We don’t recommend visiting the Eiffel tower without a solid plan for eating, whether to fortify yourself for the wait or to restore your sanity after the harrowing elevator ride. Here are some tables to consider that don’t require a crosstown trip.
Walk-Ins Welcome
Café Constant – With three restaurants on the street, Christian Constant is the unofficial mayor of rue St. Dominique. This casual, no-reservations café serves classic bistro fare and is open all day, starting at 8am.
Les Cocottes – More modern than his Café, this second address from Christian Constant serves dishes in individual cast iron pots (cocottes) on long counters with high stools. Their no-reservations policy makes this a good last-minute option for crowd-pleasing, contemporary comfort food. Expect a wait if you arrive at 8pm.
Le Petit Cler – A well-priced and very casual spot on the rue Cler from from the people behind La Fontaine de Mars.
Book a Few Days in Advance
L’Auberge Bressane – You can expect classic French country food at this old-school establishment. Open every day.
Les Fables de la Fontaine – Seafood is the specialty at this lovely/pricey rue St. Dominique address. Open every day.
Pottoka – If you believe everything tastes better deep fried, try this tiny Basque joint from the duo behind Les Fables de la Fontaine.
Le Caisse Noix – Le Casse Noix is helmed by Pierre-Olivier Lenormand, who spent six years at La Régalade. A charming neighborhood bistro, with an antique-filled room and generous, updated bistro cooking. Don’t miss the ginormous ile-flottante.
La Fontaine de Mars – The Obamas ate here! The Obamas ate here! This anglophone favorite on the rue Saint-Dominique offers classic cooking with a southwestern tilt – cassoulet, duck confit and other diet busters. Open every day.
Book a Few Weeks in Advance
Restaurant Sylvestre – Sylvestre Wahid has taken over the kitchen from Jean-François Piège at Hôtel Thoumieux and received two Michelin stars in 2016 for his haute cuisine.
Histoires – Mathieu Pacaud’s more intimate, haute gastronomy restaurant opened in conjunction with Hexagone.
Restaurant David Toutain – His meticulous and conceptual cooking highlights seasonal produce, with vegetables often playing the starring role. This is by no means a vegetarian restaurant, but Toutain’s ability to bring out the beauty in oft-ignored roots reminds us of his former boss Alain Passard.
Bistrot Belhara – Picture perfect Parisian bistro with Basque-inflected food from Thierry Dufroux, who sharpened his teeth under Alain Ducasse. The restaurant can be reserved privately for large groups on Sundays and Mondays.
L’Abeille – Chef Philippe Labbé set the city’s haute dining scene abuzz when he opened this posh restaurant in the Shangri-La hotel back in 2011. Christophe Moret is now at the helm and received 2 Michelin stars in 2016.
La Table d’Aki – Akihiro Horikoshi left L’Ambroisie to open this little showcase for his talents which, according to reviews, are many. Patricia Wells calls his cooking “pure, simple, and sensational in an understated way.”
Book Before You Buy Your Plane Ticket
L’Astrance – Pascal Barbot continues to impress diners (those who manage to get a reservation) with a culinary high wire act that is both grounded and innovative, French and global, serious and playful. To wit, his signature dish: A galette of thinly sliced, raw champignons de Paris and verjus-marinated foie gras (also raw), with hazelnut oil and lemon confit.
Be careful with many of the restaurants around tour Eiffel–the waiters sneakly tack on gratuity–even though it’s included in the service charges. The food is poor, reheated junk, sloppily made, geared for naive/ignorant tourists. Stay away. Plus gypsies/romas galore. Perhaps, when few are eating there, maybe they’ll change. Perhaps, not as there’s a sucker borne every minute.
If you’re looking for a nice chunk of beef, try Unico Restaurant near the intersection of Rue Amelie and Rue Saint-Dominique. It specializes in Argentine beef. They have a good lunch special that includes beef (a different cut every day), salad, and crispy potato wedges. If you’re in the mood for dessert, try the dulce de leches volcano cake with banana ice cream. This location is a sister to the Unico on Rue Paul Bert.
