15 Best Restaurants in Champs-Élysees, Paris

Tucked away in a quiet garden across from the Petit Palais, Ledoyen—open since 1779—is a study in Empire-style elegance (this is where Napoléon first met his eventual wife Joséphine). Star chef Yannick Alléno injects the three-star dining room with a frisson of modernity by putting fresh farmhouse ingredients front and center in his €415, nine-course tasting extravaganza (a seven-course menu is a slightly more reasonable €295, and there are à la carte options). This may seem de trop, but in Alléno's hands dishes like smoked eel soufflé with watercress coulis and candied onion, tender mussels with tart green apple and caviar, or artichoke-and-Parmesan gratin are rendered as light as a feather. The desserts are tiny masterpieces.

This handsome historic bistro highlights the extraordinary synergy that can happen when French technique meets Asian flavors. Classics like pigeon or beef come alive with pickled daikon radish, tamarind, or saké. You'll still find dishes firmly anchored in the French repertoire, like trout with trout caviar and whipped anchovy butter with lovage, or a caramel and quince dacquoise for dessert. The six-course dinner menu (€76) provides an excellent introduction to chef Louis de Vicari's outsized talent, and with five wine pairings for €60 you'll get a primer in French wines too. This is a restaurant Parisians in the know will cross town for, and that's saying a lot.

Restaurateurs-about-town Paris Society and interior design star Cordelia de Castellane worked their magic on the exceptional ambience of this historic Art Nouveau gem on the Rue Royal—a few steps from its storied sibling Maxim's de Paris—for an amped-up bistro experience devoid of pretension. Expect not some but all of the classics, served by brisk, aproned waiters just like in the old days: oeufs mayonnaise, pâté en croute, salade de chèvre chaud, soup à l’oignon, and not just escargots but giant escargots, in keeping with the experience of a bistrot à la Parisienne on steroids. And that’s just for starters: mains include a deliciously spicy steak tartare, roast chicken with rosemary, and a classic sole Meunière haloed in butter with just the right hint of lemon and flecked with parsley. For dessert, there’s classic rice pudding with caramel sauce, tarte tatin, and a billowy île flottante just like grandmère used to make. All topped off with an eclectic wine list offering plenty of gently priced choices by the bottle or glass.

Despite overseeing 33 eponymous restaurants, it’s clear that 21-Michelin-starred chef Alain Ducasse has put heart into his newest culinary endeavor, set in the beautiful Maison Baccarat, home to the esteemed glassmakers’ newest collections. In partnership with talented chefs Christophe Saintagne and Robin Schroeder, there’s a palpable synergy expressed in dishes that artfully balance myriad flavors and textures: sea scallops infused with coriander-spiced kumquat and accompanied by tender lobster and John Dory in a wine-infused cream; or duck with tender cabbage, foie gras, and crispy oysters with spaghetti squash and flecks of cacao. Though the superimposition of a contemporary sculpture sadly obscures the original gilded and frescoed walls, the dining room sports a more contemporary appeal.

Pascal Barbot, who rose to fame at his Rue Beethoven digs (where he earned three Michelin stars), recently reopened in a larger, more luminous dining room. Though he lost a star in 2019, his cuisine remains resolutely haute (and his clientele just as loyal), with dishes that often draw on Asian ingredients, as in black-curry roasted pigeon or suckling lamb in a date and ginger sauce followed by a palate-cleansing white sorbet spiked with chili pepper and lemongrass. The restaurant offers à la carte dining, as well as lunch menus for €85 or €125 and the full tasting menu for €285 at dinner (this is what most people come for). Each menu also comes at a (significantly) higher price with wines to match each course. Barbot's cooking has such an ethereal quality that it's worth the considerable effort of booking a table—you should start trying well in advance. 

Chef Stéphanie le Quellec's gleaming dining room on the elegant Avenue Matignon is the perfect setting for the refined, scintillating cuisine that earned the former Top Chef winner a loyal following among Paris gastronomes as well as two Michelin stars. Whether you're having lunch in the ground-floor brasserie, with its burnished bronze bar, or downstairs in the elegant 30-seat dining room with an open kitchen, Le Quellec doesn't skimp on luxury ingredients in signature dishes like Pompadour potato soufflé with Osetra caviar, poached langoustine, and the famous foie gras tart, all masterfully paired with handpicked small-producer wines. Unlike some other two-star chefs, le Quellec is always in the kitchen, and in plain view of the dining room. Pastry chef Pierre Chirac's irresistible desserts round out a perfect meal.

One of 100-plus locations worldwide, the largest branch of the Ladurée tea salon empire is worth the splurge, thanks to the sumptuous pastries, which steal the show. In addition to more than a dozen flavors of macarons, it has assorted cakes, sundaes, pastries, savory dishes, and beautifully boxed treats ideal for gift-giving. Reserve a table in the elegant wood-paneled rooms upstairs or the glassed-in storefront, or grab a bite in the secluded Art Nouveau bar in the back. Though pricey, the menu promises generous salads and flavorful plats du jour. If you run into a long line, keep in mind the charming, historic flagship salon de thé on the Rue Royale (near Place de la Concorde) and the cozy tearoom on the second floor of St-Germain-des-Prés's Rue Bonaparte outpost. 

