109 Best Restaurants in Provence, France

You’re in excellent hands at this wine bar and “bistronomic” (bistro with gastronomic cuisine) dining room helmed by two accomplished chefs and set in a restored 18th-century inn in St-Saturnin-lès-Apt, a hilltop village 9 km (5½ miles) north of Apt. Cozy up to the old-fashioned wooden zinc bar for a homemade pastry and coffee, lunch, a snack, or a glass of wine expertly chosen from the Provence region and beyond. In the refined dining room (or balcony terrace), expect a casual bistro menu at lunch, but at dinnertime the linens and candles come out for a gourmet meal accompanied by spectacular views. All the ingredients, including the meats, artisan cheeses, and market-fresh fruits and veggies support local, sustainable, and organic agriculture.

It's well worth the slog up the hill to the château simply to linger on the terrace of this long-established restaurant and savor the view over Mont Ventoux, Avignon, the Luberon, and the Rhône—and you can visit the restaurant's well-stocked wine cellar on your way to the top. The tarte à la tomate confite with goat cheese and iced white cheese is a specialty that reveals a love for the region's cuisine. The owners, the Estenevins, have lived in Châteauneuf-du-Pape for three generations; Philippe and Jean-Pierre took over the restaurant from their parents.

At this red-walled, library-like haven in a stylish book-and-boutique complex of a renovated arsenal, you can have a sophisticated regional lunch and read while you're waiting. If you've had your fill of fish, indulge in the grilled fillet of beef with fried artichokes and sweet onion. The terrace (on the Italian-scale Cours d'Estienne d'Orves) is as pleasant as the interior.

You don’t have to be a L'Eautel boutique hotel guest to dine in its restaurant, which the locals seem to have adopted for themselves. No surprise, since the market-fresh dishes served here rely on the best local veggies, seafood, and meats. Arrive a little early to try one of the seasonal cocktails in the soaring, light-filled dining room (open for lunch and dinner) or outside on the terrace.

This restaurant, bistro, pastry and chocolate shop, tea salon, bar, boutique, and olive-oil mill all wrapped into one is set in a 650-year-old stone building. The enclosed garden is a go-to place in town for lunch or dinner as well as for coffee and dessert or after-dinner drinks. Oh, and did we mention there’s a spa, too?

The place to sample the region's delicacies—wine, truffles, and olive oil—is in a stately 17th-century mansion high atop Ménerbes. Seated inside the elegant wine bar or out in the garden with eye-popping Luburon views, you can taste great wines while enjoying quiche or a soup de jour (made with local organic products), a cheese or charcuterie plate, or a planche truffe. There’s also ice cream, as well as desserts by the resident pastry chef. Come for an olive oil or wine tasting, then purchase your favorites at the on-site boutique (shipping is available). Other local specialties include chocolates and, in truffle season, tuber melanosporum, gathered by local farmers.

Marseille’s most famous restaurant might just be a food truck—and not just any food truck because this one was founded by Alexandre Mazzia, the city’s only Michelin three-star chef, with the goal of making his cooking accessible to everyone. Consider trying the Big Brother (€14.50) with crispy free-range chicken, smoked scamorza cheese, pickled escarole, fresh herbs, and a ginger-red bell pepper sauce on a crispy brioche. Another good choice is the Hot Mazz (€19), a grilled spiced-lamb sandwich with galangal, spinach sprouts, carrot mustard, and smoked beets. Save room for dessert, perhaps the BanaMazz (caramelized plantain with chocolate-peanut praline).

Finding a decent place for a sit-down meal amid the village's head-spinning number of tourist cafés is challenging, but you can't go wrong with this welcoming eatery at the historic port. Watch the boats pass by while dining on heaping platters of shellfish or the catch of the day.

Claude and Dana Douard collaborated with some of the greatest chefs of our time before getting away from the big city lights to open this bistro–wine bar hot spot in the center of St-Rémy. The wine selection is magnificent, and so is the simple food—try the grilled sea bass with chorizo, mashed potatoes, and seasonal vegetables or the grilled Mont Ventoux spiced pork.

Run by two brothers, this convivial restaurant is well worth the five-minute drive outside Aix for a warm welcome, a menu of the best of French comfort food, and expertly chosen regional wines. Here you'll find classics such as coquilles St-Jacques (scallops) and magret de canard (duck breast) alongside vegetarian dishes like homemade gnocchi with roasted salsify, celery puree, and roasted walnuts. As wine glasses clink and the laughter resounds you’ll know you’ve arrived at everyone’s happy place.

