Of all the questions we’re asked about dining in Paris, “where to eat in Montmartre?” is among the most frequent and the most difficult. It’s a charming area (when you get away from the place du Tertre), and the bakeries are impressive, but the Butte is largely barren when it comes to good restaurants. There are, however, a few fresh options. We’ve listed our five favorites, along with a few backup options that don’t totally suck.
Five Great for Dinner in Montmartre
- Guilo Guilo – take a break from the Amélie schtick and settle down at the U-shaped bar for some sake and contemporary Japanese.
- La Table d’Eugène – this back-of-the-hill bistro is packed with both locals and New York Times-reading gastronauts.
- Miroir - a stylish bistro in the heart of Abbesses, they also run a no-reservations wine bar across the street, in case the resto is booked up.
- Le Bal Café – modern British with an emphasis on nose-to-tail cooking inspired by chef Anna’s time at St John Bread & Wine in London. Great wine list and brunch menu, too.
- Chéri Bibi – this flea market-decorated joint is where you’ll find the cheapest prices, the most traditional French cooking, and the youngest crowd. On the east side of the hill, toward Château Rouge.
Runners up (in order): Marcel, La Mascotte, Mon Oncle, Le Grand 8, Le Petit Trianon, Café Burq, Le Truc
On the fence: Chamarré Montmartre
Rejects: none
About our process: For each topic, we begin with a little research to identify options. We then ask our readers, by posting a question in the forum, to offer additional suggestions. From that discussion, we compile a list of candidates and ask our panel of contributing advisors to rank their top choices and identify any rejects. Their rankings are weighted, analyzed, and compiled into a new Five Great post every week. Runners up are places who received more positive votes than negative comments. Restaurants tagged “on the fence” received an equal number of positive and negative votes. Rejects are places that received only negative comments with no positive votes.
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- Five Great for Vegetarians
- Five Great for Ice Cream
- Five Great for Outdoor Dining
- Five Great Places for Oysters
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I agree with all of your choices as well as your runners up and on the fence (I have had nothing but fab dinners at Chamarre).
In addition, I also like the following:
Le Relais Gascon, 6 rue des Abbesses
Lui l’Insolent, 15 rue Caulaincourt
La Pizzetta Piu Grande, 62 rue Caulaincourt
Sourire de Saignon, 54 rue du Mont Cenis
Thanks for the great list in my quartier and all of the other wonderful suggestions you have !
Will def. second Le Relais Gascon. Have trekked halfway across the city for their salads, though the other things on the menu don’t hold a candle to the salade geant…
“Le Relais Gascon, 6 rue des Abbesses”
Nevah hoid of it; guess I gotta go up the hill.
Bistro Poulbot. We have recently spent over a month ecstatically eating our way thru Paris from Pre Catalan to Le Rubis (Table d’Eugene repeatedly) and the mixed smoked fish starter at Poulbot was a highlight. The menu is imaginative and cooked to perfection. The staff welcoming and professional. Highly recommended.
I’d like to add a vote for Le Jardin d’en Face for its consistently friendly service, simple yet tasty food, amazing oeuf cocotte (!!) and world’s best chocolate cake. I have been here many times over the past year and have never been disappointed, and every overseas visitor I take here walks away saying it was the best meal they’ve had in Paris. Plus the prices mean I can come back more often.
I live in the 18th and agree with the top 5 and the on the fence – but would add La Tratoria Pulcinella on rue Eugene Sue somewhere on the list – very good Italian with great vibe.
I saw a mouse running up the wall right next to my table at La Pulcinella. Shame, because the pizza is very tasty, but I haven’t been back since.
Le Nansouty (35, rue Ramey) ain’t half bad. Not really worth going out your way for, but charming enough, open-late, and if you’re in the area, a pretty reliable hit. And the wine list is fantastic.
Montmartre is difficult; however, for decent French food at reasonable prices, Lui l’Insolent (rue Caulaincourt) is hard to beat.
Note to one commenter: I live in Montmartre and if I want to eat well, I never go up the hill. In my opinion, there are too many tourists and too many restaurants keen on fleecing them.
On Meg’s recommendation after a (fantastic!) Montmartre food tour we hit Cafe Burq. And loved it start to finish. The food was both creative and delicious, and our server seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself. It was one of our favorite meals in Paris.
As another Montmartre resident, I like all on the top list. I agree with Gail about great dinners at Chamarre – but I do hear a lot of reports of mediocre meals there so I do get hesitant to recommend it. I also like the Square de Marcadet for group dining – we’ve done a couple of 10+ people meals there and they are always really accommodating (especially nice in warm weather when you can get seating in the really sweet terrace)
“Note to one commenter: I live in Montmartre and if I want to eat well, I never go up the hill.”
This was my belief as well until the Clocher de Montmartre opened: http://johntalbottsparis.typepad.com/john_talbotts_paris/2012/03/le-clocher-de-montmartre-some-serious-food-steps-from-sacre-coeur.html