49 Best Restaurants in Provence, France

Architect, artist, creator, whatever you call him, one thing's for sure—you won't soon forget the master chef who was awarded a Michelin star within nine months of opening his namesake restaurant and now holds three stars—Michelin's top honor. Dishes such as charred satay tuna in tapioca speckled with bright green fish eggs and served with wasabi ice cream showcase his experience working in French, African, and Asian kitchens. While at one of the 24 seats in the minimalist setting, a small card on the table provides you with a choice of four set menus. Following your selection, Mazzia will serve a series of inspired dishes. Dining here will set you back some, but you will not find its likeness anywhere in France. 

Nadia Sammut, the third generation of female chefs in her family and the second to hold a Michelin star, crafts a cuisine of such sensuality, refinement, and soul that her dedicated fan base stretches well beyond France. Sammut's passion for fresh, local, and "living" foods is backed by the notion that each ingredient expresses itself differently, and she creates extraordinary flavor pairings in the dishes on her prix-fixe tasting menus. Options such as radishes prepared four ways on a melt-in-your mouth buckwheat cake or lightly crusted Camargue oysters perfumed with shiso and yuzu in an iodized gelée are revelations. The Auberge also has five charming, Provençal-style guest rooms in case you want to stay overnight and enjoy a stellar gluten-free breakfast.

This quintessential locals' hangout is packed for lunch pretty much year-round thanks to dishes that are deeply French and deeply satisfying. The traditional bistro decor—long bar, leatherette banquettes, large mirrors, and brass railings—has something to do with the appeal of this marvelous restaurant that's casual in every sense except when it comes to food and wine.

Set in an 18th-century Provençal mas once owned by the grand-mère of one of the owners, this countrified restaurant is a short drive outside the city but well worth the effort. Sit inside at wooden tables or out under towering plane trees to enjoy delicious dishes made with locally sourced ingredients that mix classic recipes (yes, from Tata Simone) with modern touches. Everything, including the bread, warm from the oven, evokes the hearty home-cooked dishes of old Provence.

At one of Aix's best "bistronomic" (gastronomic bistro) eateries, a stone's throw from the Cours Mirabeau, diners swoon for beautifully presented upscale French classics—crusted lobster with feta and coriander, squash samosas and homemade goose pâté, or roasted veal giblets with Gouda-cauliflower and black truffle. The à la carte menu is short, but that's only because you're being served what's market fresh that day. Do go for one of the tasting menus, as they're by far the best deal.

For a fresh, seasonal lunch, try this chic little outpost that is part restaurant and part gourmet grocer. Imaginative Mediterranean-inflected salads and light dishes are healthy and delicious, and they pair well with a gourmet soda, Marseille microbrew, or a local rosé. After your meal, you can stock up on such southern delicacies as unrefined olive oils from Tête Dans Les Olives, tinned bonito fish, and handcrafted local herbs.

With chef Thomas Boirel presiding over the elegant dining room, you're assured of a stellar meal and superb wines (the sommelier is expert at pairing the local nectars, as the winemakers all flock here) in a convivial atmosphere. The restaurant is set on a leafy square in the center of the village, and its spacious terrace is a mythical spot for spending a long afternoon or evening under the plane trees or Provence stars. If you feel like making a night of it, L'Oustalet offers three stylish guest rooms.

Year after year, diners return to this temple to haute cuisine for updated versions of dishes they might have first tried three decades ago. This was the first establishment outside of the Riviera to earn three Michelin stars, and, under legendary chef Raymond Thuillier, it rose from being the dining room of a small country inn to a restaurant whose guest list has included leading artists, movie stars, and heads of state (Picasso, Queen Elizabeth, Churchill, and Harry Truman all dined here). Helmed by Thuillier's grandson, Jean-André Charial, and his gifted protégé, Glenn Viel, the restaurant maintains three Michelin stars. The refined classic dishes are not completely free from the ingredients and preparations of the past, but they do now highlight organic vegetables fresh from the extensive kitchen gardens.

