Mekane in Paris

Greg Marchand's 2e bistro that rewrote the neo-bistro template in 2009.

Bertrand Grébaut's 11e neo-bistro that reset the gravitational centre east in 2011.

Anglo-French neo-bistro on Faubourg Poissonnière — a wine list with weight, an unfussy kitchen.

The 1932 bistro classique, Ducasse-stewarded since 2013.

Mazouz brothers' Marais cocktail bar — North African-Pop Art mash-up, since 2001, with a hidden courtyard.

Belle Époque salon de thé since 1903 — Mont-Blanc and chocolat l'Africain under the rue de Rivoli arcades

Tiny zinc-bar bistro near Châtelet — GaultMillau toque, charcuterie from named Auvergne producers.

Gaël Orieux's quiet Michelin star, sustainable fish only, fifteen years running.

1890 Lyon-bouchon-style bistro — under the Dumant family from 2025, after Ducasse

Haut-Marais no-menu cocktail bar — bartender asks your mood, builds the drink around French organic seasonal produce.

The 11e's reference bistro — steak-frites, soufflé, white tablecloths and zero affectation.

1864 Belle Époque brasserie under a stained-glass dome — choucroute, plateaux de fruits de mer, full theatre.

Philippe Starck's 1970s post-office turned Trocadéro design hotel with rooftop kitchen garden.

1919 Place des Ternes brasserie — Laura Gonzalez interior, three-time MOF écailler.

1895 Saint-Lazare brasserie — Niermans mosaics, listed since 1989.

Brazilian asador — Lucas Baur de Campos's open-fire 11e room, Le Fooding, Infatuation cult.

Jody Williams's all-day gastrothèque — the SoPi room that never feels off.

Sartre and Beauvoir's corner of Boulevard Saint-Germain since 1887.

Jean-Marc Notelet's chalkboard bistro — spice-forward cuisine du marché near l'Étoile.

Taqueria up front, hidden cocktail bar through the back door — one of Paris's first speakeasies, still in form.

1927 Trocadéro tea-room — marble tables, white aprons, view across to the Tower.

Saint-Germain hunting-lodge speakeasy by Thomas Codsi — Le Fooding-listed, weekend basement DJ floor.

The trompe-l'oeil fruit pastries you've seen on Instagram — boutique and salon

Forty-seat 7e bistro behind Musée d'Orsay — chef Patrick Plais's blanquette, lentil salad, chocolate mousse in a fruit-bowl.

Septime's no-reservations seafood sister — daily-catch small plates on rue de Charonne.

Belle Époque tiles, marionette-sized kitchen, neo-bistro cooking — opposite the Cirque d'Hiver.

Franck Audoux's cocktail bar in a 1911 Hector Guimard Art Nouveau building.

Italian trattoria in a former Jean-Paul Gaultier boutique — Le Fooding 'Best Decor' 2017, still buzzing.

1883 Belle Époque seafood brasserie — Rostang family, daily-port-sourced fish.

The Goncourt Prize restaurant since 1914 — Place Gaillon institution under chef Romain Van Thienen

Mikaela Liaroutsos's Greek bistro on rue Eugène Carrière — Michelin Guide listing, Le Fooding regular.

The 2007 Sentier speakeasy that built modern Paris cocktail culture — still no reservations

Mahogany expat bar from 1911 — birthplace of the Bloody Mary, between Opéra and the Place Vendôme

The original Pigalle boutique — leather banquettes, art on every wall, brunch all weekend.

Boutique design hotel inside a former metals factory — concrete, courtyard, cocktail bar at the centre.

Laurent Taïeb's reborn 1888 central post office with rooftop ROOF and Eiffel-facing terraces.

Former Hugo & Victor relaunched under the chef's name — 2003 French Dessert Champion's first eponymous boutique

Marais chocolatier with a tea room — millefeuille made à la minute, possibly Paris's finest caramels.

Manoj Sharma's modern Indian on rue de Choiseul — the 2e room that finally read Indian cooking as a chef's cuisine.

Stéphane Jégo's Basque-Breton bistronomie since 2004 — riz au lait that built a pilgrimage.

