706 Best Restaurants in France

Breton-born Alain Passard, one of the most respected chefs in Paris, famously shocked the French culinary world by declaring that he was bored with meat. Though his vegetarianism is more lofty than practical—L'Arpège still caters to fish and poultry eaters—he does cultivate his own vegetables outside Paris, and his dishes elevate the humblest produce to sublime heights. On his menus, you might find salt-roasted beets with aged balsamic vinegar, leeks with black truffles, black radishes, and cardon, a kind of thistle related to the artichoke, with Parmigiano-Reggiano. The understated decor places the emphasis firmly on the food, but try to avoid the gloomy cellar room.

Pascal Barbot, who rose to fame at his Rue Beethoven digs (where he earned three Michelin stars), recently reopened in a larger, more luminous dining room. Though he lost a star in 2019, his cuisine remains resolutely haute (and his clientele just as loyal), with dishes that often draw on Asian ingredients, as in black-curry roasted pigeon or suckling lamb in a date and ginger sauce followed by a palate-cleansing white sorbet spiked with chili pepper and lemongrass. The restaurant offers à la carte dining, as well as lunch menus for €85 or €125 and the full tasting menu for €285 at dinner (this is what most people come for). Each menu also comes at a (significantly) higher price with wines to match each course. Barbot's cooking has such an ethereal quality that it's worth the considerable effort of booking a table—you should start trying well in advance. 

At this beautiful 150-year-old house, a minute's walk from the Jules Verne museum, you'll enjoy panoramic views of the Loire River along with exceptional local cuisine. Michelin-star chef Jean-Yves Guého studied his craft in such far-flung places as Hong Kong, New Orleans, and Paris, but his real love is for the culinary riches of his native Brittany. Seafood takes front and center in dishes like langoustine marinated in bourbon vanilla and lime with fava beans and blood orange, or white asparagus with Petrossian caviar and wild garlic. For dessert, try the house specialty: homegrown lemon verbena soufflé with raspberries and a chocolate tuile. The beautiful dining room is a place to linger, and on nice days you can dine outdoors on a spacious terrace overlooking the river.

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.

A scenic 10-minute drive from the Grotte du Grand-Roc, this proudly authentic restaurant deep in the Périgord countryside is the perfect finale to a day of exploring. Guests are whisked to a long table to feast on seasonal dishes, many hunted or foraged from the chef's property. Prepare yourself for nettle soup; heaping platters of house-cured ham; wild boar terrine with homemade cornichons; confit de canard with forest cèpes; beef cheeks stewed in local red wine; and a hearty walnut cake topped with elderberry, rose, or pine confiture—all for €44, including all the wine you can drink, coffee, and a digestif. It's truly an experience not to be missed, for a price that can't be beat.

The late great Paul Bocuse—who kick-started nouvelle cuisine back in the 1970s and became a superstar in the process—may no longer be with us, but dishes like the legendary black-truffle soup in pastry crust he created in 1975 to honor President Giscard d'Estaing always will be. So will the frogs' leg soup with watercress; the green bean and artichoke salad with foie gras; and the \"tripled\" wood pigeon, consisting of a drumstick in puff pastry, a breast roasted and glazed in cognac, and a dark aromatic pâté of the innards. For a mere €370 per person, the Paul Bocuse Centennial Menu includes two of the master's most famous dishes: soup aux truffes and the volaille de Bresse truffée en vessie \"Mère Fillioux\" (Bresse hen cooked in a pig bladder with truffles), which comes to the table looking something like a basketball. Like the desserts, the grand dining room is done in traditional style.

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.

Beamed ceilings, tiled floors, and charming accents are just the beginning of a thoroughly enjoyable dining experience at this traditional bistro in the heart of Barbizon. All the beloved French classics—chevre chaud, leeks vinaigrette, entrecôte de boeuf, noix de Saint-Jacques, steak tartare—are served just as they're meant to be for lunch and dinner. If you're hankering after a skillfully prepared, deeply French meal, this is the place—and it's open seven days a week, a rarity in France.

