Foyer de la Madeleine — Restaurant in Paris

Sainte-Marie-Madeleine church was inaugurated. During its inauguration, King Louis Philippe I ceded the church to the City of Paris.

At the beginning of the Second Empire, Empress Eugénie, marked by her husband's ideas (the extinction of pauperism in 1844), launched, with the valuable assistance of the parish, into an action to help the indigent: workshops, distribution of clothing and snacks, as well as the distribution of meals at home.

Taking advantage of a period of great prosperity, the Faubourg Saint Honoré and Rue Royale district saw the installation of important haute couture stores and workshops which employed many female and young staff.

This is how the parish welcomes, modestly but warmly, these young women at meal times, in the rooms on the ground floor of the church (in the “corridors”).

It was a vicar of the parish, Father Edouard TURGIS, who, before the First World War, created the work of the midinettes (the midday dinette) to welcome interested parties and allow them to warm up their bowls on the stoves coal. At the same time, several parishes joined “l’oeuvre du midi”, as the phenomenon of an influx of people coming to work in the city became significant.

Until 1968, the parish always made its rooms available to charities to welcome isolated people and serve them a snack. During the events of May 1968, the gates of the Madeleine opened to people wishing to have lunch in calm conditions.

A kitchen exists because it is used by volunteers who will bring home meals to people who are destitute, isolated, or who cannot travel. It was at this time that Canon Jean POPOT, assisted by lay people, created the Foyer de la Madeleine association in April 1969, which depends directly on the parish.

Many volunteers come to serve people of all origins who eat lunch for a low price in several large rooms, quiet and close to their workplace. Very quickly, given the number of guests, a chef was hired and then staff to help him in...

one of paris’ best kept secrets is this restaurant at the basement of a catholic church: foyer de la madeleine is a community restaurant, staffed entirely by volunteers from the kitchen to the floor.

opens mon-fri for lunch only, from 1145am to 145pm. only walk-ins allowed. the space is extensive.. tables placed along what seems like a long underground network of tunnels? so brilliant! bonus: finding out that one of my favourite french artists JR (@jr on instagram) designed the interiors!

to dine here, you have to purchase a membership (4euro for day membership, 10euro for annual membership) - all proceed go to charity. meals are 13.50euro per pax and come in 3 courses. menu changes daily. wines are 3.50euro per caraffe.

food’s simple, homely, and superbly executed especially the strawberry tart we had. the servers were SUPER friendly, had so much heart and quickly felt like family. i left with my belly full, spirit nourished and heart expanded.

i highly recommend checking this place out when in paris. not a fan of the city (here for work) but wonderful places like Foyer de la Madeleine remind me that there is so much more to this city than horrible traffic, pickpockets and...

En las criptas de la iglesia de la Madeleine funciona un restaurante llamado Foyer de la Madeleine. Por un precio sumamente económico te sirven un almuerzo compuesto por entrada, plato principal y postre (de los tres te dan a elegir entre varias opciones, las porciones son razonables y los platos muy muy ricos), la bebida es una jarra de agua (acá en todos los restaurantes la jarra de agua es gratuita) y te traen una buena panera también. El costo es de 9 euros, puede ser caro para Buenos Aires, pero para París es realmente barato. La primera vez que vas te cobran una membresía anual de 7 euros, así que pagás un poco más caro, pero si volvés a ir en el transcurso del año solo pagás los 9 euros. Ya comer en un lugar así es pintoresco, aunque la palabra cripta les provoque escalofríos, ya van a ver las fotos y me van a dar la razón. Más pintoresco es que compartas el salón con gente que ha pagado por su comida (la misma que comés vos) 1 euro y esa es la razón por la que existe este lugar. Ofrecen comidas por casi nada a gente que lo necesita. Para eso la membresía y para eso el lugar está abierto al público en general. Un español que trabaja ahí nos explicó cómo funcionaba el comedor y es algo así: de los 9 euros que pagás, más o menos la mitad se va en los gastos de mantenimiento del lugar, 2 o 3 euros en la materia prima para la comida y lo que sobra va al fondo para ofrecer el mismo menú a los que lo necesitan. Todas las personas que allí trabajan son voluntarias y sumamente atentas y simpáticas. Y para rematar, te tomás un café en otro salón por tan solo 1 euro (en otros lugares el café te cuesta entre 2,50 y 3 euros). Resumiendo, comés rico y barato, en un lugar pintoresco y ayudás a que alguien que no puede costeársela reciba una buena comida. Una grata experiencia, así que si pasan por acá, no dejen de ir...