monpetitchoux

my husband and i arrive in paris around 11:00 a.m. 21 april and depart morning of 27 april. the last time i was in paris was 16 years ago and my husband has never been. there is so much that we want to see and do that we are not sure that we want to make dinner reservations because we don't know if we will want to commit to dining at a particular place at a particular time. our plan (for now)is to have a list of a few places in various neighborhoods that we would like to try and then depending on where we are at dinner time, stop in to see if they can accommodate us. i wonder though if we are fooling ourselves by thinking that we will be able to find the places we have noted and if there is any chance that a table will be available. or perhaps we should go with this plan for a few meals, but be sure to make reservations for at least two dinners?

when i was in paris in college in 1978, none of this mattered and when i was there in 1990 i stayed with a parisian friend and we just played everything by ear.

your accumulated wonderful experiences in this realm will be most appreciated!

julies

What you are talking about is exactly the way we always operate and for the same reasons. But, we don't go to Paris primarily to eat, as some do here. And, we tend to stick to the more inexpensive places. So, I guess it might depend on your budget too and exactly how important it is to focus in on a particular restaurant.

robjame

A most difficult question mon petit choux. Part of it depends how important meals are to you. We hate it when we have a bad experience.
We go with a list and very seldom wing it. We have made too many errors. We rarely go to a place without some sort of recommendation - this forum, hotel manager, cafe owner, other travelers, etc. We are staying in the 18th this time - a new experience for us. I have a list of about 30 places with a couple of comments besdie each one.
We tend to book one or two ahead if there are places we want to go.
Stumbling upon places does happen but my memory is not that good.

StCirq

Unless you are hoping to have some very high-end meals or care deeply about whether you can get into a particular place, there's no need IMO to make reservations or even a plan. Except for special occasions or get-togethers, or if I know for certain I must have a meal at a certain restaurant on a certain night, I never plan where I'm going to eat in Paris. I have a general idea of what restaurants are where, but I also like experimenting and trying new places. It's only backfired on me a few times; most of the impromptu restaurant choices I've made have been fine, and some good enough to recommend to others and go back to again and again.

monpetitchoux

we are from new orleans where there are many wonderful restaurants of all price ranges and we eat well at home too, so good food is important to us but we also know that it does not have to cost an arm and a leg. i have researched zagat's for places with ratings of 20 and above for food and under 50 euros for cost. we also found suggestions in fodor's, paris for dummies, let's go paris and this forum, so i think we have a few good choices. we would also like to have at least one really memorable meal perhaps on our last night which would be a thursday night. for that one we will want to dress well and spend a bit more.

thanks so much for the responses so far!

Leely

robjame, I want your list!!!

monpetitchoux, I am a little like you. I live in a town (SF) with a lot of good restaurants, so while I do not go on vacation specifically to eat, I'm disappointed if I don't get a few sparklers on a trip. As a hardcore sightseer, I don't know where/when I'm going to want to eat every day. I usually make a couple of reservations before I leave or upon arrival for my top choices. Otherwise, I sorta wing it.
I don't know what your budget is, but I've been happy with some of the bistro recs on egullet.

SuzieCII

I am not a meal reserve/planner. I read zagats and I enjoy bestrestaurantsinparis.com (I think, I'll be corrected on that if I'm wrong) We've not had any problem at all...and have found some unexpected delights.
That said, I liked the look of one place so I had lunch there as a test drive (Le Fumoir in the 1st...near the Louvre). I enjoyed it so much, I selected it for my special dinner (Thanksgiving night and I was solo in Paris). So made a reservation "just to be sure".
Walking in the Marais one afternoon, I had 1 bad steak frites. No problem, I was walking across town, got peckish and got a seat. Was my vacation ruined by 1 meal? Hardly...
But for a special meal, maybe I would research.

missypie

I hate to be so bold as to quote myself, but what I just wrote in my Barcelona trip report might be helpful to you:

" As some of you may recall, last summer we were surprised that we had a hard time finding good restaurants in Italy. I had noted many restaurant recommendations, but when the time came to eat, we either couldn't find them, or they were closed. For this trip, I assembled some 67 restaurant recommendations, mostly from this board and a few from other trusted sources; I made sure I had an actual street adress for each (not just "a block off of Las Ramblas" for example). Then I photocopied a map of Barcelona, located each restaurant, highlighted the street and wrote the name of the restaurant on the map. (I discovered that some of the recommended restaurants were in neighborhoods that we didn't plan to visit, so they were deleted from my list.) This worked very well for us. When mealtime came, I'd look at my annotated map and see what restaurants were located in the general vicinity."

