Normally we eat around 7 in the evening, but I%26#39;m beginning to see that Paris does it much later. What time would you suggest I make my reservations for? Thanks in advance for your advice.
-Kate in St. Louis
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That depends on several factors. Hardly any restaurants except cafes are open before 7:30. They remain somewhat empty until around 8:30 and generally a last seating will be around 10 or maybe 11:00 on a weekend. Most will stay open until after midnight to accomodate diners. If you want to avoid secondhand smoke, you might want to opt for an earlier dinner when there are fewer people in the restaurants. It will also be easier to get reservations at well-known restaurants if you choose an earlier time.
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7 is definitely early for Paris. I usually book for 8:30, but 8 would be fine and in most places 9 would not be too late...
That said, if you don%26#39;t mind an emptier restaurant you can dine as early as 7 or 7:30 in almost any place...
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Generally, the earlier you go, the less second hand smoke you will encounter, because it will be mostly American tourists. I believe most Europeans are accustomed to later dining. This isn%26#39;t necessarily a bad thing. However, as has been said, before 7:00 or 7:30, your choices may be more limited.
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I%26#39;ve noticed that in many restaurants, a majority of diners at 7 or 7:30 will typically be Americans or other foreigners. So it depends on what you%26#39;re looking for: if you want a more %26quot;Parisian%26quot; experience and to hear a lot of French spoken around you, choose an 8:30 (at the earliest) or 9:00 seating. If you prefer a more quiet dining experience, 7 or 7:30 would be good. I%26#39;ve seen local restaurants be almost totally empty at 8:45 pm and filled with diners half an hour later.
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We found that we didn%26#39;t end up eating until at least 9pm just because we would either be touring %26amp; wanted to shower before dinner, or we were reading/napping back at the hotel %26amp; didn%26#39;t get out until 8:30 or so. One night we ate at something like 10 or 10:30, which I think was late even for the cafe since they took down their fixed price menu by that time.
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Thanks so much for the postings. I really appreciate it. I%26#39;ve moved my reservations to 9. Merci!!
-Kate in St. Louis
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Most restaurants will be openning for dinner at 7 PM. Depending on your appetitte, most larger cafes will offer food service through most of the day. But, I think you may find yourselves altering your usual %26#39;..pattern..%26#39; in Paris. I%26#39;m not a wheezing geezer just yet, but after a long day of trekking across miles of uneven pavement and ascending and descending more flights of stairs than there are leading to the ninth level of Hell; I%26#39;ve come to appreciate the restorative/recuperative merits of a short nap (I duct tape the travel alarm to the side of my head to make sure it%26#39;s only a short one) before going out to a later dinner than usual in the evenings...which also allows us to stretch out the day into a longer evening.
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