15 Best Cheap Restaurants in Paris

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Paris is a notoriously expensive capital city. Like London, New York, and Tokyo, finding cheap restaurants in Paris can be difficult.

It’s not hard to find good food in Paris. Thankfully, that’s easy. 

But if you want to enjoy a meal under €20 or even rarer, under €10, you’ll have to hop on the metro or, if you’re really on a budget, use your feet and walk a little bit to find them.

This is a list of some of the best affordable restaurants in Paris. I have visited this incredible city three times now and I continue to find absolute gems.

On my most recent trip, I explored with a local and fellow blogger, Roobens of Been Around the Globe, and he showed me some of the hidden gems and budget restaurants in Paris.

Tips for Finding Budget Restaurants in Paris

If you are backpacking around France or are really on a budget, bakeries or boulangerie, are going to be your best friend.

You can easily get a cheap baguette, croissant, or savory pastry for less than €2. Add a few different grocery store items to that and you have a hearty lunch for a few days at a very low cost.

If you are on a tight budget, but not so tight, you can keep your eyes out for markets (some of which are listed below) as well as crepe stands around the city where you can grab cheap snacks throughout the day.

One of the best budget-friendly neighborhoods for food is around the Le Marais neighborhood where you’ll find delis, falafel spots, markets, and crepe cafes. 

Take a Food Tour in Paris

Taking a food tour is always one of my favorite activities when I travel to a new city (or return to one for that matter).

If you are short on time or this is your first time in France, I highly recommend taking a food tour in Paris.

This is a great way to sample a lot of different dishes in a short period of time and is a great way to try higher-end restaurants at a lower price. These are some of my favorites:

• Le Marais Private Food Tour: If you are traveling with a few people, this private food tour is a great affordable option for sampling 10 different dishes alongside French wine and beer around the La Marais neighborhood. You’ll stop at four different restaurants and sample both sweet and savory French delicacies. Book that tour here.
• Paris Gourmet Tour: Eat your way through the famous Latin Quarter of Paris. This tour focuses on high-quality French ingredients and includes tastes of French cheeses, meats, foie gras, baguettes, and wine. It’s a truly decadent tour at a reasonable price. Book that tour here.
• Montmarte Food Tour: If you want to enjoy a nice walking tour of the stunning Montmarte neighborhood and stop at local shops for cheese, meat, pastries, and wine, then this is the tour for you. Montmartre is one of my favorite neighborhoods in Paris and is packed with great food stops along with a knowledgeable guide. Book that tour here.

Map of the Top Cheap Restaurants in Paris

Best Budget Restaurants in Paris

These are, of course, entirely biased, but they are also delicious and relatively affordable (for Paris). Of course, they aren’t cheap like Thailand food or food in Mexico, but they are cheap compared to food in Paris.

1. Express de Lyon

Okay, this is more of a bar than a restaurant, but it does have very cheap food. 

It’s located just across the street from Gare de Lyon, so you can have a meal here before heading off to another destination or it’s a great option if you arrive later and are staying at at hotel nearby.

If you want a cool spot that does delicious French craft beer alongside cheap burgers and charcuterie boards, head to Express de Lyon one evening.

They have juicy, well-cooked burgers for €14 which come with fries. It’s a fantastic portion and a really delicious burger. It’s without a doubt one of the best value-for-money options in this region of Paris.

They also have a really nice beer selection. All of the beers on draft are French and many of them are brewed in Paris.

The staff are really friendly and it’s a nice small interior which is cozy in winter. If you are visiting during the warmer months, you can grab a table outside. You will need to order at the bar, but you only pay once you are ready to leave.

2. Café de l’Industrie

This little bistro located in the Bastille neighborhood is a great budget-friendly restaurant in Paris. This is where to come for any meal of the day to have affordable French dishes.

All but one of the main dishes (the filet steak) is under €20 and most of the main dishes are under €15.

They also do a weekday lunch special which includes a starter and a main or a main and a dessert for €17. If you want three courses it’s €19. 

While the €23 steak is utterly delectable, so too is the €14 beef carpaccio with potatoes on the side. 

This is a great restaurant for vegetarians in Paris as well. They have a really nice selection of great quality and affordable meat-free dishes on the menu.  

3. Chez Aline

For a delectable lunch, Chez Aline is known to be one of the best places in Paris for a famous sandwich, jambon beurre, a ham and butter sandwich. It’s one of the best cheap restaurants in Paris for both price and food quality.

This may sound a little bit too simple, but that is the essence of great French food: high-quality ingredients on show. The bread is crusty on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The ham is a little bit salty, a little bit smoky, and the butter is the perfect creamy and salty addition.

Chez Aline has a wide selection of sandwiches to choose from, but if you’ve never had a jambon beurre before, this is the best place to have your first.

