Café de l’Empire

C’est la 3e fois que je viens le midi et je né suis pas déçue ! Les plats sont bons, le service agréable et souriant malgré la salle comble entre midi et deux.
L’endroit est du coup un peu bruyant mais c’est convivial.
Un des meilleurs rapport qualité/​prix dans le quartier !

Le tartare et la crème brûlée n’avaient rien de maison mais dans la mesure où c’est le cas de la majorité des brasseries de ce type sur Paris, on né peut guère les blâmer, juste né pas revenir s’y attabler. Le nombre de table au mètre carré devrait figurer dans le guiness, au moins si vous vous ennuyez vous pouvez toujours écouter votre voisin. Les prix restent raisonnables pour le quartier, seul point positif.

Service nul. Desagreable. Refuse de me donner une table pour 3 alors que mes amis arrivent dans 20 minutes. Je né pense pourtant pas qu’on ait le temps de faire 2 services en 20 minutes et alors qu’il y a plusieurs tables disponibles. Refuse de me laisser prendre une table d’une personne en attendant pour prendre un verre.
Worst service ever. Refuse to give me table for 3 before my friends arrive (in 20 minutes). Refuse to give me a table for 1 in the meantime. Talk to me with a very unfriendly tone. Waiters complaing during their service.

I was perfect. Good atmosphere, tasty food and amazing service. The server is great, bilingual and very nice. She gave tips how to enjoy Paris. It’s a small place and it was packed by 1:30pm. It’s completely worthy. And they have a fair price.

We ordered the duck confit and roasted chicken and both were wonderful. Finished it off with the pastry wrapped banana chocolate and ice cream OMG it was so good.

Un fabuleux petit troquet, faites attention ça se remplit très vite le midi. Plats et desserts aux bons prix on y mange bien et le service est sympa. J’y reviendrai

My partner and I had lunch here today. The waitress was wonderful, very nice and its a cute space. The food however, was awful. I had tartine of potato and cheese/​lardons and onions. I am convinced it was frozen and microwaved. It was terrible, it had no flavor outside of the char taste from it being burned, it was dry and sat on a bed of mixed greens lettuce with no dressing. My partner had a cheese plate (not bad), french fries (nothing special) and vegetarian salad (totally flavorless and boring). Too bad, its a nice place near our hotel but would never go back with all of the good food nearby.

I was traveling Paris by myself and found this place to eat lunch before heading over to the Musée d’Orsay. They stuck me in the corner at this one person table (I guess they’re used to people alone) — oh well, I didn’t mind. I was next to the window so I could people watch and get good lighting for photos ;).
The staff are incredibly helpful — honesty all of the people I’ve met in Paris have been so accommodating for my lack French. The waiter gave me a basic English menu and explained some of the popular options. I ended up trying the chicken which came with mashed potatoes.
Those mashed potatoes were the nicest looking potatoes EVER. The chicken was moist and juicy and perfectly seasoned.
Would recommend if you’re ever around the area or heading over to the museum. It’s perfect for tourists (English speaking) so you’ll have no problem here!

This is one of those times Unilocal needs a zero star option. Last meal of our honeymoon.
We came here yesterday, and really enjoyed the pea soup, and wanted to come back specifically for it. Came in, was greeted and sat down. Server came back and gave us the English versions of the basic menu. He perpetuated the French stereotype by smelling like nasty BO, but anyways… We asked for the specials menu since we knew the pea soup was on there. I had the roasted chicken dish (which was dry, flavorless and nearly inedible. Probably going to regret eating it in the morning.), and my wife ordered the pea soup. Comes back several minutes later and tells us they don’t have the soup and it’s not possible to have it /​would take 30+ mins to make. Being hungry she chose the goat cheese salad instead, adding tomato and pine nuts (the pine nuts were on a different salad, but she pointed to them and said it clearly several times). Few mins later meals arrive, giving us almonds and tomatoes on a separate plate. My wife (already being frustrated) stated that the almonds were not pine nuts, and they said they don’t have them. The lettuce was wet with water and had no dressing on it.
Basic common sense and service is not universal. Definitely do not recommend this place. If you are the management and reading this, I’d recommend firing everybody who worked the night of September 23^rd.

Great service and simple lunch. Not too pricey. So, if you’re looking for a decent priced non-​fancy (but good) lunch this is the place. The house champagne is good and the atmosphere is vibrant.
Several dishes including meat/​fish of the day. Simple, budget and good!

