5 for food and ambiance. 3 stars for service which was inattentive (had empty drink glasses multiple times; had to go inside to get my check) and unconventional (at one point took my wine glass before it was empty). Outdoor seating fantastic. Make reservations. read more

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One of the worst experiences of my life, we booked the table thru our hotel for 7:00 pm two days prior, at 9:00 pm the waiter told us we had to move because they had a booking for our table at 9:00, in America we call it the bum rush, I am CEO and a member of YPO, I've been around, they seemed rude, maybe even prejudiced French! Bill was $357 Euros obviously not enough or they just hate Americans. Don't bother look at trip adviser over half the reviews are about a rude wait staff & they have at least one waiter that specializes in it! read more

We loved this restaurant. Our dining experience was perfect. We started with the burrata and tomato. The seasoning was perfect! We took the ravioli and the risotto with truffle for our mains. Absolutely delicious. And to finish we had the Crème brûlée. A nice and light way to finalize the meal. Our wines were notable and the brandy spectacular. Service was adequate -- and thus the 4 versus 5 eating. However the location made up for it as the people watching was fun and sitting by the Seine was a magical way to spend an evening read more

I came here for Christmas Eve. There was a préfixe menu and it was great. They were very welcoming. They brought over two free glasses of champagne that was really good. They gave just the right amount of food. It was four courses and it did not disappoint! The inside was small but very cute and very French. Love love love. read more

This is a lovely restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating options. We got the perfect table for two just on the inside of large open window with views of the street. All the food seemed to be made of great quality produce. We had the ceviche and the chateaubriande and were very satisfied. Food in Paris is generally awesome but this place stood out for us. read more

Wow! My new favorite spot! A must visit whenever in Paris!!! The food, atmosphere, and service A+

I'm sorry, maybe we got bad meals or a bad night, but nothing we ordered was very good. The soup was bland with the walnuts overpowering the parsnips. The foie gras was bland with the chutney being the best part. The lobster ravioli wasn't just "not good" but actually tasted like the lobster had spoiled. I spit it out. As for the lamb, it was tender, but unpalatable. We left without finishing our meals just to find a different restaurant. The ambience was very nice, but this was the worst meal I ever had, not just in Paris... read more

How could you not enjoy a lunch at Chez Julien? This is your quintessential Parisian restaurant, not terribly touristy, menus in French, and the feeling of dining in the 19th century. Choose the Salmon salad or parsnip soup to start, the beef in wine sauce plate and watch the people walking by while you sip your wine or cocktail. The pricing is a bit higher than average, but it's well worth it. read more

This was the best dinner we had during our entire trip to France. The wait staff was very nice and the atmosphere was excellent. The restaurant is situated in a very charming corner right on the seine with the occasional motorbike or passerby. The food, however, was the star of the experience. My whipped burrata and tomatoes was amazing and an excellent start to my meal. We ordered the truffle ravioli and the truffle risotto, which were both outstanding in their own ways. The risotto was my personal favourite, a bit heavier than the ravioli, but not too heavy. The ravioli, however, was also excellent. We finished our night with the créme brulèe which was probably the best créme brulèe I've ever tasted. Everything on the menu in the "plates" section either had truffles or had the option to add truffles, which for me, someone who loves black truffle, enjoyed very much. Will for sure come back next time I'm in Paris. read more

Don't we all envy the lucky duck who "stumbles upon a little gem"? Well get ready to turn green bitches! My sweetie and I were tuckered out and famished from a Louvre and Notre Dame morning and the hours of slogging commensurate with such a slate. Then, glowing on a peninsula of a block across from the Ile St Louis, beckoned Chez Julien. As other reviews attest, this lovely little bistro moderne (or I think the Parisians might be calling their version of our "Brooklyny" locavore hipster restaurants Bistro Lumine) does not look like the typical bistro; large, undressed plate glass windows allow copious light into the intimate but lofty ceilinged space (even on a gray January day). And those ceilings! Beaux Arts hand painted tiles of cherubim dancing in a rose-tinged robin's nest blue sky hover above a modern but homey space with one contemporary flower arrangement of white tulips. Upstairs, there is a funky lounge space with a white tiger upholstered banquette, vintage French Playboys, the Fame soundtrack on LP and the cleanest, most modern restaurant bathroom I've ever encountered in this famously unhygienic (vis a vis toilets) city. But let's talk food: Paige started with the day's special salad of cepes and fresh greens and loved it; my langoustine fried into a tempura eggroll with an avocado puree and a mirin sauce was tres magnifique! My girl loves her some sweetbreads and her riis de veau with a nutty crust and a savory pudding thrilled. My sea bass was cooked perfectly, with crispy skin and sitting on a bed of delightfully dressed mache was just what I needed. We finished with the brioche perdu with salted caramel, which was absurdly good. While I wouldn't describe the service as warm, it was not hostile and we had my best meal in Paris in twenty years-this is now one of my favorite places to eat anywhere and I hope we have the chance for a repeat visit. read more