Sophisticated yet comfortable, this organic restaurant, 12 km (7½ miles) south of Arles at the edge of the Camargue, has a fetching dining room that extends to an outdoor area with large, family-style picnic tables under a canopy and overlooking extensive gardens. The mix of modern and French-country dishes on master chef Armand Arnal's prix-fixe menus are made using ingredients grown right on the property.

This cozy restaurant with cheerful planters and original art is run by a young husband-and-wife team and specializes in pasta dishes and regional French comfort food (from Savoie, Nice, and Provence). Dishes such as basil-and-cheese ravioli, stuffed peppers farci, and crème anchoïade (anchovy cream) are seasonal, beautifully prepared, and deeply satisfying. In warmer temps, the outdoor terrace is a favorite spot for the locals. Pair dinner with a stunning glass of the local red, and then marvel at the modest check. 

A decor that mixes distressed walls with minimalist industrial-style lighting and sleek designer chairs is your first clue that this neobistro and wine bar in Marseille's emerging Noailles neighborhood is impossibly hip. British chef Harry Cummins, lately of Paris's gastronomic mecca Frenchie, uses local, seasonal ingredients to craft subtle, imaginative dishes that are highly satisfying to all yet also sensitive to the needs of vegetarians and those with food allergies. The three-course lunch menu (€35) and the five-course dinner menu (€62), served inside or on the secluded outdoor terrace, are good introductions.

Whether you dine under the 14th-century coffered ceilings, surrounded by exquisite paintings and Renaissance tapestries, or in the intimate garden under the walls of the Palais des Papes, this restaurant transports you to another time. Chef Florent Pietravalle offers original haute-cuisine dishes with a focus on local products, perhaps wild cèpes with caviar and razor clams, line-caught dorade with roasted cucumber and a Granny Smith apple emulsion, or aged beef with Jerusalem artichokes and wild blackberries. Foodies, take note: Tuesday and Wednesday dinners are table d'hôtes, and one week every month the restaurant's cooking school, La Table Haute, invites guest chefs to teach casual, multilingual cooking classes for 6–12 people around a large table in a charming, authentic 19th-century kitchen, followed by a convivial feast—there are classes for children, too.

Chef Dimitri Droisneau may profess his cuisine to be humble, but it’s worth changing out of your beachwear (closed-toe shoes are required) to dine at the three-Michelin-starred restaurant he runs with his wife, Marielle. Standout dishes include the delicately grilled Mediterranean rouget with almonds and fennel that's drizzled with an urchin-and-saffron sauce. Overseeing a cellar with 550 wines, regional and beyond, the knowledgeable sommelier can suggest accompaniments, whether you opt for one of the two set menus (€195 lunch and €295 dinner) or go the pricier à la carte route. Allow time to linger over pre-dinner cocktails by the waterfront Brasserie du Corton.

Set on the main street of Paradou, a small village 6 km (4 miles) from Les Baux, this spot has seen its share of famous diners, from French movie stars to politicians, but you'd never know it from the friendly, laid-back atmosphere cultivated by the longtime chef and his loyal staff who loudly greet their friends—meaning everyone. From the aperitif until the bill comes (which could be a while, as you'll want to take your time here), you're drawn into the rhythm of Provençal bistro dining, with a bottle of the house red wine ready at your table and a stellar cheese platter all to yourself. There is a set menu for lunch and dinner—a choice of two starters, one or two main courses, and six desserts—ensuring that every morsel is fresh, local, and cooked to perfection.

Chef Noël Baudrand turns out brasserie-type fare that is hearty and satisfying as well as innovative and sophisticated. Not one dish on the menu disappoints, nor does the chic dining room—which is airy and bright at lunchtime and lively at night—or the brilliant barman who concocts some of the best craft cocktails in town.

