Well ladies and gentlemen, brasserie is a feminine word in French! To that end, if you don't mind, I will use the feminine gender every time I mention this word in this article here and there because that's how it sounds and rings in French 🙂
When I was young and living in Israel (from 1985 to 1996 with a two-year break in America), the first thing I would do when I arrived in Paris to visit my family was run to some good brasserie.
I especially loved the brasserie restaurants that my aunt, whom I admired, would take me to. It should be noted that my aunt did not live in Paris but in a charming village in Provence, but she would often “go up to Paris” with my uncle, where we would meet for dinner.
Take for example the famous brasserie Le Boeuf sur le Toit (or in Hebrew: “Cow on the Roof”) next to theChamps Elysees For example, it was her favorite place in Paris, and it's no wonder, since both she and her husband were musicians (I'll explain the connection between this brasserie and music later).
And speaking of nostalgia, of course we can't forget the brasseries where we would go with friends to celebrate a special occasion or go out for a romantic dinner: Le Grand Colbert, Le Vaudeville or Pied De Cochon in the neighborhood. La God, when hunger attacked us in the middle of the night, after a crazy evening at trendy bars in the area, where we would dance and party until dawn.
A visit to one of these great traditional brasserie restaurants in Paris means a guarantee that you will be served a 100% authentic meal. French And of high quality. Beyond that, in a good brasserie you will also enjoy ultra-professional service, and as the French expression “Aux petits Oignons” says, that means: particularly pampering and professional service.
And finally, the last reason to go eat at a classic brasserie is the interior design of these restaurants. Here you can eat in an extraordinary atmosphere and in a decor influenced by Art Nouveau or Art Deco. The reason for this is that these large brasseries were mostly opened in the late 19th or early 20th century (the period known to us as the Belle Époque), exactly when these schools of art were very popular.
I returned to live in France in 1996 and, as you probably already understood, I am steeped in nostalgia for these good traditional Parisian restaurants. So if I were asked to recommend a good restaurant in Paris, it is very likely that I would recommend a good Parisian brasserie like the ones you will find in this article.
Recommended brasseries in Paris
Le Grand Colbert
This is an important culinary institution first and foremost because of its location: within touching distance ofPalais Royal And not far from the Comédie Française and the Théâtre du Palais Royal. The proximity to the important theaters has made Le Grand Colbert the place where the who's who of the Parisian theater world dines at the end of each performance (or sometimes before it).
So, if you eat there regularly, you are guaranteed to run into actors, producers, journalists, and other local celebrities more than once (after a few meals at the restaurant, chances are you will start to recognize them). It is therefore not surprising that the restaurant starred in the famous series “10%” in an episode starring Isabelle Adjani.
The brasserie is also very close to the ancient and magnificent Richelieu Library (the National Library was largely moved to the 13th arrondissement of Paris). Paris, on the banks of the Seine, in these four glass towers facing each other like open books. But the old site, Richelieu, still exists and is currently undergoing renovations with a planned reopening in 2022).
The place has actually existed since the 17th century and was once the palace of Jean Baptiste Colbert, the famous Minister of Finance of France. Louis XIVDuring the 19th century, the place became a department store and in 1900, the place became a brasserie, which has not really changed since then.
At Grand Colbert you will find a very impressive Art Deco design and a 6-meter high ceiling. The menu is classic French with an emphasis on fresh products, sourced from France, with an emphasis on products from small producers.
As in some large brasseries, you will find a generous menu of oysters and seafood, including lobster. It is recommended to order a seafood platter for 2,3,4, XNUMX, XNUMX and then you can start enjoying all these dishes with the help of the many dishes provided for this purpose.
If you're less of a seafood fan, don't worry! The entrecote, the veal roast known to us as the Blanquette de veau, or the duck confit, are simply delicious!
And finally, the desserts and pastries on site are provided by young pastry chefs, who change every few months, and don't forget to order Cheese Before dessert.
Address:
The Grand Colbert
2, rue Vivienne 75002 Paris
Tel: + 33 1 42 86 87 88
La closerie des Lilas
This charming place is a concept in itself. It consists of 2 categories of restaurants: a brasserie and a restaurant, with the entrance to the brasserie corner on your left and the restaurant corner on your right.
Let me reassure you, you will eat well in both places, however, the “brasserie” corner will be a little cheaper and most importantly, there is no need to make a reservation. On the other hand, dinner in the “restaurant” of the Closet will be a little more luxurious and it is highly recommended to reserve a table there in advance.
This is one of the legendary restaurants inMontparnasse, where all the intellectuals and artists of the Left Bank gathered during the Belle Époque (1871-1914) and also in the 20s and 30s. Here, for example, sat some of the greatest Impressionist painters (Renoir, Sisley, Pissarro, Monet, Cézanne and more), whose works you can find inOrsay Museum.
We will also not forget the great intellectuals such as Paul Verlaine, Arthur Miller, Scott Fitzgerald, Samuel Beckett and Oscar Wilde. And finally, we cannot mention the Closerie de Lila without talking a little about Ernest Hemingway, who used to sit here almost every day, and some say that it was here that he first read “The Great Gatsby,” written by his friend Scott Fitzgerald.
Imagine all of them coming there to drink and eat, to party and find inspiration, to get high and have fun together almost every day (when they weren’t hanging out at other famous brasseries in Montparnasse, which I’ll write about in the future). Because they all spent their lives in this neighborhood, they got the name “the Montparnasse.”
