La Tour Montlhéry - Chez Denise

If you are in Paris, this is a place for food to visit 😋. We had no reservation, and we were extremely lucky that there was cancellation, and we got a table. Make sure you book your table( it's worth it 💯).Restaurant employees all were extremely professional and so friendly. It's really authentic French bistro, and the atmosphere is superb. The food was amazing, quality, and cooked to perfection. Best Duck i had in years. We had bone marrow and snails for starters. For mains Duck confit and Steak. Dessert tart tartin 🥰

This place is an authentic France old school cuisine. The dishes are remarkable great and delicious. If you are looking to a good Franch restaurant this is the one. They are not very pretended to be fancy, just great food. The place is very nice and old decor. You really feel yo are in France when you diner in this place.

Food was so good. I got the duck confit and she got a steak with fries on the side. My duck was crunchy on the outside but moist on the inside. The ceramic bowl they serve it in is SO hot so don’t touch it like I did. The chicken is served on a bed of sliced potatoes that soak up the flavor from the duck fat. My goodness this dish made my top 3 in Paris during our 1 week stay. The steak we got was served with onions on top. Very buttery and tasty. The language barrier here was quite difficult so we pulled up pics on our phone to order. I got a beer and she got a wine both were good but the food was the winner here. I’ll be visiting again during my next trip to Paris.

歧视中国人！Worst Service! We were greeted by an older male waiter. During low peak hours, he placed us in the corner of the restaurant next to the fire hydrant and the cutlery table with no sofa. After I made a request to be moved to a more spacious seat next to us, the male waiter simply said NO. Then we were not served by anyone for about the next twenty minutes. There was no water, no bread, and no one came to ask if we wanted to order. However, the two white women who came in behind us were quickly seated in a spacious four-person table and given bread to start the meal. Clearly, Asians are not welcome in this restaurant. On a slightly more positive note, as we were leaving the restaurant, a kindly looking waitress asked us what was wrong. Unfortunately, we didn't have the patience to wait any longer.

This is such classic French cuisine it is great! Don’t expect anything sophisticated because it looks and feels like grandma food. You can tell everything is slow cooked and a lot of care is put into the dishes. I will definitely go back. But the flavours are genuinely incredible. The dishes are rich and buttery. The wine list is simple but the prices are great, especially for Paris. The atmosphere made us feel like we were in Paris in the 1950s. Loved it!

The best beef tartar in Paris. Must try! Updating the review: this is one of the best French restaurants in Paris. I’ve now been here many times. Always spectacular. Recommend making a reservation for dinner

Hello there. If you wanna a true old fashion French food experience I can only recommend this restaurant. Go to Chez Denise and find yourself surrounded by an amazing ambiance and wonderful waiters. Let’s talks about the food : all fresh, all homemade and the taste is just incredible. If you wanna go on a great experience I advice you to take and share the baby pork shoulder serve with fried garlic and parsley potatoes. I can continue like this for a long time but I will just finish by telling you to go and try yourself, you won’t be disappointed. A big thx to all the team. Enjoy

Great experience and good food. I’ll definitely come back when I’m in Paris. Would recommend if you want to have authentic French cuisine. Waiters were friendly too.

If you are in Paris, this is a place for food to visit 😋. We had no reservation, and we were extremely lucky that there was cancellation, and we got a table. Make sure you book your table( it's worth it 💯).Restaurant employees all were extremely professional and so friendly. It's really authentic French bistro, and the atmosphere is superb. The food was amazing, quality, and cooked to perfection. Best Duck i had in years. We had bone marrow and snails for starters. For mains Duck confit and Steak. Dessert tart tartin 🥰

This place is an authentic France old school cuisine. The dishes are remarkable great and delicious. If you are looking to a good Franch restaurant this is the one. They are not very pretended to be fancy, just great food. The place is very nice and old decor. You really feel yo are in France when you diner in this place.

Food was so good. I got the duck confit and she got a steak with fries on the side. My duck was crunchy on the outside but moist on the inside. The ceramic bowl they serve it in is SO hot so don’t touch it like I did. The chicken is served on a bed of sliced potatoes that soak up the flavor from the duck fat. My goodness this dish made my top 3 in Paris during our 1 week stay. The steak we got was served with onions on top. Very buttery and tasty. The language barrier here was quite difficult so we pulled up pics on our phone to order. I got a beer and she got a wine both were good but the food was the winner here. I’ll be visiting again during my next trip to Paris.