We had wonderful food and then the waiter tried to steal 10 euros from us along with the help of the female bartender. He thought that being dumb Americans that we could not count! So frustrating and disappointing!!!

All food range from 10 – 13 euro. Great deal.
Not just that but the food actually taste great as well
You can get the house wine for 3 euro.
I love 1 block away from here and come to drink and eat at least once a week :-)
They have daily meat and fish menu :-)

Great place a few minutes walk from Musee d’Orsay. Busy but unpretentious by Paris standards and still has great atmosphere. Prices reasonable for a family of 5. Had a couple of the tartines, duck confit, rib steak and kids cheesy pasta. All great! First place in Paris that kept refilling our water without asking. Have the crispy banana pastry dessert.

Amazing restaurant, perfect for a good lunch after going to the Musée d’Orsay. We had the steak which was really tender and an amazing fish.

Great food. Excellent value. Had duck confit, rotisserie chicken and steak/​fries. Everything delicious but chicken a tad dry. Fast service. Highly recommended!

Excelente lugar. Excelente ambientación. Excelente atención. Si quieres estar en París y sentirte como en casa, recomiendo sin lugar a dudas este lugar.
Para no perderse el Duck Confit y los brunch de domingo con Salmón ahumado.

This wonderful café was my favorite food experience during my recent trip to Paris. It is very close to the Orsay museum, but it attracts a lot of locals instead of just tourists which is always a great sign. I had the duck confit, and it was cooked to perfection with crispy skin yet tender, juicy meat. The potatoes it came with were also a great dish in itself. My husband had the chicken that was also very flavorful. The prices here are outstanding for the area as well — I believe each of our entrees were only 11.5 Euro each. The house wine was also great and well priced. Highly recommend!

For this area the price is amazing and the food is great. We started with the poached egg appetizer and then had the duck confit and the penne with ham. We also had two glasses of house wine, two Kir Royale’s (champagne) and the chocolate cake dessert for around fifty bucks. And service was English friendly.

After a long day of visiting museums and climbing up to the Arc de Triomphe, a good French Bistro meal is what I needed. I ordered the Duck Confit. It was excellent; the duck was tender and moist. For € 14,20 I had the duck confit and a Diet Coke. Cannot beat that. The only downside was that the bistro was really packed and noisy, but for a good meal, I’m willing to put up with it.

comida horrorosa. cuidado brasileiros. os cozinheiros não são asseados… colocam a mão na salada e nos papeis dos pedidos. os aventais estavam um nojo!!! não tem apresentação e os sucos são ácidos demais!!! evite!!!

Je suis allée au café de l’empire avant tout pour les prix proposés: en effet, ils défient toutes concurrences dans le 7e et même dans Paris. Les plats sont entre 10 et 12 €, les entrées et les desserts à 5 – 6 € et les «pots» de vin à 16 €. Mais en plus, c’était bon! Les frites sont maisons, les cuissons parfaitement maîtrisées, la salade fraîche, bref, rapport prix/​qualité incroyable !
4 étoiles seulement car le service n’est pas fou…

Je suis allée au café de l’empire avant tout pour les prix proposés: en effet, ils défient toute concurrence dans le 7e et même dans Paris. Les plats sont entre 10 et 12 €, les entrées et les desserts à 5 – 6 € et les «pots» de vin à 16 €. Mais en plus, c’était bon! Les frites sont maisons, les cuissons parfaitement maîtrisées, la salade fraîche, bref, rapport prix/​qualité incroyable !
4 étoiles seulement car le service n’est pas fou…

I don’t remember what the salad was called but the grilled mozzarella with prosciutto and a mustard vinaigrette is maybe the most delectable encounter of my life.

I did not expect this place to be good in all honesty. I was super hungry after jaunting around the Musee D’Orsay and trying to find the clock tower so I wasn’t in the mood to wait for 20 minutes at the other place I wanted to try. This was on my backup list so off I went and the great waitress who works there is so friendly and accommodating that it kinda freaked me out a little. Paris hospitality is few and far between.
Anyway, I had the duck confit and a glass of their rose. It was all tasty and service was impeccable. Prices were not as high as I expected– pretty much on par with lunch prices around the area.

