12 Best Restaurants in Alsace-Lorraine, France

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.