Tout Paris is lining up for nostalgia-influenced dining. Exuberant, convivial, familiar, these traditional spots offer French comfort cuisine in a city where eating out and together is celebrated as in no other.
LessTwo years ago, star chef Jean-François Piège took over this 80-year-old brasserie in the neighborhood around the former market halls. Since then, it offers one of the best versions of traditional cuisine in the capital, with onion soup, frog legs and a silver-plated serving trolley. Reserve several weeks in advance.
For a very long time, and until the renaissance of the bouillons a few years ago, Chartier was the only remaining establishment of its kind in Paris. The pricing is extremely low, the stunning décor unchanged since the Belle Époque, the "ballet des serveurs" downright dizzying.
After the great success of their first restaurant in the Montmartre district, the Chartier brothers opened a second in 1903 in what was then the artists' district of Montparnasse. They furnished it in the Art Nouveau style and sold it a few years later. Since then, it has changed owners and names several times until the current operators of Chartier Montmartre bought it back two years ago, to more success.
An elegant upscale brasserie with corresponding prices, the Closerie's beautiful space at the end of the Jardin du Luxembourg in Montparnasse is also famous for its magnificent bar.
A spacious brasserie steeped in history in the former artists' district of Montparnasse, its splendid Art Deco style of the late 1920s is worth a visit on its own. So are the magnificent paintings by local artists from the same period on the nearly 30 columns of the dining room. Find brasserie classics like choucroute (sauerkraut with smoked meat and sausages) and lamb curry, but also a spectacular selection of seafood plateaus.
This beautiful, two-story-brasserie dates from 1880 and is located in the former literary district of Saint-Germain. It is frequented to this day by numerous writers, personalities and politicians, who come to enjoy traditional Parisian cuisine of Alsatian origin, such as cervelas rémoulade and Bismarck herring.
Since a new takeover a few years ago, the cuisine has been overambitious for a brasserie-style restaurant. But the flamboyantly and breathtakingly decorated Belle Époque dining room alone is worth a visit—undoubtedly one of the most beautiful restaurants in the whole world.
It was only a few years ago and following the general trend that the concept of Julien was changed to a bouillon. Decently prepared dishes come at extremely reasonable prices, but above all, the setting is stunning and Art Nouveau-like.
One of the great classics of Parisian brasseries (it was allegedly the first place in Paris to serve beer on tap), Bofinger is also listed as a historic monument. It has a large and varied range of sauerkraut dishes and abundant seafood offerings.