PRICE:
Frommer's Recommended

Parisians will find this 1930s-style French bistro and international newsstand familiarly comforting. But you needn't hail from across the pond to enjoy freshly baked pastries, coffee drinks, sidewalk seating, and French-speaking staff. Its location, directly across from the Chinatown gates, makes it one of the best places in the Union Square area to sit and enjoy the busy downtown vibe. The menu offers light fare for breakfast -- at somewhat inflated prices -- and meatier bistro-style entrees such as duck leg confit and braised beef stew for lunch and dinner. But the main reason to come here isn't to indulge your appetite, it's to browse the foreign magazine and newspaper racks for a bit, then rest your weary feet, nurse a cappuccino, nibble on a pastry, and soak up the street-side scene.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's San Francisco 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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