Il était un square - Burger paris — Restaurant in Paris

Found Il Était Un Square after doing some research into where to eat in Paris. Yeah, I also questioned why I would go to a burger place of all places when there are so many different food options. Well, after coming here, I am quite glad I did!

I was pretty impressed at the burger and tartare options when looking into what I wanted. Hell, a place that has seven different tartares can't be sneezed at. Opted for The Italian for tartare, and The Napoleon 1er and The Roman for the burgers. The Aubrac beef they use it is something else. That tartare was some of the tastiest and juiciest I've had. And they do not skimp on it at all, they give you a huge stack of thick beef. Oh it was so worth it. And it carried over on the burgers as well. Aubrac beef went so well with the burgers. Well seasoned and perfectly cooked! Perhaps we were being a little too aggressive going for double patties rather than single patties, but hey I was on vacation. I had to stop eating the fries (which comes with every entrée) simply because I had no stomach left.

Staff here are extremely friendly. They all speak perfect English, which obviously helped us out. As soon as we walked in here, they were welcoming as if we were locals that came here all the time. Made us feel very relaxed. Just great people that are happy to run their local neighborhood restaurant.

AlthoughIl Était Un Square is pretty far from the usual tourist attractions, I regret nothing about taking the time to come here. The food is great, but the people here are even better. I would very much love to...

We visited on the way to the Catacombes (only a couple stops further on the Metro).

We arrived around 12:30pm on a Wednesday, and there were still ~2 tables available. Note it is a small restaurant... maybe 15 tables total. If dinner is busier than lunch, then I would recommend calling for a reservation.

We went in expecting amazing, and we left with that same thought! Sooo delicious.

The manager explained the menu and restaurant concept to us. They get only the best meat from central France. He jokingly reminded us the steak tartare is raw meat. I suppose some people assume it is not. Note, they have French and English menus.

We ordered two Cheddar burgers. Similar in America, they ask how you want your burger cooked. Options were rare, medium, well-done. I prefer no pink in my burgers, and the well-done was perfect. It wasn’t dry at all.

The “cream of cheddar” was delicious, and it is definitely what sets their burgers apart.

To finish our meal, we shared the chocolate mousse, and it was amazing. Exactly what you would hope for in homemade chocolate mousse while in France.

Overall, excellent lunch and dessert. We highly recommend this restaurant and would visit again if visiting this arrondissement (it is a little off the beaten path in my opinion). I believe our total was around 48€, so fairly affordable for a nice lunch for two in Paris.

*I included photos of the English menu...

Burgers with an incredible difference!! Its incredible to think that this Restaurant is ranked #2 (by travellers like us) of the 16,500 restaurants in Paris!! And one can get a menu (in English), which describe the relatively inexpensive burgers, including simply amazing vegetarian "felafel (a "Mediterranean"/middle eastern favourite) burgers... The meat [probably from French Charolais beef] is superb... and Customers are even asked by the very helpful staff how they would like the burger cooked! The sauces available are also outstanding... and the cheeses [should one desire this added extra] reflect the incredible quality and taste of highly reputed "french cheeses"! Not to be ignored are the excellent "french fries" and the high quality freshly baked buns. Imagine... this restaurant is much more highly ranked than the myriad of restaurants serving very expensive "French Food"! It is very advisable to make a reservation in advance, This restaurant will not only be "most memorable"-- but will result in comparing these burgers with other places proving burgers.

I hope that this...