Travel 5 minutes 04 December 2024

Where to Eat in Paris Near Notre-Dame Cathedral: Our Top 12 Restaurant Picks

Skip the tourist traps while sightseeing in the city center, dining in style at one of these 12 top spots, all vetted by our MICHELIN Guide Inspectors.

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The neighborhoods surrounding Notre Dame have long been a favorite for flâneurs, with everyone from poet Charles Baudelaire to Ernest Hemingway popularizing this type of sauntering through the city. As Notre Dame reopens, start your own tour from the brass Point Zéro plaque in front of the cathedral strolling through the Latin Quarter and its bookshop-lined streets, over to the café-clad quartier of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, and crossing one of the gorgeous bridges to the Marais on the Rive Droite.

With so many landmarks, museums and monuments huddled close together, there are plenty of tourist traps, but this area also sports an impressive amount of standout restaurants—if you know where to go. From unassuming neighborhood bistros to gastronomic destination restaurants worth traveling for, here are 12 of the best places to eat around Notre Dame, all approved by our MICHELIN Guide Inspectors.

Tour d'Argent restaurant with its dazzling views of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. ©Joann Pai
Tour d'Argent restaurant with its dazzling views of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. ©Joann Pai

1. Tour d'Argent, A Historic Icon With Unparalleled Views of Notre-Dame 

When it comes to views of Notre Dame, it’s hard to beat the sweeping shots from Tour d’Argent’s panoramic windows. But the 400-year-old institution on the banks of the Seine continuously tops lists of best restaurants in Paris for much more than its vistas. Chef Yannick Franques, a Meilleur Ouvrier de France, skillfully executes traditional French haute cuisine delicately presenting dishes in more modern ways. For oenophiles, the wine cellar here—curated with more than 300,000 bottles—is one of the most lauded in the country—let alone the continent—and the new roof terrace, le Tout de la Tour, is the perfect spot to watch the sunset over the city’s many monuments.


The One-Star AT restaurant in Paris, headed up by Atsushi Tanaka who trained with Pierre Gagnaire. ©Joann Pai
The One-Star AT restaurant in Paris, headed up by Atsushi Tanaka who trained with Pierre Gagnaire. ©Joann Pai

2. AT, An Aesthetic Blend of New Nordic Cuisine And French Classicism

The Pierre Gagnaire protégé’s resume spans stints as some of Scandinavia’s most famous restaurants, like Geranium and Frantzén, and this influence seeps into every aspect of the minimalist, Nordic chic space in the Latin Quarter. Chef Atsushi Tanaka collaborated with ceramists, designers and artists on the tableware, which accentuates dishes that nod to molecular and New Nordic cuisine, as well as French classicism. Plates tend to play on a color, with two or three ingredients varying in similar hues, like his signature “Camouflage,” arctic char buried under a bed of sculptural shards of parsley and juniper.


Three-Star Plénitude is headed up by Chef Arnaud Donckele and Maxime Frédéric, head pastry chef at Cheval Blanc hotel, Paris. ©Sylvie Becquet
Three-Star Plénitude is headed up by Chef Arnaud Donckele and Maxime Frédéric, head pastry chef at Cheval Blanc hotel, Paris. ©Sylvie Becquet

3. Plénitude, Highbrow Hotel Destination Dining in Paris

Chef Arnaud Donckele’s mastery of sauce—which spearheads the menu at three-starred Plénitude—can be compared to that of a perfumer, each element of the dish perfectly balanced to express top, middle and bottom notes. He’s managed to parlay this expertise throughout Cheval Blanc Paris’s top-floor brasserie Le Tout-Paris, where a wraparound terrace and floor-to-ceiling windows overlook the Seine and Eiffel Tower, as well as to the new ground floor Hakuba, enhancing the fresh and delicate flavors of Japanese chef Takuya Watanabe’s omakase menu.