Since 1832, this restaurant has been a mainstay of the pedestrian rue Montorgueil, serving up all manner of French classics in a dining room replete with sumptuous imperial decor. Take a seat on a cozy red velvet banquette and feast on rich French onion soup or house-made duck confit. The eponymous snails are served not just with classic garlic butter but with four other flavors that change with the seasons; think Brie and walnut, curry, or even foie gras.

Picturesquely set in the old town, near the cathedral, this chic Michelin-starred restaurant is a big draw for foodies from near and far. Though unanimously lauded as one of the area's best restaurants, L'Essentiel won't give you an ounce of attitude, just excellent, market-fresh cuisine emphasizing the local delicacies—truffles, asparagus, duck, foie gras, chestnuts, and more—served with a smile. Though prices are reasonable for this superior quality, especially the fixed price menus at lunch and dinner.

Hidden over Place des Terreaux, this semisecret upstairs dining room in a former silk-weaving loft prepares some of Lyon's finest and most daring cuisine. A place at the window (admittedly hard to come by), overlooking the facade of the Beaux Arts academy across the square, is a moment to remember—especially during December's Festival of Lights. The six-course €67 tasting menu at dinner is a steal for this quality of dining.

In the heart of old Bergerac, this restaurant is full of character with beamed ceilings, openwork stone, brick walls, design lighting, and plush chairs. The lunch and dinner menus, which change with the seasons, are good values, considering you can start with such delights as warm oysters with saffron or a skewer of langoustine with honey and rosemary, and then move on, perhaps, to ravioli in a citron sauce. The cobbled outdoor terrace is the place to be when the weather is nice.

This contemporary, centrally located restaurant draws gastronomes from near and far with its top-notch seasonal menu. Jean-François Dive's creative market-driven cuisine features artfully presented dishes with a knack for highlighting the natural goodness of vegetables—scallops simmered in celery and endive with chestnut puree and cèpe oil, or poached foie gras with a truffle-infused consommé of Jerusalem artichoke and fennel. The elegant, contemporary dining room is tranquil and relaxing, and the large outdoor terrace offers pleasant views of the square. If you're lucky enough to be here during truffle season, the all-truffle menu is well worth the splurge.

Rouen's Michelin-starred sensation, l'Odas is the brainchild of chef Olivier da Silva, whose selection of four- and six-course tasting menus has earned accolades for their seasonality, inventiveness, and deep connection to the surrounding countryside. Add a sensational view of Rouen's cathedral from the sleek yet warm dining room, and this makes for a singular way to experience Rouen's top-flight cuisine.

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.

A perennial favorite, this lively, unpretentious bistro is prized by expats and locals for its friendly atmosphere, consistently good food, solid wine list, and English-speaking staff. Dishes like pork belly with crushed potatoes or swordfish with fresh vegetables always hit the spot, especially when followed by decadent chocolate ganache infused with candied bergamot or poached peaches with white wine and sorbet.

Watch the world go by on the street-side terrace at this small but lively café on a picturesque square at the foot of the hill leading to Croix Rousse. Low-key and casual, the focus here is squarely on the java—every kind of caffeinated beverage can be conjured up here, and coffee aficionados are reassured by the fact that the meticulously sourced beans are roasted on the premises. Freshly baked carrot cake or cheesecake, tarte au citron, and warm chocolate fondant are irresistibly decadent alongside a luscious café crème. There's also a great choice of magazines and newspapers and free Wi-Fi access.

Owner Fabien Rugi puts his formidable energy into serving the freshest possible, Mediterranean-inflected seafood dishes, so at this restaurant you—with or without the help of a waiter—choose your fish from the catch of the day on ice. You might start with the grilled shrimp, which is too good to have with anything but a squirt of lemon, perhaps followed by the grilled baby squid or Rugi's version of fish-and-chips—fried hake with crisp chickpea-flour pancakes (a Provence specialty) and house-made aioli. The well-priced wines flow freely, and everyone is happy as a clam.

