Restaurant, Cafes and Bars in France

Restaurant, Cafes and Bars in France
The French national passion for good cuisine makes eating out one of the greatest pleasures of a visit to Paris. Everywhere in the city you see people eating –in restaurants, bistros, tea salons, cafés, and wine bars.
Most restaurants serve French food but there is a range of Chinese, Vietnamese and North African eateries in many areas as well as Italian, Greek, Lebanese, and Indian places. The restaurants in the listings have been selected from the best that Paris can offer across all price ranges. The listings are organized by area, as in the sightseeing section of the guide, and by price. Most places will serve lunch from noon until around 2pm, and the menu often includes fixed-price meals. Parisians usually start to fill restaurants for dinner around 8.30pm and most places serve from around 7.30pm until 11pm.

WHAT TO EAT
A tremendous range of food is available in Paris, from the rich meat dishes and perfect pâtisserie for which France is most famous to simpler French regional cuisines.
The latter are available in brasseries and bistros – the type usually depends on the birthplace of the chef. At any time of day simple, tasty meals can be had in cafés, wine and beer bars, and brasseries, bistros, and cake shops – or pâtisseries – abound.
The best ethnic food comes from France’s former colonies: Vietnam and North Africa.
North African places are known as couscous restaurants and serve filling, somewhat spicy, inexpensive food that varies in quality. Vietnamese restaurants are also good value and provide a light alternative to rich French food. Paris also has some good Japanese restaurants, notably around Rue Monsieur le Prince (6th arrondissement); Rue Sainte-Anne (2nd) and Avenue de Choisy (13th) have others.

WHERE TO FIND GOOD RESTAURANTS AND CAFES 
You can eat well in almost any part of Paris. Wherever you are, as a rule of thumb you will find that the most out-standing restaurants and cafés are those that cater predominantly to a French clientele.
The Left Bank probably has the greatest concentration of restaurants, especially in tourist areas like St-Germain-des-Prés and the Latin Quarter.
The quality of food varies, but there are some commendable bistros, outdoor cafés, and wine bars –places to go in Paris for light meals and snacks. The Latin Quarter also has a high concentration of Greek restaurants centered chiefly on Rue de la Huchette.
In the Marais and Bastille areas, small bistros, tea salons, and cafés are plentiful, some new and fashionable. There are also many good, traditional long-established bistros and brasseries.
In the Champs-Elysées and Madeleine area it is difficult to find inexpensive good food. Sadly, this area tends to be overrun with fast food joints and pricy but not very good cafés. There are, however, some very good expensive restaurants here.
Montparnasse still has some great cafés from the 1920s, including Le Sélect and La Rotonde, on the Boulevard du Montparnasse.
Sensitive renovation has recaptured much of their old splendor. This area is also well known for its many pancake restaurants. Rue de Montparnasse, for example, is lined with crêperies serving galettes, sweet crêpes, and Normandy cider.
There are many noteworthy restaurants, bistros and cafés in the Louvre-Rivoli area, competing with tourist-oriented, overpriced cafés. Just to the east, Les Halles is filled with fast food joints and mediocre restaurants but there are few places of note.
Good Japanese food can be found near the Opéra together with some fine brasseries, but otherwise the area around the Opéra and Grands Boulevards is not the best for restaurants.
Near the Bourse are a number of reputable restaurants and bistros that are frequented by stockbrokers.

Montmartre has a predictable number of tourist restaurants, but it also has a few pleasant small bistros. One expensive and luxurious exception is Beauvilliers, a Montmartre landmark tucked on the far side of the Butte.
Quiet neighborhoods in the evening, the Invalides, Eiffel Tower, and Palais de Chaillot tend to have less noisy, more serious restaurants than areas with lively nightlife.
Prices can be high.
Two Chinatowns, one in the area south of the Place d’Italie, the other in the traditionally working-class, hilltop area of Belleville, have concentrations of ethnic food but few French restaurants of note. There are a number of Vietnamese venues as well as large, inexpensive Chinese ones, and Belleville is also packed with small North African restaurants.

TYPES OF RESTAURANTS AND CAFES
One of the most enjoyable aspects of eating in Paris is the diversity of places to eat.
Bistros are small, often moderately priced restaurants with a limited selection of dishes.
Those from the Belle Epoque era are particularly beautiful, with zinc bars, mirrors, and attractive tiles. The food is generally, but not always, regional and traditional. Many chefs from the toniest restaurants have now also opened bistros and these can be very good value.
Brasseries are generally large bustling eateries, many with an Alsatian character serving carafes of Alsatian wine and platters of sauerkraut and sausage. They have immense menus, and most serve food throughout the day and are open late. Outside you may well see impressive sidewalk displays of shellfish, with apron-clad oyster shuckers working late into the night. Cafés open early in the morning, and apart from the large tourist cafés, the majority close by around 10pm. They serve drinks and food all day long from a short menu of salads, sandwiches, and eggs.
At lunch most also offer a small choice of hot daily specials. Café prices vary from area to area, in direct proportion to the number of tourists. Upscale cafés, like Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots serve food until late at night.
Those cafés specializing in beer almost always include onion tarts, French fries, and hearty bowls of steamed mussels on the menu. Brunch is now served in many places on weekends, from around €17.
Wine bars are informal. They usually have a moderately priced, simple lunch menu and serve wine by the glass. They serve snacks at any time of day – such as marvelous open sandwiches (tartines) made with sourdough Poilâne bread topped with cheese, sausage, or pâté – until around 10pm, but a few are open for dinner.
Tea salons open for breakfast or mid-morning until the early evening. Many offer lunch, as well as a selection of sweet pastries for afternoon tea. They are at their best in the middle of the afternoon and offer coffee and hot chocolate as well as fine teas. Some, like Le
Loir dans la Théière, are casual with sofas and big tables, while Mariage Frères is more formal. Angélina on the Rue de Rivoli is famous for its hot chocolate, and Ladurée has excellent macaroons.