Friendly staff. Amazing food. Not overly elaborate. Just delicious french food. Poule rotti was the best I had in paris

We stumbled across this place following a visit to the d’Orsay when the adjacent Berges food stalls were unavailable. We had an amazingly low cost & delicious lunch with a half bottle of rose (our compromise for the meal).
I had the duck confit and my partner had the Mediterranean tartine. Mine came with amazing potatoes fried in duck fat and minced garlic with an excellent side salad. I also had my new favorite dessert option — the café gourmand, an espresso served with a small sample of several of the desserts, while my partner had the nougat ice cream. Not a wrong note was hit with the food.
The service was warm and friendly (despite the grumpy adjacent Italians), but unobtrusive. Would love to go back and try something else. Also, the half bottle of rose (Provence) was great — dry, not too flinty and perfect for the warm October sunshine. Off to LBM’s epicierie!

Across the river from the Louvre and down an adjacent street past the Museé d’Orsay, Café de L’Empire serves 10 € entrees despite the posh neighborhood. Named in honor of Napoleon, this café dominates in price, location, service, and food.
FOOD: Yes, the advertised «Giant Salads» are huge portions. With a glass of wine or café au lait and the bread, which of course is always provided, their salads are easily a meal. In fact, I’ve seen them defeat even the most determined eaters and go back to the window with plenty on the plate. Both the herb chicken and duck confit are lovingly fried right before being served, giving it a nice, crispy skin. This place has traditional, straight forward French fare, but it’s done right. The scalloped potatoes that come with the duck confit are fried in duck fat, giving it that extra depth of flavor. The house sauce that comes with the herb chicken most certainly comes from a base of the drippings from the roasting pan and is tasty while not being overly heavy.
+WINE: Different cafés have different preferences for what region of wine they prefer to carry. My favorite café near the Eiffel Tower serves primarily Beaujolais. My personal favorite is Medoc reds. I notice lots of cafés will carry Medocs because they have a medium body and go well with most foods. Café de l’Empire carries Medoc and I enjoyed a glass or two of the smooth, warm red, complimenting the dark meat of my duck confit.
+COFFEE: The espresso here is dark and smooth. Recommended for when you’ve had a full day of art museums. Remember, if you want drip coffee, you need to ask for café Americain or café filtre. Otherwise it’s either café au laits which is espresso and milk or a frothy cappuccino.
SERVICE: My friends and I visited this café twice while we were staying in Paris. I’ve found that often the cafés that are open in the summer in Paris are usually very tourist friendly. While many cafés close during the summer when their usual customers and owners are on vacations themselves, the ones that remain open know the clientele are from out of the country, so they’ll usually have an English speaking server around and have English menus if it looks like you’re struggling. So it was in Café de l’Empire. Both times we went, we were bade to come in by a young waitress with brunette hair with whom I exchanged the usual French greetings, but when she realized my companions went quiet, she switched to lightly accented English, putting them at ease and also handed them English menus without them having to ask. Both times when we passed, the older gentleman at the bar (possibly the owner) waved jovially at us as if there was nothing that gave him greater pleasure than seeing us.
A word to new visitors to France, especially Americans, the waitresses or servers are not being inattentive if they leave you alone for long stretches of time, busy restaurant or not. French meals are elongated affairs and the waitresses or servers are trying to be as unobtrusive as possible, allowing you and your lunch or dinner companions the room to converse and enjoy your meals at your leisure. Usually it’s not too hard to catch their eye when you need more water or order wine or coffee. They often know your needs but stay out of the way, unconcerned about turning you out to bring in new customers. A couple days in Paris and treated kindly by the Café de l’Empire’s staff, you start appreciating the French attitude towards food.
AMBIANCE: It’s a small place. The second time we went the place was full, but they squeezed us three into a corner with maybe half a foot of space between us and a party of two. The first time we went we were squeezed into the space made by the bay window in the front. It’s a tight squeeze, but I think worth it for the food and prices. The French speak quietly and despite being so close to the museums, maybe at least a third of the café’s customers are native Parisians, so the ambient noise never reaches unbearable levels.
Highly recommended. In my opinion, this is a sure choice after touring impressionist and post-​impressionist art or rambling in the Louvre gardens. You’ll leave Paris with a clear understanding of café culture and wonderful memories of the food.

A nice, cosy place right around the corner from musee d‘orsay with a decent sunday brunch that includes croissants, bread, butter and jam, tea or coffee, eggs, an enormous portion of salmon (with an alternative which I forgot) and fruits and fruit juice.
Other food did not look so good though, from what I saw in adjacent tables.

