Paris is one of our favorite spots in the winter, especially Christmas and New Years. February is also a good time. We like the winter because of the smells you encounter when walking into a bistro. The warmth. And when you leave, the cold night air and the brisk walk home.
The Ritz bar is our favorite for a pre-dinner drink. We do stay there, so it's very convenient, but I would go there anyway. Just be sure to make reservations - to be polite.
Here's a quick rundown of our favorite cold-weather restaurants:
La Rôtisserie du Beaujolais - next to La Tour D'Argent (which is fabulous) and is the child restaurant to; is very nice. Very cosy. Even good during the summer.
Relais Louis XIII - excellent. We arrived without reservations with our kids in tow. Luckily, we were dressed. The maitre d' had to ask the chef if we could dine with them for lunch. Luckily, he said yes. We all still talk about this as one of our favorite Parisian meals. (My kids are very adventurous when it comes to food.) This is really a dinner restaurant, in my opinion.
There are several restaurants in the Place Dauphine. They aren't great, but the Place is very quaint. My boys played with cars and airplanes (tiny toys) in the sand in the courtyard in the summer. Nice to walk through in the winter.
Santa Lucia Pizza (Rue des Canettes) - very, very good. If you can speak Italian, it will help you tremendously (think extra appetizers and desserts), but you will love it anyway. They don't take reservations (normally) and it is very crowded, so get there early.
I know I will take some heat for this one, but there is an excellent Mexican restaurant Anhuacalli. They are only open for dinner, but wow is it ever good. The margaritas are excellent. Normally we wouldn't eat this type of food in Paris, but after traveling for a month, it was a needed change.
If you can get it to L'Ami Louis, it is well worth it, but order half of what you normally would. We ordered what turned out to be a standing rib beef cut. It was two bones and served with ladles of butter.
I agree that Angelina's is very nice for breakfast or tea!
Chez George is another favorite bistro. My kids ate two plates of frog's legs.
Allard is another quaint bistro that is open on Sundays.
The Grand Vefour is very nice, but the desserts are terrible. In our opinion. The dining room is simply beautiful. The cheese plate is the best we've encountered in Paris.
I could go on and on. I think I've gained ten pounds just thinking about the food we've eaten. We're not much into the nightlife or shopping, so I can't help there, but feel free to PM me with more specific questions. By the way, there are some really expensive restaurants on this list and some that are less so.
Oh, there is a very nice street with lots of fondue restaurants, which is nice for a quick lunch. Raclette, fondue, etc. Lots of sausages. Rue Mouffetard.
I do use the Zagat's guide a lot, especially the Sleepers restaurants.
Have a great trip! We've been lucky that the Metro has been on strike during several of our visits, so we have to walk from place to place. More room for food in our opinion.
