Beloved by all the students at the Ecole des Beaux Arts across the street, this is one of those neighborhood bistros locals love. In the evenings art students gather around to knock back pints of beer together or perhaps indullge in a plate of cold cuts and a carafe of vin de pays French red wine. Lunches are the most popular and for just a bit more than a song you'll have solid fare as appetizer, main and dessert with a coffee for good measure. It also opens early which is when you really see the local color dipping their fresh croissants in their espresso before heading off to work.
Recommended for Homestyle because: Take in the sights and sounds of the local art student brigade from France's famous art school (across the street) while you sip your beer/wine.
Paige's expert tip: This locals' favorite is still family-owned by people from the neighborhood. In an era when it seems that many restaurants are being bought by large business groups, this is one that still defies the odds. Good quality, authentic fare, excellent prices and a window into a real St. Germain des Pres neighborhood.
Here it's the food that will keep you coming back time and again. Tucked away just back behind Place des Victoires, the somewhat scruffed up d�cor and the less than perky service will just be passing distractions once you've had a taste of your meal. Steak comes served with either a pepper sauce or béarnaise; your salad frisée sports a warm poached egg and bacon on top; the wine list is highlighted which translates to those are the ones you can drink to your delight. Yes, they will keep track of how much you drink and charge accordingly but it saves you from having to make the decision as to whether to order a bottle or half a carafe. N'est_ce pas?
Recommended for Homestyle because: This is what you expect when you think of a little French restaurant in Paris, with good food and service who tolerate their customers.
Paige's expert tip: It's rumored (though you didn't hear it here) that the Chanel crowd lunches here regularly.
Now overseen by Chef Bruno Doucet, who bought out Chef Yves Camdeborde when he sold his successful La Régalade concept several years back, this location, though tucked away is near enough to Grands Boulevards to make it worth seeking out. Forget about personal space — the place is so popular that you may find yourself sitting within inches of your neighbor. However, the food will take your mind off the crowds. People flock here to try duck hearts with oyster mushrooms or hachis parmentier (shepherd's pie) made with rabbit rather than the plebeian ground beef. The dishes are tending a bit towards the nouvelle and less towards the country-style cuisine these days, but the ambiance is still homestyle, if served with the qualifier of "a tad fancy" before it.
Recommended for Homestyle because: For under about 30, prix-fixe, you are sure to have yourself a quality lunch, drinks not included.
Paige's expert tip: The terrine of paté de compagne (country-style paté) served with a bowl of gherkins as you're seated is one of the things that keeps this restaurant's loyal diners coming back.
Besides serving hot, tempting, overflowing plates of food until 5 a.m., Chez Denise is most well known for its hot, tempting, overflowing plates of French traditional food. The proper name is what you see written here above but everyone just refers to this red-checked tablecloth mainstay as Chez Denise. The fare here appeals to those who like to chomp into true classics, such as grilled marrow bones. All the while rubbing shoulders — and elbows and knees — with your fellow diners invariably sitting altogether much too closely to you. But since this is a favorite of the late night after club and post-dancing crowds, by that time of day (er, night) people tend to be much friendlier anyway.
Recommended for Homestyle because: Big, hearty meals like steak, french-fries and salad served with baguette and wine until late at night - this is Homestyle with a capital H.
Paige's expert tip: Portions here are big so come with an appetite.
Though this restaurant happens to be attached to a fabulous and newly refurbished cabaret, it is a stand-alone destination in itself. Serving a traditional take on French homestyle meals, expect hearty portions of seared tuna served over squid ink risotto or lighter fare of seafood salad; Even if you're not a foie gras fan, the chef has sourced the best of the best from his home region in Provence. It's served with mango chutney to offer that exotic twist on a traditional French gourmet staple.
Recommended for Homestyle because: Sometimes a neighborhood bistro is the best choice. And here you are sure to enjoy your meal.
Paige's expert tip: This restaurant stands on the exact location of the former famous cabaret where Josephine Baker first danced. The cabaret is now next door and downstairs, part of the same building. But if you think this restaurant is snacks only, think again. Here you can get before or after-theatre hearty, refined meals like squid salad or seared tuna over a bed of parmesan risotto. And there's plenty on the menu for meat eaters, too. in fact, the restaurant has quickly become a favorite of the neighborhood locals.
