Cheap Restaurants Paris
Parisian food has the reputation for being expensive, but Paris has plenty bargain dining if you know where to look:
(1) The basic principle to follow is to stay away from the tourist traps - e.g. the Champs Elysees, Saint Michel and the area around Sacre Coeur - and stick to the places where Parisians like to eat.
(2) Secondly, choose local foods rather than those that are aimed at tourists. The French are very patriotic/chauvinistic when it comes to food and a real Frenchman or Frenchwoman typically chooses French cuisine over international food.
(some tourists choose to go to McDonalds, a complete mystery when they’re in the culinary capital of the world)
(3) Stick to the side streets. This is where you’ll find the cheaper Paris restaurants with good home cooking. A little bistro in a narrow street with a chalkboard menu doesn’t just “seem” like Paris, it is Paris
Where To Dine
Here are some of the best of Paris cheap restaurants:
Mimosa : you’ll find wonderful fat-laden French food in this friendly restaurant on Rue d’Argout in the Bourse & Grands Boulevards area (metro: Sentier).
Within walking distance of the Louvre, there is Le Petit Flore (Rue Croix des Petits Champs, between the Louvre and Bourse). An unpretentious little restaurant that’s popular with the residents of the 1st arrondissement, this “pas cher” (lit. “not expensive”) eaterie proves there are discount restaurants in the center of Paris.
Just east of Bastille, there’s the Paris Main D’Or (Rue du Faubourg St Antoine, metro: Ledru Rollin) which serves home-made Corsican food. The food here is very tasty, but the waiters and their high energy banter helps draw in the customers.
Across the river, Le Petit Saint Benoit : on Rue Saint Benoit (metro: St Germain des Pres) is like a step back in time - don’t even try using one of those new-fangled credit card things - but, fortunately, their prices are also an anachronism. This inexpensive Paris restaurant in the Sorbonne area is a great place to have dinner as you can see St Germain at night with a romantic walk afterwards.
West towards the Eiffel Tower is Le Sept in Rue de Grenelle which is one of my favourite inexpensive restaurants in Paris. Its cheap Mediterranean menu (e.g. Greek salads, pastas, fish) is just the thing if you’re looking for lunch in the 7th arrondissement .
This guide to Cheap Restaurants Paris should have proven that low cost food is easily available in Paris and, if you choose wisely, you can dine out on proper French food without paying the over-the-top prices your fellow tourists are paying.