15 Michelin-Starred Restaurants In Paris That Live Up To The Hype
The most prestigious ranking in the culinary world exists within the Michelin Guide. Michelin stars are awarded to restaurants annually to signify their excellence across a distinct set of criteria. Restaurants are eligible to receive between 1 and 3 stars, which celebrate their excellence in cooking, the ingenuity of their dishes, and the artistry of their head chefs.
Since the star system's inception in 1926, only about 3,000 restaurants around the world have earned Michelin stars. The country with the most Michelin-starred restaurants is France, where the Michelin guide originated. 130 of those restaurants are located in what is often regarded as the culinary capital of the globe, Paris. Out of that 130, how many of Paris' Michelin-starred restaurants actually live up to the hype? Our selections bring you the best of the best, taking you through the exceptional menus, the history of the chefs, and what you can expect during your visit.
Jean Imbert au Plaza Athénée
We begin our journey at the Hôtel Plaza Athénée on the famed Avenue Montaigne. This iconic structure was built in the Parisian Haussman style and dates back to 1913. Within the hotel's luxurious walls is an acclaimed restaurant that was previously helmed by Alain Ducasse and is now under the charge of the French chef of the moment, Jean Imbert. At Jean Imbert au Plaza Athénée, your experience is as much about food as it is about splendor. An antique marble table is the centerpiece of the dining room, which is covered in gold leaf with a gilded ceiling designed by Remi Tessier.Glittering candelabras line the tables with grand chandeliers hanging above, promising refined elegance.
Throughout your meal, you'll be treated to elaborate fanfare with filleting and flambéing right at your table so you can watch the artistry up close. Jean Imbert has mastered the art of honoring culinary traditions while also instilling them with cheeky modernity. The Brioche Marie-Antoinette is a nod to her infamous declaration, "Let them eat cake," and arrives in the form of a brioche topped extravagantly with Kaluga caviar. Imbert conjures magic from 250 year-old recipes, reinterpreting the country's past for the modern palate.Just nine weeks after its opening, the restaurant earned 1 Michelin star — the first for Imbert. You can indulge with Le Menu de Jean for 320€ or order à la carte.
Shang Palace
Located on the lower level of the swanky Shangri-La Hotel not far from the Eiffel Tower is Shang Palace, currently the only Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant in France. This sensuous and inviting culinary establishment is led by Executive Chef Samuel Lee, originally from Hong Kong, who has assembled a team of four expert Cantonese chefs who specialize in wok, barbecue, chopper, and dim sum. This commitment to authenticity can be felt in everything from the delicately carved wooden screens throughout the dining room, to the stunning jade columns, and the restaurant's sumptuous dim sum.
All the dishes here are served in the center of the table, allowing you and your fellow diners to partake in a festive sampling of the restaurant's refined Cantonese cooking with an emphasis on French influences and local, seasonal ingredients. Not to be missed is the succulent Peking duck in three styles: crispy duck skin with savory pancakes, minced duck breast, wok-fried and wrapped in lettuce leaves, and duck soup with Chinese cabbage and tofu. Dine at lunch to enjoy the entirety of the dim sum menu or visit for dinner à la carte, with the Emerald dinner for 178€, or the Whimsical Menu for 248€.
Oxte
Oxte, the dynamic restaurant by Mexican chef Enrique Casarrubias seamlessly blends traditional French and Mexican cooking, infusing the culinary landscape with spice and heat. This warm, intimate restaurant situated near the Arc de Triomphe is a superior addition to the multicultural collaborations of Paris' contemporary food scene. The flavors of the dishes are rich and inventive, with generous seasonings and surprising combinations like foie gras with mezcal chipotle and a Mexican mole that has been reworked with carrots, beetroot, and French herbs. The signature dessert at Oxte is the avocado served in a rich chocolate casing that's generously filled with tangy lemon ice cream, creamy avocado, and seed shavings.
Oxte embodies casual refinement in a space with cushioned leather booths, modern light fixtures, and potted terracotta plants arranged thoughtfully, but casually along the surfaces. The presentation of the food perfectly matches the environment, as the dishes are plated with artistry without any stuffiness. A highlight of your meal is a visit from Casarrubias himself, who stops at every table to share the inspiration behind his cuisine. You can sample Oxte in four courses for 105€ or in six courses for135€, with a wine pairing for 76€.