Christian Le Squer is among the most famous and most respected chefs in Paris, as proved by his turn here at one of the city's most deluxe dining rooms. You'll find all the luxury products you might expect—caviar, truffles, game in season—along with a masterful touch that often transforms homey Breton ingredients such as oysters or lamb into imaginative tours de force. A perfect example would be his famous Île de Chausey lobster, marinated in citrus and served in a heart of caramelized romaine with a featherlight beurre blanc mousseux. Desserts are ethereal, wines are top-notch, and service is unfailingly thoughtful.

Hide Kobayashi, known as "Koba," is one of several Japanese chefs in Paris who trained with some of the biggest names in French cuisine before opening their own restaurants. Not surprisingly, this great-value bistro near the Arc de Triomphe became instantly popular (reservations are a must) with locals as well as visiting Japanese and Americans who follow the food scene. Generosity is the key to the cooking here, which steers clear of haute-cuisine flourishes; both the monkfish fricassee with anchovy-rich tapenade and a classic veal kidney in mustard sauce, for instance, come with a heap of mashed potatoes. For dessert, try the stunning île flottante (floating island), made with oven-baked meringue. Wines by the glass start at €8—unheard-of in this area.

Parisian to its core, the Hôtel Plaza Athénée's Art Deco dining room—including a beautiful mural that's a registered historic landmark—is a cherished neighborhood treasure. Masterful updates of French classics include dishes like terrine of wild boar, langoustines and mayo, coquilles St-Jacques à la Grenobloise, and a stunning steak tartare prepared table-side. We love the house-made foie gras with slices of fresh figs and a rich dried-fruit chutney along with a fresh green salad generously topped with shaved black truffles. Bonus: if the gastronomic dining room helmed by star chef Jean Imbert is out of your price range, these delectable classics are also prepared here by Imbert.

Perhaps the most traditional of all Paris luxury restaurants, this elegant two-star grande dame basks in renewed freshness under chef Giuliano Sperandio, who brings a welcome contemporary spirit that translates to daring on the plate. Dishes such as scallops meunière (with butter and lemon) are matched with contemporary choices like a splendid line-caught Saint-Pierre cooked over fennel twigs with a gratin of herb mussels and roasted langoustine or duckling poached in vin jaune with saffron-caviar sauce. One of the 19th-century paneled salons has been turned into a winter garden, and contemporary paintings adorn the walls. The service is flawless, and the legendary wine list is full of classics.

Modestly billed as a “chic deli,” the Hôtel de Crillon’s second restaurant is among Paris’s best grills—with plenty on the menu to tempt pescatarians and vegetarians too. Using top-quality meats, poultry, seafood and seasonal produce, chef Paul Pairet’s dishes are a marvel of flavor and finesse. The beef cut of the day, cooked to perfection, is flourished tableside and carved just how you like it, but you can also choose from a half-dozen beef dishes, along with roast chicken and deliciously tender line-caught fish. The starters, side dishes (don't skip the lettuce with garlic and aged-vinegar vinaigrette and the homemade fries), and desserts are equally good. Sit at the bar and order from the blackboard menu at lunch or dinner, or grab a table. It's quite popular, so be sure to reserve in advance.

If you want to venture to the frontier of contemporary cooking—and if money is no object—dinner here is a must (reservations essential). One of the longest Michelin three-star holders in France (since 1996), chef Pierre Gagnaire's work is at once cerebral and poetic, often blending three or four unexpected tastes and textures in a single dish. Just taking in the menu requires focus (ask the waiters for help), so complex are the multiline descriptions about each dish's luxury ingredients. The Grand Dessert, a seven-dessert marathon, will leave you breathless, though it's not as overwhelming as it sounds. The occasional ill-judged dishes linger as drawbacks, and prices keep shooting skyward, so Pierre Gagnaire is an experience best saved for a mega-splurge.

A Paris institution since 1924, this absolute stunner of a seafood brasserie was also one of the first restaurants to champion French-raised caviar, after the Bolshevik revolution cut the Russian supply. Fast-forward to 2023, when star chef Yannick Alléno took the helm of the Art Deco dining room (one of the most spectacular historic interiors in Paris), infusing the menu with a new elegance in dishes like a caviar-flecked salmon-and-seaweed hand roll, langoustine carpaccio with caviar cream, or a perfectly prepared filet of sole, all washed down with sparkly Champagne or a crisp Bourgogne blanc. Desserts are equally luscious. Dining here is a quintessential Parisian experience, whether for a leisurely lunch or an elegant candlelit dinner.

The premiere restaurant at the beautiful Shangri-La Paris Hotel is the city's only Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant. As you sit in a jewel box of a dining room that features giant Chinese porcelains and inlaid jade paneling, you'll dine on lacquered Peking duck, sliced at your table and delivered with a flourish, and all manner of delicacies from one of the world's great cuisines.