We went with a group of seven. The food was great. I had foie gras as a starter--my first time! The veal chop was the best I've ever had. The service was a tad slow (they got an order wrong). It's a little fancy, but there were people in jeans as well as suits. read more

Had I not gotten the absolute worst food poisoning of my LIFE shortly after eating here, I would have absolutely loved our evening there. Sooooo... not sure exactly how to rate that. My husband, son and I are in Paris fairly often and had never eaten here... happened to be crossing over from Ile St. Louis and saw it. We don't usually spend that much money for dinner, but it was our last night of that particular trip, so we decided to give it a whirl. I had the Chateaubriand, one glass of red wine and the strawberry salad with rice pudding. Something went seriously wrong in that group. My husband and son were totally fine -- they both ate something else. The service was fine, though a little rushed. Our server was very pretty, though in clearing my plate she did drop a dirty knife on me... luckily I was wearing black, so no problem and we're all human, right? In the end, I guess that I was just really miffed that I got terrible food poisoning from the ONLY expensive restaurant we visited. Lesson learned - will continue to frequent the less-expensive yet delicious restaurants in Paris like Le Mal Barré in St. Martin Canal area! read more

Nice location and atmosphere. Unfortunately the food is vey disappointing. The chicken is dry and beef is well... don't order either of these. Sorry. Great service. Give it a 2 1/2. read more

Chez Julien is a classic Parisian restaurant in terms of ambience, food, and atmosphere. The only negative is that it is hardly a hidden gem, and is often frequented by american tourists. read more

A classic french restaurant with an excellent truffle risotto but the atmosphere is completely destroyed by the staff's choice of motown hits played at dance club volume levels. read more

FANTASTIC!! Don't pay attention to the negative reviews. We were looking for a special place for Valentine's Day dinner -- a friend recommended (and made a reservation for) Chez Julien. He is a trusted Parisian friend who has never steered us wrong and we decided to go with his recommendation despite the negative reviews. And we are SO GLAD we did! Chez Julien was AMAZING!! Everything, the service, the wine, the food, every detail was PERFECT!! I don't usually write reviews but I felt so strongly that the negative reviews needed to be rebuked so here goes: Our reservation was for 7:30pm -- we're American :) We arrived a little early and took a stroll around the neighborhood (very nice). We entered the restaurant at 7:30pm and were greeted with warmth and given the best seat in the house (right in front window). We had foie gras - we love foie gras and this did not disappoint!! A small frisee salad - it was nice for what we wanted. For entree we had the beef tenderloin and duckling - both were outstanding! Because it was Valentine's Day and apparently calories don't count on Valentine's Day, we ordered two desserts, a creme brulee and a melty/lava chocolate cake. Both were fantastic. The wine list offers many options - we chose a lovely Margaux Bordeaux. Chez Julien is now on our list of musts when in Paris. Be sure to make a reservation -- it's a small restaurant and the tables tend to linger -- why not when the food and wine and atmosphere is so wonderful! read more

I went here with my family expecting a pleasant meal - the restaurant received rave reviews from a colleague. We were greeted by a very rude Maître d' who tried to sit us practically on top of another couple and refused to give us a table set for four because there were three of us. We decided to give the restaurant a chance anyway, and ended up sitting outside. When I went in to use the bathroom twenty minutes later, the table we wanted inside was still unoccupied. The service was incredibly inattentive, even by Parisian standards. Nevertheless, the gin and tonic was quite tasty. As we were seated outside, the restaurant gave us blankets to counteract the cold. We were APPALLED when our waiter tried to take a blanket away and give it to the party next door. Our waiter later came over to take our dinner order. All seemed to be alright until the waiter TURNED HIS BACK on my mother - who was ordering her plat principe at the moment - to INTERRUPT a nearby party that was discussing the salmon tartare. After about a minute, he tried to resume taking her order as if nothing had happened. We tried to make it clear to him that his behavior was not acceptable, but he didn't seem to think that treating customers with such contempt was a big deal. We asked for the check and ate dinner elsewhere. read more

