21 Best Restaurants in Alsace-Lorraine, France

Artists, tourists, lovers, and heads of state sit elbow-to-elbow in this classic winstub founded in 1873. All come to savor steaming platters of local specialties. Opt for a table in the ground floor dining room where warm Alsatian fabrics dress tables, the china is regional, and the photos are historic—all making for chic, not kitsch.

At one of the temples of Alsatian-French haute cuisine, you get a real taste of old Alsace with a nouvelle spin. Founded in the early 1800s, its grand salon is still aglow with skylights, and a spectacular 19th-century painting showing the Strasbourgeoisie at a country fair continues to set the tasteful tone. Chef Romain Brillat heads the team and presents some of the most dazzling dishes around. Drawing inspiration from classic produce such as foie gras, truffles, lobster and seasonal game, Chef Brillat creates sublime dishes that are delightful on the palate and the eye. Not surprisingly, the wine list is extensive.

Don’t be beguiled by the historical Imperial façade; this joyous, cavernous independent café is a colorful riot of contemporary creativity and conviviality. In a bric-a-brac décor of airplane seats, 1970s lampshades, and Christmas light-draped bicycles, a stupefying range of coffees and teas is supplemented by locally sourced food, including tempting cakes and cookies. Ask at the counter for free tokens to play the retro arcade machine.

Marlene Dietrich and Spanish opera star Montserrat Caballé are just two of the famous guests who have feasted at this culinary temple, where the current chef, Marc Haeberlin, marries traditional Alsatian cuisine with contemporary nuances. The kitchen's touch is incredibly light, so you'll have room left for the masterful desserts.

This lovely farmhouse, reconstructed in the Orangerie park, warrants a pilgrimage if you're willing to pay for some of the finest cooking in Alsace. Chef Eric Westermann focuses on the freshest of local-terroir specialties, supplemented by the best seafood from the French coast. Look for dishes like free-range Alsace chicken with Vosges truffles braised in a traditional Baeckeoffe ceramic dish, or the chef’s signature sautéed frog legs served with schniederspaetle (onion- and potato-filled ravioli). The seasonal desserts are also noteworthy. Two small salons are cozy, but most tables are set in a modern annex made largely of glass and steel.

This popular landmark (the name means "customhouse") serves huge portions of regional standards, plus changing specialties like coq au vin with spaetzle or choucroute "Colmarienne" with five different meats. Appreciative tourists and canny locals contribute to the lively atmosphere. If you can cut a swath through this enthusiastic horde, you can sit in the big, open dining room, glowing with wood and warm fabric, or at a shaded table on the broad, lovely square.

This modern restaurant on a touristy street offers up creative dishes with regional flourishes that are a hit with both locals and visitors. The small dining room is a discreet space decked out in black and white, with the owner's artwork adding dashes of color. Menu choices include seared skin-on fillet of Heimbach-sourced trout, and steak with Munster sauce. There are standout desserts. The basement dining room doubles as a venue for weekly concerts.

With its stone walls, wooden tables, and friendly waiters, "The Corkscrew" is the best place in town to sample Alsatian choucroute garnie and flammekueche. The menu also promises some seasonally changing innovations, plus a fine selection of Pinot Blanc and Riesling wines. This winstub is recommended for that guaranteed touch of authenticity.

The genial atmosphere and imaginative menu make this Strasbourg’s go-to place to sample flammekueche. From the classic lardon-and-onion staple to the offbeat blue cheese, pear, and rocket variety, the pizza-like “flamms” are hearty, heavy, and best enjoyed with one of the local draught beers.

This eatery in La Petite Venise, with a superb trompe l'oeil façade, is a spinoff of Jean-Yves Schillinger's two-star Michelin restaurant in Colmar. The contemporary dining room has leather sofas and stylish furnishings that provide the perfect setting for the chef's traditional-meets-contemporary menu. In summer the waterside terrace is a bonus. 

Above all, you'll want to eat in this 1911 restaurant, part of the dependable Flo group, for its sensational Art Nouveau stained glass, mosaics, Daum lamps, monumental freso (uncovered beneath a mirror in 2023), and sinuous Majorelle furniture. That said, the food is also stylish, and the waiters exude Parisian chic.

This slick gastronomic restaurant in the historic center strikes a chord with in-the-know locals. Stylish, sober-colored walls provide a fitting backdrop for the artful dishes prepared by chef-owner Loïc Lefebvre, who whips up dazzling creations while his partner, Caroline Cordier, ensures the service is top-notch.

Within a former 16th-century villa on a quiet cobbled street, chef Nicolas Rapenne is proof that exceptional French creativity and aesthetics don’t have to come with a high price tag. A cozy, carpeted interior provides a contemporary backdrop to savor immaculately presented, locally sourced dishes like ducklet cooked in juice of crème de cassis or shepherd’s pie with wild boar in a rich beer sauce. While the small menu changes regularly, the service and attention-to-detail are ever-present.

Named for the 13th-century stone tower that flanks it, La Vieille Tour gives classic dishes a contemporary spin. Chefs Nicolas and Samy Ruhlmann seek inspiration from locally sourced seasonal produce, and their love for it shows in the savory dishes and tantalizing desserts. The interior blends contemporary comfort with the historical charm of centuries-old wooden beams and stone walls. The fixed-price menus are excellent value.

Barely a stone's throw from Place Stanislas, this stylish landmark puts its best foot forward under chef Hervé Fourrière. The menu includes old favorites revisited and noteworthy desserts. The choice of Toul wines is extensive.

Across from the Palais Ducal, you can sink your teeth into authentic regional dishes such as quiche Lorraine, fried grated-potato râpés, or Andouillette sausage with pungent Gros Lorrain cheese. Tables inside are tight, creating a bustling atmosphere, and the quality of the service seems to vary with the weather, but the hearty food is irreproachable.

Using only fresh, local ingredients, chef Nicolino Cristofano crafts classic Alsatian dishes with stylish presentation here. Since opening in 2023, the family-run business has established itself as a firm favorite, judiciously balancing a respect for tradition with contemporary breeziness. Look out for the excellent seasonal offerings.

This 16th-century, half-timber landmark (one of oldest riverside buildings in Petite France) is draped with geranium-filled flower pots and perennially popular. Come for generous and delicious portions of choucroute garnie, as well as other regional favorites.

What must be the most familiar house in Strasbourg—a richly carved, 15th-century, half-timber building adorned with sumptuous allegorical frescoes—is the setting for this restaurant. Fight through the crowds on the terrace and ground floor to one of the atmospheric rooms above, with their gleaming wooden furniture, stained-glass windows, and unrivaled cathedral views.

On the first floor of the Centre Pompidou-Metz, classic French flavors are given a creative Japanese twist by award-winning chef Charles Coulombeau. Local trout is served in savoury egg chawanmushi; lamb is breaded and deep-fried tonkatsu style; and remoulade sauce is made using daikon radishes. Varying the menu with the seasons, the chef uses touches of miso, soy, wasabi, or yuzu to constantly surprise the palette. This spot is open for lunch only—in the evenings, the same team takes the French-Japanese concept up a notch at the gastronomic Yozora.

This is a true-blue winstub, with wood-paneled walls, glowing lighting, and wines available by the glass. The cooking is pure Alsace, with German-scale portions of choucroute, ham hocks, and fruit tarts.