Before we moved to France, we’d been coming to Europe on annual (or more frequent if possible) vacations for 30+ years. Almost every one of these trips involved a stay in Paris so naturally we had to find places to eat. That task got easier in 1996 when Adrian Leeds published her first edition of Top 100 Cheap Insider Paris Restaurants with the goal of listing value-for-money restaurants all over the capital city. The cover stated, “You don’t need to be rich to dine well—you just need to be in the know!” Sadly, the book has now gone out of print but all is not lost. Although you might typically associate the word Michelin with starred restaurants and correspondingly multiple $$$$ or €€€€ signs, that doesn’t have to be the case.

There’s a restaurant in Carcassonne with 2 Michelin stars where we enjoyed a 4-hour long evening of dining on works of art in 11 courses. As you might expect, an entertaining event like that doesn’t come cheap but then that’s why the listing comes with those 4 euro signs €€€€! While that was certainly memorable, I would have to say that many other meals around town have been delicious without our knowing that Michelin had discovered those restaurants too, just without any stars attached. Oh, and without so many €€.

So, what can you expect from a Michelin Bib gourmand establishment?

• It is awarded to restaurants that offer good quality, cooking, and value for money.
• The typical Bib Gourmand restaurant offers a three-course meal for a fixed price. In France, that should be around 40€ per person.
• The award is a good indication of the quality of the food, as Michelin inspectors spend the necessary time to investigate every restaurant that’s going to be included in their guide, with or without stars.

The closest restaurant to us with this award is in Lagrasse, about 40 minutes by car and we ate there earlier this year. Attached below is a pdf of their menu in English with a fixed price of 47€ and the option to add wine for 21€. An article in The Local France highlighted similar restaurants in much larger cities, including Paris, where Michelin found quality lunch or dinner meals around their target price of 40€ with Chez Loustic in Toulouse offering 3 courses for 23€. Looks like those “Cheap Insider” restaurants that we discovered in 1996 still exist.

Happily, author Adrian Leeds of the book mentioned above has gone on to create a successful real estate business concentrating on Paris and Nice. You might know her from the 21 episodes of House Hunters International she has filmed in France, unmistakable in her signature red beret, glasses, and coat.

By the way, the “Bib” in the guidebook title is a shortened version of the real name of that puffy, stack of white tires Michelin mascot, Bibendum.

Le Bastion menu pdf

The online version of the Michelin Bib Gourmand guide

Photo notes: The featured photo is sunset dining over the Atlantic in Saint-Jean-de-Luz and that’s our copy of the restaurant guide in the first paragraph.