歧视中国人！Worst Service! We were greeted by an older male waiter. During low peak hours, he placed us in the corner of the restaurant next to the fire hydrant and the cutlery table with no sofa. After I made a request to be moved to a more spacious seat next to us, the male waiter simply said NO. Then we were not served by anyone for about the next twenty minutes. There was no water, no bread, and no one came to ask if we wanted to order. However, the two white women who came in behind us were quickly seated in a spacious four-person table and given bread to start the meal. Clearly, Asians are not welcome in this restaurant. On a slightly more positive note, as we were leaving the restaurant, a kindly looking waitress asked us what was wrong. Unfortunately, we didn't have the patience to wait any longer.

This is such classic French cuisine it is great! Don’t expect anything sophisticated because it looks and feels like grandma food. You can tell everything is slow cooked and a lot of care is put into the dishes. I will definitely go back. But the flavours are genuinely incredible. The dishes are rich and buttery. The wine list is simple but the prices are great, especially for Paris. The atmosphere made us feel like we were in Paris in the 1950s. Loved it!

The best beef tartar in Paris. Must try! Updating the review: this is one of the best French restaurants in Paris. I’ve now been here many times. Always spectacular. Recommend making a reservation for dinner

Hello there. If you wanna a true old fashion French food experience I can only recommend this restaurant. Go to Chez Denise and find yourself surrounded by an amazing ambiance and wonderful waiters. Let’s talks about the food : all fresh, all homemade and the taste is just incredible. If you wanna go on a great experience I advice you to take and share the baby pork shoulder serve with fried garlic and parsley potatoes. I can continue like this for a long time but I will just finish by telling you to go and try yourself, you won’t be disappointed. A big thx to all the team. Enjoy

Great experience and good food. I’ll definitely come back when I’m in Paris. Would recommend if you want to have authentic French cuisine. Waiters were friendly too.

Food was so good. I got the duck confit and she got a steak with fries on the side. My duck was crunchy on the outside but moist on the inside. The ceramic bowl they serve it in is SO hot so don't touch it like I did. The chicken is served on a bed of sliced potatoes that soak up the flavor from the duck fat. My goodness this dish made my top 3 in Paris during our 1 week stay. The steak we got was served with onions on top. Very buttery and tasty. Cool old divey vibe. The language barrier here was quite difficult so we pulled up pics on our phone to order. I got a beer and she got a wine both were good but the food was the winner here. I'll be visiting again during my next trip to Paris.

Maybe I ordered the wrong dish, but I got steak (actually, we all got steak), cooked medium (I order medium rare in the US and find that medium in France is what I am looking for) and it was only decent, I did not think it was wonderful. Also it was covered in a LOT of grilled onions. I love onions but they seemed odd here. The bread was only ok too. Dessert was great!

Great place to taste the French food . They are a large menu in order to make everyone happy serving was good and friendly thank you

Worst food ever!!! It's better to go to fast restaurants. After ordering a food, it took less than 10 minutes!!! How can you cook steak and everything in less than 10 minutes!!! Even fast food takes longer than that. Food wasn't even hot, looks like it was cooked before and they just heated it up. House wine was terrible, you can get any bad wine in Paris, but, this restaurant proof it wrong. Service was bad, but, they asked me, if, I want to tip them, really!!! I been to so many different restaurants in Paris, but, this was the worst!!! People, please read the bad reviews, not the good reviews and decide.

Two days into my trip to Paris I started getting worried. The food was generally quite disappointing. This is Paris! Every meal should be amazing. I was near Les Halles and was looking for recommendations. This place looked like the kind of food I wanted for lunch. I managed to get a table and ordered a steak on a skewer. Wow!! Amazing beef. Cooked to perfection. Simply but perfect presentation and the fries just perfectly crisp yet creamy inside. Best meal I've had in Paris by far. I only wish I can come back and try (almost) everything on the menu.