Alan Geaam
In the upscale Chaillot neighborhood, a few paces from the Arc de Triomphe, is Alan Geaam, a Lebanese French fusion restaurant that brilliantly marries the flavor profiles of both cultures. In a dimly lit sophisticated dining room with sleek textured wallpaper and cool brown tones, savor crispy black falafel with mouthwatering smoked eel and tender milk-fed lamb with cured cardamom, roasted eggplant, and fresh sprigs of rosemary. The only Michelin-starred chef of Lebanese origin in France, Alan Geaam pays homage to his family's homeland with creative takes on seasonal vegetable dishes and inventive preparations of fowl.
Chef Geaam is often present during the dinner service, visiting diners multiple times during the evening to walk them through his imaginative creations. The restaurant Alan Geaam succeeds in creating a relaxed atmosphere while also providing exceptionally attentive service. Be sure to save room for dessert. The mini Knafeh— a pastry found across the Middle East that features crispy kadaif noodles, pillowy soft cheese, and ground pistachios — is made expertly at Alan Geaam with sulguni, a brined Georgian cheese.
Benoit
A few steps from Hôtel de Ville, close to Sainte-Chapelle and Notre Dame, is Belle Époque darling, Benoit, one of the oldest bistros in Paris. Now part of the Alain Ducasse restaurant group, Benoit was originally run by three generations of a French family who imbued the establishment with warmth and vintage charm. Benoit maintains its old-school appeal in a nourishing environment that is as fitting for a family outing as it is for a romantic dinner. The interior is bright and airy, with wood paneling, velvet banquettes, and monogrammed china with floral patterns. Above your head, the ceiling is majestically painted, adding to Benoit's decadence, which manages to feel celebratory rather than pretentious.
Benoit's kitchen is currently under the charge of chef Kelly Jolivet, who is passionate about preserving the restaurant's traditional history while also infusing her own culinary spin. Standout dishes include the slow-cooked cassoulet with succulent white beans, the escargots drenched in garlic butter, and the iconic pate en croûte, which is garlic-forward and served in a pastry shell.
Ogata
Ogata is housed in a 17th-century mansion in the artistically chic neighborhood of the Marais. The restaurant and the spectacular building it occupies are the product of Tokyo-based architect, designer, restaurateur, and chef Shinichiro Ogata, who transformed the space in 2020 into a beacon of Japanese culture and refined cuisine. Ogata includes an authentic Japanese tea salon, a pastry shop, a bar, an art gallery, a crafts store, and the signature eponymous restaurant.
At Ogata, the chef reinterprets traditional Japanese recipes for a French audience with a sharply seasoned monkfish soup and exceptionally fresh cuts of sashimi. The Dégustation tasting menu for195€ allows diners to sample eight unique courses and an amuse-bouche, including owan — a Japanese soup with a cleansing dashi broth. Menu highlights include the tamagoyaki, a Japanese-style rolled omelet that is perfumed and slightly sweet. A visit to Ogata is a journey into another world where time slows, allowing you to sip imported Japanese tea or sake while savoring each meticulously crafted dish, presented on aesthetic minimalist tableware.
Shabour
An opportunity to dine at the festive Israeli-French restaurant Shabour is a transporting experience that is both intimate and joyous. The restaurant is nestled in the bustling Sentier neighborhood in a rustic space with exposed white stones that are original to the building and that bare a striking resemblance to the white stones found throughout Jerusalem. Every diner at Shabour sits at the communal bar wrapped around the open kitchen, which showcases culinary artistry that is saturated with warmth, technical expertise, and wickedly good fun.
Run by famed Israeli chef Assaf Granit and his renowned team, including chefs Uri Navon, Dan Yosha and Tomer Lanzman, a meal at Shabour is a magical feast that reimagines classic Israeli dishes within five standout courses at lunch and seven showstoppers at dinner. While the chefs are constantly reinventing the tasting menu, the iconic dish that anchors Shabour's lore is an inversion of a traditional Jerusalem meal, prepared here as a slow-cooked egg loaded generously with roe served over a heap of herbed tahini. Each course features surprising flavor pairings and sophisticated presentations narrated enthusiastically by Shabour's team. Experience the restaurant for 136€ for dinner, with tiered fees for international wine pairings.
