In large towns, local grocer's shops stay open after midnight. The fixed price meal includes a starter, a main course, with a cheese course or dessert. Drinks included or not, you are not at all obliged to order wine, mineral water or coffee. The bread and carafes of water are a right and are free. Choosing from the menu lets you compose your meal, and is a more expensive option.
Bakeries also sell sandwiches and cakes to take away.
Not all the great French chefs have their restaurant in Paris. A large number are live and work in their regional home. If their prices are a match for their reputations, bear in mind that most of them offer 'discovery' meals at a reasonable fixed price. Great Paris chefs include Alain Ducasse , Guy Savoy , Pierre Gagnaire and Alain Senderens . The bibles of French gastronomy are the Michelin , Gault et Millau , Hubert and le Bottin Gourmand guides, or even the ' Bible ' by R. Escaig.