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Quick Burger

ABOVE: The food is McDo-nothing quality, but the Quick Burger Restaurant's outdoor tables on the Champs-Élysées are a paradise for bargain-hunting burger buffs.

By Durant Imboden

It's lunchtime, you're in a hurry, your supply of euros is dwindling, and you crave a fast-food fix. Yet the idea of greasing up at "McDo" or Burger King is repugnant, and not just because of the food. "I'm in France," you tell yourself. "I should be eating in a French restaurant." And so you can, by joining the Gallic crowds at Quick.

Quick is a French and Belgian fast-food chain that exploits Europe's dirty little non-secret: a taste for American-style franchise burgers and freedom fries.

With more than 300 outlets in France, Quick is very much a part of the local culinary landscape, so you needn't feel guilty about queuing up for a double cheeseburger with fries and cheesy rings.

If you'd like to venture beyond Quick's knockoffs of the Big Mac and Whopper, other menu options are available--among them, a cheesy trio (deep-fried cheese nuggets), a salade au saumon for fish fans, and tasty desserts such as beignets (cream- or icing-filled doughnuts),  fondant au chocolat (chocolate mini-cakes with gooey centers), and crumble ice (apple crumble with soft-serve ice cream).

Disclaimer: Menu items are subject to change, and some may have been replaced by other nouveautés by the time you read this article. Try not to be disappointed if you're unable to buy the "Donut Simpson" or the "Love Giant," a hefty burger on a heart-shaped bun.

Tips:

• Don't expect Michelin star-rated cuisine. Quick Restaurants are fast-food outlets, not cozy little bistros where Grandmaman or Chef Louis from The Little Mermaid presides over the kitchen. (For budget dining that's a notch up from fast food, try Flunch.)

• In Paris, there are only a few Quick locations, but one is hard to beat: It's on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées between Rue Balzac and Rue Washington (see photo at top of page), where you can carry your plastic tray to a  table on the boulevard for café atmosphere at fast-food prices.

• If you want a higher-quality hamburger or heeseburger in the city center, try Burger & Fries, which had two locations the last time we checked. (The Burger & Fries near the Odéon Métro stop is especially pleasant, with great food and a friendly staff.)

For more information in French, see:

Quick
The "quality burger restaurant" group has nearly 500 stores in seven countries and territories. It's the largest hamburger chain in Belgium and Luxembourg and the second-largest in France.

About the author:

Durant Imboden is a professional travel writer, book author, and editor who focuses on European cities and transportation.

After 4-1/2 years of covering European travel topics for About.com, Durant and Cheryl Imboden co-founded Europe for Visitors (including Paris for Visitors) in 2001. The site has earned "Best of the Web" honors from Forbes and The Washington Post.

For more information, see About our site, press clippings, and reader testimonials.

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