This is essentially and old-school, meat and potatoes type of place. Though they do have fish, duck, rabbit, and interesting daily specials and so on. The place is small and frequented by older neighborhood locals, pensioners, and tourists who read online reviews. The food is ok, steaks are sometimes overdone, staff can be gruff to non-French speakers...as well as to French yuppies & younger people. This kind of place would be non-exceptional in another era. Think working class, burly men coming over for a steak, a drink, and linger for hours on end at a table. Semi-communal sitting if it gets crowded. Don't come if you can't stand rubbing elbows next to complete strangers at a table for four. At this visit, I had a delightfully done veal, calf liver. It was so tender and almost the consistency of cream topped with bacon and grilled onions with a side of potatoes. It was absolutely delicious...the best liver and onions I have every tasted my entire life!! On the other hand, my brother had a steak ( don't know what cut) but the topping was so salty it needed to be scrapped off. It was also well done when medium rare had ben requested. We were given a few glasses of a nice Calvados to make up for the poor steak. Portions are large, so I don't recall ever having dessert here. We've been here regularly as it's near my brother's district. Overall the food is good...like Three-Stars good.... definitely not four or five. Dishes can be inconsistent, but it's charming, and reliable in the sense that you won't get lousy food and you know the service to expect. There is also the opportunity to get daily specials that would be difficult to find in other places. Overall, think of going to an upscale version of Denny's or Applebee's on a smaller scale. We just enjoy hanging out here, sipping wine and talking for hours after our meal. Don't be put off by the occasional gruff demeanor of some of the wait staff. They've been there for years and are part of the furniture.

What a great restaurant! The menu is on a chalkboard, the dishes are classically French, and the vibes are excellent. It's not stuffy or pretentious, but it is quite delicious. I had the steak frites and would happily come back for everything else on the menu.

Historic Bistro in Les Halles We had been wanting to try this place since Boudain's first episode of No Reservations, "Why the French Don't Suck." Nice, typical French service where the table is yours for as long as you want. Classic dishes, with a bend to offal. Cheap house Brouly red. We started with escargot and a frisee salad. Escargot was excellent; the salad a bit too acidic. We followed that with the stuffed tomatoes which were outstanding and the lamb chops that were probably the worst dish of the trip. If I was in the US I probably would have sent them back, which I never do. Desert-- awesome chocolat mousse. I so wanted to love this place. The food was a bit of mixed bag. The service outstanding, and the atmosphere-- a time warp of old Paris.

Read good reviews so thought give it a try since it is close to our apartment. Went for lunch and there were 4 tables of Asian tourists from China all speaking Mandarin so the restaurant must have advertised in their travel recommendations. All 4 tables ordered duck confit...lol...we are also Asians but from Canada. No duck confit for us, instead we had the bone marrow at 14 euros which tasted okay with no seasoning at all. We also had the razor clams at 16 euros which were over cooked because the clam meat was rubbery. Great flavour but just overdone. We also had the pigs feet at 25 euros well seasoned but the fries were limp instead of crispy. We also ordered the tripe which was a generous portion like a stew at 25 euros but the flavour was one note. A liter of house red was 28 euros, all desserts at 12 euros each.we ordered the ile flottante which was excellent but their millefeuille was soft iso flaky. Before dessert, the waiter came to clear our dishes and spilled my glass of unfinished wine all over my blouse. Of course it stains because it was red wine. The waiter did not even try to replace my glass of wine as I had to ask because he spilled it. The waiter did not compensate for his blunder instead he brushed it off. The food was average but overpriced so value is not there. We have much much better quality of French cooking at a much better value at La Fresque on rue rambuteau nearby with a much lower price point. We will not be returning as we rather eat at La Fresque.

We found this spot in Yelp and Im so glad we went there. Granted, it was one of the few restaurants open late night and still serving food past 10 pm. Make a reservation if you can. It is a popular local spot. We had a little wait, but were lucky to get a seat. The menu is in French, but our server spoke English and we had two very nice gentlemen next to is that offered to translate. Get the beef stew! Everything was delicious. To top it off, table wine is flowing all night.

I've been going here regularly in the wee hours for decades. Sadly the new owner doesn't want to stay open till 5am so if you do not have a reservation (which are essential now) for 12am or earlier you are not going to get a table. Period. Don't even both walking by, the staff's hands are tied. And that staff seems less engaging now, food seems greasier and plates take much longer to show up at the table. Are cost cutting measures at play? Don't know, but this is another restaurant suffering from post-Covid close down early malaise. Gratefully the dining room retains its mythic old age ambiance.

True French cuisine, possibly the most delicious meal I have eaten in Paris! How I look forward to returning the next time I am back in the "ville lumière". This fine establishment was recommended by Anthony Bourdain and a very nice Parisian bartender who RAVED about it for a good 20 minutes! After eating here now I understand why We arrived around 1am, the service was friendly and attentive. H2O, fresh bread along with mouth watering house made Dijon mustard (unlike anything I have found in the states) arrived quickly to the table. I recommend the Escargot and the Foie Gras served in a generous passport sized portion more than enough for two. Everything we ate was melt in your mouth amazing... wonderful food! Delicious french food + open till 5am = Perfection!