Chef Guy Savoy at this Two-Star restaurant at the Monnaie de Paris on the banks of the River Seine. ©Restaurant Guy Savoy/Maxime Chabaud
Chef Guy Savoy at this Two-Star restaurant at the Monnaie de Paris on the banks of the River Seine. ©Restaurant Guy Savoy/Maxime Chabaud

4. Guy Savoy, A Two-Star Spot Inside The Old Paris Mint

Guy Savoy’s three-starred eponymous restaurant sprawls across six dining rooms on the first floor of the Monnaie de Paris, on the banks of the Seine in Saint-Germain. Slate-grey rooms are outfitted with contemporary art and sculptures (the majority are from François Pinault’s collection), light flooding through expansive windows looking out to the Seine, Louvre and Pont Neuf. The art theme is threaded throughout Savoy’s cuisine as well, served as a set menu dubbed “Colors, Textures & Flavours” displaying the best of land and sea through plates like grilled scale-on sea bass and his signature cold artichoke soup with black truffle.

Chef Julia Sedefdjian and a heart-warming beef dish at Baieta. ©ROCH DEBACHE/Baieta
Chef Julia Sedefdjian and a heart-warming beef dish at Baieta. ©ROCH DEBACHE/Baieta

5. Baieta, A One-Star Mediterranean Haunt Near Notre-Dame

After earning a Star when she was just 21 years old at Les Fables de la Fontaine, Julia Sedefdjian opened her first solo spot, fine-dining Baieta, near Notre Dame in the Latin Quarter. Menus pay homage to the chef’s hometown of Nice and the South of France with seasonally focused dishes and haute spins on classics like bouillabaisse and pissaladière, caramelized onion and anchovy tarts. Take your pick of a surprise 4- or 7-course tasting menu in the minimalist space near the Seine, where the simple décor is like a blank canvas allowing the vibrant, Mediterranean-influenced cuisine to shine.

Ze Kitchen Galerie, a St Germain neighborhood institution with a MICHELIN Star. ©Eric Laignel/Ze Kitchen Galerie
Ze Kitchen Galerie, a St Germain neighborhood institution with a MICHELIN Star. ©Eric Laignel/Ze Kitchen Galerie

6. Ze Kitchen Galerie, A Local St Germain Institution 

William Ledeuil’s Ze Kitchen Galerie is an oasis in a sea of the Latin Quarter’s tourist traps. Designed with art in mind (painter Daniel Humair is behind the colorful décor), the chef weaves vibrant shades of marigold and emerald into his French-rooted fare that reflects the artwork displayed around the dining room, which frames a windowed kitchen. Citrus is the star of Ledeuil’s cuisine, which incorporates touches from Thailand, Japan, Vietnam and India for playful pairings like sake-infused Burgundian snails in a coconut lemongrass broth and wasabi-white chocolate ice cream. Nearby on the Boulevard Saint-Germain, sister spot Kitchen Ter(re) is a blend of Italian and Asian influences with a focus on traditional, ancient grain pastas.


Benoît restaurant in Paris is a classic bistro that's part of the Alain Ducasse group. ©Pierre Monetta
Benoît restaurant in Paris is a classic bistro that's part of the Alain Ducasse group. ©Pierre Monetta

7. Benoît, An Age-Old Classic Near The City Hall

Wood-paneled walls, red velvet banquettes, engraved glass windows—Benoit embodies the classic Parisian bistro ambiance down to the traditional dishes like pâté en croute and black pudding and sweetbreads. The century-old spot was modeled after Lyon’s iconic bistros, and three generations of the Petit family were at the helm of what was once an old market hall. While it’s now part of Maison Ducasse, the restaurant hasn’t lost its Old World charm or philosophy of “drinking and feasting like kings,” which young chef Kelly Jolivet wholeheartedly embraces with a menu of turn-of-the-century favorites and regional specialties like homemade cassoulet and calf’s head in ravigote sauce.

