How can you choose just 20 out of the thousands of life-affirming restaurants in France, the most visited country in the world, the country that consistently tops the Michelin guide? If you have plans to join us on one of our France luxury tours, you’ll want to make sure you have a few special meals along the way. We’ve listed 20 of the best restaurants in France below, but before we launch into them, we thought we’d answer some FAQs.
What should I eat at a French restaurant?
Everything! Sometimes menus in traditional bistrots read like lists of your most long-held desires, and they’re different between regions. You won’t want to skip town without getting a steak-frites, a sole meunière, a terrine de Campagne, a French onion soup, a bouillabaisse, a croque monsieur, a Paris-Brest, an îles flottantes, a crème brûlée and eight crepes under your burgeoning belt … will you?
Do you tip at restaurants in France?
Tipping in France is optional so there is no specific percentage you need to keep in mind, but of course good servers appreciate and deserve a gratuity. French restaurant bills include a 15% service charge by law and waiters get paid a living wage, but a discretionary pourboire is commonplace.
How many Michelin star restaurants are there in France?
Unsurprisingly, France is the country with the most Michelin-starred restaurants: 654 in 2025. This includes 31 restaurants with three Michelin stars and 75 restaurants with two Michelin stars.
You may also enjoy reading: What To Wear To A Michelin Star Restaurant
Are restaurants open in France on Sunday?
The eternal question! Who among us hasn’t planned their trip to France to within an inch of its life only to be met with an unexpected French public holiday? Many more restaurants in France do open on Sundays these days, but if you want to eat somewhere specific, you must check and plan well in advance.
Arpège
Paris (7th arrondissement)
Initially, chef Alain Passard’s vegetarian menu was considered radical, but now there are decorated vegan restaurants aplenty. Nonetheless, someone had to get things going, and Arpège continues to be one of the best restaurants in France. It has three Michelin stars, despite (or maybe because of) the kitchen flying by the seat of its pants, sending out whatever ingredients happen to be seasonal and good on any given day.
Mirazur
Menton
This restaurant’s dramatic spot is unsurpassed – it sits in a 1930s-era rotunda building at the foot of the mountains, with panoramic views of the sparkling sea. Somehow, it’s also surrounded by gardens, in which wild rosemary, jasmine, almonds, medlars, peaches, grapes, cherries, asparagus, lemons and flowers thrive, just before they arrive on your plate. It’s a Cote d’Azur dream scene.
Table by Bruno Verjus
Paris
One of the best restaurants in France, but very much itself, Table offers fine dining with an atmosphere that’s warm and accessible. Over the wave-shaped counter, Bruno Verjus himself will happily talk you through his ingredients of the day. The daily menu is called “couleur du jour”, changing completely depending on what his trusted local producers have brought him.
View this post on Instagram
Septime
Paris (11th arrondissement)
Chef Bertrand Grébaut worked at Arpège before he opened Septime, which has redefined what contemporary bistro-style dining can be. The interior – bare wood, industrial lighting, exposed concrete and ivory pillar candles – lets the cooking shine. Look out for truffle potato velouté with brioche, veal sweetbreads with harissa and couscous broth, and some (when in season) special asparagus alchemy.
Maison Lameloise
Chagny, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
In a former post house in the heart of Burgundy, chef Éric Pras brings light, playfulness and vibrancy to classic Burgundian cooking. Think: snail tart with fizzy pickled garlic and nettle coulis, a seared scallop in lemon broth, and a chocolate-cassis mousse.
You may also like to read: The World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2024 and Where to Find Them
Le Doyenne
Saint-Vrain
Le Doyenné is a restaurant, guesthouse, and farm set within the historical grounds of the Château de Saint-Vrain, about an hour south of Paris. Guests dine in stunningly restored stables, beneath soaring wooden eaves, with views of the cottage garden. The “potager” (kitchen garden) is the beating heart of the restaurant – chefs harvest the choicest picks each morning.
View this post on Instagram
Pic
Valence, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
The Pic family has been through the Michelin wringer – beginning with three Michelin stars in 1939 and currently holding three again, under Anne-Sophie Pic, the only female chef in France to hold three stars. The Michelin guide describes Anne-Sophie Pic as “an iconic figure” and her gastronomy is served the appropriate way – on a porcelain plate, under a cloche.
Flocons de Sel
Megève
Emmanuel Renaut fell in love with the Haute-Savoie as a child visiting the mountains on daytrips. Now, he showcases his profound and extraordinary knowledge of Alpine ingredients at the mesmerising chalet that houses his three-Michelin-star restaurant. He says of his menu: “Behind each product are the men and women who enhance our mountain landscape”.
