Le Grand Colbert, a brasserie on rue Vivienne since 1900

Le Grand Colbert, a brasserie on rue Vivienne, became a restaurant in 1900, between the Bourse and the Palais-Royal. It replaced a draper’s shop opened under Louis-Philippe as Au Grand Colbert, and kept the name.

The site has a long past. Louis Le Vau built a mansion here in 1637 for Guillaume Bautru; Jean-Baptiste Colbert, minister to Louis XIV, bought it, followed by Philippe d’Orléans in 1719. Demolished after 1825, it gave way to the Galerie Colbert, opened in 1828 to rival the Galerie Vivienne.

For years one of the cheapest bouillons in Paris, the restaurant was restored in 1985 with the arcade, at the initiative of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, which owns the building. Its six-metre walls, carved pilasters, Pompeian paintings and mosaics survive, and the façade is listed. Joël Fleury has run it since 1992.

Open daily from noon to midnight, it serves brasserie classics, choucroute and seafood, and an afternoon tea. Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton dine here in Something’s Gotta Give. It can also be reached through the Galerie Vivienne.