These tips will make your life easy when ordering in a restaurant in France.
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40 Comments
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Most European countries pay a fair wage to their wait staff. Discretionary tipping doesn't just happen in France.
I do enjoy your channel.
A tip that I learned from after a few months in Paris : the waiter won’t come take your order unless you close the menu and put it on your table. Else they consider you’re still choosing.
What was the egg dish in the beginning that looked like deviled eggs?
Just looking at all of this scrumptious food has made me hungry and wanting to go to France. Enjoyable episode. The subtle 'silverware & glasses on table vs none' was a great tip! Seems obvious once you pointed it out.
The waiters here are very nice. I have only met 1 rude waiter (he was east indian) at a super crowded overrated tourist trap near Arc de Triomphe and one intentionally rude barissta, also by Arc de Triomphe. I did have one incident at a restaurant where i was moved suddenly mid service to give another party (who never showed) my table and he wasnt really rude but was absolutely in the wrong to do so as i had a reservation in advance, had already started serving me and he embarrassed me by doing so and i wrote to them about it.
Everywhere else i have a good experience but do note, restaurants do NOT like to seat people who dine on their own for dinner especially when it is a busy night. For lunch its usually not a problem to get a table but i have had several times where they were not as welcoming to me as those not dining alone.
The French tradition of long meal times works in your favour. If you order a decent meal, they'll expect you to take at least an hour, so will probably appreciate that you finish earlier than that so they can do more covers.
Just returned from 2 weeks in Paris – including 4 daytrips I learned about from Les Frenches. LOVE THIS CHANNEL!! LOVE FRANCE!!
I saw you paying on a phone – held by the waiter…. is that a thing? I have never seen that. How does that work? I have to be honest, I wouldn't feel comfortable using that.
In Lyon recently I was asked by a waiter to include a tip on my card. I told him I knew that service was already included. I also pointed to a €10 tip I had left on the table which I put back in my pocket. He was not a happy camper but I left with a smile on my face.
Thank you
Love you two. So friendly and informative. I'll be there in March And hope to put your tips into practice.
Bonjour. J'adore vos vidéos, vous êtes charmants.
Thank you so much for saying that restaurants can adjust to food allergies. My kid has a severe egg allergy and were always so nervous to take him to any restaurant. If I ever go there I would probably try to let them know about this
" Je suis allergique aux tomates", Pas "à tomates". Just saying.
I thought it was « C’était délicieux « Thank you. It was rather than it is delicious.
Is there a problem, when asked how I want meat prepared, asking for it to be prepared as the chef prefers? I figure that I won’t be eating the same things that I’m accustomed to eating. They are bound to have a much better idea of how it would be best prepared.
Hello Frenchies. I love your videos and watched a lot of them before my husband and I visited Paris in 2023. In particular, your video about key phrases for ordering in a restaurant was invaluable. I used that information every single day. Along with your information and some old high school French, I managed to feel very comfortable conversing in simple sentences. We found the French people very pleasant and never rude to us, I think because we showed common courtesy and always greeted people with “Bon Jour” and always said “s’il vous plait” and “Merci”. We never had an issue with any wait staff or any French people. Everyone should watch your videos before embarking on their trip to Paris/France. Thank you for your invaluable insights. Bon Jour au Canada.🇨🇦
We just returned from a week trip to Paris, staying in the 6th arr. We've been to Paris 5-6 times over the years. Pretty much EVERY restaurant we went into, we'd say bonjour, and they immediately replied with Hello. We speak a few French words and do our best, but the language has never been a problem, even in non tourist areas.
Thanks for the great, informative videos and merci beaucoup 😊
Great video, thanks. I visited Quebec City last year and found that if I made effort to converse politely in French, the waiters and hosts were generally receptive even when I stumbled a bit. Pleasantness and some basic French lessons go a long way. 🙂
Something not mentioned. It is my understanding that one is expected to order immediately after being seated. What? If you waive the server off, they may not return for 20+ minutes. I'd like to hear a response on this one.
Last year I finally found myself in Paris for the very first time with zero french. I was only for 2.5 day only, Went for dinner twice to the same restaurant right next to my hotel. First night the waitress was what you would expect. Just doing her job. She did speak English. I do work in the industry as a chef in US, so because of that I left I think 10% I know somebody can say too much. I did that just because I know this industry from inside and I know how hard this job is. There was the only reason. But very next day, when I went back for dinner, she was actually the first one to say hi to me with a smile. I know my tip was the reason but at least I got her to smile when she saw me. Another funny thing for me. I did go for breakfast to another closed by restaurant, and the older waitress, way over 50, she knew I'm from US she actually asked me if I want the petit déjeuner. I said oui. I heard her telling the cook: un petit déjeuner pour les américains. And that just made my day. How can you not love French people !!!????
Congrats on the new Skool community! Your timing could not be better, with many people growing tired of the overly commercialized and divisive social media platforms we all used to love.
Congrats on 300k!!!😘
Hello Frenchies,
Thats an excellent video. V v helpful.
Requesting you wonderful people to please upload a video on transportation with 2025 updates in details (just as you did in 2024).
Kindly emphasis on tourists who shall be spending just a day in Paris (I learnt about mobilis ticket from you guys…but in 2025…I dont know if its still there) especially from CDG to a full day around paris & versaille or disneyland and back to CDG on the same day.
Please please…. Waiting for your transportation video and how/where to purchase tickets in 2025 updates.