I was lucky enough to be invited to my last birthday party for a very luxurious dinner with champagne, foie gras, caviar and everything else. All of this was eaten and drunk to the sounds produced by an excellent pianist who played there and created a perfect atmosphere. So if you are looking for a typical Parisian place to eat to the sound of a piano with a jazzy repertoire, French songs: this is the place to come!
Needless to say, the service here is excellent and complies with all the rules of classic Parisian restaurant business: Maître d'hôtel, sommelier, super professional and accommodating waiters. In short, a real moment of happiness with a fine, luxurious yet authentic menu. A flawless culinary experience!
Address :
The Closerie des Lilas
171 boulevard du Montparnasse 75006 Paris
Tel: + 33 1 40 51 34 50
Bofinger
This is one of the most famous brasseries in Paris, both for its Art Deco design (including a double curtain of heavy velvet, separating the outside world from what awaits inside) and for its food.
Bopenghe's specialty is Alsatian cuisine . Obviously, we eat seafood and oysters there, but also choucroute (sauerkraut with sausages or, alternatively, choucroute "of the sea" containing fish and seafood), which is highly recommended to order here because quite a few Parisians swear that it is the best choucroute in Paris.
And if all this is not enough for you and you are interested in eating more delicacies from Alsatian cuisine, you will also find Flammekueche, a kind of “Alsatian pizza,” and Gugelhupf, a yeast-based cake that is very popular in the Alsace region and in German-speaking countries.
Since the place is very close to the Opera Bastille (on the other side of the Place de la Bastille), it is not uncommon to see small groups of hungry spectators bursting into the restaurant late at night after the opera or ballet!
The design is luxurious, the service is professional as usual, and the cuisine is high quality.
You don't really need to book, but as always in Paris: around 20:00 PM the place is usually quite full.
Address:
Bofinger
5-7 rue de la Bastille 75004 Paris
Tel: + 33 1 42 72 87 82
Le Bistrot des Vosges Saveurs de l'Aveyron
Despite its name, this place is more of a restaurant, a mini brasserie than a bistro.
The place is located on Boulevard Beaumarchais, a main thoroughfare leading from Place de la Bastille to Place de la République, on the corner of a small street leading to Place des Vosges and the Marais. You will find “comfort food” there but above all, in my opinion, one of the best onion soups in Paris!
It is a simple and unpretentious place where you can eat well. It is recommended to get there around 7:00 pm, when you are hungry after walking around the Marais district all day . If you decide to come at 8:00 pm, it is recommended to make a reservation in advance because this is the time when most Parisians eat dinner.
If you have a cold (like I did the last time I went there), order a grog (a drink made from very hot tea, ginger, lemon, honey, and dark rum from the French Caribbean islands: Guadeloupe or Martinique). You'll see that by the end of the drink you'll feel much better!
Address:
Flavors of Aveyron
Le Bistrot des Vosges
31 Bd Beaumarchais, 75004 Paris
Tel: + 33 1 42 72 94 85
The Beef on the Roof
I talked about the place in the introduction to this article. It is a legendary place and it is especially close to my heart, because as I told you, I used to visit it often with my beloved aunt and I have wonderful memories from there.
Le Bouffant Ser La Toue (literally: Bull on the Roof) was the temple of Parisian music hall during the “Crazy Years” (the years after World War I and through World War II). The nickname Le Bouffant Ser La Toue was originally in the score of a famous ballet written by the (Jewish) composer Darius Milaud in 1921.
This musical work inspired the American Louis Moses to found the cabaret in 1922, and the place became popular among the artists, singers, dancers, and music leaders of the time, who performed or met there. Among them were American jazz musicians (most of them black), who came to Paris to find refuge from the racism they suffered in their homeland and thus turned Paris into the international jazz capital (you can read more about this in the article on jazz clubs in Paris ).
And so the Buffel Sir Le Toit became the favorite place of Charlie Chaplin, Josephine Baker, Maurice Chevalier, Maurice Ravel (the man who wrote the famous Bolero), Paul Claudel, Jacques Ferver, Hemingway, Cocteau and Marcel Aimé, whose story “The Man in the Wall” inspired the famous statue in Montmartre, where I like to bring travelers during my tours.
You can easily identify the place by its Art Deco facade.
The menu is that of a good brasserie and the products are local, but what is special about this place is the cabaret!
Every evening, from Monday to Saturday until 2:00 AM, by reservation in advance, you can come and dine there and enjoy music, in a very high-quality repertoire (jazz, world music, trip hop, French poetry...) and a magical setting, Art Deco style with sequins, (sparkles), mirrors and various decorative effects, that will make you feel, for a few hours, that you are somewhere else!
Address:
Beef on the roof
34 rue du Colisée 75008 Paris
Tel: + 33 1 53 93 65 50
A few words about Miriam Edri
Miriam was born and raised in France to average Russian/Cuban and Moroccan parents (a very interesting combination). During her life she lived not only in France but also in Israel, Venezuela, the USA and the Caribbean. Since 1996 Miriam has lived in Paris.
Throughout her life, Miriam has worked in the field of tourism and marketing, and today she is engaged in making French culture accessible to Israeli tourists. Miriam's main goal is to help Israeli tourists discover Paris through French eyes, and she does this through a series of tours on culinary, fashion, theater, and more. Tours with her can be booked through her website.
More on the subject
A complete article without prices? How much does a main course cost on average? How much does a dessert, a glass of wine or champagne cost? How much does a lavish meal with caviar and champagne cost? What's the problem with listing an average price per person for a meal?
Hello David,
I'm not including prices because they change from time to time. However, I have included links to the websites of each of the restaurants in the article so you can go in and see the menu.
deer
What a treat to have at least some virtual fun!