Since Paris is so big and has so many fantastic restaurants, I figured the best way to break it down would be to give you the 3-5 best restaurants in each part of the city. This way, when you plan your trip, you can plan your day around exploring one or two adjacent arrondissements and then can pick a restaurant in the same area for that evening.
Disclaimer: We’ve been to some, but certainly not all of these restaurants. This list is the result of exhaustive research and represents a lot of places that we would like to go in the future. So, if you try one and it sucks, just assume it’s one we haven’t fully vetted yet.
Eiffel Tower
1 – Dinner at the Eiffel Tower itself
There are two restaurants within the Eiffel Tower. What was once 58 Tour Eiffel and is now called La Bulle Parisienne, sits within the first landing of the Eiffel Tower and Le Jules Verne is the flagship restaurant on site that sits high atop the second landing.
Le Jules Verne will set you back quite a bit as this Michelin Star restaurant charges 190EUR for the 5-course tasting menu and 230EUR for the 6-course menu. La Bulle Parisienne is slightly more reasonable with lunches starting at 45EUR, and Dinners starting at 94EUR. Views from both are stunning, but Le Jules Verne does have it’s own private elevator which is nice and due to the large windows, it doesn’t matter where you’re sat at the restaurant, you will have a great view.
Also, make sure to check out the Eiffel Tower Macaron Bar on the 2nd floor and the Champagne Bar at the very top of the tower.
2 – Septime
A warm and rustic restaurant with Scandinavian-inspired decor, Septime specializes in exquisitely plated, extraordinarily creative, plant- and vegetable-focused dishes that change every two weeks. Staying fresh, local and seasonal, this menu never disappoints. For fine dining, though this is a fairly casual and laid back atmosphere, which is nice. 5-course menus are provided for lunch and 7-course tasting menus for dinner, ranging between 60EUR and 95EUR and can be expertly paired with wines for 45EUR and 60EUR respectively.
3 – l’Astrance
This is yet another high-end fine dining experience. These are the types of restaurants you’re going to find within eye-shot of the Eiffel Tower. Lunch ranges from 90EUR to 170EUR, with their dinner menu coming in at 250EUR a plate. The menu is a complete surprise, so you must be willing to sit back and have an expert chef simply regale you with exquisite dishes for 3 hours or so. Chef Pascal Barbot is an absolute magician and one of the best chef’s in Paris as well as the world. The surprise menu, which the restaurant refers to as a culinary trip, is conceived of every morning according to the market and Pascal Barbot’s mood. Reservations are very difficult to come by, so book well in advance.
4 – L’OISEAU BLANC
At Paris’ Peninsula Hotel there are a handful of dining choices, but none with a better panoramic view of the city and the Eiffel Tower than L’Oiseau Blanc. Again, this will not be an inexpensive meal, but the cost is a bit less than the restaurants above. Appetizers average about 35EUR, Entreés about 55EUR and desserts 30EUR. The food is fantastic, but the view is really to die for.
5 – Café de l’Homme
The views from Café de l’Homme are stunning and their food is fantastic as well as reasonably priced. They have two levels of 3-course tasting menus that range from 60-110EUR as well as an a la carte menu. Meals are hearty and filling. They also do large dishes for sharing between two people which is a bit of an oddity in the Parisian dining scene.
6 – Tomy + Co
This small, cozy, casual, Michelin Star restaurant offers seasonally specific menus based on local ingredients. The best part is this is one of the few high-end restaurants where the price isn’t exorbitant. Appetizers are approximately 15EUR, main dishes around 30EUR and desserts around 12EUR.
The menu is typically small and changes regularly according to what nature has to offer. Depending on the season you can typically find the following specialties though: black truffle gnocchi in winter; asparagus, mimosa egg orange vinaigrette and nasturtium leaf in spring; roasted apricot and verbena chanterelles in summer; and, chestnut and mushroom cream soup in autumn.
7 – Bistrot Belhara
Some of the best cuisine in the world comes from the Basque region of France. This unique culinary culture is captured perfectly by Chef Thierry Dufroux. They have a very reasonably priced menu that includes a la carte options as well as a regularly changing seasonal chef’s tasting menu. For lunch you can choose from daily chalkboard specials or a plate of two creative pintxos tapas, whereas the dinner menu lists seasonal dishes and a tasting menu chosen by the chef. A 5-course tasting menu is incredibly reasonable at 48EUR and the 6-course menus is only 58EUR. Wine pairings are similarly reasonable at 7EUR per glass.
