Brasserie Lipp is a Saint-Germain institution, occupying its Alsatian brasserie premises since 1880 and largely unchanged. Hemingway described drinking cold beer and eating pommes à l'huile here after starving on the Île Saint-Louis — the restaurant features in A Moveable Feast. Politicians, writers, and film directors have been coming ever since.
The food is solidly traditional Alsatian: choucroute garnie, cervelas remoulade, herring fillets, and the famous jarret de porc. The beer is excellent, the service brusque in the old Parisian style. The tiled walls and painted ceilings create a room that has survived fashion entirely.
Being seated upstairs has historically meant you're not a recognised regular — the ground floor banquettes are for insiders. As a tourist this is an amusing piece of social archaeology to observe while enjoying a genuinely good meal. Reservations are recommended.