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French food has a reputation for being fussy and expensive, but the best of it in Paris is the opposite: simple things done well, in places that have been doing them for decades. This is a complete guide to what to eat in Paris, from the starters and the great braises to the cheese course, the bakery, the pastry window and the classic desserts, with the regional dishes and street food worth going out of your way for. It is built around what we ate on our own trip and rounded out with the plates no French food guide should leave off. For the rest of the city beyond the food, see our Paris travel guide.
Starters and small plates
A French meal often begins with something small and sharp. The classics to look for are escargots, snails baked in garlic and parsley butter, and soupe a l’oignon gratinee, onion soup under a lid of melted cheese. Charcuterie and pate boards are everywhere: terrines, rillettes, dried saucisson, and foie gras where you are comfortable with it. In brasseries and near the coast you will also find oysters and other fruits de mer served cold on ice.
Salads hold their own as a starter or a light lunch. Salade nicoise comes with tuna, egg, olives and beans, and salade de chevre chaud is warm goat cheese on toast over dressed greens. If a kitchen makes a proper cheese or herb souffle, order it for the theatre as much as the taste.
Many bistros still list the humble starters locals grew up with: oeuf mayonnaise, a boiled egg under a blanket of mayonnaise, poireaux vinaigrette, cold leeks in a mustard dressing, and celeri remoulade, shredded celeriac in a creamy sauce. They cost little and tell you quickly whether a kitchen cares.
A charcuterie board is a meal in itself: rillettes to spread, slices of saucisson and jambon, a coarse country pate or a wedge of pate en croute. It is the easy order when you want wine and something to pick at rather than a full plate.
Escargots and frog legs
The two dishes that carry the adventurous reputation of French food are escargots and cuisses de grenouille, frog legs. To us the snails smell like shellfish, the kind of seafood starter we often had in the izakayas around Koenji when we were living in Japan. The frog legs we already knew from Chinese food, and they smell like a good chicken and taste close to one too. Both are really a vehicle for a lot of garlic butter, so order them as a starter to share.
Seafood and the raw bar
Brasseries take seafood seriously, and in the colder months the stalls out front shuck oysters to order. A plateau de fruits de mer is the full display: oysters, prawns, crab, whelks and clams piled on crushed ice. Oysters, huitres, are traditionally eaten in the months with an R in the name, from autumn into spring. Coquilles Saint-Jacques, scallops, usually come seared or baked in the shell. If raw oysters are new to you, start with a few, a squeeze of lemon and a glass of cold white.
The main dishes to know
Steak frites and steak tartare
Steak frites is the French comfort dish: a good cut of beef, a pile of thin fries, and a sauce or herb butter. Some places build their whole reputation on it, serving one cut cooked one way with unlimited fries. It is hard to do badly and very satisfying when done well.
Steak tartare is the raw counterpart: hand-chopped or minced beef, seasoned and served with the same fries. If raw beef is new to you, a brasserie that prepares it to order is the place to try it rather than a tourist cafe.
Moules frites and the great braises
Moules frites, a pot of mussels steamed in white wine or a creamy broth with fries on the side, is the dish to order when you want something generous without going heavy on meat. You eat it with your hands and mop up the broth with bread.
The heart of French comfort cooking is the slow braise. Boeuf bourguignon simmers beef in red wine with mushrooms and onions, and coq au vin does the same with chicken. Blanquette de veau is a pale, creamy veal stew, pot-au-feu a boiled beef and vegetable pot, and cassoulet a rich casserole of white beans, sausage and duck from the southwest. Duck turns up everywhere: confit de canard is the leg cooked slowly in its own fat, while magret de canard is the seared breast served pink.
Lighter mains and everyday plates
Not everything is heavy. Sole meuniere is whole fish pan-fried in brown butter and lemon, and a proper French omelette, soft in the centre, is a quiet test of a good kitchen. Quiche Lorraine, the bacon and egg tart, is a reliable lunch. The croque monsieur, grilled ham and cheese finished with bechamel and more cheese under the grill, is the classic Paris cafe snack, and a croque madame is the same with a fried egg on top. Ratatouille, the slow-cooked vegetable stew from Provence, is the classic meat-free plate.