VEGETARIAN FOOD
Vegetarian restaurants in Paris are few, and no vegetarian restaurant menus are usually firmly oriented toward meat and fish. However, you can get a good salad almost anywhere and you can often fare well by ordering two courses from the list of entrées (first courses). The North African restaurants will serve you couscous nature –which doesn’t include meat.
 Never be timid about asking for a change in a dish.
If you see a salad with ham, bacon, or foie gras, ask the waiter for it without the meat.
If you are going to a fancy restaurant, telephone ahead and ask the manager if it is possible to prepare a special meal for you. Most restaurants will be happy to oblige.
Organic produce is starting to be used in French cuisine– look out for biologique or bio on the menu. Some places can also provide gluten-free dishes.

HOW MUCH TO PAY
Prices for meals in Paris range from extremely economic to astronomical. You can still enjoy a hearty restaurant or café lunch for €18, but a typical good bistro, brasserie or restaurant meal in central Paris will average €30–€40 with wine. (Remember that the better French wines will increase the size of your bill significantly.)
More expensive restaurants begin at about €45 with wine and go up to €200 for the top places. Many places offer a formula or prix-fixe (fixed price) menu, especially at lunch, and this will almost always offer the best value. Some restaurants feature two course menus for under €15 – a few at this price include wine. Coffee usually carries an extra charge.
All French restaurants are obliged by law to display their menu outside. The posted rates include service but a tip for particularly good service will always be appreciated (any amount
from one euro to five percent of the total).
The most widely accepted credit card is Visa.
Few restaurants accept American Express, and some bistros do not accept credit cards at all, so it is wise to enquire when you reserve.
Travelers’ checks are not accepted either, and many cafés require cash.

MAKING RESERVATIONS
It is best to reserve a table in all restaurants, brasseries, and bistros. Although you can usually get into a brasserie without making a reservation, you may have to wait for a table.

DRESS CODE
Except for some chic restaurants which can be rather formal, you can dress up or down in Parisian restaurants – within reason. Even when dressed casually, the French are generally well turned out. The restaurant listings indicate which places require formal dress.

READING THE MENU AND ORDERING
Menus in small restaurants and bistros, and even in big brasseries, are often handwritten and can be difficult to decipher, so ask for help if necessary.
The waiter usually takes your choice of entrée (first course), then the plat (main course). Dessert is ordered after you have finished your main course, apart from some hot desserts that have to be ordered at the start of the meal. The waiter will tell you this, or the dessert section of the menu will be marked à commander avant le repas.
The first course generally includes a choice of seasonal salads or vegetables, pâté, and small hot or cold vegetable dishes or tarts. Small fish dishes like smoked salmon, grilled sardines, herring, fish salads, and tartares are also offered. Brasseries have shell-fish such as oysters, which can also be eaten as a main course. (The French tend to eat shellfish only when the
month ends in ‘re’!).
Main dishes usually include a selection of meat, poultry, and fish and upscale restaurants offer game in the fall. Most restaurants also offer daily specials (plats du jour). These dishes will incorporate fresh, seasonal produce and are usually good value.
Cheese is eaten either as a dessert or as a pre-dessert course. Some people have a green salad with their cheese.
Coffee is served after, not with, dessert. You will need to ask specifically if you want it au lait (with milk). Decaffeinated coffee (décaféiné) and herbal teas (tisanes) are also popular
after-dinner beverages.
In most restaurants you will be asked if you would like a drink before ordering food. A
typical apéritif is kir (white wine with a drop of crème de cassis, a blackcurrant liqueur) or kir royal (champagne with crème de cassis). Beer, however, is rarely drunk before a meal in
France.
Bistros and brasseries usually include the wine list with the menu. The more expensive restaurants have separate wine lists, which are generally brought to the table by the wine waiter (sommelier) after you have seen the meal menu. The wine waiter will be able to advise on choosing the wine if you wish.

SERVICE
As eating is a leisurely pas-time in France, although the general standard of service in Paris restaurants is high, it is not always fast. In small restaurants in particular don’t expect rapid attention: there may be only one waiter, and dishes are cooked to order.

CHILDREN
French children are introduced early to eating in restaurants and as a rule are well-behaved. Consequently, children are usually very welcome, but are expected to behave sensibly. However, there may be little room in a busy restaurant for strollers, and few restaurants provide special facilities like high-chairs or booster seats.

SMOKING
France has now joined several other countries in enforcing strict anti-tobacco laws. It is therefore against the law to smoke in public places such as bars and restaurants.

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS
Parisian restaurants are generally accommodating, and a word when you reserve should ensure that you are given a conveniently situated table when you arrive. It is always worth checking that restrooms can also be used by wheelchair users, since access can be restricted.

PICNICS
Picnicking is the best way to enjoy the wonderful  fresh produce, local bread, cheeses, charcuterie, and pastries from the markets  and enticing stores to be found all over the city.
It is also a good way of eating cheaply and enjoying the many parks that Paris has to offer.