After a takeover by the French-trained American star chef Daniel Rose back in 2015, this bistro stalwart transformed from a duckling to a swan, with elegant revamps of its bistro decor and an upgrade on its deeply satisfying French comfort-food classics. All meals begin with superb gougères (warm, cheesy puffs), and, if you're wise, will end with dessert.

Set on the edge of Valence's Old Town, a few minutes from the Parc Jouvet, this hidden gem is one more reason to get thee to Valence. Chef Masashi Ijichi's Japanese roots and pedigreed French training (at the House of Pic) merge in a stunning cuisine that is virtuosic without being bombastic. Ijichi's delicate flavor pairings and poetic presentation rely on the intrinsic virtues of the freshest ingredients: an inky black sea urchin filled with golden pumpkin whipped cream and jellied lobster or white chocolate mousse and bright mango puree. The pared down dining room is an excellent backdrop to highlight the food, but be sure to leave some time, as this is a moment to savor.

This was Paris's first coffee bar, founded by former Guatemalan ambassador to France turned coffee ambassador, Gloria Montenegro. With three spacious rooms, all coffee preparations under the sun, and a daily special brew chosen from among dozens of varieties of meticulously sourced beans from plantations around the globe, this is a Paris institution.

Ask any Marseille food enthusiast where they go for great Italian food, and they're sure to mention this legendary spot, which is renowned as much for its food and flowing wine as for its camaraderie. Options include gorgeous plates of charcuterie topped with giant Parmesan shavings, fragrant bowls of steaming risotto, and line-caught fish of the day; just save room for the towering tiramisu maison. The linen-covered tables may be elbow to elbow, but that's all part of the fun, a feeling that extends to the large outdoor terrace, which is festively lit up at night.

This chic, laid-back bar à vins is part of Michelin-starred chef Jean-Baptiste Lavergne Morazzani’s trio of gastronomic outposts set in Versailles’s beautiful Cour des Senteurs, a few minutes' walk from the palace entrance. Here you can sit back and taste wines by the glass or order a bottle chosen from the astute wine list, accompanied by locally sourced gourmet snacks like Bayonne ham, buffalo burrata from the Ile de France, or crème de Camembert from nearby Yvelines. Its early opening hours make it a good spot for a pre-dinner apéro or a quick snack before heading back to Paris.

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.

You don't have to be a chocoholic to appreciate this cozy little nook of a café focused on all things derived from the cocoa bean: decadent cakes and pastries, chocolates and tablettes (bars of chocolate), and a most sinful chocolat chaud. There are also coffee and other beverages to linger over inside or at a sidewalk table.

The food might be a bit overpriced, but where else in the world could you eat in a dining room under a Picasso, on a terrace beside a ceramic Léger mural, or next to a pool amid an idyllic garden with a Calder sculpture? The quirky but unpretentious Provençal menu has hardly changed over 50 years—the hors d’oeuvres de la Colombe (basket of crudité and hunks of charcuterie), salmon quenelles, and Grand Marnier soufflé flambé are as acclaimed as ever. If you can't afford a room at the world-famous hotel but still want wonderful Instagram moments, a dinner here does the trick.

This world-renowned, cavernous spot with Art Deco murals practically defines the term brasserie. It's been popular since Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir were regulars, and today it attracts a mix of bourgeois families, tourists, and lone diners treating themselves to a dozen oysters. Recent additions to the excellent brasserie menu are pan-fried foie gras, beef fillet flambéed with cognac, a caramelized apple tart, and profiteroles made with Valrhona chocolate.

Behind a half-timber facade filled with geraniums, the \"oldest inn in France,\" dating from 1345, is crammed with stained leaded glass, sculpted wood beams, marble Norman chimneys, leather-upholstered chairs, and damask curtains. Of its many famous guests over the centuries, perhaps the most celebrated here is Julia Child, who ate her first meal in France—\"the most exciting meal of my life\"—here. A prix-fixe menu recreates that meal with a green salad, a half-dozen oysters on the half-shell, and sole meunière. Add \"a whole bottle of Pouilly-Fumé,\" as Child did, for maximum authenticity.