Discover more about our luxury journeys to France: Sophisticated and Stylish: why Southern France is Unmissable
Le Petit Nice
Marseille
Another address with three Michelin stars, this epically sun-soaked restaurant describes its location as “between sky and sea”, which is an accurate summation of its panoramic views. The colors here are only white and various blues; the menu is a heady combination of Mediterranean and maritime, with any combination of dentex, bream, bonito, whiting, comber, snapper and moray coming straight from the fishing boats.
View this post on Instagram
L’Auberge de l’Ill
Illhaeusern
This age-old auberge is an Alsatian inn in the truest, most decadent sense – in a storybook riverside setting, complete with manicured lawns and copious weeping willows. The restaurant is something of an institution, now helmed by chef Marc Haeberlin, grandson of the founders. It’s one of the best restaurants in France for dessert.
Epicure
Paris (8th arrondissement)
At Le Bristol, one of the most iconic luxury hotels in France and indeed the world, no fewer than three Michelin stars will do. Candelabras, damask upholstery, Louis XVI chairs and tasseled tablecloths set the haute cuisine tone at Epicure, where the dishes are technically flawless and endlessly delicious.
Bookmark for later: The Best Restaurants in Paris and Where to Find Them
Régis et Jacques Marcon
Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
A father (Régis) and son (Jacques) are behind this unique, somewhat out-of-the-way spot, amid rolling hills, two hours west of Lyon. There are 10 rooms if you need to stay overnight. The village sits in a cool, damp microclimate, making it famous for its mushrooms, which are abundant on the three-Michelin-star menu every autumn.
View this post on Instagram
La Table d’Elise
Monaco
This is a modern, generous restaurant with one Michelin star that visitors to Monaco should keep in their back pockets (if you happen to be taking our 12-day journey Ultimate Southern, for instance). The menu is perfectly Provencale: cod with aioli and seasonal vegetables, crab and leek ravioli and slow-cooked Sisteron lamb shoulder with caramelized onions, raisins, cinnamon and semolina.
La Grenouillère
La Madelaine-sous-Montreuil
In a classic old farmhouse by a stream in the picturesque village close to Calais, chef Alexandre Gauthier’s incredible avant-garde culinary personality disrupts the idyllic setting. Inside, the dining room is as artistic and experimental as the food, with lots of glass, wood and rusted metal. The menu is 11 courses of riotous flavor and texture.
You may also enjoy: This Country Takes the Crown for the Most Michelin-Starred Restaurants in 2024
Flaveur
Nice
There are two Michelin stars at Flaveur, one for each of the chefs, brothers Gaël and Mickaël Torteaux. Their menus are inspired by their travels and childhoods in Guadeloupe. In the heart of Nice, the dining room has huge fish-themed wooden cut-outs on the walls and space for just 20 diners. The three, four and seven-course menus are wild adventures.
View this post on Instagram
Pierre Gagnaire
Paris (8th arrondissement)
Another address in Paris means you should probably book our 14-day Ultimate France journey and then stay in the capital for a hectic schedule of haute cuisine at the end. Grandiosely located just off the Champs-Élysées, Pierre Gagnaire is the iconic, poetic restaurant from the chef who grew up in his father Jean Claude’s Michelin-star kitchen. On his website, the chef says “I want to put feeling and intelligence into my cooking. People need poetry, tenderness and well-made things”.
La Villa Madie
Cassis
L’Anse de Corton is a magical little cove known to the people of Cassis, but not to everyone else. La Villa Madie sits snugly within it, a restaurant that was once the darling of Cassis and is now one of the best restaurants in France, even though its chef-owners – Marielle and Dimitri Droisneau – modestly describe themselves as a ‘contemporary innkeeper couple’.
You might be interested to learn: How Do Restaurants Get Awarded a Michelin Star?
Rouge
Nimes
Beninese chef Georgiana Viou brings her favorite West African flavors, her warm disposition and her love for her adopted hometown of Marseille to the table. The result is a creative, Mediterranean fusion menu. The dining room is a cosy, welcoming space, featuring rose velvet, marble and amber tones. The patio is even more inviting.
View this post on Instagram
La Vague d’Or
Saint-Tropez
Among the pine trees and bikinis of Saint-Tropez, La Vague d’Or is chef Arnaud Donckele’s three Michelin-star tribute to this unique, seductive place. He promises guests a magical journey through land and sea, celebrating the traditions of the region, and remaining steadfast on his quest for innovation.
Les Prés d’Eugénie – Michel Guérard
Eugénie-les-Bains, Nouvelle Acquitaine
Michel Guérard, one of the founders of la nouvelle cuisine, sadly died in 2024. This restaurant in a stunningly serene spa hotel, overseen for a few years now by head chef Hugo Souchet, is a testament to Guérard’s dedication and to how admired he was. It’s a light, enchanting temple to French gastronomy, which has retained its three Michelin stars since 1977.
Feeling inspired to experience the best France has to offer, or may the rest of the world? Take a look at our collection of small group luxury journeys.
