Bouillon Chartier, a bouillon on rue du Faubourg-Montmartre since 1896

Bouillon Chartier, a bouillon on rue du Faubourg-Montmartre, opened in 1896 near the Grands Boulevards. The brothers Frédéric and Camille Chartier moved into a former cartridge workshop under the sign Le Bouillon, with a simple idea: a decent meal at a modest price.

The two-level room, lofty and lit by glass roofs, mirrors and Art Nouveau chandeliers, keeps a Brillié clock at the far end. In 1929 the Romanian painter Nicolae Vermont added two frescoes. Aragon sent a hero of Les Beaux Quartiers here, Fernandel took Félicie to dinner, and Jeunet filmed A Very Long Engagement.

In more than a century, only four owners have followed one another, each careful of the original decor. The room was listed as a historic monument in 1989. The numbered napkin drawers of the regulars still stand by the entrance, and the bill is still written on the paper tablecloth.

Open every day without reservations, the restaurant serves traditional French cooking: egg mayonnaise, beef bourguignon, blanquette de veau, salt pork with lentils, chocolate mousse. Waiters in black waistcoats and long white aprons keep the room moving, a step from the Grands Boulevards.