Eating Our Way Through Paris

We all know I love me some mussels and foie gras, and my mini-me is on the same page, so we were all very excited to soak in cafe culture in Paris and eat, eat, eat! This being my first family trip to Paris, we opted out of high-end Michelin experiences but found amazing eats everywhere regardless. If you're traveling with kids (like us), and your kids are picky, we found that many restaurants either had kids menus or kid-friendly options like chicken strips, burgers or pizza. Here are my reviews of our most notable food experiences during our June 2026 trip!

In this blog, I'll cover:

• Au Pied de Cochon, 6 Rue Coquilliere, 75001

• Emily, 17 Av. de la Bourdonnais, 75007

• Madame Brasserie, Eiffel Tower

• Pink Mamma, 20bis Rue de Douai, 75009

• Au Chien Qui Fume, 33 Rue du Pont Neuf, 75001

We stayed at the L'Empire Hotel in the 1st arrondissment, so we naturally ended up at a couple of restaurants nearby there, both of which came at our concierge's recommendation, and both ended up being our two best meals in the city. We immediately bee-lined it to Au Pied de Cochon after checking into our hotel, a quick 5-minute walk. It was early for French standard dinner time, around 6pm, and we got seated immediately outside. We went for all the classics - mussles, escargot, and pate, plus chicken strips, just in case, for Sienna. Meal #1 was a huge success! The mussels were all of our favorites, with bits of pork sausage and white wine broth perfect for dipping. Everything was delicious, and they bring out a cute meringue pig with dessert. We were full and happy and ready to explore the city!

Our meal at Au Pied de Cochon

The other concierge recommendation, Au Chien Qui Fume, book-ended our trip and was our last dinner in the city - and equally as satisfying as Au Pied de Cochon. Also just a quick walk from our hotel, we had huge oysters, pate du jour, ratatouille, duck confit, and a huge helping of their chocolate mousse. For the mousse, they bring a massive vat of it and spoon a very generous portion onto your plate - we did NOT think we were going to eat even half of it, but it was so good, we just kept digging our spoons in! The duck easily makes my last-meal list - so savory and delicious! The setting for both restaurants was classic French cafe with plenty of outdoor seating to allow for max people watching - service was good at both, with English not being an issue both on the menus and wait staff.

Chocolate Mousse serving at Au Chien Qui Fume

We did hit a couple of tourist-trapish restaurants, which were a mixed bag. Madame Brasserie, the more casual dining option on the first level of the Eiffel Tower, has two prix fix lunch options that they serve at Noon and 1:30pm seatings. The Brasserie menu excludes drinks and is only offered for interior tables - at time of this blog it cost 70 euros for adults/40 euros for kids. The Madame with Drinks menu is offered with three different views and ranges from 100 euros/adult (40 euros/kid) to 140 euros/adult (140 euros/kid). Their booking site and menus are found here. All prepaid bookings include lift tickets to the first level of the tower.

We checked in 45 minutes prior to our 1:30pm reservation time, as instructed, and were escorted up the elevator to the first level. They won't actually seat you until your reservation time, so there's time to walk around the first level and take pics. We joined the queue to get seated shortly before 1:30pm and waited for about 15 minutes. Once seated at a table with a lovely view, we made our selections from the 3-course menu. It all sounded promising enough - we had the choice of a cream of artichoke soup or asparagus and pea tartlet for the starter, risotto, chicken, trout or steak for the entree, and an almond tart or chocolate fondant cake for dessert. The kids menu included pasta with tomato sauce or chicken, and fruit with cream or the same chocolate fondant cake for dessert (no appetizer, though our waiter did bring her the egg and radish salad from the Brasserie menu). We opted for the soup, chicken, and steak, and the pasta for Sienna.

While we waited for our food, we made note of how worn the furniture was - cracks in the table tops, dirty seats, and lots of other signs of excess usage. Then the food came - while the presentations were nice, the execution fell short at best. The soup was a cold one (maybe mention that on the menu? Cold soup is very polarizing, we are not fans!), Sienna's pasta would have been better coming straight out of a Chef Boyardee can (no offense to him), and our adult entrees were very clearly mass-produced banquet type quality. Overcooked and undersalted. Needless to say, considering that we'd had nothing but stellar meals up until then, we were very disappointed. Dessert was the highlight of the meal - we got both adult desserts and the fruit and cream from the kids' menu, and all were tasty. The service was also nothing to write home about - think large wedding service, which makes sense, given that they are seating several hundred people at one time for each service. This is a hard Skip for me next time! Scaling the steps after lunch to the second level of the tower was fun; I'd just opt for lift tickets and spend my lunch money elsewhere.

Our table at Madame Brasserie

We also booked lunch at Pink Mamma, an influencer hot-spot in the 9th arrondissment. This kept popping up on my IG and FB Paris travel feeds, so I decided to check it out. Reservations can only be made 15 days prior to the date, and dinners were all booked up by the time I got around to booking (about 10 days prior to our trip), so I booked lunch instead. There was a line wrapped around the block even for those with reservations - but it moved quickly and we were seated very close to our booking time. The restaurant decor is adorable - we walked up a couple of levels of what felt like our Italian Aunt's townhome and were seated on the third floor. There was a kitchen/serving counter and lots of what you'd find in an Italian kitchen - it all felt very comfy and cozy. We ordered the steak tartare (best we've ever had), truffle pasta, chicken thigh skewers, and margharita pizza, along with a couple of cocktails. I enjoyed the pasta, but it was too truffle-y for Rich and Sienna. The skewers and pizza were good, though nothing to write home about. Drinks were delicious, and the service was good for how busy it is, so overall I'd give it a B+. Worth going, but not necessarily a must if your schedule already has other must-eat stops filling up your itinerary!

Pink Mamma

I'm doing a brief write-up of Emily, only because its decor is so darn cute - we only had a small snack here while we waited to check in for the Eiffel Tower, so I can't speak to the food, but I was instantly drawn to it when I spotted it, so wanted to put it on your radar if you are near the Eiffel Tower. Undoubtedly, they changed their name to Emily after Emily in Paris became a hit - and it's SO Emily in Paris! Adorned with flowers and vines, it screams Post Me On Social - we enjoyed our croissant and coffee, and the menu looked on par with what we'd been seeing at the other brasseries. If you do eat a full meal here, let me know what you thought!

We had lots of casual snacks each day - the level of consistency was pretty amazing in how buttery the croissants were, how creamy the gelato was, and how soft and chewy the macarons were everywhere. I'm not calling out any specific bakeries or patisseries in this blog, as there were just so many everywhere we went, and while none stood out, it was because they were all stellar. You almost can't go wrong in this city of foodies! And, while I've had this experience on past trips to Paris, we encountered zero waiters who were not willing to speak English; everyone was kind, helpful, and spoke great English, so I didn't get to put my meager French skills to the test very often. So stroll, stop for snacks, and don't be a slave to what the critics recommend - you will find your own gems all over the city! Bon appetit!