The bigger plates and roasts
When you want something substantial, look for steak au poivre in a peppercorn and cream sauce, a shared cote de boeuf carved at the table, or a simple poulet roti, roast chicken with potatoes cooked in the juices. Hachis parmentier is the French version of shepherd’s pie, and gratin dauphinois, potatoes baked slowly in cream and garlic, is the side that quietly steals the plate. A gigot d’agneau, roast leg of lamb, is the Sunday classic.
For the adventurous: offal and the strong stuff
France does not hide its offal, and trying it is part of eating here honestly. Andouillette is a coarse tripe sausage with a strong smell that divides even locals. Boudin noir is blood sausage, often served with soft apple. Tete de veau, calf’s head, and tripes still hold their place on traditional menus. None of it is for everyone, but a good version is a very different thing from the idea of it.
Regional dishes worth seeking out
Paris pulls in food from every region, so you can eat your way around the country without leaving the city. From the southwest come cassoulet and duck in all its forms. From Marseille, bouillabaisse, the saffron fish stew served with rouille and croutons. From Alsace, choucroute garnie, sauerkraut piled with sausages and pork, and flammekueche, a wafer-thin tart of cream, onion and bacon. From the mountains of Savoie, the melted-cheese trio of fondue, raclette and tartiflette, at their best in cold weather. From Brittany, savoury buckwheat galettes and sweet crepes.
Dig a little further and the regional list keeps going. Aligot, from the Aubrac, is mashed potato whipped with cheese until it stretches like a rope. From Nice come socca, a chickpea pancake, and pissaladiere, an onion and anchovy tart. The Basque country brings piperade, peppers and tomato cooked down with egg and ham. And with the galettes of Brittany you should drink cider, served cold in a bowl, rather than wine.
Cheese, the course before dessert
In France cheese is its own course, served after the main and before or instead of dessert. A plate usually runs from mild to strong: a soft Brie or Camembert, a firm Comte or Cantal, a tangy goat cheese, and a blue such as Roquefort. Eat it with bread rather than crackers, and do not ask for it at the start of the meal. When a restaurant wheels over a loaded cheese trolley, take it as a good sign.
Bread and the bakery
Breakfast in Paris is a bakery, not a hotel buffet. The baguette is the daily staple and is best eaten the same day it is baked. A good croissant should shatter when you bite it and taste of butter, not sugar, and pain au chocolat and the almond croissant are the other two to work through. Brioche, soft and enriched with butter and egg, sits somewhere between bread and cake. Buy from a boulangerie with a queue of locals and you will rarely go wrong.
Beyond the croissant, the rest of the viennoiserie shelf is worth working through: pain aux raisins, the chausson aux pommes filled with apple, the kouign-amann, a caramelised butter cake from Brittany, and the palmier and the financier for something small with coffee. Ask for a baguette tradition rather than the standard loaf and you will taste the difference in the crust alone.
Pastries and desserts
French pastry is its own reason to visit. Pâtisserie windows are lined with small, precise things that are as much to look at as to eat, and a guided food tour is a good way to taste a lot of them in one morning without choosing blind.
The pastries to try first
Start with the macaron, two almond meringue shells around a ganache or buttercream, light and chewy at once, and not to be confused with the coconut macaroon. The mille-feuille, which means a thousand sheets, layers crisp puff pastry with vanilla cream and is sometimes called a napoleon. The eclair and the round religieuse are choux pastry filled with chocolate or coffee cream. Paris-Brest, a ring of choux with praline cream, and the Saint-Honore, built on caramel and cream, are the showpieces. Smaller bites include the canele, a caramelised custard cake from Bordeaux with a dark crust, and the madeleine, the little shell-shaped sponge.
Seasonal and showpiece cakes reward a second look too: the fraisier, layered with strawberries and cream in summer, the tarte tropezienne, a cream-filled brioche from the Riviera, and the opera, thin layers of almond sponge, coffee buttercream and chocolate. Chouquettes, little choux buns dusted with pearl sugar, are the cheap bakery treat to buy by the bag and eat on the walk home.
The classic desserts
On restaurant menus the desserts are simpler and just as good. Creme brulee comes under a cracked top of burnt sugar, tarte Tatin is the upside-down caramelised apple tart, and profiteroles arrive with warm chocolate poured over. Tarte au citron is the sharp option, the opera cake the rich one, and ile flottante, a cloud of meringue floating on vanilla custard, is the lightest way to finish.