Terrific food. Got the recommendation from a friend who used to live in the city and has been in the restaurant business for a long time. It is his favorite spot in the city, and quickly became mine as well. It was exactly what I wanted to experience - great authentic food, professional staff, and a great old-school feeling the moment you walked in. The steak, escargot, and lamb stew were all phenomenal - there was 3 of us and we could barely finish it all the portions are so healthy. Couldn't have been more happy with the experience - will definitely be back next time I'm in the city.

Conclusion that Paris is soooo indulgent. Hearty entrecôte for two 70eu. Highly recommended but u can honestly share it amongst three. It came w a fountain of fries and four bone marrows plus two additional marrow inserts floating atop the beef! I have been in heaven for a bit now.... Escargot - pick the snail and then drink the melted seasoned butter from the shell use bread and ur napkin and eat it too We were four so we had to order another "plat" opted for the Skate w butter caper - excellent. Flip the bone and you.ll find more fish below. It's also excellent. Terrine de chef- as an app, you get two cuts 5"x6"x3/4" slabs of a terrine that is a mix of foie, Pate, and head cheese. I was full on this..... until my eyes saw the marrows above and made room. Cornichons and mustard go well with the terrine Floating island as dessert...they ran out of the beautiful Napoleon.... Island was okay, the crime anglais I just drank like soup House red wine charged by the glass but they leave a full bottle to drink and charge per how much is left on bottle

We have eaten dinner here once or twice every time we are in Paris, at least a dozen times over the past twenty years. Always fun and never disappointing. Due to Covid we haven't been since 2019, and we can't wait to return later this year.

This place was our first meal after arriving in Paris and it was incredible- an awesome way to start off our visit here! Lucky for us, they're open pretty late. They serve traditional french food, so you can expect the food to be rich and decadent. The seating is also traditional (i.e. cozy, so you'll probably make friends with your neighbors). The food and wine choices are written on a chalkboard and only in french, so you'll need a way to translate or you can point at a plate of food. My husband chose the pointing option and ended up with a huge steak frite with bone marrow. He loved it and considered it a personal challenge to finish the steak, despite it's large size and the inevitable regret/pain that would follow. I ordered the salmon, because I love the way they prepare fish in France- give me a beurre blanc and I'm in heaven! This did not disappoint! The salmon was bathed (no exaggeration- see the picture!) in what I'm guessing was a dijon/butter/wine sauce-scrumptious! The fish melted in my mouth and was cooked just right, not overcooked/fishy the way salmon can sometimes be. This was one of my favorite dishes from our entire trip!

La Tour de Montlhéry (Chez Denise) When someone asks my wife and me what's the best overall restaurant in the world we can honestly say it's La Tour de Montlhéry (Chez denise). First of all it's a true old bistro. Secondly every dish is true bistro food. That being said, how can we say it's in our top two especially since we've been coming to France since the early 70's. We've lived in NYC for most of our lives teaching school and wine programs but now live happily in Hawaii. The answer is both simple and complex. The place exudes old Paris. But it's totally real. No fake anything. The owner whose family has owned the restaurant forever is very Special. He runs the floor and bar with fluid expertise. He seems to know everyone. The restaurant is opened five days a week, 24 hrs a day. We love to get there around 12 and leave at 3am. The clientele runs the total spectrum from chefs that have closed their own restaurant for the night to butchers, politicians, music groups; opera, jazz, rock who will start their own chorus right there. The staff is phenomenal! Everyone has their own personality and they have no problems showing their true selves. We hope you get Patrick. He's very special. Everyone basically speaks English,but it's up to you to get them to relax and feel comfortable speaking it. The food is classically unreal. Our favorites are Haricot Mouton, similar to a cassoulet but with lamb and no sausage, steak for two person with marrow bones and floating marrow, onglet brochettes which is hanger steak kabob and if they have lapin(rabbit) au moutarde, get it! Also maybe the best teak tartare and frites to die for. Less but not least start you should start your experience with the best foie gras in the world. Every dinner we've had here always started with my wife and I sharing one delicious large slice. Oh! I forgot. Concerning wine, almost everyone opts for the house Brouilly, a top cru from Beaujolais that comes in a liter bottle with a house label. End your meal with either a baba au rum or floating island if you have room. And toast Paris, Chez Denise and everyone around you with at least one glass of vieux pruneue.

Horrendous. This deserves 0 stars. Steak was completely inedible. There was so much sinew and gristle, my steak knife couldn't get through it. There was NO flavor either. No seasoning, not even salt. You add that yourself. When I gave up, the waiter didn't bother to even ask why I left so much on the plate, he knew already. They serve bad meat to obvious tourist because they know you're not coming back. This was 37 euros, or over $40 USD, and I left hungry. I have never been so angry after any meal because this was a complete rip off. I don't think even a pit bull could tear that meat, maybe a tiger or shark.

