Best-of Guides Paris

The Least Expensive Michelin-starred Restaurants in Paris

9 Restaurants
Fancy treating yourself to a meal at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris, but find the prospect of the bill makes you break out in a cold sweat? Then the lunch menu will become your best friend. Here, a selection of one-star restaurants in the French capital offering an affordable lunch menu.
Updated on 15 May 2023
Accents Table Bourse
24 rue Feydeau, 75002 Paris
€€€ · Modern Cuisine

This place close to the Bourse, run by a Japanese pastry chef, combines classic recipes and more flamboyant creations (such as diplomate flan with cardamom, poached peaches and fennel sorbet), subtly enhanced and rich in smoked and grilled flavours. Balance and precision are the watchwords, illustrated by the sommelier’s advice. Very friendly, slick service.

€52 at lunchtime

Pantagruel
24 rue du Sentier, 75002 Paris
€€€ · Modern Cuisine

At the helm of this location in the Sentier area is Reims-born chef Jason Gouzy. Gouzy drew on the services of a fashion designer to create this cocoon for food lovers, where bourgeois style meets romantic charm. He showcases the gamut of his expertise, ranging from a clever interplay of textures to surf and turf, smoked dishes and condiments—think pithiviers of duck and foie gras and celeriac with truffles. 

€58 at lunchtime

Auberge Nicolas Flamel
51 rue de Montmorency, 75003 Paris
€€€€ · Modern Cuisine

Was Nicolas Flamel, former owner of the oldest house in Paris (1407), an alchemist? Historians may still disagree, but we are firmly convinced that seasoned chef, Grégory Garimbay, transforms his ingredients into culinary gold. He signs balanced, modern recipes, whose aromas and flavours are intelligently assembled. A genuine alchemist!

€64 at lunchtime

Auguste
54 rue de Bourgogne, 75007 Paris
€€€€ · Modern Cuisine

A chic, upscale place where you can savor cuisine with a modern edge: "black pearl" cupped oysters, seawater jelly, horseradish mousse, and Comice pear or line-caught sea bass with tomato compote, orange foam with cinnamon. An enticingly varied menu made using high-quality produce.

 €44 at lunchtime

Contraste
18 rue d'Anjou, 75008 Paris
€€€€ · Modern Cuisine

Why the name? This restaurant brings together a chef from Brittany and a chef from Perpignan, who are in fact childhood friends; a decor that marries the old with the new; and finally, a nod to one of the Selosse family's greatest vintage champagnes. The short menu proposes contemporary and tasty cuisine based on fine seasonal ingredients. The surf and turf combinations are particularly good.

€55 at lunchtime

Automne
11 rue Richard-Lenoir, 75011 Paris
€€€€ · Modern Cuisine

Nobuyuki Akishige, a Japanese chef with a flawless track record (L'Atelier du Peintre in Colmar, La Vague d'Or in St-Tropez, K2 in Courchevel) concocts subtle and well- crafted seasonal cuisine, such as roast magret de canard with a parsnip purée and kalamata olives. Dishes to savor in an unpretentious bistro interior—it's spot on.

€45 at lunchtime

Virtus
29 rue de Cotte, 75012 Paris
€€€ · Modern Cuisine

Stripped back cuisine on a constant quest for new flavours and culinary invention. Vegetables take the limelight and the flavours are finely tuned. The set lunch menu is wonderfully affordable.

€49 at lunchtime

Substance
18 rue de Chaillot, 75016 Paris
€€€€ · Creative

The chef has honed his skills in a series of prestigious establishments (Le Meurice, Portos, Lasserre, Louis XV) and was a semi-finalist in French TV's Top Chef 2021. He serves a single set menu (five, seven or nine courses) that favours short supply chains and fine ingredients (turbot, bonito). The dishes stick close to the seasons and incorporate pleasing nods to his native Jura region. A fine list of 1 000 wines (200 champagnes), mostly organic or natural. Uninhibited, lively cooking: an excellent place.

€62 at lunchtime

Jacques Faussat
54 rue Cardinet, 75017 Paris
€€€ · Traditional Cuisine

In a quiet neighbourhood, this inviting and comfortable restaurant has recently been refurbished in a contemporary style. It proposes a menu that changes with the market's offerings and the chef's inspiration. A likeable man who hails from the Gers, he brings together traditional expertise and up - to - the - minute style. Diners passing through as well as regulars come away happy. Good value for money.

€58 at lunchtime