Last Updated on August 8, 2026 by Emma Fajcz | Published: August 22, 2019
Paris’ cuisine isn’t just patisserie and baguettes; it includes Asian, Middle-Eastern, African, Italian, and Indian dishes. The best part? These gastronomic delights are friendly to your wallet. These five options for cheap food in Paris are proof that budget-friendly dining doesn’t mean fast food during your stay!
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At a Glance: Cheap Eats in Paris
- 💰 Daily Food Budget: Plan on about €50 per person per day for a mix of affordable breakfasts, casual lunches, and budget-friendly dinners. You can spend even less by relying on street food, bakeries, and picnics.
- 🍽️ Cost of Cheap Restaurants in Paris: The restaurants in this guide offer meals ranging from €5–12 per person. Items such as falafel wraps start at €5, burgers at €10–12, and crêpes and galettes at €4–12.
- 🥐 Save Money at Lunch: Look for a restaurant offering formule (fixed-price menu) or plat du jour (daily special) between noon and 3 pm.
- 🧺 Make a Parisian picnic: Pick up prepared foods from a bakery or one of Paris’ best food markets, then eat along the Seine or in a park. It’s a way to enjoy excellent food without paying restaurant prices.
- 🌍 Look beyond French cuisine: Some of Paris’s best-value meals come from its diverse food scene. The restaurants featured here include Middle Eastern, American, vegetarian, Senegalese, and Breton options.
- ❌ Tourist Mistake to Avoid: Don’t assume the cheapest option is a chain or fast-food restaurant. Small independent restaurants, bakeries, and takeaway spots offer better-quality food for the same—or less—money.
- ✅ Local Tip: Save your splurge for one memorable meal each day, and eat cheaply for the other meals.
Looking for more foods to try? Don’t miss these 7 most famous foods in Paris!
1. Grande Mosquée de Paris
Any list of must-visit places in Paris is incomplete without the Grande Mosquée. Nestled in the hip 5th arrondissement, the mosque stands out for its Moghul architecture and Asian feel. As a bonus, it comes with a pretty spectacular onsite restaurant where you can refuel after your visit.
The restaurant has a self-service pastry counter as well as a kitchen that serves Middle Eastern repas. Once you’re seated, the servers come around with piping cups of mint tea or Turkish coffee. It is a potpourri of Middle Eastern flavors, with plenty to pick from.
Not sure what to order? Here are a few of our favorite bites:
- Basbousa (€4): An Egyptian semolina cake soaked in cinnamon syrup
- Kunafeh (€4): A Middle Eastern pastry stuffed with mascarpone cheese
- Chakchouka (€7): Also spelled “shakshouka,” this flavorful dish consists of poached eggs in a spiced tomato sauce
- Moroccan Salad (€7)
Insider’s Tip: This is a great spot for a late afternoon snack, such as a pastry with a cup of mint tea or coffee (which will set you back less than €9). While smoking is allowed, this place does not serve alcohol.
📍 Address: 39 Rue Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire
2. Roomies Burger
Burgers are the ultimate comfort food. They may not be French cuisine, but they have definitely become a part of the Parisian DNA. However, most Paris burger joints have combos starting at €15, with limited, overdone choices.
That’s not the case at Roomies. Here, a veggie burger costs €10, a hamburger €11, and a bacon hamburger €12. That’s as far as the scale tips. Their veggie burger is just as delicious as their meat-based options—which is rare, even for Paris. The ingredients are locally sourced and of top quality, which definitely reflects in the taste.
Insider’s Tip: When in doubt, go for the burger du moment. You won’t regret it!
📍 Address: There’s three locations in Paris, so find which one is closest to you.
3. Maoz Vegetarian
Paris is a city of meat lovers who take great pride in serving the best cuts and preparing the most comforting meat-based raclettes in winter. As a result, vegetarians can sometimes feel a little left out, and vegans even more so.