Le bistro au meilleur rapport /​qualité prix du quartier. Plats à partir 10 € pour les tartines et jusqu’à 12,50 € pour l’entrecôte. Belle décoration et ambiance agréable. J’y vais régulièrement et né suis jamais déçue.

Brasserie tres correct pour le midi
Le café de l’empire situe juste derrière le musée d’Orsay, est un bon endroit pour manger le midi après la visite du musée. Accueil et service sympa, déco passé partout et plats a la carte copieux et pour un prix raisonnable. Ils font aussi des brunchs le dimanche.

Excellent: pas cher, bon, joli, dans le 7è !
Le café de l’empire, toute une histoire. J’y suis allé un grand nombre de fois, que ce soit pour prendre un verre, déjeuner, dîner,… Imaginez seulement un café très bien décoré, dans un quartier prestigieux, où l’on mange à toute heure (enfin non pas la nuit quand même), tous les jours, le tout pour des prix très délicats. J’y suis allé aussi bien seul qu’en couple ou entres amis. Bien sûr, ce n’est pas un restaurant à proprement parler, pour la St-​Valentin c’est moyen… mais pour tout le reste, dès qu’il s’agit de passer un bon moment en mangeant bien sans se ruiner c’est parfait. Le service est très sympathique aussi. Quelques exemples de prix: cocktails 5,5 €; pression 3 €; café comptoir 1,1 €. Grandes salades (produits de la mer, salade landaise, etc.) entre 9 et 11 €. Tartare de boeuf ou saumon, poisson ou viande du jour, cuisse de canard, 11 €. Brunch 16 €. Attention il y a toujours du monde, mieux vaut éviter d’arriver entre 12h45 et 14h le dimanche, sauf à 2 ou 3 personnes. En résumé, un lieu où on se sent bien, à quelques minutes à pieds du Louvre ou de la place St-​Germain.

1ere expérience plutôt bonne, 2eme peut-​être pas le bon jour je retenterai une dernière fois pour me faire une idée définitive !
OK c’est pas cher mais si c’est pas bon où est l’intérêt?!
Cadre agréable cependant, bonne musique, pour boire un verre

Très bon rapport qualité-​prix, cadre agréable, service ok, très bon confit de canard pour moins de 11 EUR. Dommage qu’il y ait eu des tensions entre les serveuses et les cuisines, ça s’entend et ça casse le charme.

La nuit arrive et la faim est forte, l’air encore plus intense à cause du froid. Nous avons décidé qu’il est temps de faire un bienfait pour notre corps après une journée de marche autour de la ville. Nous avons traversé la rivière et flânée dans les rues étroites jusqu’à la nuit. Enfin, à travers la rue du Bac, nous avons trouvé le Café de L’Empire. Je demande un kir et nous examinons le menu. Voila! Exactement ce que nous voulions! Bonne nourriture à bon prix. Je poser une poulet rotie avec la purée maison. Il semble incroyable et savoureuse, et est idéal pour la fin d’une journée parfaite à Paris.

A l’angle de la rue du Bac et de la rue Verneuil, on trouve ce petit resto sympa à des prix défiant toute concurrence pour le 7e! Une cuisine de bistrot (tartare à 10 euros, tartines à 9 €) et un brunch très sympa le dimanche, à 16 €…Craquez comme moi pour le croustillant à la banane et sa sauce chocolat :). Service agréable pour couronner le tout.

C’est vrai ! en plein «CRG» ce petit café, à l’angle des rues du Bac et de Verneuil et en face de la célèbre boulangerie Kayser, est très sympathique; ambiance feutrée avec des teintes en bois foncé, des banquettes en velours et des prix très raisonnables pour le quartier font de ce café une adresse à mémoriser si vous êtes de passage. Si vous êtes du quartier vous en deviendrez un pilier !

Miracle: on a trouvé un café/​restaurant sympa et pas cher dans le 7e !
Cuisine de bistrot raffinée, ambiance soft, décors chaleureux et de bon goût, et service affable. Plats à 11EUR, même le soir. Que demande le peuple ?
En sortant vous irez admirer les dessins sur le mur de la maison Gainsbourg située à deux pas, rue de Verneuil (Joan Sfar en a fait un pas mal en haut à gauche).

Good and affordable if you are looking for a quick lunch after an exhausting museum (Louvre or Orsay) visit. I would recommend beef tartare. It’s probably one of the better ones I had, knife cut and seasoned perfectly with a side of very well prepared french fries. Croques are good too as are the daily specials.