Le Chat Zen

I need to give this place my highest possible review. The truth is that I have not eaten there or even had a drink there. However, I did have an amazing experience there.

My wife and I were just in Paris with our 8-year-old son. I ran the Paris Marathon last weekend to celebrate my 50th birthday. On Monday, we went out to Disneyland Paris. While there, we started getting texts from family about a fire that had broken out at Notre Dame. The reason for the urgent texts was that they all knew that we were staying in an AirBnB that was literally right next to the cathedral. When we got back to the city after 11 pm, we found all bridges onto Ile de la Cite were barricaded by police. We had nowhere to go. We walked up the street to try to find a hotel where we could stay, but had no luck. We stopped into Le Chat Zen to see if they had any suggestions for us, as both of our phones were nearly dead after the day at Disney. The waitress and bartender, neither of whose names I even know, were the most gracious, friendly, helpful people you can imagine. They looked up stuff for us, let us charge our phones, and did everything they could to help us. The patrons there were really nice as well, even offering to let us stay at their homes.

The city seemed to be fully booked, and it was well after 2:00am before we finally found a hotel with a room (one bed, but it was a room). The bartender flagged down a cab for us and off we went.

We had a difficult few days, as we couldn't get to our apartment to get any of our stuff. Still, the folks at Le Chat Zen were wonderful and we are so grateful for their kindness and humanity.

Horrible! Rude staff! I have never given a review on a restaurant before but I felt I was treated so poorly at this restaurant that I needed to leave a review. I believe I was discriminated against because I didn't speak French. They didn't want to seat me in an almost empty cafe at 11:00am. As soon as they learned I wouldn't speak English the looks on their faces was one of disgust. The waitress just slung the items at me and I was pleasant. Honestly I'm a nice gal. Plus I was charged an extra 10% (€2.70) for 2 tablespoons of milk. They didn't want to let me use the bathroom and then when I asked for my bill they hovered over me like I was going to run. I treated them with kindness and respect and never raised my voice. I would have expected the same respect.

Great little place we stumbled upon across from the Pompidou. We just had some charcuterie boards and wine and came away feeling satisfied, unlike the restaurant at the top of the Pompidou which was just expensive and nothing special.

Amazing early lunch. We had the special and steak tartare. Lingered over wine and then cappuccinos. Next stop is the Pompidou. Highly recommended either before or after your museum visit.

Stopped by on a whim on a Saturday afternoon after visiting Pompidou. Ordered the onion soup and a coffee, and both were great. Excellent service and location!