Bouillon Chartier is the great democratic restaurant of Paris: a working-class bouillon (canteen) that has been feeding the city since 1896, almost unchanged. The enormous Belle Époque room — brass luggage racks, wooden panelling, white-aproned waiters writing orders on the paper tablecloths — seats over 300 and is perpetually full.
The food is traditional and cheap: onion soup, snails, steak frites, tarte tatin. Nothing pretentious, nothing overpriced. This is the Paris of Zola rather than the Paris of the Michelin Guide, and it is entirely genuine. The waiters are efficient and occasionally brusque in the old Parisian style.
Queues form before opening. Arrive early or expect to wait up to 45 minutes. No reservations. No complaints. Worth every minute.