Paris Starred restos Saturday or Sunday

[Gavin Convery]

I am planning a day trip to Paris for my friend's 50th and need to know a) which 3 or 2 stars are open for lunch on Saturday or Sunday b) Of those which is the best.

Thanks...

[Fat Guy]

Ambroisie

[chefmcone76]

So I will be in Paris for the weekend. I have a reservation at Guy Savoy on Saturday but am looking to dine at some other top restaurants for lunch on Saturday and Sunday. This trip was spur of the moment so I am looking for suggestions on a place that is spectacular but open for business. A few of the three stars I tried were closed.

[vinobiondo]

So I will be in Paris for the weekend.  I have a reservation at Guy Savoy on Saturday but am looking to dine at some other top restaurants for lunch on Saturday and Sunday.  This trip was spur of the moment so I am looking for suggestions on a place that is spectacular but open for business.  A few of the three stars I tried were closed.

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Don't know if you already tried Le Grand Vefour, but their lunch menu is a spectacular deal and (I thought) absolutely delicious.

Pre Catalan is a lovely place to have lunch and I bet it's quite lovely in the summertime (I don't know how hot it is, but they do have a terrace).

This board has been all atwitter for some time re: Le Bristol. Personally, I haven't been.

[plragde]

It was unpleasantly warm at lunch over the last few days (36C yesterday), and forecasts suggest it will be almost as hot on the weekend. I'm sorry that I have nothing to add regarding high-end dining... --PR

[Felice]

It is definitely pretty hot in Paris at the moment, so a terrace might not be such a great idea. And it seems that the heat wave is expected to last for at least a week.

I checked the Pudlo guide that I have at work (2005) and it says that Les Ambassadeurs, Le Bristol, and Le Cinq, are all open daily. L’ambroisie is closed Sunday.

Le Grand Vefour is closed Friday evenings, as well as Saturday and Sunday. Pre Catalan is closed Sunday.

What about either L'Atelier or Table de Joel Robuchon? Both are listed as open.

[John Talbott]

So I will be in Paris for the weekend.  I have a reservation at Guy Savoy on Saturday but am looking to dine at some other top restaurants for lunch on Saturday and Sunday.  This trip was spur of the moment so I am looking for suggestions on a place that is spectacular but open for business.  A few of the three stars I tried were closed.

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Not perhaps as high end as you want, but the following are also open: Drouant, Jarrasse, Senderens, Pinxo. You also might want to check out our compendium on Dining on Sundays that gives all the existing threads on the France Forum that have done the work for you.

[chefmcone76]

I'm going to make a reservation at Robuchon for Sunday lunch and Le Cinq for sunday dinner. Thanks guys. We were also thinking a bistro possibly for lunch on Saturday. A friend suggested Benoit. Anyone been?

[John Talbott]

I'm going to make a reservation at Robuchon for Sunday lunch and Le Cinq for sunday dinner.  Thanks guys.  We were also thinking a bistro possibly for lunch on Saturday.  A friend suggested Benoit.  Anyone been?

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Yes, expensive. My review is here.

[Fai Jackson]

What time are you arriving in Paris. I hope you don't run into the Tour de France. I also hope the hot weather doesn't affect your appetites. For a nice bistrot try lunch at Chez Georges or L'Ami Jean, alot less expensive and in my opinion better than Benoit.

[BigboyDan]

It's going to hit 38-40C (100-103F) degrees in Paris over the last week of July in Paris - better to eat in an air conditioned place...

[Andy Fenn]

Hello folks

A well trodden path, I know... but I'm after any up to date visits or information.

I'm off to Paris next weekend. We have Gagnaire booked for the Friday night. But I'd like to do another restaurant for lunch on the Saturday. Very keen for l'Ambroisie. But the price would limit my fellow travellers - I'd have to go solo. So I was thinking les Ambassadeurs instead. Anyone been for lunch recently? And would we get stung by a lack of set lunch on a Saturday like le manoir in the UK? Website doesn't clarify.

Thanks a lot.

[cachan]

I'm planning to go to Paris for a weekend in the autumn with my daughter and I've been finding out the opening times of the restaurants for Sundays.

Out of the 65 or so starred restaurants, only about 13 seem to open on a Sunday.

Why is this the case ? Is there some employment restrictions or some social reasons for why the majority of these restaurants are closed on Sundays ?

