The first time I explored the best restaurants in Paris, I instinctively ordered beef tartare because it felt like the thing you’re supposed to do. Raw beef, raw egg, capers, the whole production. I did not love it. Some things are better left to the people who grew up eating them.
What I did love, immediately and completely, was everything else. The bakeries on every corner with croissants still warm from the oven. The little fromageries where you could point at a wedge of cheese and the person behind the counter would tell you exactly how to eat it. The way you could walk into a wine shop, grab a bottle for less than the price of a coffee back home, add a baguette and some saucisson, and have the best picnic of your life on a bench by the Seine.
Paris rewards people who eat the way Parisians actually eat. Sometimes that means a long lunch at a proper bistro. Sometimes it means a sandwich and a bottle of wine in a park. Both are correct.
Here’s where to eat in Paris, broken down by budget.
Budget
€8 to €25 per person
Bouillons, crêperies, falafel stands, and the picnic on a bench by the Seine.
Try: Bouillon Pigalle
Mid-range
€30 to €60 per person
Neighborhood bistros with chalkboard menus, good wine, and the classics done right.
Try: Bistro Paul Bert
Splurge
€70 to €150+ per person
Michelin lunches that punch above their price, and the full fine dining fantasy.
Try: Septime
Best Restaurants in Paris on a Budget
Paris has a reputation for expensive dining, but the city is full of bouillons, neighborhood bistros, and ethnic eateries where a full meal costs less than a cocktail at a hotel bar. Here are some of the best affordable restaurants in Paris.
Bouillon Pigalle
Price range: €15 to €25 per person
Arrondissement: 9th and 18th (two locations)
Website: bouillonpigalle.com
The bouillon is a Parisian institution that’s been having a real moment. Bouillon Pigalle and its sister location, Bouillon Chartier, serve classic French food, such as egg mayonnaise, steak frites, and onion soup, at prices that feel like they’re from a different decade. Expect a line at mealtimes. It moves fast, and it’s worth the wait. It’s earned a spot on our best restaurants in Paris list for good reason.
Chez Gladines
Price range: €12 to €20 per person
Arrondissement: 13th, with locations in the Latin Quarter
Website: chezgladines.fr
A beloved spot for Basque-inspired food in absurdly generous portions. The salads alone could feed two people. It’s loud, it’s casual, and it’s full of students and locals rather than tourists, which tells you everything about the value here.
L’As du Fallafel
Price range: €8 to €12 per person
Arrondissement: 4th, in the Marais
Website: lasdufallafel.fr
The falafel sandwich here has a cult following for good reason. Rue des Rosiers in the Marais is lined with falafel spots, and this is the one with the line out the door. Cheap, fast, and exactly the kind of meal that fuels a full day of walking.
La Crêperie de Josselin
Price range: €15 to €25 per person
Arrondissement: 14th, Montparnasse
Website: la-creperie-bretonne.com
Montparnasse is the historic gateway to Brittany, which is why the street is lined with crêperies. This one is the institution, a buckwheat galette with ham, egg, and cheese, a sweet crêpe to follow, and a bowl of cider to wash it all down. Generous, unpretentious, and exactly what a rainy afternoon in Paris calls for.
Build Your Own Picnic
Price range: €10 to €15 per person
Arrondissement: anywhere, really
This isn’t a restaurant, but it might be the best meal you have in Paris. Find a boulangerie for a baguette, a fromagerie for a wedge of something stinky and delicious, a charcuterie counter for some saucisson, and a wine shop for a bottle that costs less than bottled water at the airport. Walk to the Seine, find a bench, and eat like a local. This is the meal I think about most when I think about Paris.
Find Your Perfect Paris Restaurant
Two questions. One recommendation.
What’s your budget?
Best Restaurants in Paris at Mid-Range
Step up slightly in budget, and Paris delivers the full bistro experience. Good wine lists, chalkboard menus, and the kind of cooking that built the city’s reputation in the first place.
La Fontaine de Mars
Price range: €35 to €55 per person
Arrondissement: 7th
Address: 129 Rue Saint-Dominique
Website: fontainedemars.com
A classic written about in every guidebook that still holds up. Indoor and outdoor seating, a mix of locals and visitors, and the kind of menu where you can’t really go wrong. The duck confit and the cassoulet are both reliable choices.