Christina

I basically agree with St Cirq and that's my plan. However, I would not say that food is really "important" to me or going to places I've researched or that are name places or written up. Of course I like a good meal, who doesn't, but I'm not that picky. So I will say that if your list is drawn the way you say -- Zagats 20 or above for less than 50 euro, mentioned on here and in other very mainstream guidebooks, etc. -- then you will probably have problems getting in at the last minute without a reservation. Except for maybe the Let's Go suggestions, I imagine those are more casual.

scrb

"i have researched zagat's for places with ratings of 20 and above for food and under 50 euros for cost"

How about posting that list here? Not everything in Zagats but a few would be helpful.

monpetitchoux

missypie, i do have names, addresses and telephone numbers, but i love your idea of putting them on a map. that should make it much easier to know what we are near and what we are not.

and scrb, i'll be happy to post the names of those restaurants when i have time. i'm at work right now and must wait until i have more free time - like tomorrow morning or lunch time!

ekscrunchy

Here are three:

L'Avant Gout in the 13e 25 for food; 41 Euro per person

Astier in the 11e 22 for food; 38 Euro per person

Le Timbre in the 6e 22 for food; 37 Euro per person

kerouac

In spite of all of the years that I have lived in Paris, I still enjoy going into totally unknown restaurants that look promising, as do most of my friends. In a city with so many restaurants, it would be a pity to tie oneself down to just a few "sure things".

crefloors

Just play it by ear. All the menus have to be posted outside so it's easy to see what they offer and the prices so you know a little bit going in. Depending on what time you like to eat and the restaurant, some of them may not have a table for you, but there are places to eat everywhere. I don't travel for the food, but like others I don't want a horrible meal and I didn't have any horrible meals when I was in Paris.

If there is for sure some place you want to go for a "special" meal, someplace you've heard about that intrigues you, then certainly make a reservation. My friend and I were never sure where we would be or what time we would be eating so we just "winged" it and it worked out just fine for us. Actually, we were in bed eating pastries by 8:00, watching the BBC most nights.

Michel_Paris

An important joy in my trips to Paris is eating good food, without spending a fortune.

When I went last november, I checked what this board has been recommending, what Fodor's guide had, what chowhound had, and a couple of Paris based food sites.

Out of that I made a list, based on arrondissements, along with adresses and any comments.

I had a general idea of where I was going to be touring, so had some ideas for each arrondissment.

Did I follow it, sort of (did 3 of the restaurants - 1 lunch, 2- dinner), but I never made reservations. I walked by, if looked good (crowd, menu, price) went in. Results - enjoyed them all, as well as the ones I found "off list".

I asked the front desk of my hotel for recommendations, one was bit too upscale and trendy, other one couldn't find...so walked up to main street nearby and found a super fish place.

One other reason I don't prefer reservations is I like my days a bit unstructured. If I'm in an interesting area, I don't want to have to leave because my reservation is across town. And sometimes I want to eat early, versus late...and this could change based on my day, and what I decide to do that night (concert, Seine cruise, movie.etc)

I did book a restaurant once, because I really wanted to go that night. So as I was walking by at lunch time, I dropped in and left my name for that night.

Hope these ramblings help..

Mike

Sue_xx_yy

What a great question monpetitchoux.

Based on a sample of diners = 2 (myself and spouse) answer is: it's a good idea in France; Italy (with the notable exception of Venice); Germany; Austria; Switzerland. It's a bad idea in Spain.

But robjame hit the proverbial nail, or maybe that should be snail, on the head. In other words, it depends on what you would consider the worst sin: being more structured in terms of your time, or risking missing out on a standout meal.

Enjoy Paris.

Toupary

I am living in Paris, and I eat out much more often than I should. I sometimes go by recommendations, but I have stumbled across some little treasures.

Before I moved here, when I visited, I would have a few restaurants in mind, but nothing written in stone.

My rule of thumb -- look at the other people who are eating there. So far, it hasn't failed me.

LucieV

Another vote for playing it by ear.

We live in SF, so we, too, take good food pretty much for granted. But as much as we both love good food, and as important as meals are to us, half the fun of travel is the surprise factor, imo.

I can't imagine travelling any other way, but I realize that one person's surprise may be another's nightmare. (And one person's plan may be another's prison!)

jdraper

We have always dined exactly as you are planning for the same reason. We don't want to be tied down to a certain time and place for a meal if our wanderings take us elsewhere. We have found in three trips to Paris that we have always been able to get a table where we wanted, without a reservation, if we were flexible. We don't eat at Michelin rated places but we don't dine at dives either, although we have wandered into a dive or two over the years that turned into a gem. We make a list of suggestions from various sources and, if we are in the area, we go in and see if we can get seated. If not then we move on and find someplace else.

I have found the recommendations here on this site to be spot on and have always enjoyed meals that come recommended by fodorites, (thanks guys!). I have also found that we can usually get seated if we are willing to arrive a little earlier than the "normal"dining hour, such as arriving by 7:30 p.m. when most places in Paris don't get really busy until after 8:30.

Have fun and say hello to Paris for me, I really miss her.

shellio

Here's a vote from someone who does make reservations, but usually the same day. I have a long list of places I'd like to try (or know I like), gleaned from multiple sources, and usually I know by midday where and when I'd like to have dinner.

In most cases calling ahead by a few hours is more than enough time to reserve a table and it lets me relax, knowing I'm not going to "waste" my time, calories, and money on the luck of the draw. If there's someplace I REALLY want to go, I usually reserve a couple of days ahead.

And if I change my mind, I always call to cancel the reservation, even if it's last minute.