Full of charm, as you'll share a table with strangers and only pay for as much of the house red wine (Brouilly) that you drink. We didn't see a single plat come out that wasn't delicious looking, including our own: cote de veau and halibut au beurre blanc (wow)! Word to the wise: SPLIT a dessert! (See pics) Oh-so-close to Les Halles and accomodating of our many shopping bags. May want to make a reservation. We got in around 8:30 out of luck, methinks. Definitely a spot to hit again on our next trip!

I liked how this place was one of the few restaurants that was open late in the area! We started off with TONS of bread n butter, hehe :P The server was really friendly, plopping the huge menu onto our table and explaining each entree to us. We decided to go for the lamb chops and had wine (you just choose red or white, forget having a long list of unknown names to choose from!). The meat was pretty average, I'd say.

It has been our favorite restaurant in Paris for decades and Cyrile is our best sever ever. The pate de foie gras is perfect as is my favorite, Salmon in Mustard Sauce. Beef and all seafood is excellent as is house wine. Baba au Rum is the perfect ending to a perfect dinner. Chez Denise is in a very lively part of Paris.

A must stop when in Paris. As always, the food is delicious and the service divine. Yes, we don't speak French; and yes, we take out our phone to google translate the menu written in chalk. The escargot is a must - oozing with butter that drips to the plate and calls the bread for scooping. The steak for two floats to the table alongside the most delicious bone marrow and perfect frites. Oh, and the rum baba accompanied to the table with a bottle of rum .... just wow!

So... you want an amazing, traditional dining experience in Paris? Come here. Traditional red checkered table cloths and napkins. Old art on the walls that was interesting and full of stories. We made late reservations at 10pm (open until 5am). You are seated with whomever, wherever there is space. It felt awkward at first but then the magic happens... you talk to the other strangers at your table and become bffs before the meal is through. The food was ridiculously delicious and the best Steak Frites in Paris. The house bread is more of a sourdough which was unique and sublime. I had salmon in a mustard sauce which blew my socks off. Two words: chocolate mousse. No words to describe the silky deliciousness that was served to us. It was an out of body experience. We left at 12:45a. Prior to our departure a party of 12 who were mostly Chefs at other restaurants around town came in. They had closed their restaurants and had come here to have their dinner. Says a lot about Chez Denise right there. Go. Make a reservation, though.

Authentic French food! The restaurant is very cosy and small. We were the only non french there when we visited. The food was great! The menu is on a chalkboard and if you don't speak french good luck! Our server spoke some English, but only to the point we could understand Salmon and Steak...which was what we ordered. Both of them were very good. I would say the Salmon was better than the Steak, but looking around at other tables they had different kinds of meat which also looked great. The desserts were okay...nothing too spectacular but still tasted very good. If you are looking for a real french experience, definitely come here!

My husbands favorite place. Crowded, yet cozy and quiet, friendly, warm. Red checkered old french-style tablecloths. The food is excellent. My relatives had fish: Skate in buerre blanc sauce with capers. This was the OMG best. The salmon in mustard sauce and veal kidneys were very good. Would highly recommend.

The new L'ami Louis. Brouilly from the cask, red checked tablecloths, happy conversations fill the room. I had the haddock (smoked with a beurre blanc) and frisée to start. My husband had the escargot followed by kidneys moutarde. Like a scene from the movie "Ratatouille", he took one bite and was transported back to his grandmother's side. "C'est France" he pronounced, a smile on his face.

