706 Best Restaurants in France

All that perfume sniffing can build an appetite and this is just the place to refuel on cheeses, olives, charcuteries, tapenades, and chutneys. It's open daily, and you could spend hours lingering over a half bottle of wine and sampling the delicious regional selections that are part of a shared platter (three to four people) for only €30.

Japanese-French fusion cuisine is wildly popular in Paris as deliciously demonstrated here at chef Daï Shinozuka’s pared-down bistro in a corner of the Marché des Enfants Rouges. Seasonal dishes like creamy pumpkin soup with mussels, parsley oil, Camargue salicorne, and preserved lemon or roasted Normandie scallops with smoky haddock cream, spinach, and roasted turnips drizzled with watercress oil dazzle the palate. For dessert, litchi mousse and granité with grapefruit gelée crowns a gratifying dining experience.

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.

In a quiet mountain village just outside Prades, chef Gilles Bascou's semisecret gourmand restaurant serves classic five-course meals that locals swear by. The ambience is refined yet relaxed, and the market-inspired menu changes seasonally.

Decorated with photographs of local celebrities, this popular bistro is particularly animated. Simple food—chicken simmered for hours in wine, meaty stews, and grilled fish—is served on bare wood tables. A blackboard announces plats du jour, which are usually less expensive than items on the printed menu. Try the caille aux petits legumes (quail with baby vegetables) for a change from heavier bouchon fare like the bugnes (beignets of fried pork fat).

This picturesque waterside restaurant occupies an elegantly transformed boatbuilding shed in the scenic St-Leu section of Amiens. Order from the prix-fixe menus, which feature regional ingredients, to avoid pricey à la carte dining.

At the end of a cobbled courtyard in the city's Old Town, this restaurant's half-timber building is a vintage charmer, and the elegant dining room is cozy and hushed. Regional flourishes dominate the menu, such as lobster served in a sweet Sauternes sauce, rack of lamb with honey and rosemary, or pan-fried duck foie gras with apples and cider.

If you're young—or young at heart—come here to hang with the Sorbonne crowd at this bustling brasserie on a shaded pedestrian lane. It's steps from campus and also near Le Jardin du Luxembourg.

In 1954, French resistance hero Camille Rayon built a restaurant between two stone fishing huts from the early 20th century, and today it is a Michelin-starred institution and part of the Relais & Chateau Cap d'Antibes Beach Hotel. Although beef is available, chef Nicolas Rondelli's menu emphasizes fish, and all dishes are complemented by produce from the nearby hills and wines from a formidable list that includes a 2018 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault at €2,400 a bottle. Stunning, albeit pricey, desserts, give you an excuse to linger as the sun sets over the Îles de Lérins and the Estérel. The more affordable beach restaurant is open for lunch, and from June through September, dinner.

All of Paris seems to collide at this lively corner café in the heart of the Marais, where you'll find pretty much whatever is your pleasure any time of the day or night. Slide into a red banquette, or take a seat on the wide wraparound terrace to watch the world go by while indulging in generous servings of all the French classics, a glass of wine, or coffee and dessert.

The operatically beautiful LiLi, in the Peninsula Paris hotel, puts sophisticated Cantonese cuisine in its rightful place—the gastronomic center of the world. The menu features all the classics, raised to the status of haute cuisine: small plates of dim sum (seafood, vegetable, or pork dumplings) alongside more substantial fare like fried rice studded with market-fresh vegetables, succulent Sichuan shrimp, and barbecued suckling pig. The chef's signature crème de mangue laced with pomelo pearls is an ethereal ending to an exceptional meal. At €75, the prix-fixe lunch menu is a wonderful introduction to this timeless cuisine.

For nonstop dining from dawn till dusk, head to this quayside spot. Start the day basking in that fabled, glorious sunshine with the continental breakfast (€12)—you can even feed the fish by the dock with leftover baguette—or kick back with an Aperol spritz and one of seven variations on moules-frites (mussels and French fries) at lunch or dinner. There's a good kids menu (€10), too.

Popular with both locals and expats, the four restaurants at the Paul Augier Hospitality and Tourism School, attended by 1,200 pupils and apprentices, serve lunch weekdays and dinner some evenings—and everything is prepared by aspiring young chefs. The fifth-floor La Rotonde is the most sophisticated and expensive of the three restaurants, but, still, the set lunch menu is just €35 without drinks, and set dinner menus start at €40. Note, though, that reservations are by email only.

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.

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.

Accomplished chef Julien Gautier struts his considerable stuff at this stylish upper-Brotteaux-district bistro east of the Rhône. Expect an inventive, market-driven cuisine, characterized by dishes like slow-cooked lamb with grilled eggplant, buffalo mozzarella, and pine nuts; jumbo shrimp in a broth of garlic and tarragon; or succulent Basque chicken with grilled chorizo and roasted red peppers to savor along with a fine selection of good-value wines by the bottle or glass. Consistently fabulous food, gentle prices, and a sleek contemporary design have made this bistro an exceedingly popular choice among fashionable foodies.

With a reasonably priced set menu, this restaurant from the owners of Willi's Wine Bar is an ideal spot for a relaxed meal after visiting the Louvre. Natural light streams through the interior, and a broad, curved staircase leads to a spacious upstairs salon: the perfect place to enjoy the seasonally motivated menu.

There's not a brasserie in Paris with a view to match the one at this eatery set on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower (the Jules Verne, helmed by chef Frédéric Anton, is on the second floor). Multiple Michelin-star chef Thierry Marx presides over this chic dining room, done up in creamy leather and blond wood, where everything is "stylish, sustainable, and cozy" (and, we might add, very expensive) with special attention to local products whenever possible. Like any good Parisian brasserie, this dining room is open from 10 am until 11:30 pm and serves every meal, from breakfast to late-night drinks at the bar. Views are equally stupendous day or night, but there's nothing so romantic as seeing the City of Lights at night—especially from within the tower, glittering madly for five minutes at the beginning of each hour after sunset. Online booking lets you choose your view; a window seat will cost you extra.

Pastry chef Myriam Sabeta’s carved out a whole new niche in French sweets with her creations influenced by her childhood in Aleppo, Syria. Her signature “nids” are based on kadaïf, the buttery angel hair pastries of the Levant, which Sabet fills with cream and dried or candied fruit in original flavors such as Damascus rose, chocolate-sumac, or lemon-cardamom. Her ambrosial baklavas may be layered with Piedmont hazelnuts and lemon or Iranian pistachio and orange blossom.

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.

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.

Founded in 1822, this renowned pâtissiere has served generations of local families and Parisians alike, who come here for seasonal specialties like fraise des bois tartlets with almond cream and delicious viennoiseries (croissants, pain au chocolat, etc.). Savory specialties are equally delicious and perfect for a picnic in the nearby gardens.

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.

Once you're done with the Louvre, this little sandwich stand adjacent to the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel is probably the closest spot to snag something to restore you. Classic French sandwiches like ham-and-butter or tuna salad are served on fluffy baguettes reminiscent of ciabatta. They're joined by quiches, a handful of salads, and desserts.

Though Parisian purists may not approve, the rest of the world has joyfully embraced this hybrid restaurant/pastry shop that rose to global TikTok fame with the “crookie,” an unabashedly decadent mix of French croissant and American-style chocolate-chip cookie. You’ll feel better about indulging if you first partake of the many healthy items on the brunch, lunch, and dinner menus offering French classic dishes like country paté, a creamy veggie soup of the day, escargot in garlic butter, roasted duck leg, and a juicy American-style hamburger on a homemade French brioche bun.

This organic craft bakery offers delicious sweet and savory creations that are great for a tasty takeaway.