St Germain
1 – L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon
This chic restaurant was once the flagship of one of the world’s great chefs, Chef Joël Robuchon, before his untimely death in 2018. The tradition of his fantastically prepared and beautifully plated food, where the dishes look like pieces of art is carried on here at this stunning yet refined/casual restaurant and bar. Their 9-course tasting menu is an experience that will set you back 189EUR, but is well worth it.
2 – L’Avant Comptoir du Marché
3 – La Coupole
This seafood spot has been a culinary and cultural staple in Paris for decades. Patti Smith used to sit out and play guitar on the terrace here. James Joyce was a regular. While they have typical French brasserie items on their menu, the real specialties here are their ginormous seafood platters. Six different sized platters that range in price from 29EUR for the small tasting platter for one, to 178EUR for the Royale Tasting Platter for two, you’ll be able to find a seafood platter that meets your budget.
4 – L’Agrume
This small converted pizza shop offers some of the best value lunch and dinner specials in Paris. Chef Franck Marchesi-Grandi, formerly at Pierre Gagnaire’s Goya, prepares well crafted plates at an excellent price point. 5 small plate lunch tasting menus can be had for only 28EUR, in fact. This is a fantastic price for dishes like saffron-tinted langoustine soup, lobster ravioli, and lemon white butter risotto enriched with ladles of cream. The dessert menu is much more than an afterthought and never disappoints either.
5 – Chez René
Another reasonably priced brasserie serving up French classics in an authentic setting. This small bistro next to the Tour d’Argent is the quintessential Parisian bistro. When you think of a Parisian bistro you undoubtedly think of a wood paneled cafe with worn mosaic flooring, white cotton tablecloths, and leather banquette seating; in fact, you think of Chez René. The menu includes all the classic staples of French brasserie fare, all expertly prepared and seasoned.
Located in the 17th-century Hôtel Le Relais Saint-Germain, is a stunning art deco bistro named Le Comptoir. This classic French brasserie serves a five-course prix fixe feast on weekday evenings consisting of inventive takes on standard brasserie fare. Weekends provide a standard menu, but the single dinner sitting where the chef just enthralls you with his unique tasting menu is the real show stopper. The only downside…The prix fixe dinner is booked up as much as six months in advance so make reservations well in advance. If you miss out on a reservation for the main dining room, don’t fret, the bar is open seating for wine and tapas.
This legendary St-Germain brasserie now helmed by celebrated chef Cyril Lignac has won accolades for its creative cooking using locally sourced produce. Unique for a classic French brasserie, this lovely little cafe/restaurant specializes in fusing standard French fare with Asian influences.
8 – Chez Marcel
Established over a hundred years ago in 1919, this Lyonnais-style, family run bistro sits at the edge of Saint-Germain in close to the neighborhood of Montparnasse. It’s a bit out of the way, but well worth a trip if you’re looking to get out of the main parts of the city or if you’re staying down in Montparnasse. Chez Marcel specializes in simple, yet painstakingly prepared classics made with impeccable ingredients.
9 – Ladurée Picnic
An interesting thing you can do, while in Paris if you don’t want to spend lavishly on a restaurant, is to have a picnic. Ladurée Picnic specializes in making fancy, high-end picnic baskets that you can take away for a lovely picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower.
10 – Boutary
Another Michelin starred fine dining experience that makes every one of the five senses go crazy.
The Latin Quarter
1 – Ze Kitchen Galerie and KGB
French Cuisine but with influences from Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, India. The aesthetics of the food presentations are perfect and the tastes incredibly complex and aromatic. Must make reservations in advance, but this incredibly unique restaurant is well worth a special trip. Their Banh “MI-BAO” sandwich consisting of lacquered iberian pork, papaya served with a cucumber gazpacho, green feta apple is a world changer.
2 – La Tour d’Argent
La Tour d’Argent is one of the oldest restaurants in Paris, dating back to 1582. This place is so old that it literally served the very first meal ever where a fork was used – King Henry IV introduced this classic cutlery at this restaurant in 1592, blowing the minds of his guests. This restaurant is as classic as a place as you can find. It was even the muse for the movie Ratatouille. Today, La Tour d’Argent is most famous for its caneton (duckling) speciality, as well as the breathtaking views of the Notre-Dame from its rooftop garden.
3 – Le Polidor
This quaint old bistro is one of Paris’ oldest diners. It retains the same historic decor, with antique mirrors and red checkered tablecloths that it’s had since it opened in 1845. They make some of the best traditional French dishes in town. Try their beef bourguignon or their Pave de Veau in Creme of Morel sauce.