The delicate seasfood-focused dish at Sola restaurant in Paris, close to Notre-Dame. ©Ilya Kagan/Sola
The delicate seasfood-focused dish at Sola restaurant in Paris, close to Notre-Dame. ©Ilya Kagan/Sola

8. Sola, Journeying Through Japanese Specialties

Japanese chef Kosuke Nabeta’s tasting menu Sola restaurant is more than a fusion of his native country with his adopted culture—it’s a celebration of technique and tradition, which can be felt in everything from the handmade ceramics (a majority of which are crafted by the chef himself) to his use of ingredients like sake, ponzu and mizuna for marinating, fermenting, smoking and drying. Hand-picked natural wines span more than 500 references from across France, Italy, Spain and Austria, while the sake cellar stores a selection of sparkling, traditional and more modern takes on the Japanese fermented beverage.

Chef Lisa Desforges in action at 1930s bistro Allard, which is part of the Alain Ducasse group, and heart-warming dishes like roasted seabass and escargots ©Joann Pai
Chef Lisa Desforges in action at 1930s bistro Allard, which is part of the Alain Ducasse group, and heart-warming dishes like roasted seabass and escargots ©Joann Pai

9. Allard, The Classic Parisian Bistro As It Should Be

Allard is an ode to the heyday of classic Parisian bistros and preserved the original décor from decades past without feeling kitsch. The 1930s restaurant is now part of Ducasse’s roster of iconic addresses and blends brasserie staples like escargots in parsley, garlic and butter and frog legs with richer French fare like pan-seared veal sweetbreads and grilled black pudding with quince. On weekdays, the family-style menu reinvents historic recipes adding a modern, seasonal spin to dishes like oeuf mayonnaise, served with celeriac rémoulade.

Alliance restaurant in Paris celebrates the work of the chef duo  Toshitaka Omiya and Shawn Joyeux.  ©Charlotte Defarges/Alliance
Alliance restaurant in Paris celebrates the work of the chef duo Toshitaka Omiya and Shawn Joyeux. ©Charlotte Defarges/Alliance

10. Alliance, A MICHELIN-Starred Staple To Know

The one-starred restaurant is less than a 10-minute stroll down the Seine from Notre Dame, tucked between the Boulevard St Germain and Quai de la Tournelle. Named after the partnership between wine aficionado Shawn Joyeux and Osaka-born chef Toshitaka Omiya, who cut his teeth working with gastronomic greats like Joël Robuchon, Alain Passard and Philippe Legendre, Alliance celebrates the beauty and simplicity of seasonal ingredients. Diners can watch the team work their magic from the focal point of the minimalist, Scandinavian-inspired space—a large bay window framing the kitchen.


Colvert restaurant on rue Saint-André-des-Arts, one of the oldest streets in Paris. ©Florian Domergue/Colvert
Colvert restaurant on rue Saint-André-des-Arts, one of the oldest streets in Paris. ©Florian Domergue/Colvert

11. Colvert, A Contemporary Spin On French Classics

Recently reopened with an entirely new concept and chef, the airy bistro in the well-heeled neighboring quartier of Saint-Germain-des-Prés adds a gastronomic spin to market-fresh fare with unexpected flavor pairings like compressed and candied potatoes with caramelized onion juice and summer truffle. The weekly-changing, three-course prix-fixe is an affordable way to sample Top Chef star Arnaud Baptiste’s talent, which he refined while working at starred spots in Paris like Le Meurice, while sipping a selection of hand-picked wines from legendary French producers and unexpected newcomers alike.

Atelier Maître Albert restaurant in Paris has a roaring fire in the winter months. ©Laurence Mouton/Atelier Maître Albert
Atelier Maître Albert restaurant in Paris has a roaring fire in the winter months. ©Laurence Mouton/Atelier Maître Albert

12. Atelier Maitre Albert, A French Fireside Feast  

Sitting catty-corner from Notre Dame, the Guy Savoy restaurant is open every day of the week (a rarity when sightseeing on Sunday) and feels just as much of an experience as visiting the cathedral itself, thanks to the 15th-century building’s thick stone walls and medieval fireplace. The menu champions classic French cuisine with top-notch ingredients like spit-roasted Charolaise beef and free-range chicken (plus decadent favorites like duck foie gras) served alongside sides like traditional, cream- and garlic-infused gratin dauphinois.



Hero image:  View of the Paris skyline, including Notre-Dame, from the SO/ hotel. ©Joann Pai


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