If you want it intimate, flit over to Firefly. There are a handful of booths, a smattering of tables, a few seats at the bar, and that's it. Ask to be seated in one of the booths; the high wooden backs combined with the low lighting will make you feel like you and your date are in your own private enclosure.

Don't get too carried away, though...remember that you have to communicate enough with the waitstaff to ask for some of the scrumptious food. Standouts among the appetizers are the pommes frites with three sauces, the charcuterie plate and the escargot en croute. For the entree, try the steak frites or the chicken fricassee. You can probably tell just by reading our list of favorites that Firefly is about as friendly to vegetarians as any authentic Parisian bistro, which is to say, it's not. One part that's not so authentically French: the way the menu consistently misspells "frites" as "frittes." Drives us completement fou!

However, if you're neither a veggie nor a stickler for foreign-language spelling, Firefly does very nicely for a lovely romantic dinner. Service is outstanding overall (another clue that you're not in France), and some choice options appear on the wine list.

Average cost: $10-$20

Centerstage Reviewer: Abigail Derecho