Crepes deserve their own mention. Thin and folded with sugar, lemon, chocolate or jam, they turn up everywhere from sit-down creperies to street windows. Crepe Suzette, flambeed in orange and liqueur at the table, is the dressed-up version.
A few more desserts round out any menu worth its salt: mousse au chocolat, dense and dark, clafoutis, a baked batter studded with cherries, baba au rhum, a sponge soaked in rum, and far breton, a thick prune flan from Brittany. None are fussy, and all are the kind of thing a good kitchen quietly does well.
Street food and quick bites
Not every meal is a sit-down affair. The jambon-beurre, ham and good butter in a fresh baguette, is the original fast food and still one of the best cheap lunches in the city. Crepes and galettes come straight from street windows, and in Le Marais the falafel queues are a Paris institution in their own right. A wedge of quiche or a slice of tart from a boulangerie makes a fine lunch on a bench by the Seine.
Markets, bakeries and food to take away
Some of the best eating in Paris is bought, not ordered. The covered and open-air markets, the marches, are where locals buy cheese, bread, fruit and roast chickens, and many run several mornings a week. A good fromagerie will cut and wrap cheese to your taste and tell you what is ripe today. Put together a bag from a boulangerie, a fromagerie and a market stall and you have a picnic for the Seine or a park bench that beats most restaurants for the money.
What to drink
Wine is the default, and the house wine by the glass or the pichet is usually sound and cheap. A kir, white wine with creme de cassis, is the classic aperitif, and a kir royal swaps in champagne. Coffee is its own ritual: an espresso after the meal, a cafe creme in the morning, and rarely a milky coffee after lunch if you want to blend in. For something without alcohol, a citron presse or a thick cup of hot chocolate in a cafe does the job. One thing to adjust to is that France is a wine country, not a beer one. There is no real beer culture here. The beer list is usually short and often Belgian, and a bottle tends to cost more than a decent glass of wine, so when in doubt, order the wine.
It helps to know the big wine regions: Bordeaux and Burgundy for reds, the Rhone for something bigger, the Loire and Alsace for crisp whites, and Champagne for the obvious. Before the meal, a pastis in the south or a Lillet is common alongside the kir. After it comes the digestif: a cognac or armagnac, or a calvados if you have been eating your way through Normandy. And with Breton galettes the drink is cider, not wine.
How a French meal is built
A full French meal runs in a set order: an entree, which is the starter here and not the main, then a plat, and after that cheese and dessert, with coffee to finish. You do not have to order every course. At lunch especially, look for the formule or the menu, a fixed-price deal of two or three courses that is usually far better value than ordering a la carte. Entree-plat or plat-dessert for a set price is the local lunch move, and it is the single easiest way to eat well in Paris without overspending.
Where to eat: brasseries, bistros and bouillons
Knowing the type of place helps as much as knowing the dish. A bistro is small and casual, with a short handwritten menu of the day. A brasserie is bigger and open long hours, good for a late meal or a grand room like Le Train Bleu inside Gare de Lyon. A bouillon is the budget classic: large, fast, affordable, and built on traditional dishes, which is how an institution like Bouillon Chartier still serves a full French menu at low prices. For steak frites done one way and done well, the Entrecote-style houses such as Le Relais de l’Entrecote are their own small category. And if you want to turn a meal into an evening, a dinner cruise on the Seine does exactly that.
How to eat like a local
A few habits make eating here easier. Lunch is usually served in a set window around midday, and dinner starts late, so an early dinner can mean an empty room. Bread comes free and is for the meal, not a starter. Tap water, asked for as une carafe d’eau, is free and completely normal. Service is included in the price in France, so tipping is optional and small: rounding up or leaving a little change is plenty. And a long meal is the point, not a problem, as your table is usually yours for the evening. One more habit: steer clear of the restaurants near the big sights with no prices on the menu or vague market-price seafood, as that is where the bill tends to surprise you. Our guide to common Paris scams covers the restaurant traps to avoid.
What to book ahead
Most of eating in Paris is walk-in, which is part of the pleasure. The exceptions worth reserving are the famous rooms and the popular food experiences: a table at a landmark brasserie, a dinner cruise on the Seine, or a guided food tour if you want someone else to do the choosing. Everything else you can decide on the day, by following the queue of locals.
Frequently Asked Questions
What food is Paris famous for?
Steak frites, moules frites, escargots and croissants, along with the great braises like boeuf bourguignon, coq au vin and duck confit, and a pastry scene led by the macaron and the mille-feuille. Most of it is simple food done well.