For something a bit different than normal, check out Prosper et Fortunée. This is less a restaurant than it is a semi-private dining experience. There are only 15 seats at this super small venue, where guests sit along a bar in front of an open kitchen watching the cfef prepare your meal. The menu changes daily, so you will never get the same menu twice. There is one very important ground rule, though, for this unique dining experience…you must not be late. This is a one man show, as Chef Eric Lévy works entirely alone, doing the cooking, plating, serving and clearing of tables by himself. As such the meal is a tightly coordinated affair. Dinner starts promptly as the entire meal is served to the guests at once as the chef prepares it. Different tasting menus range from 35EUR to 65EUR.
5 – La Bête Noire
Fun, funky, unique little restaurant/bakery in the Latin Quarter that serves everything from fried chicken to oysters, to amazing pastries and everything in between. Crazy Russian music is often blasting from this eclectic little spot full of soul and homemade delicacies. The passionate chef and owner, Maria, cooks just one meat and one vegetarian dish daily using seasonal ingredients from local farmers and small producers, and insists that you wash it all down with Italian wines. Finally, don’t forget to grab one of Maria’s many homemade pastries on the way out along with a craft coffee poured by Italian barista Bartolomeo. Despite it’s zany casual atmosphere, make sure you make reservations in advance, especially if you plan on going for weekend brunch. The place is small and fills up quickly.
6 – La Truffiere
A truffle based tasting menu with a perfect wine pairing. This restaurant is every bit as astounding as it is expensive. But, if you love all things truffles and don’t mind dropping a couple hundred dollars this place is one of the best in town.
Champs Elyseés
1 – Buddha Bar
Stunning decor and a giant Buddha at the center of it all, this bar restaurant is probably one of the coolest and swankiest places in all of Paris. The food doesn’t quite live up to the atmosphere, but it’s still pretty good. They make an outstanding Sea bass fillet with wakame goma & japanese rice, shitake vinaigrette, Nori sheets julienne, pine nuts, shiso and coriander sprouts.
2 – Le Hide
Located just steps away from the Arc de Triomphe, this restaurant offers one of the best dining deals in the city. Chef Hide Kobayashi says, “quality does not need to come at an elevated price tag,” and he means it. For only 38EUR you can get a 3-course tasting menu of an appetizer, main and dessert. The meals are hearty, filling French country fare, so make sure to bring an appetite. Also, make sure to get there early as the restaurant is popular and does not take reservations.
3 – L’Atelier Etoile
Originally founded on the principle that the diner should watch their chef prepare their meal, by the late, great chef and restauranteur, Joël Robuchon (who French restaurant guide Gault Millau once named ‘Chef of the Century’), this sister restaurant to his famous spot in St Germain offers a similar experience to his flagship restaurant.
4 – Ladurée
Don’t go to Paris without at least making a stop in at Ladurée. This place takes French style opulence and class to another level. Ladurée is known for their macaroons and pastries as they have a handful of specialty sweet shops spread across the city. However, their spot on Champs Elyseés is their flagship location and boasts one of the best bars in the area as well as a full restaurant that serves up some great food to go along with their macaroons. Despite a fantastic menu that really surprises you with how good it is, MAKE SURE TO LEAVE ROOM FOR DESSERT! The food here is fantastic, but the real star of the show is their incredible dessert menu.
The Heart
1 – Presto Fresco
One of the best Italian restaurants anywhere outside of Italy. The pizza is perfect, their burrata is the best we’ve ever had, and the atmosphere is incredibly fun. Just check out the head chef having fun with his guests below.
A charming Michelin-starred trattoria that’s steeped in history. This quaint bistro with fantastic atmosphere feels like something from a nostalgic era that no longer exists. Sardinian chef Simone Tondo’s dishes are potent, exciting and the portions are generous. Save room for their famous tiramisù which is truly to die for.
3 – Vivant
Lively and unique seafood menu from a very confident chef. The menu is short but tight offering small, shareable dishes and two to three larger portions for bigger appetites. The menu is regularly changing but there are typically some mainstays like: rolled squid marinated in shiso, sweet potato with raw cream, crushed hazelnuts, capers, and salmon eggs; baked cabbage with grainy mustard; butter linguine with fresh black truffle (there’s almost always one pasta dish on the menu); and for dessert, the most decadent, chilled dark chocolate broken off into large chunks and plated.
