How to Eat in Paris on the Cheap
Paris is famous for both the quality and high prices of its restaurant food. While it's true that a meal with wine at a four-star restaurant will cost you the equivalent of many hundreds of dollars, there are still a few food bargains to be found in the City of Light.
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Instructions
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Enjoy the bakeries. Few things are as wonderful as the smell inside a French bakery. Inexpensive Parisian treats include bread, brioches, croissants and 'pain au chocolat' ' croissant dough with a strip of dark chocolate in the middle.
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Shop at markets and have a picnic. What could be more French than a baguette, a chunk of paté and tasty French cheese? Add some wine or bottled water, follow it up with some fresh fruit and you have a good meal.
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Eat ethnic food, especially Middle Eastern cuisine. France's strong Arabic influence has extended to its cuisine and often offers the best food bargains. Look for Lebanese or Moroccan restaurants or 'couscoussières.'
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Look for 'tourist menus' posted outside many restaurants. These are set price ('prix fixé') menus that offer three-course meals at much lower prices than the 'à la carte' menu. Though the choices are limited, the savings are usually worthwhile.
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Eat at cafés, bistros or brasseries; they're always much cheaper than 'haute cuisine' restaurants, but the food will still be pretty good.
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Tips & Warnings
Get a good budget guidebook with extensive listings of affordable restaurants and cafés. Peruse different guidebooks at your local library, make photocopies of the pages you really need, then leave the heavy books at home.
Try to find a good phrasebook and practice your French before you go; it's not always easy to find a Parisian who understands English.
Be careful when you order wine in Paris! While a carafe of red, white or rosé 'vin ordinaire' will be decent and inexpensive, prices can quickly get out--of-hand once you start ordering from the wine list. Order the house wine and resist the temptation to 'upgrade' if you are trying to stick to a budget.
Avoid 'tourist trap' areas if you are trying to eat on the cheap. You may find that the restaurants and cafés a block or so away from the heart of the action are a lot cheaper.
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Comments
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Rick Fremaux The "imitations of Mcdonalds" are probably packed 24hr day because you are in Paris ;) If you ever go to Brussels and Antwerpen, get better tips, you can find good food for really cheap ;)
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Rick, have been to Paris and countryside over a dozen times, and the city vs. country is a remarkable difference. Paris has many cheap eats, and there is a book "Cheap Eats in Paris", which we tried, but still couldn't stay within a reasonable budget. We found that staying in an apartment would give us a better control over the food budget, and it was great to shop like a local. But the last few times we went, the local marche was getting as expensive as eating out. Rue Cler offers good eating, reasonable. The dollar has gone to "le toilet" in Europe!
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Brussels, Aantwerpen, Reims, & Paris. Last few times au Paris, we were progressively disappointed by the meals. There are two McDonald's plus an imatation Mcdonald's on the Champs d'Elyssees AND all three are packed with French kids, 24 housr a day.
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I thought you were going to Switzerland?
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Gee, sounds just like New Orleans. We have been very disappointed with food quality last few trips to Paris. That's why I'm looking on here.