What are the must-try French dishes in Paris?
Work through steak frites, steak tartare, moules frites, boeuf bourguignon, duck confit, escargots, a cheese course, and at least one classic dessert. Add a croissant from a boulangerie and a crepe from a street window.
What French pastries should you try in Paris?
The macaron and the mille-feuille first, then the eclair, Paris-Brest, Saint-Honore, canele and madeleine. On restaurant menus look for creme brulee, tarte Tatin and ile flottante.
What is a mille-feuille?
A mille-feuille, meaning a thousand sheets, is layers of crisp puff pastry stacked with vanilla cream and topped with icing. It is sometimes called a napoleon in English.
What should you eat for breakfast in Paris?
A croissant or pain au chocolat from a boulangerie, ideally one with a queue of locals, rather than a hotel buffet. A good croissant should taste of butter and shatter when you bite it.
What cheeses should you try in France?
A plate from mild to strong: a soft Brie or Camembert, a firm Comte, a tangy goat cheese and a blue like Roquefort. Cheese is served as its own course after the main, eaten with bread.
Are frog legs worth trying in Paris?
Yes, at least once. Frog legs are mild and taste closer to chicken than anything unusual, and they are mostly a vehicle for garlic and parsley butter. Order them as a shared starter.
Should you try escargots (snails) in Paris?
Yes. Escargots are baked in garlic and parsley butter and are more about that butter than the snails themselves. They are a classic French starter and easy to share if you are unsure.
What regional French dishes can you eat in Paris?
Plenty. Cassoulet from the southwest, bouillabaisse from Marseille, choucroute and flammekueche from Alsace, fondue, raclette and tartiflette from Savoie, and galettes and crepes from Brittany.
What should you drink with a French meal?
Wine is the default, and the house carafe is usually good value. A kir makes a classic aperitif, and coffee means an espresso after the meal rather than during it. Beer is drunk too, but France is a wine country: the beer is often Belgian and usually costs more than the house wine.
What is a good cheap meal in Paris?
A jambon-beurre ham baguette, a plate at a bouillon, a street crepe, or falafel in Le Marais. A slice of quiche or tart from a boulangerie is another reliable budget lunch.
Do you tip in Paris restaurants?
Service is included in the price by law in France, so tipping is optional. Rounding up or leaving a little change for good service is normal and more than enough.
Is tap water free in Paris restaurants?
Yes. Ask for une carafe d’eau and you will get free tap water. There is no need to buy bottled water unless you prefer it.
What is the difference between a bistro, a brasserie and a bouillon?
A bistro is small and casual with a short daily menu. A brasserie is bigger and open long hours. A bouillon is the large, traditional, budget option built on French classics.
When do restaurants serve lunch and dinner in Paris?
Lunch is usually served in a set window around midday, and dinner starts in the evening and runs late. An early dinner can mean an almost empty room.
Do you need reservations to eat in Paris?
Mostly no. Walk-in is normal and part of the fun. Reserve for landmark rooms, Seine dinner cruises and guided food tours, where demand is higher.
What seafood should you try in Paris?
Oysters, a plateau de fruits de mer and scallops are the brasserie classics. Oysters are traditionally eaten in the months with an R in them, from autumn into spring, with a squeeze of lemon and a cold white.
What is the formule or set menu in a French restaurant?
A fixed-price deal of two or three courses, usually shown as a formule or menu. It is normally much better value than ordering a la carte, especially at lunch, so entree-plat or plat-dessert is the local move.
What should you buy at a Paris food market?
Cheese from a fromagerie, bread from a boulangerie, fruit, and a roast chicken from a market stall. Put them together and you have a picnic for the Seine that beats most restaurants for the price.
What French wine regions should you know?
Bordeaux and Burgundy for reds, the Rhone for bigger reds, the Loire and Alsace for crisp whites, and Champagne for sparkling. The house carafe is usually sound and cheap if you would rather not choose.
Is there good vegetarian food in Paris?
Yes, and more every year. Ratatouille, salads, cheese, crepes and the falafel of Le Marais are easy wins, though classic bistros and bouillons still lean heavily on meat.
Still hungry? On the Belgian leg of our trip we feasted on waffles, chocolate and mussels, which you can read about in our Paris and Belgium itinerary by Eurostar.
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