Septime
Securing a table at Septime requires persistence. Reservations are released three weeks in advance and sell out almost immediately. But if you happen to score a seating, you'll experience some of the most imaginative dishes in all of Paris, like cacio e pepe made with ribbons of celery root and raw scallops marinated in yuzu. Located in the bustling neighborhood of Bastille, Septime is the rare Michelin-starred restaurant that lends itself well to frequent visits as the menu is constantly rotating, a true reflection of the seasons, the freshest local ingredients, and the chef's current inspirations.
Bertrand Grébaut, who we love from our favorite Arpège, has created a space that is at once of the moment while simultaneously lacking pretension. Every course centers flavor above all else, providing diners with ingenuity while also delivering nourishment. This is a rare feat in the world of fine dining that often prioritizes presentation over taste. That's not to say that Septime lacks showmanship — the wine pairing alone is filled with enchanting storytelling by the house sommelier, and every dish is thoughtfully constructed, but you'll feel taken care of as if you're dining at the home of a dear friend who also happens to be a Michelin-starred chef. This is in part due to the iron and wood furnishings that make the airy dining room feel more like a modern loft than a high-end restaurant. Lunch in five steps is 70€ and dinner in seven steps is 120€.
Le Jules Verne
125 meters up in the sky at the top of the Eiffel Tower is Le Jules Verne lies one of the most romantic restaurants in the world. From the floor-to-ceiling windows throughout Le Jules Verne, you can marvel up close at Gustave Eiffel's masterful creation while enjoying heavenly plates of artichoke with Oscietra caviar and langoustine prepared decadently with Parmesan cream. To access the restaurant, diners ride a private glass elevator with views of the whole city until they reach the dining room which is bright and minimalist, allowing the focus to stay on the first-rate cuisine and the striking exterior scenery.
The kitchen is run by Frédéric Anton, who also helms 3-Michelin-starred Le Pré Catelan. At 1-Michelin-starred Le Jules Verne, Anton delivers pristine French classics with modern refinements like caramelized sweetbread and cod with toasted fennel in an anis consommé. During the lunch hour, you can dine à la carte or order the five or seven-course tasting menu, both of which are available for dinner priced at 255€ and 275€.
Yam'Tcha
Yam'Tcha is the superb product of partners, chef Adeline Grattard and tea specialist Chi Wah Chan, who bring their respective cultural heritage into the restaurant's mastery of French-Asian cuisine. Located on rue Saint-Honoré near Les Halles, Yam'Tcha evokes comfort and casual elegance with wood tables, pillows casually laid along the booths, and a generous view of the open kitchen. This sense of invitation can be felt in a warm service, which is often accompanied by a visit from Chef Grattard herself, as well as sophisticated rare Asian tea pairings curated by Chi Wah Chan that help the meal transcend into an international culinary journey.
The dishes at Yam'Tcha are large and sharply seasoned, like a pepper-crusted duck, and a surprising twist on a traditional cheese course that we won't spoil for you.Every day the menu changes based on the ingredients the chef finds at the local markets, so you can always return to experience something new. Our personal favorites are the vinegared black rice and the signature bao. The tasting menu is 170€, and we wholeheartedly recommend opting for the tea pairing.
Guy Savoy
To dine at Guy Savoy, you must make a reservation request months in advance via the online booking system. That request is sent to the Guy Savoy team, who responds by email to — more often than not — report that your selected date and time are not available. If you're lucky, you're offered a single dining slot far into the future, which you'd be wise to accept, as the 14 courses at this 2-Michelin-starred establishment are unquestionably masterful.
Guy Savoy is located on the Left Bank of the Seine, housed within the grand structure of Monnaie de Paris, which was built in the 18th century by Denis Antoine.
The eponymous restaurant from chef Guy Savoy extends through six ornately decorated dining rooms with iconic river views. The essence of Guy Savoy is old-fashioned luxury — jackets are still compulsory as guests are instructed to honor the refinement of the restaurant. The Colours, Textures, & Flavours menu for 630€ brings you on a journey through French haute cuisine, with standouts including the refreshingly tart iced poached oysters with a surprising granité of lemon and seaweed, as well as the signature artichoke soup with fresh shavings of black truffle, served with toasted brioche, slathered thickly in truffle butter. It's said that Guy Savoy often greets diners at the door, a charming gesture that infuses this venerable restaurant with a welcome dose of intimacy.
