About Our Listings

There are hundreds of addresses in our listings. Here are a few FAQ’s — and answers — to help you make sense of it all.

Do we recommend all of the places we list?

Not necessarily. Our listings include places that have received some buzz in local food circles within the last few years. However, being on the radar is not the same as being loved. Some of these addresses opened to fanfare and were then forgotten. Some may be resting on their laurels. Still, we’ve provided their practical information, along with excerpts and links to reviews around the Web so that you can see what’s been said – both positive and negative – about the establishment. To narrow the field, we’ve picked our favorites and marked them with  and  icons.

What do the icons mean?

An absolute favorite  is a place that we recommend without hesitation as one of the best addresses in its class. These are places we have personally visited, often over the span of several years, and recommend routinely to both locals and visitors. We’ve hearted everything from haute cuisine to wine bars to our favorite shops for chocolate, ice cream, bread and pastry. Among the restaurants, most of our favorites require advance booking. Check the practical information for each establishment to be sure.

A great neighborhood option  is a place that we might not cross town for, and might not suggest for those who have only a short time in Paris. However, these neighborhood picks are the solid and reliable performers upon which locals like us depend. Reservations are still a good idea at some of the restaurants, but never long in advance.

If it’s not a favorite, is it bad?

There are several reasons why a listing might not have been chosen among our favorites. For the moment, this category of “unselected” addresses includes places that we haven’t yet visited, places that were fine but uninspiring, and places that we strongly dislike. We haven’t yet decided if (and how) we want to name and shame the establishments we dislike. For the moment, we’re focusing on the positive by highlighting the places we really love.

Who makes these selections?

These  and selections are made by our editor Meg Zimbeck, and they are admittedly biased toward places that are within our reach, both financially and geographically. We’re no strangers to haute cuisine, but because we pay for every meal with our own modest earnings, we tend to try (and return to) more moderately priced establishments in the range of 35-50€. We live on the east side and neglect places on the west side. Our selections are biased and personal, so we’ve referenced the (equally biased and personal) opinions of other trusted food writers on each page in our listings.

How to use these listings

If you’re looking for a restaurant, the easiest way to browse our listings is to use the search widget found in the sidebar, which allows you to sort by type of cuisine, price, and location. Or you can view a master list of restaurants, by arrondissement, here. For other types of establishments, visit the main index pages: Bakeries & Pastry Shops, Chocolate & Candy, Ice Cream, Wine Shops.

We make our best efforts to ensure that the information provided about an establishment is accurate and up-to-date. Have a correction or update? Send it here.