Inside is basically a deli, so you can mix and match salads and sandwiches to create a whole picnic. This is a particularly great place to come earlier in the day for a few sandwiches and salads before heading to a park for lunch in the sunshine. Don’t forget to bring a bottle of wine and some cups, too.

Nothing on the menu is more than €10 with most of the sandwiches and salads costing between €5-8.

4. Les Affranchis

This is a great little bistro with a few locations, but the one around Bastille is one of my favorite spots. It has a covered terrace that is a great place to enjoy on a summer evening and they have plenty of seating inside as well.

They brew their own beer which is light and refreshing and the food is exceptional.

I find this with most small bistros in Paris, but the menu is usually small, with only a few starters, fewer than 10 mains, and one or two choices for dessert. 

The menu varies in price here, but most dishes, including the incredibly delicious confit duck, is under €20. 

If you want something budget-friendly here, grab a bowl of the very filling French onion soup, which is filled with cheese and rich broth and served with a basket full of bread for only €8.

5. L’As du Fallafel

One of the most famous restaurants in Paris, this little falafel stall is also a fantastic cheap restaurant in Paris.

There is almost always a line that wraps around the block here, but it is worth the wait. 

The regular falafel pita wrap is €8.50 and is absolutely packed with falafel, sauce, and salad. It’s inside a fluffy, warm pita bread.

This is a vegetarian option, but it’s also the dish that you need to try if this is your first time at L’As du Fallafel. 

Besides amazing falafel, they also have pita wraps with juicy lamb, chicken liver, chicken curry, spicy beef, and curry wraps.

The meat wraps are €12 or €13 depending on the meat and are absolutely packed full. 

There are quite a lot of tables inside, but because it is usually so busy, it’s best to take this to-go and head to a nearby bench or park to sit and enjoy it.

6. Crêperie CREPOLOG

If you’re like me, you thought crepes were always sweet. And, technically they are. But there is a type of crepe that you will find around France called a galette.

Originally from the Brittany region of France, galettes are usually made with buckwheat flour and are filled with savory things like cheese, meat, vegetables, and eggs.

There are tons of affordable crepe restaurants around Paris and plenty of expensive ones, too. 

Crepolog is a well-priced place with most of the galettes costing about €10.

For that price, you can get galettes filled with egg, tomato, and cheese or ham, cheese, and egg.

For another Euro or two, you can have goat cheese with chorizo or smoked salmon with creme fraiche. 

The portions are a good size for lunch and won’t leave you feeling hungry. The setting is particularly nice here with a few tables outside in the sunshine and plenty of seats inside with a nice cafe vibe.

There are plenty of vegetarian options here, but it would be hard to make these vegan as they all come with cheese and egg.

7. Chez Alain Miam Miam

For epic sandwiches and tasty galettes or sweet crepes, this is a fantastic budget-friendly restaurant in Paris.

News is out about this place and it is always busy. Be prepared to wait upwards of 45 minutes to an hour, especially if you are coming on a weekend.

I would highly recommend coming as early as possible. They open at 9 am and while it may seem strange to have a meaty sandwich for brunch, it’s well worth it to avoid the line and indulge in this sandwich.

You can either choose the normal-sized sandwich, called the Miam Miam which costs €10 or you can go for the Big Miam Miam which costs €13. The sandwiches are both huge and a large one could easily feed two people if you also opt for a few side dishes as well.

You get to make your own sandwich here by choosing the type of vegetables you want, the type of cheese, and the type of meat. You can ask to try the different cheeses if you aren’t sure. 

And despite the fact that the line is always running down the street, you never feel rushed by the friendly staff who are working at the counter. Alain himself is usually here making sandwiches with a smile. 

There are two locations right next to each other. One is the restaurant which has seating available and one is in the market across the street (listed in #8). This has almost no seating, just a few stools, and usually has a similar wait time. The one inside the market is usually open later than the restaurant.

8. Les enfants du marché

This is a great little market near the Le Marais neighborhood where you can get some great cheap eats.

There is a stall from Chez Alain Miam Miam mentioned above. There is also a burger place, a Chinese spot, a Turkish spot, and a different sandwich spot which also serves champagne and charcuterie boards.

In addition to being a bustling market for lunch, you can also come here for produce and raw meats. If you are staying at an apartment and want to save money by self-catering, but want to enjoy some nicer meats, cheeses, and produce, this market is a decent option for that.

9. Cafe Charlot

This little cafe on the corner of a busy intersection appears to be no different from every other corner cafe around Paris. 

But Cafe Charlot is a fantastic option for those that want to have a pre-dinner meal or have a few light bites while they also enjoy a few drinks and want to do all of those things without spending a fortune.

This is like a sort of French tapas restaurant with different share plates on the menu. You can get a huge and delicious charcuterie board with cheeses and meats for €21, which when it is divided between 2-3 people is a great deal.

This is also a great place to come for a croque monsieur which isn’t usually a very cheap meal to have in Paris. Basically, a ham and cheese sandwich, but so much more decadent, the croque monsieur here is €15.