When my husband and I went to Paris, this was favorite meal. Not even really for the food (which was delicious) but for the experience. I read that we should have made a reservation but we were not able to so instead we creepily loitered around the front door until they opened for dinner. Luckily they had a table available (which I hear is very hard to come by according to our neighboring diners). I had read on yelp that the steak + bone marrow was really good but just huge and 1 plate could be split by 2 people, so it was my plan for us to get some apps and just split 1 portion of the steak. Since the entire menu is in French and I didn't want to seem dumb by asking questions, I ordered what looked like the beef steak and bone marrow, for 2. I was hoping that when it said "for 2" that it mean 2 people split 1 plate (I'm not sure what my reasoning was for that, not good reasoning evidently) but instead my husband and I each got huge steaks the size of our faces and 2 bone marrows and a large plate of fries. It was delicious but we essentially had to be rolled out of the restaurant. The steak was perfectly cooked and the bone marrow was so.... how do I describe this.... dripping with delicious fat and oil, which was good but also felt so bad. It was definitely too much and too rich, but the guilt tasted so good. We should have ordered the escargot and the foie gras, I think. I read a review on here of someone complaining about the restaurant being too small and sitting too close to strangers. Eating with the strangers next to us was the most memorable experience. We sat next to an older Cantonese couple, whom we eavesdropped on and then my husband spoke some Cantonese to them and one thing led to another and they were pouring us wine and sharing their foie gras with us. And on the other side we had interesting political and enlightening conversation with 2 young men from the south of France whom we split a dessert and coffee with at the end of our meal, and we looked over at that Cantonese couple and they were showing the couple next to them pictures of their kids on their phones. Both parties told us how lucky we were to land a spot at this restaurant without a reservation. (moral of the story, make a reservation) When we were eating at Chez Denise, it felt like we entered into this unique haven where strangers quickly cross boundaries to share just one meal together in a restaurant filled to the brim with warmth and laughter. Amazing.

Our favorite restaurant in Paris which is an institution with presidents and stars that went/ go there It's old french style Please dumb guests don't go there expecting a Michelin star service it's OLD PARIS with waiters that have worked there for decades! The restaurant has been created to feed the "strong" of the market who would unload trucks so the food is simple, the decor is unpretentious, the space is small so strangers can meet and the portions are huge THAT S THE CONCEPT! So please stop with your comments about being squished in or the place being too loud or the food being too simple ... MAKE EDUCATED DECISIONS WHEN YOU GO TO RESTAURANTS AND KNOW WHERE YOU RE GOING! Yelp is to give an impression not trying to destroy a place s reputation because you feel like you are invested with a metaphysical mission! I've been living in NYC for 4 years and I have been working in the hospitality industry for 20+ years in both Paris and NYC easy to say that I have been in a lot of different places. If you're looking for solid typical french food in a joyful relaxed old french place this is your spot ! Don't listen to haters just go experience this historical spot and protect small businesses

Make a reservation. Do it. I can't speak to how "authentic" of a French experience this is, but I can speak to how delicious, fun, etc., it was. The boyfriend picked to go here out b/c of Bourdain, of course, and I'm so glad he did. We were seated at a table with another couple with whom we had no common language, but got along with regardless... sharing food, wine & laughs. Our waiter was super friendly, efficient & funny. The menu is on a chalkboard & is only in French, so bring your little translator gadget if you need it, or you may be guessing on a few things. Yes, it's packed. Yes, it's loud. But yes, it's worth it.

My husband I are fans of Chez Denise, not so much for the food itself (which is very, very decent) but for the ambience and the experience which we found to be quite welcoming to 'tourists' even though many nationals also enjoy Chez Denise. When the restaurant is full, it becomes quite communal. When we visited - the french family beside us (dog included - didn't turn us off) engaged us with some conversation and we all ended up sharing a bottle of the house wine. It made for a great memory, which is what it's all about IMHO. The food is rather rich - especially if you order a number of rich items. I made the mistake of starting with the chef's terrine and followed it with steak frites and in retrospect should have found room for greens in there somewhere. I left totally saturated, but happy with the experience overall. They bring you mustard, pickles and bread and butter right off the bat. Red and white checkered tablecloths and walls covered in tags and stickers reminiscent of times gone by. The menu is up on chalkboards (think Black Hoof in Toronto if you are familiar with this style of menu). If you are in or around Les Halles, definitely give Chez Denise a try. It really is a good time.

This is a super fun place serving enormous Portions in a cool old school dining room that had lots of interesting art on the walls. Everything served at our table of six was well Received except for our friend that ordered the lamb's brains...it was au natural, no seasonings salt or sauce just pan grilled. The report was that it was like bland nothing and went down squishy weird. And now for the pun..what were they thinking.! The salmon dijonaise was excellent and the Skate wings in the traditional butter and caper sauce were spot on exceptional. A great rendition of this classic dish. The boeuf tartar was A texas style portion probably over a pound of meat. The table was served a humungo Portion of fries that defined the french fry. Too bad our table of north americans couldn't get no ketchup or mayo in this place! All in all a great evening in an eclectic must Do for foodies in Paris.