Nearby yet removed from the bustle of the Vieux Port and MuCEM's crowded cafés, this luminous, lunch-only dining room in the Musée Regards de Provence has panoramic new port and city views. Chef Thierry Lennon's cooking is worthy of the setting and features dishes like roasted cod with saffron risotto or tender duck breast with honeyed red cabbage. If you've forgotten to reserve, don't worry: there's a cafeteria-style buffet with fresh gourmet sandwiches, salads, and desserts that you can enjoy on one of two terraces. Open until 6, it's a nice place for an afternoon pick-me-up or an apéro before heading off somewhere else for dinner.

This restaurant is worth a trip just outside town for such delights as sea bream with cherry tomatoes and flaxseed, a trilogy of goat and ewe cheeses with black-olive jam, or roasted pike perch with risotto. The bistro-Provençal interior and the terrace are the perfect settings for long, leisurely meals, and there are spectacular village views. In addition to several prix-fixe menus (from €30 to €49) there are many à la carte offerings. 

The stylish, modern dark-wood interior and large windows overlooking the sea here are magnets for hip young professionals. The staff is efficient, and meals are well presented and tasty. Try the delicious bouillabaisse, the catch of the day (priced by the weight), or a bargain prix-fixe that includes three courses.

If you want a truly regional experience, take a seat on the shaded terrace of Restaurant Philip (circa 1926), enjoy the water views, and dig in to some cuisses de grenouille (frog's legs) or trout fished straight from the Sorgue River. Set apart from the other eateries, it's just before the trail to the spring. A three-course menu goes for only €37, and there's a decent regional wine list. Sandwiches, salads, and ice cream can be ordered next door at Bar Glacier.

In a leafy garden perched at the heights of Marseille, the stylish Sépia eatery and lively Julis terrace bar make the perfect stop on your descent from Sainte-Marie Majeure cathedral or after exploring the chic up-and-coming St-Victor neighborhood. Chef Paul Langlère sources local ingredients to create such masterful dishes as rich cuttlefish stew; poached cod with leeks braised in red wine; and, for dessert, the ethereal mille-feuille filled with pastis cream. At Julis, the local wines, craft beers, and gourmet plates are perfect on summer nights.

Since the 1970s, this quaint (there is no other word for it) English tearoom—dark wooden beams, teapots on shelves, a table laden with cakes and pies—has catered to locals and homesick expats, all of whom are intrigued by the pieman's tempting wares and properly brewed teas served in silver pots. Owned from the beginning by a Frenchwoman whose mother was English, Simple Simon is a real ode to British tradition, with Cornish salad, bacon and eggs, and hot dishes like shepherd's pie, cheese-and-onion crumble tart, or turkey hot pot at lunch. During the theater festival, it's also open for dinner.

This favorite spot in the center of town draws crowds, especially after the morning market, for its excellent French comfort food with a twist. It's a great place to relax—inside the cheerful dining room or outdoors in the garden or under the 16th-century building's beautiful stone vaulting—and feast on rotisserie chicken with crispy frites, fresh oysters on the half shell, jumbo shrimp with mango and avocado, or a charcuterie plate.

Chef Ludovic Turac—a candidate on TV's Top Chef 2011 and one of the youngest Michelin-starred chefs in France—has evolved into a serious, mature, and highly appreciated local celebrity while at the helm of this now tried-and-true favorite. A Mediterranean menu changes every two months depending on what's in season. One standby is the creamy, fishy Milkshake de Bouille-Abaisse, a one-of-a-kind gourmand delight.

If wine and truffles are your thing, get thee to this temple of gastronomic bliss in the form of tuber melanosporum or aestivum, depending on the season. Fresh dishes at this lunch-only restaurant exalt the fungi-perfumed bounty of Provence. Start with a velvety pumpkin velouté with truffle butter followed by ravioli stuffed with succulent wild cèpes or a truffle-flecked omelet. Even the cheese course (truffled chèvre chaud) and desserts (caramelized apple with black truffle) are shroomy. Prices are reasonable, with a two-course €27 menu, and two three-course all-truffle menus for €47 and €59. Wines are a big deal here, too: the lovely 17th-century stone building serves as a school for oenephiles, a wine library, a museum, and a boutique where local wines can be purchased. Tastings and courses on wine and truffles are held daily; check website for details.