This is the most HORRID restaurant in all of Paris. We have had such an incredible experience here, but were disgusted by the service at this place. We had gotten there before another couple, were at an empty table, asked to be seated and they asked us to get up and ended up giving the only open table to the couple that got there 10 minutes after us. The place is absolutely disgusting, and the food is mediocre (at best). With that horrible service, no wonder they have such a hard time attracting loyal customers. And the manager was even worse!!! Very rude, and haughty! If I could give this place negative stars, I would. read more

the food was good, but we found the service to be extremely good. The waiter was very helpful and patient as we tried to navigate the menu with out little understanding of the language. Would definitely go back. read more

Amazing! Showed up around 10pm with no reservation and they seated us...it was awesome! The food was extremely good and the wine selection was expansive. Next time I'm in Paris, I will be stopping here for dinner. read more

Watched the world pass by our window as we downed one do the best meals we've had in a while. Nothing fancy, just solid french fare. The chateaubriand was amazing, the service warm and friendly, and the old school french girlie mags a bit of fun. read more

Routine tourist restaurant. Nothing special about it. The food is OK but it is hard to recommend this place. The burglar alarm kept going off. read more

During the beautiful weather and sitting outside with watching the romantic Paris street, this is a good choice!

This place was one of about seven restaurants we tried during a family trip to Paris and one that I would not recommend to a friend. -Atmosphere was ok. (3 stars). Kind of old and tired, but not wholly out of place for Paris. If we had had better food/service then we might have viewed the atmosphere more favorably. -Service was weak (2 stars). Waitress made little to no effort to greet us, help describe menu items or help us enjoy the experience really in any way. I guess the poor service might have been because we were a family of 6 or because we were Americans who spoke only English. We tried to be nice and definitely ordered a lot of food/wine, but still were treated as a nuisance. Definitely an off night for her. -Food was weak. (2 stars) Chateaubriand was fine. Fries that came with steak were soggy and room temp. (Seems hard to mess up french fries in France! ) Sole entree came out cold. I'm pretty sure the pasta dish had been microwaved as the sauce was completely bubbly on top as a result. Didn't stay for desert. read more

Highly recommend this restaurant. The food and service was excellent. The ravioli starter was among the best starters I have had in France. The atmosphere was beautiful, classic decor which added to the evening. read more

New owners and the Costes family. Food is wonderful. Service magnificent. A bit cramped but well worth it. Try the Chateaubriand!!! A wonderful experience. read more

Great, fast service. Most charming atmosphere- very classic french. worn red velvet cushions, lots of mirrors, lots of gilt details and a beautiful view of the river. my waiter was easy on the eyes too! my truffle foie gras came out extremely cold- delicious flavor but i wonder if they just pulled it out of the freezer. has the chateaubriand as my entree- quite good! overall, you are paying for atmosphere but i thought it was definitely worth that! read more

This was our choice for our last night dinner in Paris as the ambiance looked great from the outside however it failed to meet out expectations. The staff was great, The table layout is bit awkward so the wife never got out from behind the table during dinner as it was just too much work, even with the restaurant half full so people weren't seated around us. The food choices seemed lacking and for the price, the steak was ok. The service was great and they all spoke English to help assist with the french menu. I think the biggest surprise was how bad the wine options were, there was a very limited selection for under the forty euro price point, for a restaurant with mid thirty euro entrees we thought there would be a much better selection of wine. Last item was a minor issue, we typically order the tap water but got caught off guard with the "sparkling or still" water question so we got hit with the six euro charge for the evian still water bottle. They knew we were Americans and had just walked through the menu in English so the assumption was made they knew we wanted still tap water. Only time this happened while dining out all week so not a big deal seeing that we had just ordered the thirteen euro glass of champagne but just added to the evening. The upstair areas has a zebra lounge print and old playboy & Lui magazines which added to the dissapointed in the restaurant for a romantic night out. read more

