This blink-and-you’ll-miss-it bistro near the Place de la Bastille is perfect for a traditional French meal. Expect simple starters like crispy fried mushrooms and artichoke hearts doused in butter and plated with zero flair, practically just-plucked sucrine lettuce served with a creamy mustard dressing, and mains like a fist-sized chicken cordon bleu. All dishes come with either thin and crispy frites, a whipped potato purée, or green beans.

Cheval d’Or has been a Belleville restaurant since 1987, and its red facade hasn’t changed since. What’s different is the international team running it. Now, it's one of the only places in Paris that do a menu of French-Chinese mashups in a soaring, industrial-chic space that fits in with the area’s bohemian vibe. Stylish locals and their friends sit along industry pros and devour whole roast duck, lobster-stuffed croque madame topped with chili oil, or or foie gras wontons in flavorful stock.

L’Ami Jean is a lively, rickety bistro with mismatched furniture and crooked artwork, and the food is excellent and hearty—think roasted veal cheek and confit beef shoulder. The €98 tasting menu includes smaller portions of the greatest hits, plus seasonal standouts like stuffed butternut squash and a foie gras-packed tuna belly “sandwich” topped with marinated melon. No matter what, you'll want to zero in on their famous rice pudding, which comes in a wooden bowl with a big serving spoon.

At Parcelles, you’ll get both charm and sophistication from a daily-changing menu of French classics done up with clever touches. Expect dishes like chou farci, or stuffed cabbage, filled with minced pork, foie gras, and flecks of pistachios. And if the starter of slightly seared escargot-style scallops topped with thin guanciale slices is on the menu, order it. While this Le Marais spot is white tablecloth territory, it somehow feels fun and fresh.

This women-run Lebanese hotspot on the edge of Le Marais is fun, flavorful, and great for vegetarians. Nail the experience by starting with a cocktail that weaves in Levantine ingredients, like sumac, orange blossom, rosewater, or arak. Then, continue with a few small plates to share like one of the khebez, or bread-accompanied dips, like labné topped with a pile of greens or the Chou Hispi, a grilled piece of cabbage paired with the true star: spicy cream cheese topped with pickled apricot.

Septime, ever heard of it? When it opened in Charonne in 2011, the pioneering neo-bistro took all the stiffness out of bistro dining, made the cuisine more creative and unpretentious, threw in natural wines, and kicked off a movement. This casual yet still sophisticated spot has been full non-stop ever since, and we’d even say the restaurant put the 11th arrondissement on the dining map—after all, they got loyal Left Bankers to cross the river to eat here.

Expect mains here like line-caught fish or chicken that’s flavored with Middle Eastern spices, and desserts like satsuma mandarin almond cake and sesame halva cookies. Everything is flavor-packed and near-perfect in execution. While lunch is the most popular time (they’re not open for dinner, or on weekends), we suggest breakfast between 9am and 10:30am. You’ll find the same superb quality in their whole wheat waffles, or granola with fruit, mint, and a dollop of homemade confiture.

For 40 years, the French-Moroccan owners of this 11th arrondissement restaurant have been spotlighting two unexpected pairings: Moroccan classics and natural wine. In fact, this spot was fanatic about the unfiltered, funky stuff long before le vin nature was a buzzword. Families gather at lunch while the wine-obsessed locals from across the city come at night to sit beneath striking lanterns and dig into one of ten different couscous dishes and tagine specials with vegetables, lamb, or chicken.

Yes, you’ll hear a lot of English speakers at Le Mary Celeste, but we still enjoy this wine bar in Le Marais (from the same group that runs Candelaria) for its laid-back vibe, great small plates, and funky natural wine. Count on dishes like creamy deviled eggs, bulots with wasabi mayo, beef tartare with smoked mayonnaise, chili oil, and mint, and you'll want to order plenty of oysters. Everything is meant to be shared, but if the plum tarte is on the menu, order one for yourself.

With historic Paris dining institutions, it’s easy to wonder whether you’re coming for the French food or the myth of the place itself. In the case of La Tour d'Argent, a fine dining temple that inspired Ratatouille, you’re coming for both—and for the city views, gold-star service, and a striking blue dining room with enough Christofle tableware to make you feel like royalty. The tasting menus skew traditional without feeling boring or dated, and the zhuzhed up plating highlights old favorites.

Owned and operated by the same people behind Septime (which, let's reiterate, is notoriously hard to get into), Clamato is a superb alternative, though it’s a wholly different experience. The menu is à la carte, for one, and almost entirely made up of seafood, like raw cuttlefish with sesame and chili, ceviche with squash and coriander, and plenty of oysters. Order a bottle of something sparkling, a dozen oysters, and see where the day or night takes you.

Locals book half a year out to come to this residential area near Montparnasse for a fine dining experience that simply doesn’t exist anywhere else. That’s because the French-Malian chef has created a tasting menu that blends his heritage and fascination for nearly everything Japanese, including manga (one character even inspired the restaurant's name). In four, six, or nine courses, that fusion might come out in a clever twist on beef mafé stew or langoustine grilled on a Japanese barbecue.

