My 10 Favorite Paris Restaurants for Dinner in 2020

A L'Innocence entree

It must be nice to live in a small town that only has one great restaurant - you wait for a couple of special occasions during the year, save up your spare change, and enjoy the experience.  No racking your brain making a choice.  That is a luxury one does not have in Paris, where, according to one estimate, there are over 40,000 choices, many of which are good.  A lot really suck as well, which is why I suggest that you never, ever, walk into a restaurant in Paris cold because it looks good from the outside and has an interesting menu on the window.  If it isn't packed by 9 pm, forget about it.  And if it is, you won't get a table anyway.  This is why, unless you are slumming it and popping into a fast food or other casual venue, always make it a point to reserve in advance.  With a reservation in France, you are (a) guaranteed a table, and (b) never have to wait beyond your selected reservation time.  

Below, I provide a list of 10 spots that I confidently suggest you should reserve for dinner.  In my next post, ditto for lunch.  I'm not suggesting that these are the best restaurants in Paris - read the title of this post - because I haven't tried all 40,000 yet.  But I'm pretty sure you will not be disappointed by my recommendations, and even better, they won't break the bank.

10 Favorites for Dinner

In alphabetical order, each of these restaurants proposes a prixe fixe menu consisting of several dishes for under 200 euros total for two persons, including a reasonably-priced (under 55 euros) bottle of wine.

1.  AUX PLUMES
    
    45 rue Boulard, Paris 14   tel. 01 53 90 76 22

A great deal for either lunch or dinner.


2.  KORUS

    73 Rue Amelot, Paris 11    tel. 01 55 28 53 31

Ex-Iratze, also a good bet for lunch.


3.  LE CHATEAUBRIAND

    129 Avenue Parmentier, Paris 11    tel. 01 43 57 45 95

Inventive dishes served up by the famous chef Iñaki Aizpitarte.



4.  LE GALOPIN

    34 Rue Sainte-Marthe, Paris 10    tel. 01 42 06 05 03

Unimposing on the outside, nice surprises inside.

 
5.  LE RIGMAROLE

    10 Rue du Grand Prieuré, Paris 11   tel. 01 71 24 58 44

My favorite restaurant of 2019.  Quasi-personalized multi-plate experience, and you lose count somewhere along the line.  https://www.eater.com/2019/3/12/18255036/paris-restaurant-le-rigmarole-menu-robert-compagnon-jessica-yang



6.  L'INNOCENCE

    28 Rue de la Tour d'Auvergne, Paris 9    tel. 01 45 23 99 13

Comfortable little venue that, if you've followed my blog over the years, has been home to previous favorites (La Vitrine, Maloka), but L'Innocence is the best yet.


7.  LOUIS  (Stephane Pitré)

    23 Rue de la Victoire, Paris 9   tel. 01 55 07 86 52

This one won't surprise you if you've been to this blog before.  A very high level dining experience.

 
8.  PIERRE SANG ON GAMBEY

    6 rue Gambey, Paris 11    tel. 09 67 31 96 80

With the addition of Signature, Pierre Sang virtually owns rue Gambey, and you are sure to see him flitting back and forth between his three restaurants, including the one on the corner of Oberkampf.  I've been to, and love, all three, but Gambey is my clear favorite.


9.  VILLARET

    13 Rue Ternaux, Paris 11   tel. 01 43 57 89 76

I probably imprinted on Villaret, given it was one of the first restaurants I visited when I relocated to Paris that I didn't find through the cheap deals Routarde guide.  Still serves up satisfying meals.

 

10.  VIRTUS

    29 Rue de Cotte, Paris 12    tel. 09 80 68 08 08

Great atmosphere on the animated rue de Cotte, with elbow room (a rarity in Paris), and ex-home to some of my past favorites, like La Gazetta.  But Virtus may be the best incarnation yet.

A dish at Louis