Hello future students! As you’ll soon discover, determining where to eat every day can be a chore. It can be hard to find places that are delicious, affordable and are navigable with limited French. So, I’ve made a list of some of my favorite places for you! This will be two years out of date by the time you read this, so I can’t promise everything I put here will still be accurate.
There’s a little section on general tips and then I split my restaurants into Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced based on how difficult they were to navigate. All of the restaurant names are linked to the google maps page.
Tutorial (random tips and tricks)
- At some restaurants you just sit down at a random table and at others someone tells you where to sit. The best thing to do is just wait by the door and say bonjour when someone who works there walks by. They’ll usually ask how many you people you have to which you can hold up your fingers with the number if you don’t know it in French.
- If you ask for water, they will bring you bottled water that you have to pay for. But you can ask for une carafe d’eau (a carafe of water) which is just tap water that’s free!
- Most servers aren’t necessarily mean, but they will sass you. Make sure to say bonjour, s’il vous plaît, and merci and you’ll be fine.
- Most restaurants allow you to split checks, but it does work a little bit different. There’ll only be one check brought out. They’ll either just divide the total amount between each person (for example with 4 people and a total of $80 each person would pay $20) or they’ll have you point out what you ordered and add up that total. Keep in mind that they won’t do this for groups bigger than about six.
Beginner
Bakeries
Bakeries in Paris have more hearty food like quiches and sandwiches along with pastries. They’re a good option for when you want something quick and cheap. There’s a few by campus that are very used to clueless students coming in so they are perfectly fine with you just pointing at what you want and pronouncing things badly.
I’d recommend this as a good option for food on your first day. You’re going to be exhausted and overheated and you’re probably going to want something simple within walking distance from campus.
My friends kept making plans to go to get Korean food and ending up going somewhere else. Finally in the last week, we decided that we had to actually go and we were not disappointed. I got a big bowl of beef bulgogi and it was one of the best things I ate on this trip. It’s close enough to the touristy areas that the staff wasn’t surprised to have non-French speakers there and pretty much only spoke English to us after I said bonjour instead of bonsoir when we walked in.
Not all cafes are the same quality and this is the best one by far. Dr. Smith will probably take you here at some point on the trip. It’s only one RER stop away and the staff speaks English, so it’s pretty easy to navigate. It’s not the cheapest restaurant on this list, but it’s still reasonable. You’ll get what you pay for both in quality and portion size. Everything I’ve had was delicious.
Indian food conveniently located within walking distance from campus. A lot of people from my class ended up coming here when they wanted something close and easy after a long day. The staff knew English and easily accommodated our larger group of six people. The food was excellent for a good price.
Intermediate
This is located one RER stop and a short walk away from campus. You have to at least try Moroccan food while in Paris and this is a wonderful place to do it. The food here is amazing. The staff doesn’t really speak English, but they are super friendly and easy to communicate with despite that. When we went, they weren’t expecting to get a gaggle of American students, but were really excited that we were there. Do expect a slow meal though.
Chicken Couscous at Brikabrak
I love Lebanese food, so I was really excited to find this restaurant. They have sandwiches and a whole case full of salads and pasties. You get your food quick and there is an option for takeout. I ate a falafel sandwich there the first time I went and the second time I had fun pointing at various cheese and herb filled pastries to bring back to the dorm for dinner (you know a pastry is good if it’s still amazing after a 30 minute train ride). How much English the staff knows and how much they sass you get depends on who takes your order, but the food is so good I didn’t even care.
Falafel sandwich and salad at Falafel du Liban Bis
As you may have figured out based on my recommendations here, I wasn’t that impressed by traditional French food. This place is one of the exceptions. The food was really well cooked and properly flavorful despite being well… French. It’s always packed, so prepared to wait and be crowded once you sit. The staff knows English and used to American tourists.
Advanced
Excellent Japanese food for a very good price. It’s just a couple stops away on the tram, so it’s convenient to get to from the university too. The only reason that it’s in the advanced section is because the employees didn’t speak any English. I’d reccomend going later in the trip when you understand how things work better or bringing a friend that knows French.
This was my first time having Georgian food. I saw the sign while walking to the Luxembourg Gardens and thought it would be an excellent opportunity to try food I normally don’t have the chance to. I didn’t take a picture of my meal, but it was so good. I had some of the best cooked and seasoned chicken I’ve had. Our waiter didn’t really know English, but was very friendly. Again, I recommend a visit later in the trip.
Unlike the previous two restaurants, the staff here did know English. But the experience was just so odd it deserves an advanced ranking. It’s in the suburbs just south of campus near Brikabrak, so no one is really expecting a bunch of Americans who don’t know French. Prepare to wait a long time for your food here. We waited over an hour and then they kept bringing out the wrong dishes and asking if they were ours. But then we ate the food and it was delicious. I had pineapple fried rice which managed to be incredibly flavorful without being overly acidic. In Paris, you sometimes have to have a weird dining experience to get amazing food and so I recommend this place despite its flaws.
Pineapple Fried Rice at Baht 15
I hope these recommendations are useful! If anyone from my class has any thoughts on the restaurants I mentioned or has more recommendations, comment below!
Laurie
1 Comment
Great job Laurie! This is such a great idea. This would have been so helpful at the beginning of the trip when I was super nervous about where to go and what to do for food.