I'm updating my review of Chez Julien and writing it in English to WARN American and English speaking travelers of their consistent attempts at lying to non French speaking patrons and telling them the tip is not included in order to scam people out of extra money. It's bad enough that the exchange rate is terrible and has been so for a long time but to take advantage of travelers who seek to frequent this visually stimulating but overpriced restaurant is enough for me to write this scathing review and never return nor suggest this restaurant to anyone. I travel for work and spend a lot of time in Paris and have a blog and often suggest places to eat to people I travel with. I have contact with thousands of potential patrons every year and I will NEVER suggest this location to anyone unless they want to be taken for stupid. French law obliges TVA/Service included in ALL restaurants (according to articles on the internet and my personal knowledge of France and how the government works there for the past 30 years) and I am appalled at how my friends were treated the second time they ate there. I rescind my previous review and suggest clearly that you do NOT have to pay an extra tip in France, anywhere, EVER! unless...you are wanting to and loved the service so very much that an extra tip is worthy of the experience. MERCI. read more

WARNING!! The prior staff has apparently left this restaurant and service is HORRIBLE!!! Went with a local who was a regular and raved about it - food, ambience and service. Well, Ambience and food are ok - but service? Chez Julien does not know the meaning. Asked for chateaubriand with salad instead of fries - nope. Asked for a side salad in that case - nope - never came. Asked for 2 glasses of wine - received one - never another. Friend asked for sauce on side of his dish - came on the dish and what? too bad - take it or leave it. For 30 euro a dish, you would think service would be somewhat better. Shocked. No apologies. There are thousands of bistros with great food and ambience in Paris - my advice - avoid this one. read more

I gave this two stars because the food and drinks are undeniably very good. However, the servce and the attitude of almost everyone working there was beyond awful. I was so disppointed because everyone I have met while on my vacation thus far has been lovely. They seated us almost 40 minutes late--which would have been fine--but then asked us to order while we were sitting in the lounge upstairs waiting for our table to be ready. Then gave us an enormous attitude when we asked to be seated before ordering They even had the nerve to angrily tell us the kitchen closed at 10:30 even though if we had been seated when we got there we would have had more than enough time. I can't figure out what we did to make these people so dislike us, but for the most part, they were terrible. Would never, ever go back. Ever. read more

Absolutely faultless the food was amazing, the chateaubriand was outstanding. My other half had the rack of lamb which was fantastic. The soup that I had to start with the blood sausage topping was great as well, Finished off with a creme brûlée it was a magnificent meal. The service was we received was wonderful definitely worth a visit. read more

Loved it. Everything from decor/ceiling to the steak and pork loin. Very cute and cozy place. Service want the nicest but the food def made up for that read more

I found this restaurant very pleasant as the staff could not have been more helpful. The menu is in French but the waitress was patient and explained all selections in English. The food bordered on very good as I had the roasted chicken and my wife had steak. The atmosphere is cozy yet elegant in keeping with the Frech bistro style. Outdoor seating looked very nice with heaters for the cool night. I would recommend if you are in the area. read more

Went to eat at this Restaraunt in Sept, we were scam by the waitress on extra tip. So refuse the 15% extra tip if you are confronted. Food in that place is so-so. Nothing to brag about. read more

A wonderful find. Ambience is tops. Food is great. Service good and no problem with English. A veal chop out of this world. Would be a pleasure to return read more

My husband and I went here Friday night on the recommendation of my sister. All I can say is it was one of the best meals I have ever had. I started with the fois gras - and it was creamy and delicious. I then had the lamb, which was cooked perfectly and equally as good. My husband had the chateaubriand with poivre sauce, which he loved. Be careful of the bread, it's so good that you can easily fill up on it before the meal arrives! The staff were all friendly and patient explaining the menu (especially our waitress, Miriam). We enjoyed it so much that we made a reservation for Sunday night before we left, wanted to be sure our last meal in Paris was a great one. When we walked in last night we felt like we were regulars, got a seat at the front window, Miriam remembered what we drank, and asked me if I was having the fois gras again (the answer was Yes!). After we finished dinner (chicken for me, chateaubriand again for my husband) she brought us each a drink with her compliments. Definitely will return next time we're in Paris. read more

One crazy, rude waitress can spoil an otherwise beautiful experience. We were warmly greeted by the host, and taken to a lovely table at a window with a beautiful view. the food was quite good--the cod and the duck. wonderful waiter, however, a crazy woman was his helper,and when I asked if she would please send him over for a change in our order when she got a chance, she snapped, "I don't have time." When our waiter finally got there, he kindly fixed our order perfectly, but she was rude all through the dinner. After paying the very hefty check, I commented to head waiter that she had been rude, and she came over and began to shout at me that I didn't say thank you when she handed me the check, and therefore she had the right to be as nasty as she wanted. Meanwhile,the head waiter watched all this and just laughed. Don't put yourself up for French abuse at this misguided restauran--it ruins an otherwise lovely dinner. read more