Chef Stéphane Jego was an early star of the bistronomie movement, elevating traditional bistro fare with the sort of techniques and emphasis on quality ingredients that one…
The Bistrot Paul Bert boasts one of the most charming dining rooms and patrons in town, appearing to first-time visitors like the Paris bistro of their dreams.
Café des Musées is a reasonably-priced bistro in the heart of the Marais with a notable beef bourguignon.
This bistronomic Breton restaurant near the Gare du Nord serves a four-course feast featuring dishes that are baked in a massive dining room oven.
A l’Epi d’Or is a second spot for classic French food from Jean-François Piège, and about half the price of its nearby sibling, La Poule au…
Le Petit Sommelier is a rare high-quality non-stop brasserie with a 1000-reference-strong wine list.
Read an old travel guide to France, and you’ll likely find mention of les routiers. At these roadside restaurants catering to truckers, grub was classic, cheap, and good. And despite the absence of any highway running through the trendy 11th arrondissement, Aux Bons Crus evokes these restaurants of yore.
Bouillon Pigalle offers cheap classic French food from noon to midnight, every single day.
Address: 32, rue Vertbois, 75003
Hours: Open Wednesday-Sunday for lunch & dinner. Closed Monday & Tuesday.
Telephone: +33 1 48 87 77 48
No website, no online booking, no Facebook, no Instagram
This modern, inexpensive brasserie offers classic French fare near Gare du Nord.
La Bourse et la Vie is one of our favorite Classic Bistros in Paris. It’s a place where you come to celebrate, to bring a date, and to devour one of the best steak-frites in Paris.
Le Maquis is a small French restaurant located on the far side of Montmartre boasting small portions of impeccable, contemporary bistro fare and a small, all-natural wine list. A slight Italian leaning pervades the menu, which also includes more classic French dishes. Lunch is a steal at 16-euro for two courses and 18 for three.
The overarching honesty and generosity of La Vierge’s concept places the restaurant alongside overachieving peers like Belleville’s Le Cadoret at the vanguard of a new generation of Paris bistrot that recognizes the value of virtue.
Le Cadoret is a French restaurant in Belleville offering traditional French fare, inexpensive natural wines, and craft beers. With sincere and efficient service and serious value for quality, it’s an excellent example of what a modern bistro can be.
For the wine-indifferent, Café de la Nouvelle Mairie is merely a timeless, picturesque terraced café on a shady lane beside the Panthéon. But for alert wine geeks, it might as well be the Panthéon itself, as pertains to natural wine.
Address: 25, rue Beautreillis, 75004Hours: Open every day from 7:00-2:00Telephone: +33 1 42 72 64 94Website / Online Booking / Facebook / Instagram ? Vins…
At the impossibly young age of 24, Arnaud Nicolas achieved one of the highest honors in gastronomy – the title Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) – for his talent in charcuterie. Fourteen years later, he opened an ambitious shop and restaurant near the Eiffel Tower with the explicit goal of returning charcuterie to a place of honor on the French table. In the same way that prize-winning artisans have reshaped traditional baguette-making and pâtisserie, Nicolas wants to reintroduce charcuterie to palates that have become used to mediocre industrialized examples. So is it really that different? Yes.
Great natural wines by the glass, fresh well-prepared food, and congenial service at this simple bistro near Bastille.
With its worn wooden tables, intricately painted ceilings, and charcuterie slicer propped on the marble counter, L’Assiette has the precise look of a dream Paris bistro. It also serves many of the classic dishes, like escargots and cassoulet, which have mostly disappeared from the city’s restaurants. The far-flung location in the 14th arrondissement, near the Catacombs but far from the center, has probably helped L’Assiette to stay off the tourist radar. Chef David Rathgeber and his team are friendly with visitors but don’t cater to them. The customers who come to indulge in this hearty fare are mostly local, which makes this a great option for tourists looking to avoid their own countrymen.
Le Villaret is one of our favorite Classic Bistros in Paris. Sometimes in life we chase after the ones who play hard-to-get and we ignore the nice, stable options who just want to treat us right. Le Villaret is the homely neighborhood bistro that I never appreciated until I stopped looking for love at Le Baratin and Le Repaire de Cartouche.