There’s no menu at this excellent Israeli tasting menu restaurant in the 2nd, and there isn’t even a traditional kitchen. The philosophy here, which the staff reminds you of any chance they can, is “hosting friends as family and family as friends.” It’s why you’ll likely be served champagne, whether or not you ordered any, upon taking your seat around the Brazilian granite bar, which is arranged like a boxing ring with the chefs cooking in the center.

As the home to the oldest Vietnamese community in the West, Paris is full of restaurants and canteens serving bánh mì and phở. But this pocket of a place in the 2nd is packed for lunch and dinner with people primarily here for the phở tái chín. It's a Northern Vietnamese beef phở that the team makes using super tender sirloin and rib steak, fragrant spices, and perfectly al dente homemade noodles. There’s also a vegetarian option for those who don’t want to miss out.

Small plates and natural wine aren’t exactly an unfamiliar formula for the 11th, but the way they’re done up at this design-y restaurant and wine bar is a refreshing change from the usual setup of tight spaces, tiled floors, and rickety old tables and chairs. There’s a seasonal menu here that rotates every few weeks and pulls inspiration from beyond France. You can expect dishes like octopus okonomiyaki coated with lardo, and butter-and-cream-coated mushroom raviolo.

Maison Sota, located inside an actual two-story residence off a side street in the 11th, is from the Japanese chef who put neo-bistro Clown Bar on the map (and, subsequently, every visitor’s must-eat list) back in 2017. All the action takes place upstairs under a wooden gable and inside the open kitchen, where the chef can be seen using tweezers to top rose-colored beef with bitter purslane or just-barely-roasted vegetables with slices of lemongrass and daikon radish.

This steak frites joint near Galeries Lafayette department store, and just below the hip part of Pigalle, ticks all the design boxes of a bygone-era bistro despite being relatively newish (it opened in 2013). There’s a menu on the mirror or chalkboard, wooden chairs, and wine bottles on display throughout. Beef is the big draw—ideally ordered saignant (rare) or à point (medium rare)—but expect other classically French dishes like asparagus in the spring and truffle-topped fish in the fall.

You should eat in a buzzing 17th-century market, especially when it’s the oldest covered food market in Paris. This Marais favorite is known for its stalls of produce, fish, cheese, and casual countertop-style stands representing international cuisines. Midday, you’ll rub elbows with locals on their lunch break as they line up at Chez Alain for customizable sandwiches as big as their heads, and throw back tagines from the Moroccan deli or cool soba noodles with vegetable tempura from Chez Takeo.

Famous for their buckwheat crêpes from Brittany, Breizh Café is a perfect inexpensive lunch or dinner when you need something light and easy or you forgot to book ahead. Traditional savory galettes like simple ham and comté, or sweet crêpe like pear, white wine, and chocolate sauce are terrific, but you could also go against the gluten-free grain by ordering one of their rolls. Instead of being served flat and open like a pancake, these are folded into a cylinder shape and then cut into pieces.

This is the most recent (and biggest) addition to the L’Avant Comptoir snack-and-sip family. While the two other locations near Odeon are known for standing-room-only crowds where you might end up elbowed in the face as someone reaches for the giant slab of butter on the bar, this one has plenty of space and even some chairs. But there’s still some edge in the form of a grumpy and impatient bartender who won’t pour tasting after tasting (even if you speak French), so come feeling decisive.

You’ve likely eaten a Sad Salad, but have you had the Sad Train Sandwich? Let’s hope not. To avoid it in Paris, pop into this spot across the street from Gare de Lyon before boarding your train to Lyon or Provence. They’re open all day, with a handful of tables on the sidewalk and three inside along a banquette if you don’t need to grab and go. The midday meal is unbeatable: a baguette sandwich made with cheese from their display and a dessert of fromage blanc for €9.50.

Eating Pierre Sang is like playing a game where the goal is to guess what you’ve just eaten. The Korean-French dishes on the set dinner menu will get dropped off, and you’re left to savor and reflect on your own. Once you’ve placed your silverware back on the granite plaque for cutlery, someone will arrive to ask what you think you tasted. Perhaps you thought you ate tender veal, but it was really pork filet mignon. Those “cherries”? They're beets.

The hundred-year-old marble bar here is just one of the remarkable relics inside this restaurant in the city's gourmand quartier, Village Faidherbe. There’s also the hand-painted leaf motif ceiling, etched glass windows, and ornate crown moldings. The fish-focused menu changes seasonally, but regular standouts include the crunchy crab galette with avocado and curry, and the citrus salmon crispy rice topped with chipotle. Service is surprisingly attentive and almost downright friendly.

We’ll forgive the ’90s decor (inexplicable modern art, stonewashed walls, etc.) because the food itself at Substance is representative of today. The degustation menu is seasonal, but there are two standout signatures: the amuse-bouche bowl of whipped potatoes and runny cancoillotte cheese topped with trout eggs, and a sharp, creamy lemon tarte palate cleanser that’s presented as a paw print.

This is the kind of Parisian hangout where you’ll refill your glass so much that before calling it a night, you’ll declare on your socials that you’re moving to Paris, if you don't live here already. It's loud, busy, and there's not a lot of fuss, but a ton of heart. There's also just the right amount of chaos. Aux Deux Amis is a bit more chill during the day when they’re open for lunch and serve an inexpensive prix fixe meal.