Le Meurice Alain Ducasse
The interior of Le Meurice Alain Ducasse is reminiscent of the gilded glory of Versailles with marble columns, frescoes, crystal chandeliers, and spectacular gold molding. The signature restaurant of chef Alain Ducasse, who currently holds the record for the most Michelin stars in the world, is located on rue de Rivoli along the Jardin des Tuileries, just a stone's throw from the Louvre. Le Meurice is a luxury hotel dating back to 1835 that oozes refinement and sophistication — the perfect home for a restaurant that is revered as often for its culinary feats as for its lavish environment.
The storied restaurant can be experienced à la carte or within five or seven courses, for 330€ and 380€, allowing you to try Le Meurice Alain Ducasse's most notable dishes in half portions, including the sumptuous spider crab with a pairing of lavender and caviar, and the delicately grilled silk grain veal.All the flavors are complex, but well-balanced, evidence of the chef's culinary talents and artistic ambitions. The dessert courses are particularly excellent, specifically the baba, a petit yeast cake drenched in a rum of your choosing, served with a generous heap of freshly whipped cream.
Le Cinq
Le Cinq is the 3-Michelin-starred restaurant in the iconic Four Seasons Hôtel George V in Paris, run by celebrity chef Christian Le Squer. Le Squer imbues luxury and ornamentation into all of his cooking, culminating in a series of sought-after signature dishes. The spaghetti gratin, which resembles a stick of butter and tastes as decadent, is spaghetti molded with thick morel cream topped with shavings of fresh black truffle and tender ham. It's a course so rich and nourishing, you'll be surprised to be savoring it within the walls of this elaborate dining room where stalks of long-stem calla lilies erupt from tall dark vases — that is until you notice that the spaghetti is topped with gold leaf.
Much of Le Cinq's menu is inspired by the chef's childhood in Brittany, lending a delicacy and intimacy that is on particular display within the flaky line-fished sea bass with caviar and buttermilk. For the full experience, try The Epicurean Escape of Christian Le Squer for 580€ with 10 courses and an amuse bouche or order à la carte. The pastries here are courtesy of pastry chef Michael Bartocetti who utilizes fruit and honey in his creations instead of sugar, elevating the final course with a dose of natural refreshment.
Épicure
Le Bristol is known for its 18th-century architecture, which evokes warmth and elegance — a palace that is meant to feel like a home. Located in the posh Madeleine neighborhood of Paris, Le Bristol houses, Épicure, the legendary 3-Michelin-star restaurant run by chef Éric Fréchon. From the moment of your arrival, you can expect world-class service in a refined yet understated dining room that matches the feel of the hotel — there's intense sophistication, but also a festive air that extends throughout the meal with elaborate culinary presentations.
Over the past 20 years, Fréchon has perfected Épicure's menu, which is evidenced by a series of iconic dishes that diners from around the world come to sample. The most famed items are the unbelievably rich candele macaroni with layers of black truffle and foie gras, and an entrée which must be seen to be believed; the farm hen poached in a pig's bladder that is brought to the table and topped lusciously with black truffle. The dessert is arguably the best of all the restaurants on this list: vanilla from Madagascar served in whole vanilla pods with vanilla cream and freshly roasted vanilla ice cream. Savor the tasting menu for 420€ or try the highlights à la carte.
Arpège
On the left bank, very near the Rodin museum, isArpège, one of the best restaurants in the world. If you arrive early, ask to dine in Arpège's intimate 16th-century cellar, which features walls of embroidered linen canvas that immortalize celebrated chef Alain Passard's passion for the natural world with colorful renderings of plants, flowers, and some of the restaurant's signature dishes. The main dining room upstairs is painted in a pastoral style and is bright and open, making it better suited for a larger party.
Arpège is the sole restaurant on this list that prioritizes the plant world, which is thanks to the chef's commitment to sustainability and his expertise in gardening. All of the vegetables served are grown in one of Passard's three gardens and have exceptional flavor and freshness. Fittingly, the menu reflects the seasons, showcased brilliantly in thick white asparagus in browned butter, topped with Parmigiano-Reggiano. The one dish you can delight in any night is the Coquetier Maison de Cuisine, often referred to as the "Arpège egg" — a slow-cooked egg with cold cream and a warm yolk covered in spring chives and finished with a sweet syrup. Sample all the specialties for 490€ or enjoy larger portions à la carte.