Food and wine pilgrims, particularly those who read the New York Times or watch Anthony Bourdain, are willing to climb the hill for this Belleville institution. Raquel Carena tends the fire, offering her own personal brand of bistro cooking – sometimes delicate, sometimes hearty, always heartfelt. In stark contrast to the loving kitchen, the dining room is cold as ice, thanks to the joyless leadership of Carena’s husband Philippe.
Chef Philippe Damas is showcasing the season’s best ingredients (porcinis, partridges) at this this bistro near the Canal Saint-Martin.
Le Repaire de Cartouche is a great place to sit at the bar without reservations, order wine with a slab of terrine, and wait for your table to open up at Au Passage. It’s still great fun as a wine bar, even if it can no longer deliver as a restaurant.
A recent visit didn’t live up to the hype in which Thierry Dufroux’s Basque-inflected bistrot was declared “one of the revelations of 2013.” With the…
Mensae is a contemporary French bistro not far from the sprawling Buttes-Chaumont park. Classics like frogs’ legs and steak tartare are frequently featured on the ever-changing menu, revisited with a contemporary bent and more reasonable portion size than the behemoths found in other restaurants. Don’t miss the chocolate mousse for dessert.
Practical information Address: 16 avenue de la Motte Piquet, 75007 Nearest transport: La Tour-Maubourg (8) Hours: Open Sunday-Friday for lunch & dinner and Saturday for dinner…
Practical information Address: 20 rue d’Aligre, 75012 Nearest transport: Ledru-Rollin (8) Hours: Closed Monday; Open Tuesday-Sunday for lunch; Open Thursday & Friday for lunch and dinner Reservations:…
Bring some friends to share in Bertrand Bluy’s family style dinner at this cave à manger.
Willi’s Wine Bar has been a Paris institution since 1980, when Mark Williamson opened up near the Palais Royal. If you’ve come to Paris to…
Warm, welcoming and well-priced. This bistro from Christian Etchebest follows the model of his other cantines, La Cantine du Troquet and La Cantine du Troquet Dupleix.
Practical information Address: 56 rue de la Fédération, 75015 Nearest transport: Dupleix (6) Hours: Closed Saturday and Sunday; Open Monday-Friday for lunch and dinner Reservations:…
Lusty Basque fare, affordably priced. Arrive early (doors open at 7pm) to avoid a wait at this casual, no-reservations bistro run by chef Christian Etchebest.
Benoit Gauthier’s Le Grand Pan unfussily and deliciously serves up superb meats and market-fresh vegetables.
Practical information Address: 45 avenue Ledru-Rollin, 75012 Nearest transport: Gare de Lyon (1, 14, RER A), Quai de la Rapée (5) Hours: Closed Sunday; Open Tuesday-Friday for…
The Obamas ate here! The Obamas ate here! This perpetual favorite, a mainstay on the crowded rue Saint-Dominique, offers classic cooking with a southwestern tilt. Open every day.
Here you’ll find robust, seasonal bistro cooking from a Chez l’Ami Jean alum. Menus at 31€/34€ for lunch/dinner, unless you spring for the Desnoyer côte…
Yves Camdeborde’s beloved bistro, once neo and now classic. Book months in advance for weeknight, no-choice dinner, or just queue up at lunch or weekends for the so-called “brasserie menu”.
At Le Relais de L’Entrecôte, the choices are steak or steak, and the supply of golden fries is unending. Which is how the line to be seated will seem unless you go early. Three locations.
A popular, old school bistro serving classics like frisée au lardons, jambon persillée, escargot, and tarte tatin.
Practical information Address: 135 rue St. Dominique, 75007 Nearest transport: École Militaire (8), Pont le l’Alma (RER C) Hours: Open every day, 12pm-11pm Reservations: Reservations…
Franck Baranger’s modern bistro near Pigalle is turning out dishes like celery root soup, oyster tartare, and a standout côte de cochon. Two courses at lunch for 17€, three at dinner for 32€.
Bring your appetite, and wallet, to this perennial favorite for old fashioned favorites like boeuf bourgignon, duck confit and gigot d’agneau.
It’s all about the bon produits at Le Bon Georges: beef from Alexandre Polmard, sustainable seafood from small-scale fishermen, market fresh veg from Joël Thibault, and vins de propriétés. The menu changes each day at this brand new, but classically beautiful bistro.
The market at Les Halles is long gone, but its legacy is still in evidence at Chez Denise, an old-school, shoulder-to-shoulder, red-checked tablecloth classic.