Over the years, the questions I’ve been asked the most are where to get a first suit, how to get into fly fishing, what’s the best Oxford shirt and, more recently, about Paris. What to do there, but really where to eat.

Paris is a beloved city—my family’s gone there every year since I was in high school. If you really want to know what’s what then read my dad’s book, Paris in Winter. (DM him and he’ll sign a copy for you.) My parents are true experts and that book gives a real sense of smaller museums, bookstores, cafés and the texture of being in the city for weeks at a time.

But where to eat? I think visitors are looking for something they can’t quite find, something more, dare I say, authentique (sorry!). Paris exists, like all great cities, in the imagination and in real time. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to feel the old romance of the place. I mean, it’s Paris. But I struggle to advise people because they want different things. Some want romance and reassurance—the hits they way they remember them. Others want to discover the latest and greatest, they want to seek out something new. Then others want the secret bistro that only beautiful French people know about where the room is terrific, the food is great and not expensive. Oh right, that one, easy, no problem!

Paris is also hard because some people speak French passably, some speak it well, and some speak it…not at all. Some dress up, others do not. If you wander into Brasserie Lipp in a Yankees hat and address the maitre d’ in English then you will be deposited in the back next to the other people from New Rochelle.

So let’s get the caveats out of the way: These experiences are not uniform, as much as we would like them to be. Often restaurants have a few rooms and you might find yourself in one full of your countrymen. How to avoid this? I recently wrote about dining out abroad and hopefully that will help you have a better time.

Also: French restaurants can be seriously expensive. I mean serious. $100-for-an-appetizer serious. I beseech you, beseech you, to look at a menu before you go. Make sure you’re aligned with what they serve. Consider lunch, which is usually more reasonable. It’s no fun to be at a great restaurant while dreading the bill. If you’re feeling good and celebrating something big, then there's nothing like a serious meal in the place that invented them.

This reflects my preference for the 5th, 6th and 7th arrondissements and for reassuring places that feel like they’re in Paris.

Anyway: here’s the list. Now you have it and I can retire from Paris advice.

THE ELITE. Exquisite restaurants, with two or three Michelin stars. Major commitments.

Le Gabriel. This absolutely gorgeous restaurant in La Réserve hotel may be the best balance of a modern approach in a traditional room.

Arpège. Alain Passard, one of the great chefs, is devoted to vegetables at the highest level. But you can still get an entire duck. This room is airy and the least formal setting of these restaurants. Near the Rodin Museum and lunch after a visit there is a special day.

Le Taillevent. A classic expression of high French cooking. After Jean-Claude Vrinat, the legendary owner passed away, they suffered a slight setback, but still terrific.

Guy Savoy. An extraordinary setting in the Monnaie de Paris for a masterful chef. If you want tasteful theatricality then Guy’s your man.

THE OLD GUARD. Beloved, enduring classics.

L’Ami Louis. Classic rotisserie and priced to match. Again, lunch is more relaxed. May not be what it once was, but what is?

Le Duc. Serious seafood, also priced accordingly, in a lovely wood-paneled room. Visit the Cartier Foundation and then walk here for lunch.

Le Dome. Storied seafood on Boulevard Montparnasse. Dover sole and a bottle of Pouilly-Fuissé and life is good.

Brasserie Lipp. The food ranges from very good to…reasonably tolerable. I love this place which famously instructs No salad as a meal. Sit in the front room.

Le Voltaire. Where our family ate our first dinner each trip until Pascal’s family sold the place a few years back. After some improvements it’s not quite the same, but worth a look.

THE NEXT WAVE. Restaurants with a point of view

Clover Grill. A very elegant, modern steakhouse. Michelin-star. Not kidding around.

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon. Don’t love the room—modern and sharp-edged, with a lot of red—and don’t love the format—small and medium sized dishes. But the food, oh the food, carefully composed highly-considered dishes, is incredible. Bill can be ferocious.

Aux Prés. Lively, attractive, small room with a bar. Definitely more relevant if relevant means loud music.

Le Comptoir. A victim of its own success—the lines out the door are insane. It seems to have calmed down a little and the food—with a focus on meat—is terrific. If you stay in the hotel next door you’re guaranteed a table.

THE REASSURING. Often small, usually crowded standbys. No secrets here.

Le Petit Saint-Benoit. Miniature place down the street from Café de Flore. Still delights.

La Fontaine de Mars. Another handsome, incredibly popular bistro.

Le Bistrot de Paris. The French are very good at the neighborhood bistro.

Le Fumoir. Roomy place on the Right Bank that knows what it is.

Thoumieux. Classy bistro in the elegant 7th arrondissement.

Cinq-Mars. Charming dimly-lit bistro. Less intense than other places, if you’re in the mood for something good but low key.

THE SPECIALISTS. When you know what you’re getting into.

Huiterie Régis. You come to this spare white restaurant for oysters.

La Crèmerie. This picturesque wine bar serves small dishes and a lot of good, unusual wine. A small counter and a handful of tables. Arrive early.

Le Cherche Midi. Italian in Paris? Sometimes that’s where you’re at. Well-loved.

Comptoir Poilâne. This modern cafe is run by the legendary bread makers. A very nice breakfast, if you’re heading to the food market on Boulevard Raspail.

The Highlander. Scottish pub. Ideal place to watch the Vikings lose a playoff game.

THE DUBIOUS. You might want to think twice.

Relais Entrecôte. Wait for an hour to eat steak next to tourists? No thank you.

Hemingway Bar. Less a bar than an overpriced luxury museum with a uniquely lousy crowd.

La Coupole. I just don’t trust it.

Allard. I used to love Allard’s famous duck with olives, and series of intimate rooms. The restaurant was given a gentle update by Alain Ducasse, who’s restored a few other classics, like Benoit. But after an aggressively subpar experience I’m taking an Allard break. That’s not a hard rule. My parents returned and had a nice time, I know other people who still like Allard.

And that’s the challenge. These places depend on many variables. And it’s part of a larger experience in one of the world’s great cities. Eating in France is part of an education everybody deserves to have. Read A.J. Liebling to get into the mood.

So keep the faith. And it enjoy it. After all, what could be better? You’re in Paris.