If you’re looking for a terrific French bistro with a hospitable hostess, try the recently opened Chez France, also on Rue Amelie, about halfway between Rue Saint-Dominique and Rue Grenelle. Terrific pate and foie gras. Excellent duck and also fresh fish. In fact everything I’ve eaten here is great. You’ll be happy you tried it.
REED restaurant , 11 bis, rue Amelie is walking distance to the Eiffel Tower and is fantastic! Small, personal care,
The best food……charming! Don’t miss it!
Small, so book ahead….dinner only plus cooking classes that are hands on and fun! 01 45 55 88 40
Les Clos de Gourmets Avenue Rapp
Moderate priced, few tourists, business person restaurant.
Very consistent over several visits over several years
Actually from 2:30-5 (I think it is 5) they serve a limited menu. And it has my usual dishes.
Les Ombres has the best view. But reserve in advance.
friends would like to dine at a nice restaurant with a view of the Tour Eiffel, any suggestions ? merci.
Faboulous to-do-list and suggestions in the comments!
And most of those cited places are filled with locals.
And I think Le concert De Cuisine is worth a mention too.
I am fan of au Dernier Metro, their Duck is nice and price very competitive.
La Cantine du Troquet Dupleix is my next step 🙂
In the ‘not bad near Eiffel Tower’ section, I am finding L’Eclair on Rue Cler and The Club on Rue Surcouf to both be good options.
I forgot, but like Sylvia I would also recommend the Cantine du Troquet. Go early or reserve. Quite similar food to CasseNoix, but modern decor and much livelier (I mean noisy).
As a longtime resident of the area, let me also recommend:
Bistro du Park, Boulevard du Grenelle near rue Saint-Saens (the best cuisine in the area by a long shot; French- Korean fusion by a Korean chef; dinner is about 60 euros a person, including wine).
Les Prolongations, 78 Boul. du Grenelle, near the aformentioned Au Dernier Metro (not nearly as lively as ADM, but easier to get into, more friendly, and the food is maybe a bit better)
Erawan, 74 rue de la Federation, not far from the aformentioned CasseNoix or MIJU, near rue de Presles (quiet place,Thai food, although Frenchified in that it is not spicy; very tasty and good value).
Further afield, there are good restaurants on or about La Motte Piquet, at the far end of the Champs. My standby is Le Suffren, on the corner of Suffren and LMP (busy old-style bistrot, with oysters and the like).
On the downside, I think both La Fontaine de Mars and L’Ami Jean have become too touristy and pricy. But it is true that both serve good food in a good atmosphere.
If you are on a tight budget try a great Korean restaurant MIJU at 62 rue de la Fédération, only steps away from the Eiffel Tower. Lunch menu (Korean version of gyoza, bibimbap, desert and tea) around 13€ and the ingredients are very fresh and tasty.
To the west of the tower, Le Dernier Metro is always chock a block full of locals enjoying simple South-Western fare, the rue Lourmel has everything one needs for an extraordinary gourmet picnic (Laurent Dubois cheese, Alsatian bread, roast anything and gariguettes) on the Champs de Mars and the La Cantine du Troquet Dupleix is superb. In a pinch, the salads are Carmine are decent.
To the east, Chez L’Ami Jean is really quite extraordinary and I think Thoumieux gets high praise by many. Gusto Italia is great if you’re okay with Italian food in France.
I work at the musée du quai branly, which is right under the Eiffel tower. The restaurant on the roof of the museum “Les Ombres”, is good, but expensive (35 € for lunch). Le Café Branly, in the museum garden, is also nice, whith a great terrace in the sun. Les Deux Abeilles, just across from the museum, is great too (189 rue de l’université). On rue de Montessuy, the Italian restaurant Il Sorrentino is not too bad at all, and a group of italiennes just opened another, more casual Italian restaurant with great fresh food. I can’t remember the name, but it is at the beginning of the Rue de Montessuy, after the boulangerie, where there used to be a chinese restaurant.
Voila quleques options de plus!
Enjoyed a great dinner at Cafe Constant just two weeks ago. Please note they are open all day for a drink, but they don’t serve any food from 2:30pm to 7pm. They fill up for dinner extremely quickly, so it’s best to line up at 6:45pm.