All the best. Stay healthy.
very informative video. Makes me feel more comfortable when I go into my first restaurant in Paris. Nice to know the casual restaurant isn't a formal atmosphere. Merci!
Another very useful video. Being polite is very important Bonjour, s’il vous plaît and merci are essential and yes the wait staff probably know reasonable English
Just have to note: not all vegetarians and vegans are so because of "dietary choices".
There's a condition known as "Alpha-gal Sensitivity" or "Lone Star Tick disease" that makes it difficult or even fatal for someone to eat most mammal meats (Oddly, simian meat is ok because simians, such as we humans, don't have the alpha-gal protein – which is why we can get the condition.) As well, quite a few people have albumin sensitivity, which isn't just eggs (or more accurately egg whites), but also many kinds of fish. When you roast a whole fish you often see a white skin form on it – that's albumin, and this sensitivity can also be fatal or at least extremely debilitating. And lastly is the classic: lactose sensitivity – which hits dairy products – which is rarely fatal, but because of the problems it causes will make the person wish it were (and probably the people around the person as well will be wishing it)
So please be careful with generalizations like "preference". Just because it's a preference for you does not mean it can't be a life or death issue for someone else.
I have alpha-gal and I run into the mindset that "oh, you just don't want to eat meat" or "you're just being dramatic" all the time, when in fact if I eat meat, it can end up with me in the hospital.
In fact, this is one of the biggest problems I have visiting France. Fortunately I speak French well enough to communicate the issue, but there is a definite meat-centrism there. Maybe you two could do an episode on vegetarian and vegan friendly Paris?
Oh, and most people get it wrong, let me clarify: vegans do not eat ANY animal products while vegetarians are ok with dairy and/or unfertilised eggs (which most consumer eggs are).
And no – fish and poultry are neither vegetarian nor vegan. That's pescatarian and pollotarian respectively.
Abientot!
Thank you! I agree that the waiters in Paris are not rude at all. It helps that I speak French, of course, but during my two months a year there, I see mostly patient and welcoming behavior – even toward rude, loud tourists. I live in a touristy town (D.C.) and see more impatient servers here than in Paris!
I would order champagne, espresso, and water, and ask for it all at once. I'm pretty sure that's wrong.
9:32 The Entree in EVERY COUNTRY AROUND THE WORLD EXCEPT THE US… is the Entree /Starter.
I've said this before, but I can't thank you two enough for your invaluable information on Paris. It made planning my family's 2023 trip to France a lot easier. Because while much of your information is focused on Paris, it is applicable to the many cities in France.
Now, to the video itself:
I will say that on our trip, we really didn't have much bad food. Even the "captive audience" food we had in the Jardins de Versailles and le Louvre was good. Just expensive, as most captive audience food tends to be.
And for sure, I think some cursory research is needed when looking for restaurants. It's not a bad idea to look at what food a restaurant serves, what the price is, and what people thought of the place. It doesn't always help – a well reviewed restaurant in Seattle turned out to be a dud with expensive tapas-sized dishes – but most of the time it will give you a picture of what to expect.
Language is always an important thing. Being Chinese, I think there's more of an assumption that we don't speak French, so staff have honestly been more proactive in speaking English to us. But I did try to get in a "Bonjour", "(Comment) Ca Va?", "Parlez-vous Anglais?" if I could. Also, if you're Canadian, those French classes actually help more than you think (I can usually figure out a menu without needing to use Google Translate). You laughed at those "Sol" videos (If you know, you know) in school, but it turns out they were actually useful!
And I'm not sure where the "rude waiter" thing came from. People think waiters at a Chinese restaurant can be loud and rude as well. But I can assure you that the Cantonese language makes it sound like you're shouty and angry all the time.
Outstanding video! Always so informative, love your thorough coverage of the subject. Merci beaucoup!
Il est frais votre poisson ?
Oh, Oui ! Ça fait 3 mois qu'il est au frigo ! (Les Inconnus).
Beaucoup de touristes américains, en arrivant au resto, disent: "j aimerais le magret de canard. Mais à la place du canard, j aimerais de la dinde, et à la place de la purée, j aimerais des pâtes. Et à la place de la salade verte, j aimerais de la tomate". 🙄🙄😤😤 et après, le problème, c est les serveurs, qui seraient pas sympa! C est juste pas dans la culture europénne que de substituer des trucs et des machins. Soit tu prends tel quel ce que le Chef te propose, soit tu commandes autre chose. Point.
Bravo pour les 300'000 abonnés, dont je suis. J adore votre chaîne, et j adore Paris, et je ne compte plus le nombre de fois que je l' ai visité. Mais j aime néanmoins regarder des vidéos comme les vôtres, qui sont chacune filmées comme de mini-reportages. 🎉❤
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Good video. Additional information: Tap water is free in French restaurants. The key word is "une carafe". Otherwise, water (in bottles or can) must be paid. Moreover, bread is often offered in French restaurant. Whether you eat it or not (or if you ask for more bread), the price will be the same as opposed to some countries where bread is an additional line on the bill if you eat it.
What is wrong with looking like a total tourist?? I am one! I will never trick any waiter not being one. And I don't want to! I am proud to be who I am- and I don't need to hide it! -I just want to be friendly and polite!
Going to paris for the first time this month! Very excited. Staying in the 7th arr. Any recommendations on places to eat?