[John Talbott]

I'm planning to go to Paris for a weekend in the autumn with my daughter and I've been finding out the opening times of the restaurants for Sundays.

Out of the 65 or so starred restaurants, only about 13 seem to open on a Sunday.

Why is this the case ? Is there some employment restrictions or some social reasons for why the majority of these restaurants are closed on Sundays ?

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I'll let someone who's French-French come up with the real answer but why shouldn't the majority be closed in a formally Catholic country, where there should be a day off except for brasseries, and where Sundays are considered "family" days especially for Mom/Pop restaurants whose owners/chefs have small kids. There is also the "35 hour" work week law which is now more honored in the breach than the observance in restaurants and even questioned by Mme. Royal.

Still there are lots of choices for Sundays. I assume you've checked out our compendium as well as the guidebooks for other possibilities. Just last week in the Digest I noted three places open every day: Autour de...., Saut de Loup + Fines Gueules.

Edited April 4, 2007 by John Talbott (log)

[Busboy]

I'm planning to go to Paris for a weekend in the autumn with my daughter and I've been finding out the opening times of the restaurants for Sundays.

Out of the 65 or so starred restaurants, only about 13 seem to open on a Sunday.

Why is this the case ? Is there some employment restrictions or some social reasons for why the majority of these restaurants are closed on Sundays ?

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I'm, surprised that you're surpised. Here in Washington (and across the U.S., it seems) most top restaurants are closed Sunday, and Sunday is "family dinner" day (for those families who still eat together).

Is that not the tradition in London? Is there another day off?

[cachan]

Looking at it objectively, I can understand why the restaurants should be closed at least one day for family or working hours reasons.

But I was just comparing the Paris scenario with the London one, I estimate that 54 % of the starred restaurants are open on Sundays, and these are open 7 days lunch and dinner, and this applies to most other London restaurants as well. They are busy because I think that people like to eat out on a Sunday now.

So if most of the starred Paris restaurants are closed on Sundays, then does that mean that there is little customer demand or does that mean that the few restaurants that are open are very busy ?

I just want to know what to plan for.

Edited April 5, 2007 by cachan (log)

[Ptipois]

Apart from the reasons already mentioned here (Sunday is le Jour du Seigneur, period), there are labor laws about work on Sundays, or used to be recently (I think they have been loosened up a bit in recent years after there was a fuss about the Virgin Megastore on Champs-Élysées being open on Sundays).

Still Sunday remains the most frequent day off for restaurants and non-food shops, while most food shops (except the department stores, Monoprix, etc.), and many restaurants too, are traditionally closed on Mondays because Sunday is the food producers' and wholesalers' day off. This has been going on for a very long time.

Small restaurants that rely a lot on fresh produce will often be closed Sundays and Mondays as well. I've noticed that the most successful a bistrot is, the more it tends to be closed on Mondays too and work on a 5-day basis from Tuesday to Saturday.

[HOLLY_L]

I'm not that surprised by Sunday closings, but I am surprised by the number of restaurants closed on Saturday. That's pretty unusual here in Chicago. Of course, it doesn't pose as much of a problem, since there are still many restaurants open on Saturday, but it is weird to me. What's the history behind that?

[John Talbott]

I'm not that surprised by Sunday closings, but I am surprised by the number of restaurants closed on Saturday.  That's pretty unusual here in Chicago.  Of course, it doesn't pose as much of a problem, since there are still many restaurants open on Saturday, but it is weird to me.  What's the history behind that?

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I don't know the history, a French-French person should answer, but a lot of places are closed Saturday at lunch and open in the evening due to experience and traffic.

[Felice]

I'm not that surprised by Sunday closings, but I am surprised by the number of restaurants closed on Saturday.  That's pretty unusual here in Chicago.  Of course, it doesn't pose as much of a problem, since there are still many restaurants open on Saturday, but it is weird to me.  What's the history behind that?

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I don't know the history, a French-French person should answer, but a lot of places are closed Saturday at lunch and open in the evening due to experience and traffic.

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I was puzzled by this as well when I first moved here and asked my then boyfriend, a French chef who had worked at some of the best restaurants in Paris, and he said it's because the starred restaurants are just as busy on Monday as they are on Saturday. Since they never have more than one seating and aren't counting on Saturday nights to turn their tables at least twice as they do in the US it really doesn't matter which nights they close.