Pigalle bar-restaurant by Fabien Lombardi (ex-Prescription) — natural wines, aged cocktails, PUNCH-listed.

Basque auberge on Quai Saint-Exupéry — Pierre Oteiza Kintoa pork, pintxos, the Trinquet Village Seine-edge terrace.

Robert Linxe's original chocolate boutique since 1977 — the room that defined Paris bean-to-praline

Mourad Mazouz's Marais Maghreb institution since 1990 — tagines and pastilla under 17th-century beams.

Pauline Séné's Top Chef-pedigreed bistronomy at the more ambitious end of rue Paul Bert.

The tiny bistro between Saint-Sulpice and Luxembourg, Fooding-prize winner.

Cyril Lignac's classified-monument bistro — fish-forward menu in an 1894 zinc-and-mosaic room.

Alain Ducasse's bean-to-bar manufacture in the 11e — Nicolas Berger's atelier behind a cobbled courtyard

Southwest French institution since 1894 — Art-Nouveau dining room beside the Halles épicerie.

The bistronomy capital of Paris, on the Carrefour de l'Odéon.

Antoine Westermann's Montmartre poultry house — heritage breeds, rotisserie at the top of the hill.

Marble-clad tapas-and-wine room next to the old Chateaubriand — Rem Koolhaas interior, natural-wine list.

Châtelet jazz club since 1984 — 300+ concerts a year, free Friday-Saturday midnight jam.

The Marais corner where natural wine, oysters and serious cocktails collapse into one room.

Franck Baranger's bistronomy benchmark — Bib Gourmand on a Pigalle backstreet.

The oldest café in Paris, opened 1686 — Voltaire, Diderot, Franklin all ate here.

The soufflé restaurant of the 7e, behind Le Bon Marché.

Vegetable-driven neo-bistro with a 400-bottle wine list and savoury-leaning desserts.

The Levha sisters' Franco-Filipino neo-bistro under a hand-painted ceiling on rue Saint-Maur.

Gaston Lenôtre's flagship since 1957 — the Plaine Monceau room that taught a generation of French pastry chefs

The other Saint-Germain café, with the better view of the church.

World's 50 Best Bars veteran — eleven consecutive years on the list, peak rank #6 in 2023.

Contemporary Lebanese on rue de la Banque — Liza Asseily's Beirut-Paris dialogue

Mediterranean cooking with a Tuileries terrace at the foot of the Louvre

Pigalle absinthe speakeasy — 50 Best Discovery, the Little Red Door team's Storyville room.

France's oldest tea house since 1854 — the Bourg-Tibourg flagship with the colonial-era painted casks

Mokonuts duo's chef-residency room — Le Fooding 2025 Honorary, rotating Palestinian / Korean / Filipino kitchens.

Jean-Louis Deniot-designed Evok hotel facing Comédie-Française, with Brasserie Réjane and a marble pool.

Paul Pairet's grill-and-rotisserie brasserie at the Crillon — the chic French fire-cooking room.

Meilleur Ouvrier de France 2000 chocolatier — the Madeleine flagship with the life-size chocolate sculptures

Alléno's one-Michelin counter format at Pavillon Ledoyen — the realistic same-week booking.

Candlelit 9e dining room, reborn under chef Lucie Boursier-Mougenot.

Big Mamma's four-floor Florentine theatre under a Pigalle glass roof.

Modern French bistronomic on a quiet Les Halles side street — chef-driven, value-strong tasting

Italian bistrattoria in the 19th-century Passage des Panoramas — Simone Tondo's Michelin-starred room

Open-fire Marais bistro where côte de bœuf is grilled in front of you on a wood hearth.

Eric Trochon's industrial bistronomy on rue de Seine.

Whisky-led cocktail den behind a discreet 4e façade — Vogue called it one of the world's 20 best.

Marais Korean BBQ — chef Sunghak Han's table-top grill, halal option, Michelin guide listing.

Anglophone-led tasting menu in a triplex above the Palais-Royal — Paris's quiet neo-bistro standard

Adeline Grattard's bistro reincarnation — Franco-Cantonese cooking after Yam'Tcha proper closes

Anatolian home cooking on rue Pasquier — the Madeleine room the Istanbul audience will actually recognise.