Finishing up our lunch at Le Charolais I said I'd wait outside while my dining partner used the restroom. Emerging minutes later he couldn't wait to show me what the restroom looked like. All these years and this is the first time he's felt compelled to snap an image of a... well, what is it? Whatever it is (a hole in the ground is what I'd say) it affirmed a remark I'd thrown out over lunch: "This is a restaurant for men".
Squeezed into a small table I'd noticed, amongst all the sporting paraphanelia, that I was the sole female in the place. Later, a woman sat outside and came into Le Charolais to order a drink but sit inside? She did not.
Le Charolais' interior features lots of sporting equipment in an intimate space. This is an authentically French bistro right down to the fact that the server/barman spoke only French.
Sitting just outside the edge of Marche de' Aligres (farmer's market), the place seems popular amongst neighborhood workers and sports fans. At lunchtime it was basically full.
Over a 2-course daily special (a chewy meat, his meal, which he liked) and some French onion soup (my order, which I also enjoyed) I saw enough to render an opinion even before I saw the restroom photo. Things here were good, but I'd personally avoid ordering an entree featuring beef.
Le Charolais seems to have a solid fan base of locals and perhaps the most French men of anyplace I visited during my stay. That in itself can be appealing but, as a female, I'd recommend leaving before you need to use a restroom. read more