If you're willing to travel 10 minutes to the tiny perched village of Goult, you'll be rewarded with a top-notch, thoroughly French meal at a restaurant that's elegant enough for a celebratory dinner, yet casual enough for a gourmet lunch on the go. Sea-crab soup with fricassee of cuttlefish and homemade aïoli makes a nice prelude to saddle of rabbit with local chanterelle mushrooms stewed with kale (a rarity in France). Top off your meal with a homemade sorbet, pear poached in black current and stuffed with rice pudding, or assorted regional goat cheeses and a local rosé. In summer, try for a seat on the small outdoor terrace overlooking the town square and church.

If you're headed from Aix to the Vaucluse or any point north of the city, do what the local gourmands do and get thee to this gastronomic restaurant 23 km (14 miles) northwest of Aix on France's famous Nationale 7 (D7). A veteran of top kitchens from London to Switzerland, chef Nicolas Bottero struck out on his own in 2017, creating cuisine of utmost refinement but without a trace of fussiness and following the seasons and the local producers. In fall and winter expect squash, wild game, and local mushrooms, and, in summer, all the bounty of Provence. This is the perfect spot for a long lunch, but whether you're coming for lunch or dinner, allow plenty of time to savor a stellar meal.

You could hardly beat the location of this (mostly outdoor) bistro in the shady, elegant courtyard of the Collection Lambert. Hearty lunches and dinners include a fish and meat choice with plenty of fresh local vegetables and salads on the side—perhaps, salmon gravlax with an Asian-inflected cabbage salad or roasted lamb with bright steamed veggies. Wines are mostly organic with plenty of choices by the glass, or spring for a fresh-pressed juice with a spritz of fresh ginger. Scrumptious desserts round out the meal or make a pleasant teatime break after exploring the collection.

Patrick Fischnaller returned to southern France from London and quickly won acclaim (and a Michelin star) with this dazzler just outside the town center. Start off by enjoying a glass of wine (from €8) while seated on the orange sofa in the Art Deco–style lounge before heading to a table for foie gras and smoked eel terrine, pigeon pie, or strawberry soup with basil and black olives from the €75 menu (or order à la carte). But be sure to try the sublime roast beef with cherry marmalade or the roasted cod with stuffed piquillo peppers. The philosophy that wine is as important as food is reflected in an extensive list. Did we mention that the Sorgue River runs underneath the terrace?

This luminous, casual dining room is an absolute must on any foodie circuit of Provence. Michelin-starred chef Mathieu Desmaret's thoughtful approach to seasonal Provençal products and wild ingredients and exquisite attention to unusual flavor pairings make for a revelatory experience far beyond the usual gourmet cuisine. Beautifully presented dishes both delight and surprise—such as a luscious emerald-green velouté of wild-dandelion paired with chèvre and flowers or perfectly roasted Ventoux black pork with tender asparagus and mussels. Lunch features three- or six-course menus; dinner sees six- or eight-course menus.

Tucked away on a pretty street in the center of Avignon, this cozy duplex restaurant with a Japanese vibe is a hot spot for delicious, locally sourced small plates that elevate the humble vegetable. Aurélie Tomassin's thoughtful cuisine follows the seasons in dishes like squash-blossom-and-cheese-stuffed fritters, anchovy toast with sweet onion and homemade aioli, tender shredded chicken sandwich with lemon and frisée, or spicy hummus with homemade pita.

Named for its illustrious chef and pastry chef, this restaurant draws foodies who are keen to enjoy inventive, earthy, and refined cuisine that doesn't so much redefine Provençal cooking as expand it. With a laser focus on local, sustainable ingredients, Rey eschews all animal fats, salt, and other staples of French gastronomy in favor of rich, slow-cooked fish and vegetable broths steeped with herbs and seaweeds, olive oil, peppers, and edible leaves and flowers to complement fish and meat. Rey first gained notoriety as second runner-up in France's Top Chef 2011 and then shattered the culinary glass ceiling in 2017 with her first Michelin star. Her dishes are small works of art that leave diners satisfied without a hint of heaviness, even after 10 courses. Wahid, Rey's husband and the winner of France's Pastry Chef of the Year 2005, creates the desserts—small wonders as beautiful and complex as they are delicious.

