner (might be good to know, if you are in town for a Sunday meal).
The crêpe restaurants were the only quick meals I stuck on the list. Although the rest are not necessarily that three hour lunch place, they will not be quick meals either.
All of these places will require a reservation.