4 – Loulou
Right behind the gardens of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, in the heart of the Palais du Louvre is a newer restaurant called Loulou. The terrace that sits in the shadow of the Louvre is absolutely spectacular. The interior that mixes French influences with style from the Italian Riviera is stunning. The kitchen opens at noon, seven days a week, and is open for lunch and dinner. Highlights are the raw artichokes with Parmesan, warm octopus salad, homemade tagliatelle, and a tiramisu with a shot of espresso.
5 – Le Grand Colbert
This Parisian Brasserie was named after Louis XIV’s famous minister, Jean Baptiste; Le Grand Colbert, a man who supposedly found enlightenment through French cuisine. This restaurant is registered as a historical monument and is situated near la Place de la Victoires and the Palais Royal Gardens. Surrounded by several theaters, this spot is a great place to get some elevated yet typical French Brasserie fare before or after a show at a local theatre. They have some of the best French Onion Soup in the city.
7 – Restaurant Etoile Gastronomique Pur’ Jean-François Rouquette
Just another completely silly fine dining restaurant with a straight up stupid tasting menu.
8 – Frenchie
Reasonably priced tasting menus with fantastic quality food and wine pairing.
9 – Jean-Yves Table
Make reservations well in advance. This is a semi-private dining experience where all participants will sit around one table in the basement of famous chef, Jean Yves, while he regales you with Vietnamese inspired French cuisine. He also has cooking classes and macaroon classes as well. Check out his website linked above for more information. The food is phenomenal and the experience is second to none.
Marais
Try Giovanni Passerini’s signature pasta all’amatriciana at this fantastic Italian restaurant. Their dish of tripe ‘cacio e ova’, artichokes and white truffle is spectacular. They have excellent dishes for sharing like their 2 person Lobster as well as a great Saturday evening menu that is built upon smaller tapas style dishes.
2 – Benoit Paris
Another time capsule-esque classic French bistro, that first opened in 1912, Benoit Paris is the type of place you should only be able to get to with a time machine. Their escargots bathing in butter garlic and parsley are decadent. In fact all their meals, like their Scottish salmon with Béarnaise sauce, seared scallops with leeks, their cheese dishes, even their crepes are built on decadence.
3 – Le Train Bleu
Le Train Bleu is not just one of Paris’ most picturesque restaurants, it’s one of its most iconic dining experiences in the city. Every inch of this place simply drips with Parisian opulence. You’ll pay an arm and a leg to eat here, but the photos alone will make it worth it.
4 – L’As du Fallafel
The complete opposite of the opulence seen at Le Train Bleu, this little fallafel spot is the perfect place to get some relatively fast food for your walk through the city. The falafel special: crisp red cabbage, creamy tahini, roasted aubergine, and light, herby falafel, overflowing their perfect pillowy pitta pockets are well worth the wait in any line that’s formed outside.
5 – BreizhCafé
One of the most common questions for any Parisian trip is, “Where do we get the best crepes in Paris?” This isn’t your standard street corner creperie. For just your standard crepe you can stop at any place in Paris that just serves you crepes from a window. This is a full crepe experience. Really, it’s THE crepe experience to be had in Paris. Here you will taste a true Breton-style galette—a savory crepe made with buckwheat flour and the best butter on the planet. The Bordier butter, from that same region, is worth the trip alone. Breizh specializes in only three things: crepes, oysters and cider. There’s always a wait, often times a line, and you might even have to come back the following day if you don’t get seated. Do not be deterred, though, any amount of wait is worth it. There’s a small shoppette next door that sells the caramel, butter, and the buckwheat flour from the kitchen if you want to bring home something unique for a gift.
6 – Clamato
One of the best seafood menus in the entire city. Don’t leave without trying the sea urchin. They do a phenomenal whole sea bass as well.
Canal St. Martin
1 – Le Arlots
Classic, elegant, perfect French bistro. Another place for old-school bistro coisine. It’s ideal for a Sunday lunch or red wine filled dinner with friends.
2 – Tannat
The chef here moonlights as a street artist and the creativity of an artist is evident in his dishes. But, the dishes aren’t just pretty. Tannat’s head chef learned fine dining at famed Le Bistro. The food combines all opulence of fine French dining with his creative plating style. The menu is very seasonally oriented, basing that day’s plates off of whatever local ingredients are freshest and look the best. Their wine list is incredible. Even if ordering by the glass, expect a sommelier to show up with multiple bottles to discuss preferences and offer small tastes before you settle on your preferred wine. No matter what you pick, expect it to be perfectly paired with your meal.