Paris restaurant reservations on short notice

May 3, 2006 7:19 AM

ParisFilter: Michelin-starred-quality restaurants on short notice? (Spoilers inside for those going with me on the trip.)

Oy: my girlfriend and I found a simultaneous gap in our work schedules, and booked tickets to run off to Paris for a week. We had sensational luck with the hotel, finding a cheap 26-room place off the beaten Internet track in the middle of the Premiere Arrondisement. Less luck with the plane flight: booking separately caused her ticket price to jump $100+ immediately after I booked because the flight back was so full.

We're both foodies, and are looking forward to exploring the cafes and ethnic neighborhoods and passages and fromageries, etc. But, we've been remiss in restaurant reservations. Every one of the famous places seems to want a reservation a month in advance. I had my heart set on the Jules Verne (which would have the bonus of being able to skip the Eiffel Tower lines), but they seem to want two months in advance and haven't yet answered my email.

Am I asking the impossible? Are there any Michelin-quality restaurants that will have seats open two weeks in advance that can be contacted over the InterWeb? I'm okay with something not so famous, so long as it's good.

posted by commander_cool to travel & transportation (13 comments total)

Not an exact response, but I remember a similar question from last summer. Maybe there's something in there for you.
posted by mikel at 8:02 AM on May 3, 2006

Not sure what you mean by "Michelin quality"; almost every decent restaurant in Paris is Michelin rated. Do you mean restaurants with stars? Yes, you can get same-day reservations at many one and two star establishments, particularly if the day in question is a weekday. The simplest way is to get a good concierge to help you, no idea if your hotel can do that or not. Barring that, get a copy of Michelin and start working the list. You'll find something.

FWIW, I've found the Michelin star system is not terribly helpful. The starred places have great service but often boringly pretentious food. I've found I've done better with the 3 or 4 fork places that are coloured red (for unusually charming, something like that).

As for stars, I'd try Taillevent first. I think the food is overrated, but it is very good and the epitome of a fancy French restaurant. More importantly for your purposes it's huge and has no qualms about doing two seatings a night, so has a lot of space available.
posted by Nelson at 8:21 AM on May 3, 2006

When in doubt I've frequently had luck at many good restaurants with dropping in and if possible eating at the bar. May not be what you're looking for but I've had great times with this on spur of the moment dates.

Don't know how well this flies in Paris though.
posted by bitdamaged at 8:46 AM on May 3, 2006

It may be more "casual" than you have in mind, but L'Atelier du Joel Robuchon is somewhat unique among high-caliber restaurants in that they don't accept reservations at all. My one meal there was outstanding, although on reflection, I wish I'd had the degustation menu.

5, rue de Montalembert 75007 PARIS
Metro : Rue du Bac
telephone number : 01.42.22.56.56

One more general thought: You can eat well, very well in Paris without reservations made weeks or months in advance. The best meal I had on my last trip was at Chez Michel, a Briton restaurant near Gard du Nord, where we made reservations two days in advance. And competing for second best is probably one of two or three little neighborhood places we stumbled into unannounced. In Paris, a little spontenaity can take you a long way.
posted by j-dawg at 8:46 AM on May 3, 2006

You could try the restaurant review category of Clotilde's blog Chocolate & Zucchini. She's a wonderful cook, a real foodie and writes about restaurant visits, especially in her home city (Montmartre, Paris).
posted by ceri richard at 8:52 AM on May 3, 2006

Jacques Cagna has online booking.

Restaurant Laurent accepts faxed reservations and will be about 200 euros each.

Both have menus and pricing online. Both are amazing according to my French foodie labmate. Worth a shot - they may have something free in two weeks.
posted by louigi at 8:59 AM on May 3, 2006

Whoops, I guess you could get away with paying less than that at Laurent.
posted by louigi at 9:01 AM on May 3, 2006

I've been in Paris for five months now, and I love food. I'm poor, but I know of a few less known, less fancy REALLY good restaurants that you can walk into (although you may have to wait a bit) any day of the week.

The Jules Verne might be good (I've never eaten there), but I'm sure it's ALL tourists! If you don't mind everyone speaking English around you, and want really great French food try this place I took my parents to when they visited:

Le Petit Troquet (28 Rue De L'exposition, 7eme). Very very good food (especially for the price), lots and lots of tourists, can probably get reservation the week of or walk in.

If you want to eat away from all the tourists here are two really French Places:
Chez Andre (12 Rue Marbeuf, 8eme) very bustling, and very French for traditional Bistro food.

Le Cameleon (6 rue de Chevreuse, 6eme) May be an even better (homeier) version of the above.

Why do you want a place you can contact over the inernet? I don't think a lot of restaurants in France take reservations over e-mail.
posted by Packy_1962 at 10:46 AM on May 3, 2006 [1 favorite]

On Preview: Maybe none of these places are as fancy as you want. Still good though.
posted by Packy_1962 at 10:51 AM on May 3, 2006

Thanks for all the help.

The idea was to supplement our week in Paris with one or two fancy-schmancy pretentious splurges at something with Michelin stars to have that additional experience, so the previous thread (and suggestions) about under-10-euro eating wasn't really on point. The top-of-the-line world-renowned restaurants all appear to be booked, and my French isn't good enough to call random restaurants--hence the Internet request.
posted by commander_cool at 11:25 AM on May 3, 2006

You're looking for the Rotisserie Du Beaujolais, located at 19, quai de la Tournelle. It's affiliated with the Tour D'Argent, and is a great way to get that level of food experience for a fraction of the price, and in a much more casual atmosphere. I can't recommend it enough.

Here's a helpful link
posted by JekPorkins at 12:18 PM on May 3, 2006

my French isn't good enough to call random restaurants--hence the Internet request.


If it's a really fancy/famous/expensive place, they will most certainly speak English.
posted by Packy_1962 at 3:57 PM on May 3, 2006

Following up months later in case someone finds this thread: we managed to get lunch seatings at Taillevent and Jacques Cagna, both of which were excellent. (We were embarrassingly alone at Jacques Cagna, though.) As Packy correctly noted, the fancy expensive restaurants all do speak English.
posted by commander_cool at 9:15 PM on February 10, 2007