That’s where Maoz comes in. This place is a vegetarian haven with delicious, wholesome wraps (which are so good, even many hardcore carnivores are fans) and freshly made falafel balls. With wraps starting as low as €5, it does not get better than this. As if that weren’t enough reason to rejoice, they even serve some of the best açai bowls in town.
📍 Address: 8 Rue Xavier Privas
4. Le Fonio
African food has long had a niche following; rarely have people picked for Sengalese cuisine as a late night munchie! At Le Fonio, all that changes. The joint serves up Senegalese staples such as maffe, thiep guinar, and alocos in nifty takeaway boxes.
After a night of partying, this is where you’ll find Parisians indulging their midnight cravings. The entrées start at just €3.50, which is why this place is always packed with students, tourists and young millennials looking for a bang for their buck!
📍 Address: 86 Rue de la Réunion
5. La Petite Bretonne
Montparnasse is hands down the “Crêpe Centrale” of Paris, with several stellar options such as La Creperie de Josselin, La Crêperie Bretonne, and so on. But tucked in the backstreets of Latin Quarter is a true hidden gem: La Petite Bretonne. The owners are former managers of Josselin who have since brought their years of expertise to the fifth arrondissement.
Prices for crepes and buckwheat galettes range from €4–€12, making La Petite Bretonne the ideal spot to enjoy Bretagne’s pride served in its true rustic form.
Insider’s Tip: If you catch the husband and wife duo that own the shop, which you often will, ask them for their recommendations.
📍 Address: 48 Rue Mouffetard
Explore Paris’ Sweet Side With Us!
Paris is a pastry lover’s dream—but with every window filled with glossy tarts, delicate macarons, and chocolate too beautiful to eat (almost), where do you even start? That’s where our Paris Pastry & Chocolate Tour comes in.
Enjoy this guided deep-dive into the pâtisseries, cafés, and crêperies feeding city’s sweetest traditions. Along the way, you’ll explore 19th-century glass-roofed arcades as you stop to taste pain au chocolat, macarons, bean-to-bar chocolate, salted butter crêpes, and more!
Featured Review: Paris Pastry & Chocolate Tour
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “The Paris Pastry Tour was wonderful! Our tour guide, Anne Lorraine, was very kind and gave us so much interesting information! We tried many delicious desserts in places we might not have discovered on our own. This tour is great for all ages and I would recommend it to anyone. You would be lucky to have Anne Lorraine as your tour guide!”
– Camper788169
Cheap Eats in Paris FAQs
Where to eat in Paris on a budget?
For affordable meals in Paris, look beyond traditional sit-down restaurants and explore boulangeries, crêperies, markets, food halls, and casual neighborhood cafés. A baguette sandwich, savory crêpe, falafel, pizza, or formule (fixed-price meal) can often provide a satisfying meal for €7–15. Neighborhoods such as the Latin Quarter, Belleville, the Marais, and the 11th arrondissement have plenty of inexpensive options.
Is €1,000 enough for a week in Paris?
€1,000 can be enough for one person for a week in Paris, but you’ll need to budget carefully. (This amount does not include airfare, accommodation, and other expenses!) A cheap food budget is around €30–50 per day, with inexpensive breakfasts and lunches balanced by an occasional sit-down dinner. This leaves a buffer of about €100 per day for souvenirs, activities, and transportation.
How can you save money on food in Paris?
The easiest way to save money is to eat your main meal at lunchtime, when many restaurants offer reasonably priced formules or lunch specials. Pick up breakfast from a local boulangerie, shop at a food market for picnic ingredients, and choose casual restaurants or street food for some meals. You can also save by drinking tap water (eau du robinet), which is safe and free, rather than buying bottled water at every meal.
How much is a cheap meal in Paris?
A cheap meal in Paris typically costs around €7–15 per person. A bakery sandwich, crêpe, falafel, or other casual meal can be found for under €10, while a formule at a casual café or restaurant may cost around €15–20, often including a main dish plus a drink or dessert. Prices vary by neighborhood, with restaurants around major tourist attractions generally costing more.
