4 Best Restaurants in Montparnasse, Paris

A popular and pricey bar and restaurant, the Closerie is also a staple of Parisian literary tours for its storied history. Commemorative plaques are bolted to the bar as if they were still saving seats for their former clientele: an impressive list of literati including Zola, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Apollinaire, Beckett, and, of course, Hemingway. "Papa" wrote pages of The Sun Also Rises here and lived around the corner at 115 rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs. Although the lilacs that once graced the garden—and shaded such habitués as Ingres, Whistler, and Cézanne—are gone, the terrace still opens onto a garden wall of luxuriant foliage. There is live music in the piano bar. There are two menus here; the brasserie menu, served near the bar, is less expensive and very good.

David Rathgeber spent 12 years working for celebrity-chef Alain Ducasse before taking over this landmark restaurant, where he has created his own menu and welcomes a devoted clientele. Expect classics with a subtle modern touch, such as the signature cassoulet with six different meats, and crème caramel with salted butter—all executed with the precision you would expect of a Ducasse veteran. The excellent two-course lunch menu (Wednesday through Friday only) is a bargain at €26. Rathgeber has also opened an adjacent dining space called L'arrière-Cuisine, which serves take-out street food inspired by his travels; it's open Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 5:30 pm. 

A second home to foreign artists and political exiles in the 1920s and 1930s, La Rotonde has a less exotic but still faithful clientele today. It's a very pleasant place to have coffee or a meal on the sunny terrace. For a quieter, smoke-free atmosphere, head inside for a traditional French dining experience in the plush, red decor.

Now a fancy fish brasserie serving seafood delivered fresh from Normandy every day, this restaurant began as a dingy meeting place for exiled artists and intellectuals like Lenin and Picasso. The family-owned institution hired star Japanese chef Yoshihiko Miura to modernize its menu while keeping some enduring classics. Try the sole meunière or the bouillabaisse, the ingredients of which are on display in their raw form in the restaurant's outstanding fish shop next door. The famous millefeuille (Napoleon) is a must for fans of this rich, creamy dessert. You can still drop by the covered terrace for a cup of coffee or a drink.