Its name means "good welcome," so you know that you'll be well received at Au Bon Accueil. The bistro's popularity continues to rise, and ma�tre d'h�te Dominique Giorza not only assists diners but is fluent in both English and Italian. Entr�es depend on the season and can include dishes featuring everything from skatefish to baby pig. Desserts are sinfully impossible to pass up. The husband-wife owners, Jacques and Catherine Lacipière are dedicated to serving quality, market-driven fresh food accompanied small-producer wines from regions like Bourgogne and Cotes du Rhones. Laurent Fiot is the maitre d'hote and Kita Kitamura is in charge of the kitchen.
Recommended for Homestyle because: Here you will dine well, you will dine peacefully and you will dine reasonably.
Paige's expert tip: The Eiffel Tower is just at the end of this quaint little French street of signature Haussmannian style buildings.
Cocottes means casserole in French. And here at this Christian Constant restaurant on the rue he dominantes, rue Saint-Dominique, near the Eiffel Tower, that's all that's served. But is there any dish more soothing, more satisfying, than one that has been cooked in its own cast iron stew pot and then served hot in its stew juices right to your table? Or, this case, to your seat at the counter? Not if you're looking for a hot meal on a cold autumn, winter or early spring day. The other nice thing is that you can pair this mean with a starter served in a verrine ( a glass, sort of like a parfait but savory), a hearty salad, and his good solid signature desserts, such as the profiteroles.
Recommended for Homestyle because: Anything simmered for hours in a cast-iron pot, is bound to be good. When it's Chef Constant's kitchen, you can be sure of it.
Paige's expert tip: Sitting at the counter and doing your mix-n-match, starter, salad, stew-pot, is a differently delicious way to approach a hearty meal.
This restaurant gets its name, "Perched on a Tree Top," from its ingenious décor which instantly makes you feel like you are dining in a tree house, or, alternately, from a tree swing. It also offers shiatsu treatments inbetween your appetizer and main course, or main course and dessert. With all these gimmicky perks, you might start to wonder if the food will be any good? Not to worry. It is very good. Thick cut steaks and more traditional than you'd imagine, though with an ever so slight Asian touch such as makis served with a few of the entrées.
Recommended for Homestyle because: A dining concept that makes you feeling you're enjoying a meal in a treehouse, in the middle of Paris. And the food is excellent.
Paige's expert tip: Book your shiatsu treatment for either after your appetizer or before your dessert when you make your reservations. These appointments, on-premise, fill up quickly.
This is a Rostang operation and it's all about the meat. Interestingly, too, it's run by the daughters of iconic French chef, Michel. Specialties here are thick, juicy cuts of Basque pork, black Angus beef, lamb and chicken. It's also a restaurant for sharing - as in plates of food shared amongst friends and family, like you do when you eat chez vous (at home). The service here is friendly and efficient even with its nightly booked-to-capacity popularity. If you are a wine buff, the servers will take pleasure in introducing you to some smaller producers and personal favorites; wines they themselves enjoy sharing with friends. The three levels of set menus cater to normal, large and extra-large appetites. Which is to say, you will not go home hungry.
Recommended for Homestyle because: The concept here is family style where you share a meal at the table as you would at home or at a friend's home.
Paige's expert tip: The thing to do here is share. The menu is set up for sharing these heaping plates of meat with friends and family.
As prized for its turn-of-the-20th century decor (the etched ceramic panels of exotic plants, black and white floor tile and Charlie Garrey's painted ceiling of African scenes) as it is for its true brasserie food (authentic Alsatian fare), Lipp is more than a place to wash down sausages with beer. For over a century, the politicians, thinkers, writers and artists who have called Paris home have congregated here from Hemingway to former President Mitterrand. Reservations are recommended for dining, yet not accepted for sidewalk tables. It is possible to enjoy just a beer during off dining hours, but it is so much better to come for a meal.
Recommended for Homestyle because: If you read just one page about this locale's majestic role in Parisian thought and literary-culture each time you dine here, you would do well.
Paige's expert tip: So much history to soak up, so little time. And since the food here is so good, why not do both at the same time?