Eating in Paris: Budget Travel Guide

Looking for a tasty bite to eat in Paris without breaking the bank? Unfortunately, that’s a pretty tall order in this city, where it’s hard to find a meal for under €10 that isn’t McDonald’s. It feels wrong to eat at fast food in Paris, one of the culinary capitals of the world. So what’s » Read more

While you may think of France as a place for only wine lovers, beer drinkers can be seen sipping away on just about any terrasse you come across in Paris. Available pretty much everywhere, beer is just as popular to drink as wine at a cafe or bar. But the typical beer experience in France » Read more

Paris has a reputation for being romantic, fashionable, and as most are quick to add, expensive. While the food is almost always quite good, a nice dinner in the City of Lights can run up quite a tab. We highly recommend treating yourself to a classic French meal at least once during your stay, but » Read more

Dining out in Paris can be a difficult task on a budget, especially for first-time visitors. There are so many restaurants and recommendations to take in that just deciding where to go — or even which neighborhood to head to! — can be a laborious process unto itself. I’m not going to make individual restaurant » Read more

Long gourmet lunches, flaky croissants, endless glasses of wine… eating in Paris is a dream come for most visitors. But finding the right places can be frustrating for budget travelers if they’re not careful. Some restaurants are so overrun with tourists that the experience is not fun or the food just isn’t up to par. » Read more

Congrats on making your way to Paris! Now that you’re here and settled in your hotel, it’s time to take part in one of the city’s favorite pastimes — eating. And there’s no need to empty your wallet trying to dine like Louis XVI. Parisians have mastered the art of exploring their city’s cuisine without » Read more

Whether it’s with a fork and knife or on the go, eating a crepe just feels so Parisian – even though they are supposed to have originated in Brittany. Finding them is not particularly difficult, especially if you are around the Montparnasse neighborhood. Around the rest of Paris, however, it’s good to have a few » Read more

Grab your canvas bags. It’s market day in Paris! While the supermarkets in Paris provide all the food necessary to survive, the outdoor markets offer more variety of fruits and vegetables, often at lower prices. It’s a weekly ritual for many Parisians, but there’s no reason that the casual tourist can’t stock up on a few snacks » Read more

Few beverages seem as intimidating as wine. Images of blind tastings, snobbish conversations about vintages, and hefty price tags immediately come to mind. Coming to Paris, wine drinkers are like kids in a candy store. Affordable and delicious wine flows freely, but travelers can easily be duped. Whether you’re looking for some vin rouge to go » Read more

Now that the busy summer season has come and gone, the city is starting to settle back into its everyday rhythm. This means you’ll find the people of Paris scattered across lovely terraces around lunch time, stopping by for déjeuner à prix fixe. These meals, often a daily special or a traditional French dish, will be » Read more

We all hear about the croissant and its rich little brother the pain au chocolat, but these are not the only breakfast items available at the bakery. Parisians aren’t about to dive into an éclair or creamy millefeuille for breakfast, but they do have other options. Skip breakfast in the hotel to save a few » Read more

We’ve made it again—it’s summertime in Paris! As you may already know, this means Paris has become somewhat of a ghost town. Now that August has hazily rolled over the City of Lights, all the locals have headed to their chateaux in Normandy or their hotels on the Mediterranean. What’s left? All of the tourists, » Read more

I hate writing about food. Suggesting someone a restaurant or a café is like trying to suggest a favorite color to someone. Just because I like a place, doesn’t mean you will, even if the food is stellar or the service above par. I’ll leave you all to battle it out on TripAdvisor. Instead, let’s » Read more

Housed in an ornate, mirror-filled 19th-century hall with mile-high ceilings and tiled floors, le Boullion Chartier is certainly a classic Parisian restaurant. How many restaurants can say they have a history dating back to 1896 or even their own Wikipedia page? While normally these Belle Epoque-style bistros will cost you a pretty penny, Chartier is » Read more

The coffee scene is changing in Paris. Gone are the days when all Parisians dined at fancy bistros and sipped on bitter Café Richard espresso. Now it seems like every time you turn around a new trendy café has opened that’s serves a decidedly hip clientele. But most importantly, at many of these spots the » Read more

The quality drinking water in Paris is a precious resource that makes buying the plastic bottled variety a waste of funds, not to mention an obviously harmful gesture for the planet. The good news is that municipal Paris water tastes good. And it’s safe, free and widely available to locals and tourists alike. Drinking in » Read more

Those who dare to visit the city of Paris in August, that infamous month when Parisians do their holy best to get out of town, have likely been confronted by a shuttered restaurant or shop with an unapologetic note on the door saying that they will be back in September and expect to see you » Read more

To save on eating out or combat restaurant/waiter fatigue in Paris, sometimes it’s nice to stay in and enjoy a simple meal in your room. But we have watched one too many tourists wander through the dreary aisles of a French supermarket scavenging like lost urban seagulls for industrially made scraps when all of Paris » Read more

Breakfast in a Parisian café can be a lovely way to start your morning, but if you’re not careful it can also turn out to be a sorely overpriced treat. Here are a few pointers for enjoying the most important meal of the day without blowing your budget before lunch. Avoid the English-Speaking French Breakfast » Read more

Sometimes budget-minded travelers are so preoccupied with saving on big things like hotels and flights that they end up losing money in more stealthy ways, like spending unnecessarily by failing to embrace cultural differences. One way to avoid letting your trip to Paris burn a hole in your wallet? Think twice before you tip. Americans » Read more

After a day of meandering through Paris’ museums, trolling boutiques or pounding the cobblestones as you see the sights, there’s nothing quite like taking a load off and parking yourself at a corner café to partake in that most pleasant of French table traditions, “l’apéritif,” or “l’apéro” for short. The French cherish that time of » Read more

It’s cold.  It’s snowy.  It’s winter.  Hey, it’s Paris.  There’s no reason to stay inside even if the weather would suggest otherwise.  A few easy suggestions will still allow you to stroll the famous streets and avenues of Paris even if subzero temperatures try to foil your trip. 1. Dress the part It’s funny how » Read more

With so many chic coffee shops opening in Paris offering locally-roasted high quality brews, Cheapos might lament the loss of notoriously cheap café. But fear not! Paris’ City Hall workers took it upon themselves to crowd source places in Paris where €1 espresso still exists, reassuring locals and tourists alike. The results are in from » Read more

Even though the summer has technically been in full swing for a while, cold weather and rainy days in Paris have suppressed the always anticipated picnic season. Fortunately, temperatures are creeping up high into the 70s F (wow!), teasing locals back out to the banks of the Seine and to parks with promises of wine » Read more

By Bryan Pirolli in Paris— A culinary capital renowned for its elaborate pastries, steak frites, cheese and wine, Paris isn’t by any means perfect. Recent investigations revealed that many of those carefully prepared dishes that tourists dine on in restaurants are nothing more than reheated frozen meals (more on that here in English). Zut alors… » Read more