When you think of a stereotypical Parisian restaurant, you might think Chez Denise: delicious, no-frills, traditional French food served on checkered tablecloths in a dining room lined with little chalkboards, pictures, and decorations that transport you a couple decades back. The foie gras terrine (22€) is fantastic and huge, two giant slabs with preserves and the same flavorful, thinly sliced brown bread they serve for the table, just toasted. The classic steak tartare (24€) is probably the best I've had in Paris, perfectly seasoned and amazingly meaty. The frites, which came on a big metal platter, were hot, crispy, and delicious. Finally, shout outs to the excellent house Brouilly (28€/liter) and even the Dijon served at the table - very potent, eye-watering stuff, but it was great with the bread and frites. You will not be needing ketchup, I promise you (not that I think Chez Denise has it anyway.)

Another Anthony Bourdain recommendation from his most recent Paris episode (100th Episode with Eric Ripert). We were lucky enough to stop in for lunch without a reservation, and seated within 3 minutes. Our server took our coats and lead us to a large (albeit cramped) table. Ambiance is great, there are tons of framed pictures on all the walls, I caught myself looking around for a while to soak it all in. What to order: Foie Gras - Hands down the largest serving of foie I had on my European vacation. For 22 Euros, we were served 2 passport-sized slices of foie gras, about 1/2 inch thick. This was a tough appetizer to finish, as it's served with lots of bread and is very filling. Escargots - again an appetizer that can be heavy and be substituted for a meal if you want a lighter lunch. House wine. Why order the fancy stuff when the cheap wine is just as delicious!

Such a good meal. My friend and I ordered a half portion of the foie gras, the skate fish and joues de boeuf confites and we were too full for dessert. Should've saved room for that...

This place wowed me. Not fancy. But delicious and the perfect spot for a late night nosh. I had the salmon with mustard sauce and potatoes. Sooo good. The house wine did the trick. And a piece of raspberry cake. Excellent. Not too crowded at 1 am on a weeknight but still a great ambiance. Can't wait to go back on my next trip.

The one star is purely on its service. We went into the restaurant feeling excited going back to one of our favorite restaurants in Paris. The waiter asked us if we had a reservation. We apologized and said no. He said "Non! Don't you have our phone number?!" He conversed with my boyfriend in French. I don't speak french, but based on his tone, gesture, and facial expression we might as well had said that we robbed his house instead of having no reservation. He apparently was very sarcastic and said we could wait two hours if we wanted. Wow... I was so shocked at how rude this waiter was I just froze and stared at him puzzled. I can't understand how we offended him. I was so sad. Our last memory here was great: both the service and food. What has changed? This is one of the oldest brasseries in Paris. I really hope they could treat their customers with a little more warmth and respect.

One of the "best authentic" French restaurant, it is also affordable. I used to go there weekly when I lived in Paris. Just went back January 2017. Excellent food, succulent and delicious. No gimmicks and most importantly, no frozen food. I highly recommend.

One thing that people should know about this bistro is that they apparently only have tables for four. Therefore if one has a reservation for two, they plop you at a table with two strangers. Some may find this charming in a French way, but my wife and I did not care for this arrangement. The food was good but not great. The steak at Paul Bert,for example was much better. My wife refused to order fish as the fish dish at the adjacent table ( i.e: two feet away ) was very smelly. Her salad was fair. I had an issue with a defective snail shell holder which caused me to splatter grease onto my shirt ( a 31 Euro laundry bill at the hotel). The evening before at another bistro, I had no problem using this device as I have done so for decades.We chose not to have dessert and could not get out of the restaurant soon enough. It was the only restaurant of our week in Paris that we hated. There are many bistros in Paris that serve better food than this dump and are more comfortable to dine in. NOT RECOMMENDED in spite of some glowing reviews in several guidebooks.

This establishment is a sublime example of perfectly prepared French bistro food. Edward S. (see review below) is the personification of the ugly American and his review is proof that he entirely missed the nuance of the place.

