A Foodie’s Guide to Paris Restaurants, Cafés & More

Paris: City of Lights, City of Love, Gourmet Capital of the World… But better known to me as the first place I lived after leaving home aged 18. I was studying at the Cordon Bleu school. I don’t remember all that much about those three months except for nursing an unrequited crush on an incredibly posh boy with a double-barrelled surname, and getting into trouble with French chefs in enormous white hats for not following their recipes properly. Twenty+ years later (good grief!) and French chefs still aren’t too impressed with my laissez-faire attitude towards cooking (more on that later), but at least I seem to have got past the unrequited-crushes-on-posh-boys phase.

I’ve been lucky enough to visit Paris several times over the decades, and it’s a city that has changed a lot in the intervening years. Now that European cuisine has strongholds in Copenhagen, London and San Sebastian (to name just a few “foodie cities”) gastronomy in Paris doesn’t have quite the same reputation it used to. That’s a shame, because there are still plenty of reasons – culinary and otherwise – to visit the French capital. I’m bringing you just a few of them in my guide to Paris restaurants, bistros, cafés, wine bars and much more.

Editor’s notes: This guide contains some sponsored content, and some of the listings are based on a press trip organised by the City of Paris Tourism Office. The guide was last updated in June 2026, but many of these listings are based on restaurant and bar visits on multiple trips to Paris over the past few years. While I’ve done my best to make sure all information is as current as possible, please check opening hours and menus with the venues themselves.

Planning your trip to Paris

Before you can book a table at a Paris bistro, you’re going to need to get there. Here are a few trip essentials to start:

• Getting to Paris: Most visitors fly into Charles de Gaulle (CDG), with Orly and Beauvais handling more European and budget routes. Air France, Delta, United, American Airlines and JetBlue all fly direct from major US cities, and from Amsterdam you can fly with KLM or Air France. Compare fares on Expedia, and compare trains, coaches and flights on Omio. From London, Brussels and Amsterdam, Eurostar runs direct trains into central Paris.
• Getting around: Central Paris is compact and best explored on foot, with the Métro covering longer hops (see Île-de-France Mobilités for routes and tickets). You don’t need a car in the city, but if you’re planning a day trip you can rent one.
• Where to stay: Paris is split into 20 arrondissements, and where you base yourself will shape which of these places are on your doorstep. See Booking.com for options.
• Tours and experiences: Browse Paris tours on Viator and GetYourGuide, or head straight for the food. For a guided introduction, Secret Food Tours runs a small-group Saint-Germain food tour in English, and you’ll find more options on Viator’s Paris food tours page.
• Further reading: Planning a trip to France? Check out my guides to Lille, Strasbourg and Bordeaux.

For the Gourmand: Best Restaurants and Bistros in Paris

Le Petit Cler

Before I get onto some of my favourite restaurants, I wanted to mention a street. If you’re anywhere near the Eiffel Tower (and let’s face it: you’re going to be) try wandering down Rue Cler for lunch or dinner. Lined with cafés, bistros and brasseries that are frequented by locals and tourists alike, you’re bound to find something to suit any appetite or budget. I had an enormous French salad (by which I mean there was more meat and cheese than green stuff) and a glass of rosé at Le Petit Cler – a cute little restaurant with a covered outdoor area that’s perfect for spring/autumn weather.

L’Ami Jean

Hands down the best food I ate in Paris, and the one place I will definitely be going back to next time I’m in town. L’Ami Jean is a rustic bistro in the seventh arrondissement – it’s actually extremely close to Rue Cler, although I didn’t know that at the time. Despite its down-to-earth interior, L’Ami Jean is undoubtedly serving some of the best food in the Paris. We tried their eight-course tasting menu, which made me regret not starving myself for several hours beforehand – it was a LOT of food. I could write an entire post reviewing this restaurant alone (and perhaps I will), but for now a few highlights: the pork terrine that they bring to the table when you arrive isn’t part of the tasting menu (I believe you get it whatever you order) but is absolute rustic perfection. Breast of quail was peppery, orangey, umami-savoury… I didn’t want it to end. Mackerel was served semi-raw with a citrusy confit, aniseed-fresh fennel, runner beans and spicy espelette pepper. The espelette pepper made a comeback later with milky scallops and wild strawberries – an unexpected but delicate combination. I could go on, but I imagine the menu changes regularly so it’s unlikely you’ll be eating the same as me by the time you read this anyway.

La Régalade

On the prestigious Rue Saint-Honoré, La Régalade serves seasonal French fare with a contemporary twist. I particularly enjoyed their black risotto with shrimps, garlic and fried parsley: squid ink dishes can sometimes be oppressively heavy, but this one was well balanced and full of sea-flavour. My cod main course was silky smooth and came with wilted leeks, clams, and a few rogue mushrooms (oddly). But it’s their rice pudding with salted-butter caramel sauce that La Régalade is most famous for. Guess you should just go judge for yourself…

Sanukiya

And now for something completely different. Sanukiya is a Japanese udon restaurant that has queues out the door every lunch and dinner time. I waited for about 20 minutes to get my spot at the bar, where I ordered the Tempura Udon – thick noodles in a light broth with two battered, butterflied, deep-fried king prawns. With hindsight, I wish I’d ordered something different (I have it on good authority from one of my Facebook followers that Yama Wakame is the udon dish to go for) but I was seduced by the look of the tempura prawns that everyone seemed to be getting. In reality, tempura batter and broth don’t really mix: the batter turns to a soggy mush in a matter of seconds, and you’re left with double-carb soup. But that wouldn’t stop me recommending this place, albeit you should expect to wait in line and pay for that popularity.