Chez Fernand
Price range: €30 to €50 per person
Arrondissement: 6th
Address: 9 Rue Christine
Website: chez-fernand.com
A Left Bank bistro with a chalkboard menu that changes based on what’s fresh. The fish and mashed potatoes are a standout, and the beef bourguignon is the kind of dish that makes you understand why this style of cooking has lasted so long.
Bistrot des Tournelles
Price range: €30 to €50 per person
Arrondissement: 4th
Address: 6 Rue des Tournelles
Website: bistrotdestournelles.com
Tucked into the Marais, this bistro does the classics with real care. The roast chicken and the daube provençal both come up again and again in reviews, and the family-style sides mean you’re not fighting over the last of the fries.
Bistro Paul Bert
Price range: €40 to €60 per person
Arrondissement: 11th
Website: bistrotpaulbert.fr
One of the most recognized modern French bistros in the city, and an institution for a reason. The menu sticks close to tradition but executes it at a level that’s hard to find elsewhere at this price point. Book ahead.
Looking for a view? Check out our best rooftop restaurants in Paris page.
Eating Around the World Without Leaving Paris
Paris isn’t only about French food, and some of the best value meals in the city come from its immigrant neighborhoods. Belleville in the northeast has some of the best Chinese and Vietnamese food in Europe. The 13th arrondissement around Avenue d’Ivry is known as Paris’s Chinatown and has incredible pho and banh mi. The 18th arrondissement around La Goutte d’Or has excellent West African food. None of these neighborhoods is a tourist destination, which is exactly why the food is so good and so affordable. A bowl of pho here rarely costs more than €12.
If you’re interested in trying a bunch of food at once, check out our best food tours in Paris page to view the top options in the City of Light. Or if you want to get your hands dirty, have a look at our cooking classes in Paris guide.
Best Restaurants in Paris for a Splurge
Paris has more Michelin-starred restaurants than almost anywhere on earth, and while the top end can get genuinely expensive, there are ways into that world that don’t require a second mortgage. Here are some of the best French restaurants in Paris.
Benoit
Price range: lunch from €32, dinner significantly more
Arrondissement: 4th
Website: benoit-paris.com
The lowest-friction Michelin-starred experience in Paris. A classic Parisian bistro under the Alain Ducasse umbrella, with a one-star lunch menu that makes this kind of cooking accessible without the formality of the very top tier.
Septime
Price range: lunch around €70, dinner around €110 to €135
Arrondissement: 11th
Address: 80 Rue de Charonne
Website: septime-charonne.fr
One of the most talked-about restaurants in Paris for over a decade, and consistently ranked among the world’s best. Vegetable-forward, seasonal, and served on plain white plates that let the food do the talking. Reservations open online three weeks in advance and fill up fast, so plan early.
Kei
Price range: lunch from €85
Arrondissement: 1st
Website: kei-paris.fr
A three-star restaurant with what’s widely considered the best value lunch at that level in the entire city. If you want to experience the absolute top of French fine dining without the absolute top of French fine dining prices, this is the move.
Le Cinq
Price range: lunch from €145, dinner significantly more
Arrondissement: 8th
Address: Four Seasons Hotel George V
Website: fourseasons.com/paris
The full fantasy. A palatial dining room inside the Four Seasons George V, and a three-star meal that people talk about for years afterward. This is the one to save for a special occasion and book well in advance.
When the French like to eat:
Paris Dining Customs Worth Knowing
The French eat on a schedule, and it pays to know it. Lunch service generally runs from noon to 2 pm, and many kitchens close completely between lunch and dinner. Dinner doesn’t really start until 7:30 or 8 pm, and a reservation made for 7 pm might get you a confused look from the host.
Lunch is also where the value is. Many of the city’s best restaurants, including several Michelin-starred ones, offer prix fixe lunch menus at a fraction of dinner prices. If budget matters, eat your big meal at midday.
Tipping isn’t expected the way it is in North America. Service is included in the bill by law, so a tip is a small bonus for great service rather than an obligation. A couple of euros rounded up is generous.
Reservations matter more than you’d think, even at mid-range bistros. Book ahead where you can, especially for dinner, and especially at anything we’ve mentioned in the splurge category.
And don’t underestimate the picnic. Some of the best food in Paris isn’t in a restaurant at all. It’s in a paper bag from a boulangerie, eaten on a bench, with a view that no restaurant can match.
Planning Your Trip to Paris?
Here’s everything you need to get there and settle in before you start eating.