Oftentimes when we have visitors that don't want to venture too far out and eat closer to their hotels around Louvre/Rivoli, this is one of the few tourist restaurants that I will go to, because of it's convenience as well as it's typically French ambiance and pretty good food, albeit rich. Plus it's an institution. We last went the other night. It was an unseasonably warm evening. I don't believe it's air-conditioned, so bring a hand-fan. We started off with typical appetizers of fois gras, escargot, fish terrine, and white asparagus. Good, but nothing out of the ordinary. They're known for their blanquette de veau (veal with cream), so we ordered that and a friend and I shared the cote de boeuf (side of beef). The blanquette de veau could have fed 4-easily. It was very tasty and rich, we barely ate a quarter of it. If you're not familiar with steaks in France, beef here is grass fed, it can be tasty, but at the same time tough. We had ours cooked medium-rare, and true to form very tasty, but extremely tough. I don't want to say all beef is tough; I've had some that melt in your mouth. It really depends where the restaurant gets their beef from and how it's cooked. And, one companion ordered the skate fish. Very tasty and good as well. By this time, we were full, so we all decided to share 1 baba-rhum, a very typical French dessert. It too was enormous, rich and served with a side of chantilly (whipped cram). It was accompanied with a bottle of rhum that you could pour more rhum over it and make it even more alcoholic. Even between 4 of us we could not finish it. In summary, although it is a touristy place, it's quite good. Food tends to be French country style cooking that grand-mere would make. And, the food can be very rich with creams, butter etc. and the portions are pretty generous for a Parisian restaurant, so go hungry. If you order their house-wine and ask for e.g., a half-bottle or even a quarter bottle, they'll send over the whole bottle and only charge what's consumed. So, for the 4 of us we paid 278€, which also included 2 full bottles of red wine, and a half bottle of white.

Ambience, waiter service and food were superb! We ordered too much food and with everyone in our party ordering a different entree, we were able to try many great dishes!!

This is an authentic french restaurant. The menu changes constantly as we found that some of the recommendations from other yelp users weren't available at the time. We asked the waiter for some recommendations but he refused by saying everything was excellent. I had the beef steak, excellent meat quality and very tasty but not as french as I expected. My husband had the salmon and it was delicious. I wish I had ordered any of the plates that the other guests had, they knew what they were ordering. If you don't speak french make sure you study tne menu on the chalkboard outside the restaurant and you have you order before you enter. Very expensive but it worth it if you want to try authentic French cuisine.

We tried the Snail and the steak with bone m (70Euro for 2 person, but the size is huge......can be shared with 6 person). It is great. Cozy place.

Disclaimer, When I say that I only review the ones I love I do so because I have chosen early on when I started to yelp, to be selective in my reviews, If I don't have really good things to say I say nothing, niet, nada, won't even mention them because they are nor worth my time. I explain this only so that you differentiate my other 5 star reviews from this one. Chez Denise provided me a ratatouille moment of childhood flashback, and is now among the legends in my restaurant stories. The place has been around for 50 years according to the owner, I felt compelled to introduce myself so I could personally thank him for keeping this level of no nonsense, awesome traditional food alive and kicking. It's simple peasant food, prepared perfectly every time, On this outing we had the escargots, the foie gras, a gateau au foie, lambs brain (good but not our thing as it tuned out) braised salmon, the onglet brochette and finally the skate wing in caper butter. I can truly say everything was perfect,, the portions though really big could not keep us from devouring every morsel. We chose 2 wines both straight from the bar Kegs, first a Bruilly red ( aaa not so much), followed by a much better Reuilly (the other keg special). When you go there, enjoy the laid back feel, or and for art lovers take a gander, it's eclectic, and really impressive, All my love to the team who I will surly see again very soon and do yourselves a favor, reserve, and go you can thank me later.

Recommended to us by a friend, this was our only negative experience in Paris. My wife made reservations on the phone (she speaks limited French), and when we arrived the reservations had vaporized. The proprietor was not accommodating in any way for us, it was clear they did not want tourists. I am sure the food is very good, but there are plenty of other good restaurants in Paris with a much friendlier attitude.

Really good place! Meat is good (had the côte de boeuf and the bone marrow), waiters are surprisingly not obnoxious and the ambiance is pretty cool. The funny thing is that maybe 50% of tables had Americans, but this didn't remove any charm to the place at all. Will definitely go back.

The food is excellent here and so is the wine and the real Parisian Atmosphere. Yes it's a bit cramped its Paris! The menu is in french and the old woman running it is a snotty and french as they come so expect that. The walls are covered in great crazy art for talking pieces. It's truly local. You can order off menu big Angus steak and bone marrow. There are no tourists in here. It's delicious! They even have a black lab behind the bar who's adorable.

We were recommended by a friend to try this restaurant, as he described this restaurant was famous for offering French food to labor workers centuries ago , which is the most traditional French food that we must try in Paris. When we visited, It is an old traditional French restaurant. The food was not as good as we expected. The food pursues quantity more than quality because the portion is HUGE while over flavored and salted. I don't think it is a good represent of the French food as many restaurants around that area were far more better.

I crushed at this place. The lamb stew I had was excellent and my wife's kabob dish was perfect. If you like smaller, intimate places, hit up chez denise ... in typical French style, you order wine and pay for the amount you drink... Why won't American places do this, so much better. If you n are one of the people who rank le pain quitidon as a 5 on yelp, please dont go here.