10. Bouillon Chartier

This is my favorite budget-friendly restaurant in Paris. 

This is another spot that has a huge line out the door, but there are so many tables inside, that the line moves quickly. The line is so normal and so long here, that they actually have velvet ropes set up between the sidewalk and the entrance to the restaurant to keep things organized.

This restaurant opened in 1896 and was the place where soldiers would come for an affordable meal in Paris. 

It has continued to be a place that keeps its prices low for the working Parisians of the city to have a good meal. 

It is something of a machine in here with how busy it is and how much the waiters are running around, but the food is great and the prices are even better.

I ate a delicious steak with fries here for €13, which is one of the most expensive things on the menu. 

A salad costs €2, you can sample a beef bourguignon for €9, and you can finish the meal with a €3 chocolate mousse.

Bouillon Chartier is offering the best prices in Paris for a full sit-down meal and while it’s not the absolute best French food you’ll have in Paris, it is hearty, the portion sizes are fantastic, and it has a nice variety of options to make the whole family happy. 

If you are traveling solo or as a couple, expect that you will likely share your table. Most of the tables are tables of four or larger and they fill every single seat at this restaurant. I was seated with another solo diner when I was there and it was quite nice to have a lunch companion.

11. Apertivus Cadet – Paris 9

I actually stumbled upon this little deli when I was wandering around Paris feeling a little hungry for a snack.

There was no line out the door, but a few people standing inside trying to decide which of the delicious meats on display they wanted in their freshly sliced baguettes.

The chalkboard outside advertised sandwiches for the lowest price I have ever seen a sandwich in Paris, €4.90. For that price, you can get serrano ham with mozzarella, parma ham with goat cheese, or cured sausage with butter.

There are a few other sandwich options that cost €5.90 and some more that cost a whopping €6.90. For that price, you get quite a big sandwich with more gourmet ingredients like confit duck or cured meats with raw cheeses.

You can also get some fresh salads, pasta dishes, and other side dishes if you want to grab a few different affordable things for a picnic in the park.

12. Ground Control

This is one of the coolest places to eat in Paris and is a great place to hang out and sample some international food at an affordable price.

This is a big warehouse-style market hall with tons of seating and craft beer and natural wine available at the different bars scattered around the hall. There are also tons of different food vendors here serving everything from Italian pizza to food from around Latin America as well as dishes from Ethiopia and Japan.

The prices vary, but the portion sizes are big and you can easily share a few things with friends to keep costs down.

Most of the pizzas are about €15-20 and they can be shared between two people. The main dishes at many of the other stalls hover between €7 and €12 depending on the ingredients. 

The nice thing about this place is that everyone can order something different, so it keeps groups of friends with different tastes and food requirements happy. There are vegan and vegetarian options, there are gluten-free options, there are meat-heavy options, and everything in between.

13. Le Nemrod

The reason to come to Le Nemrod is for a delicious and affordable croque. They have croque monsier and croque madam here.

What’s the difference you may be asking? A croque madam is the same except that it is topped with a fried or poached egg while the monsieur is dipped in a raw egg mixture before being pan-fried.

Both are decadent and delicious. Both will leave you feeling incredibly full and both are best consumed alongside a salad to add freshness or shared with a friend. 

The croque monsieur here is an affordable €12 and the madam is €13. 

They also have a nice menu with a few dishes that are big enough to be shared between two or three people which all cost about €20-23 and include things like boar sausage, rillettes, duck foie gras, and smoked salmon.

14. Le Petit Vendôme

This is another great affordable restaurant in Paris. The best thing about this is that it is a little bit of a gem tucked within one of the more expensive neighborhoods in Paris.

Located just around the corner from Place Vendôme, which is home to the Ritz Paris, is this little spot where you can get sandwiches for €5 and charcuterie boards for €10. 

This place is tiny with only about 10 tables inside and a few more outside under an awning.

You can take your sandwich to-go or have it at the bar for a cheaper price. But if you want to sit at a table, I highly recommend calling ahead or visiting their website to book a table. 

15. Rôtisserie Stévenot

This is a bit of a chain restaurant around Paris, so you’ll notice on the map above that there are a few locations to choose from.

This is definitely a great cheap restaurant in Paris to enjoy a delicious meal.

You’ll see rotisserie chicken all over Paris. It’s a quick, easy, delicious, cheap, and relatively healthy option for a weeknight dinner. You’ll notice them most around the end of the workday and if you see a spot that looks and smells good and lists their prices, you may want to grab one from a local vendor.

But this place does a great deal where you can get half of a rotisserie chicken and two sides of your choice for €10. That’s enough food for two people for dinner, making it one of the cheapest meals you can have in Paris without having to cook it yourself. 

They have been serving rotisserie chickens around Paris since 1950. In addition to chicken, they also have ribs, charcuterie, and foie gras.