For the Smaller Appetite: Best Cafés in Paris

Bagnard

Inspired by the food of Marseille, Bagnard got started because there was something Paris wasn’t doing food-wise (or at least wasn’t doing very well): the pan bagnat and the salade Niçoise. Unsurprisingly, we tried both and enjoyed them immensely. I make a pretty mean salad myself, so I’m quite picky when it comes to a Niçoise – this one was worth every cent (although it was surprisingly inexpensive to begin with). The pan bagnat came filled with speck, burrata, rocket and tomatoes, and the crusty bread was soaked in a black-olive dressing – which is frankly what elevates a pan bagnat from a regular ol’ sarnie. I’d also recommend Bagnard’s pissaladiere (think onion and anchovy pizza, but better than that sounds like it would be) as well as their Pastis, basil and lemon cocktail (it’s so green that it feels like a perfectly healthy 11 am drink).

PaperBoy Paris

For the most generously filled sandwiches in the 11^th (Oberkampf area), try PaperBoy Paris. Mine was stuffed with pastrami, cheese and gherkins, and was so big that I kept half of it for an afternoon snack later on. Their coffees and juices are good too.

For the Oenophile: Paris Wine Bar

If you’re heading to Oberkampf anyway, why not stop in for a glass of wine after lunch or before dinner? Le 11eme Domaine is a wine-shop-cum-wine-bar that serves a wide range of (mostly French) wines by the glass or bottle. I tried this rosé from the Languedoc, which made a perfect aperitif before dinner. But beware: there’s some funny French law that means you have to order at least a snack with your wine at Le 11eme Domaine; I’m not sure why but we somehow got into trouble for not knowing.

For the Shopaholic: Speciality Food Shops in Paris St. Germain

The St. Germain area is nirvana for foodies – especially those with a sweet tooth. During a food tour with Promenade des Sens, we visited a number of tantalising sweet shops, including Pierre Marcolini for top-quality Belgian chocolates, and Henri Le Roux for classic salted butter caramels.

For the Aspiring Chef: Cooking Classes in Paris

Remember what I was saying at the beginning about French chefs and my slightly off-piste cooking style? Enter Chef Guillaume, who taught me and several others how to make macarons at cooking school La Cuisine Paris. Putting us through our paces with boiling sugar, piping bags and egg-white folding, this chef was not to be messed with. By the end of the lesson I wasn’t sure if the fear he inspired in us all was genuine or joking; perhaps a combination of the two. Either way, we came out of class each with our own box of (almost) perfectly formed macarons in different colours and flavours – passionfruit and mint macarons filled with either dark or milk chocolate ganache. (Mine were the orange ones – I’m nearly Dutch, after all.) Run by a lovely British lady who was considerably less scary than Chef Guillaume, La Cuisine Paris would make a great afternoon activity for aspiring chefs and home cooks looking to master the art of patisserie, classic French sauces and more.

For the Extreme Foodie: Tour of Rungis Market

When I say “extreme foodie”, I mean it. I always thought my foodie credentials were pretty solid until I found myself watching a calf’s head being butchered at 5.30 in the morning. But I’m getting ahead of myself. The world-famous Rungis International Market is the place where restaurateurs and retailers come to buy their fresh produce – from lobster to liver and from roquefort to rhubarb. But for regular punters, the only way you can get a glimpse behind the scenes of the world’s largest wholesale market is to get up at stupid o’clock in the morning and take a four-hour tour.

The first stop is the fish market, which opens at 2 am and closes at 6 am, so this is truly the red-eye flight of food tours. Huge styrofoam boxes of glistening-finned fish and blue-shelled crustaceans sit on more ice than you can shake an American fridge at – and it’s not as stinky as you might think. It is, however, extremely cold. Every warehouse is set at about 2°C, so dress warmly or be prepared to shiver. Next, we saw two meat warehouses: one in charge of butchering entire cows, the other responsible for making the most of all the grizzly bits. That’s where the calf’s head made its appearance: in two minutes flat, the butcher had deftly separated the skin and brains from the rest of the head, and prepped the remainder for some chef to turn into tête de veau. I was starting to regret my hangover in more ways than one.

From there, things got a little less gruesome (although you can still expect to see chickens with their heads intact, fluffy rabbits, and so on in the poultry warehouse) and it was onto my favourite: the cheese. Enormous wheels of gruyere nuzzled up against entire cases of the King of Cheeses: Vacherin Mont d’Or. In April, the fresh fruit and veg halls were less interesting than they might have been at other times of year, as not a whole lot of local produce was in season at the time. At the end of the tour, you’re taken for breakfast at one of the onsite restaurants: croissants, bread, cheese, fruit – the usual French fare. Which is frankly a relief!

For the Curious Traveller: Airbnb Experiences

Cooking classes like those at La Cuisine Paris, as well as small-group food tours like Rungis Market, are memorable because a real host designs and runs them – personally deciding where and when to eat, and telling stories based on their own knowledge of the city. As a curious traveller myself, this is often what I’m looking for. Airbnb Experiences applies that same hosting model across Paris, connecting travellers with locals who teach, cook and guide visitors through their own arrondissements.

On Airbnb, travellers can browse experiences by neighbourhood rather than by tour company, from pastry workshops in the 11th arrondissement to market walks along hard-to-find foodie streets, and book them alongside a place to stay (the trusted reviews apply to both accommodation and experiences). Each host is an independent local who curates their own event, so the offerings reflect specific streets, shops and personal expertise. The format gives visitors more ways to visit Paris beyond seeking out restaurants and shops on their own: it turns a trip built around eating well into one built around the people cooking and hosting, arrondissement by arrondissement. (On a different but related note, I run my own Dutch wine tastings in Amsterdam via Airbnb Experiences, too!)

Planning a trip to France? Check out my guides to Lille, Strasbourg and Bordeaux.

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