Nowadays, you can find hundreds of beautiful restaurants in Paris with thoughtful (or just trendy) interior design and well-planned and executed menus offering a creative mixture of French and exotic foreign cuisines. It is safe to say that Paris is once again catching up with or edging ahead of its English rivals. There is a wide selection of Paris vacation rentals in every district near the most popular or traditional restaurants. Ask your Paris vacation rental operator which areas are the best for dining before you book.

Certainly there are also some traditional offerings, and for the budget conscious there are hundreds of traditional bistros, with their sidewalk patios offering a choice of fairly simple meals for reasonable prices.

Many restaurants in Paris are tiny and have tables close together - square meters are at a premium and understandably restaurateurs need to make the most of limited space.

In some cases when the restaurant in Paris is crowded, you may have to sit beside strangers at the same table. If that does not appeal to you, go to a more upscale place where you will pay for the extra space.

Trendy restaurants in Paris often require reservations weeks, if not months in advance. If you have not planned far enough ahead, try to get a reservation for lunch which is generally easier and less expensive. Paris vacation rental guides usually offer information on restaurants in Paris, France. You can also check travel forums and blogs to find the best places according to your parameters.

Carré des Feuillants
This is a bastion of perfection, an enclave of haute gastronomy. When chef Alain Dutournier turned this 17th-century convent between the place Vendôme and the Tuileries into a restaurant, it was an overnight success. You'll find a sophisticated reinterpretation of cuisine from France's southwest, using seasonal ingredients and lots of know-how. Some of the best dishes include roasted rack of milkfed Pyrenees lamb cooked in a clay pot or slices of John Dory with potatoes and a tender cabbage lasagna. For dessert try the mango and passionfruit ravioli.

Address 14 rue de Castiglione, 1er, Paris
Location Near place Vendôme and the Tuileries
Phone 01-42-86-82-82
Web Site www.carredesfeuillants.fr
Cuisine French
Price Main courses 55€-70€ ($80-$102); fixed-price lunch 65€-165€ ($94-$239); fixed-price dinner 165€ ($239)

Taillevent
This is the Parisian ne plus ultra of gastronomy. Taillevent opened in 1946 and has climbed steadily in excellence; today it ranks as Paris's outstanding all-around restaurant. It's in a grand 19th-century town house off the Champs-Elysées, with paneled rooms and crystal chandeliers. Each dish is supreme in flavor, including John Dory with olives or lamb saddle seasoned with wild herbs. A cassoulet of crayfish, if featured, is also divine. Chefs dare to serve that old standard, baba au rhum, but it's perhaps the best you'll ever taste. The wine list is among the best in Paris.

Address 15 rue Lamennais, 8e, Paris
Phone 01-44-95-15-01
Web Site www.taillevent.com
Cuisine French
Price Main courses 34€-90€ ($49-$131); fixed-price lunch 70€ ($102); dégustation 140€-190€ ($203-$276)


Café de Flore
This belle époque café is the former hangout of André Breton and the Surrealists, Jean-Paul Sartre and the Existentialists, and a who’s who of screen stars like Brigitte Bardot. Trotsky and Hemingway may be gone, but the French intelligentsia still stops in to slurp café crème and exceptional hot chocolate.

Address 172 bd. St-Germain, 6e, Paris
Phone 01-45-48-55-26
Web Site www.cafe-de-flore.com
Cuisine Cafe
Price Café espresso 4.60€ ($6.70); glass of beer 9€ ($13); snacks from 16€ ($23); full meal 25€-45€ ($36-$65)

1728
The food, prepared by the 31-year-old chef Géraldine Rumeau, can best be called whimsical fusion: Japanese and French (There might be an 18th-century version of beef tartare or scallop and Chinese truffle brochettes). The two-course lunch is the best value. The wine list, Mr. Chuet’s passion, is very personal, offering an affordable selection that, except for the Bordeaux, contains no sulfites.

Address 8 rue d'Anjou, 8e, Paris
Phone 01-40-17-04-77
Web Site www.restaurant-1728.com
Cuisine French
Price Main courses 25€-40€ ($36-$58)

Bistrot Paul Bert
This restaurant in the 11th Arrondissement is a marvel of good food and wine at reasonable prices. The menu offers three generous courses, allowing for a hearty and economical meal.

Address 18 rue Paul-Bert, 11th, Paris
Phone 01-43-72-24-01
Cuisine French
Price Main courses 10€-20€ ($15-$29); fixed-price lunch 16€-32€ ($23-$46); fixed-price dinner 32€ ($46)