The stellar period interior of this renovated 12th-century mansion makes for an impressive backdrop to innovative and delicious cuisine. Try the pan-roasted veal medallion with dried porcini blinis and thinly sliced mushrooms with chervil, or splurge for the whole lobster sautéed in olive oil, muscat grapes, and beurre blanc with verjuice. The seasonal truffle menu may be too rich for some (€145), but a €45 lunch menu offers nice balance for budget-conscious travelers.

Don't be put off by the name—a blend of the initials of owners Sébastien Kieffer and Alban Barbette—because this restaurant has an enchanting shaded garden terrace and a seasonal menu by chef Damien Sanchez that will not disappoint. Crispy Provençal lamb with fresh vegetables makes for a great main dish, and for dessert there's poached apple on a crispy pastry with apple jelly, nougat, heavy cream, and gingerbread ice cream. Fixed-price menus run €98–€133, but the €53 weekday lunch menu is a great value—if you can get a table.

At this sleek little wine bar, an understated decor belies splendid dishes that easily match the gastronomic fare served at Aix's pricier restaurants. In keeping with the wine bar ethos, plates are small (all the better to pair with wines by the glass) but beautifully conceived and sometimes thrilling—think foie gras with apricot confit, sea bream and wild mushrooms, or zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta and mint. Don't be shy to ask for advice on wine pairings; you'll be glad you did.

The seafood couldn't be much fresher than at this casual café-restaurant set two blocks from the seaport and featuring a vintage marine-inspired decor. The catch of the day is served sautéed or poached with vegetables on the side; the mussels come in a warm, garlicky broth; and the jumbo-shrimp salad with fresh tomatoes and avocadoes is generous. There’s plenty on the menu for meat lovers, too: classic steak-frites, escargots, charcuterie plates, and flavorful Camargue bull slow-cooked into a hearty stew. In warm weather, the spacious sidewalk terrace is a big plus.

Run by two sisters who are as committed to using local, sustainable ingredients as they are to coaxing all the goodness from the humble vegetable, this bright, popular lunchtime eatery is set amid boutiques on a pedestrian street minutes from the old port. Seated either in the chic dining room or on the sunny terrace, you can tuck into homemade veggie and goat cheese pizza drizzled with local olive oil or slow-cooked pork with nigella seed croquettes. Everything can be paired with a natural wine, craft beer, homemade kombucha, or fresh-pressed vegetable juice.

With its beamed ceilings, tiled floors, long wooden bar, and menu of traditional dishes, you’d never suspect this restaurant just behind Église St.-Paul was a relative newcomer. With a focus on well-priced shareable dishes—not small tapas plates, but portions substantial enough for two (or three)—featuring quality local, seasonal ingredients, it's a local favorite. Exceptional dishes include a buttery Nîmes brandade (a mix of salt cod and mashed potatoes, a house specialty), tender duck breast, veal blanquette, and a catch of the day. For dessert, there's a divine riz au lait (rice pudding) and a classic tarte tatin. Word to the wise, pace yourself—and don’t skimp on the wines, supplied by Nîmes’s top cellars.

On a leafy off-the-beaten-path square, close to the Maison Carré, this cozy dining room serves a sensational gourmet fare made with fresh ingredients from the nearby Les Halles de Nîmes market. Elegant dishes—smoked salmon tartare with horseradish, beets, and anise-infused pickles, say, or southwest rack of pork with white-bean puree, and root veggies roasted with Cévennes honey—are served as part of two- or three-course lunch menus and two- to five-course dinner menus. In warm weather, you can dine alfresco on the pretty square.

Locals come to this restaurant in a former fire-horse shed for Provençal hors d'oeuvres like fried eggplant, green tapenade, chickpeas in cumin, and a slab of ham carved off the bone, perhaps followed by roasted potatoes with lamb chops grilled in the great stone fireplace. Call at least a week in advance to reserve table in summer, when you can opt for just the first-course buffet—and go back for seconds or even thirds.