Located near the Comedie Francaise in the heart of Paris, chef Clément Vergeat’s highly praised new restaurant generates a low-lit, monastic atmosphere with a minimalist decor of gray chairs and bare wood tables. The small, quiet space creates a setting that allows you to concentrate on the intricate, original, and very subtle dishes that compose the chef’s regularly changing tasting menu. The two memorable dishes stuck out from a recent meal: The first was a raw langoustine steamed in seaweed vapor and topped with a nearly transparent ribbon of squid cured to resemble the Italian fatback known as Lardo di Colonnata. The othe was roasted pigeon with fermented strawberry puree, turnips, beets, and other winter vegetables. Located in the First Arrondissement.

Young chef Eugénie Béziat’s debut as the new chef of Espadon, the Hotel Ritz’s headliner restaurant, represented a daring departure from the conventions of luxury hotel restaurants in Paris. Instead of foie gras and truffles, Béziat’s very personal cooking references the flavors and produce she knew from her childhood in West Africa even as she shows off her supreme mastery of French culinary technique. The chef’s signature dish is her chicken yassa, which combines French and Senegalese flavors in an heirloom fowl from Houdan in the Yvelines. Located in the First Arrondissement.

Right in the heart of the city, midway between the Opera Garnier and the Musee du Louvre, you’ll find a cluster of Japanese and other Asian restaurants along the Rue Sainte-Anne and adjoining streets. Stop by the very popular Menkicchi for some gyoza and a bowl of some of the city’s best ramen. The regulars love the Le Speciale ramen, which comes with handmade noodles in rich pork bouillon, a marinated egg, a slice of pork breast, and seaweed. Located in the First Arrondissement.

Hidden on a small side street on the edge of Les Halles in the heart of Paris, this intimate restaurant sports contemporary decor of cutout wooden paneling and an open kitchen. It’s become one of the most sought-after reservations in the city for the superb contemporary French cooking of young chef Thomas Meyer, the former sous chef to Anne-Sophie Pic at her three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Valence. Meyer presents his cooking in a tasting-menu format that showcases his perfectly tuned creativity, love of fresh seasonal produce, and culinary loyalty to his native Jura in the east of France. The menus evolve regularly, but standouts of a recent meal included a grilled cepe mushroom with meadowsweet-flavored sabayon and a sauce of deeply reduced mushroom jus and white miso; sea bream with kale in Granny Smith apple juice with a gelee of lovage; roast pigeon in a sauce of its own gizzards with green cardamom and citrus; and an intriguing dessert of rice pudding wrapped in rice roll with mirabelle plums stewed with vin jaune. Located in the First Arrondissement.

Channel your inner Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern by ordering the Tentation de Saint-Antoine (the Temptation of Saint Anthony), served at this famous brasserie in Les Halles that’s been open nonstop — 24/7 — since it opened in 1947. Saint Anthony is the patron saint of charcutiers, and this plate includes a muzzle, ears, breaded pig’s foot, and a tail with lashings of bearnaise sauce. This lively place satisfies less assertively carnivore appetites, too, with trays of oysters and other shellfish, and dishes like its famous onion soup and beautifully made sole meuniere. Located in the First Arrondissement.

From the moment it opened in May, 2021, this bistrots a vins in the Marais has been packed to the gills by a crowd who love proprietaire Sarah Michielsen’s hospitality, sommelier Bastin Fidelin’s wine list, and the delicious cosmopolitan modern bistro cooking of chef Julien Chevallier. The chalkboard menu evolves constantly but runs to dishes like baby clams steamed with herbs and shallots in white wine, vitello tonnato, braised beef cheek in breadcrumbs with a beef jus and baby vegetables, and tiramisu with toasted hazelnuts. This stylish comfort food is exactly what Paris is hungry for right now, especially paired with charming service and a great selection of wines by the glass. Located in the Third Arrondissement.

Brittany-born Bertrand Larcher’s brilliant creperies are found everywhere from Cancale to Tokyo. In Paris, Larcher’s kitchens star first-rate Breton produce, and his outpost in the Marais is a terrific choice for a meal of galettes and crepes. Go with a smoked herring- and potato-filled galette, then tuck into a matcha and white chocolate mousse-filled crepe garnished with strawberries. There are five other addresses in Paris, so check the website for the one nearest you. Located in the Third Arrondissement.

Young chef Martin Maumet has created one of the best restaurants on the Left Bank with his nervy, vivid, and inventive French cooking. A meal in the minimalist, gallery-like space begins with an assortment of hors d’oeuvres and then segues into a suite of Asian-accented contemporary French dishes that showcase vegetables and seafood. The menu evolves constantly, but options might include Sardinian gnocchi with mussels in herb-garnished shellfish bouillon, free-range heirloom chicken with carrots, and Iberian pork with roasted root vegetables and chimichurri sauce. Desserts are often made with vegetables, as in the butternut squash ice cream with chestnuts, pistachios, and yuzu. Located in the Sixth Arrondissement.

With its lace curtains, cut-glass room dividers, and bentwood chairs, this century-old bistro is why you put up with all those terrible hours in economy class to get to Paris. The boeuf bourguignon is the best in the city. The dish is a testament to Gallic genius, calling for slowly simmering meat to create a flavor-rich sauce from the juices. You must book in advance, and don’t miss the Grand Marnier souffle for dessert either. Located in the Sixth Arrondissement.

With excellent handmade pates, sausages, and terrines, award-winning charcutier and chef Arnaud Nicolas has revived an ancient branch of French gastronomy. The space, on a leafy avenue in the silk-stocking Seventh Arrondissement, is decorated with exposed stone walls, a beamed ceiling, and battleship-gray moldings. Roasts and meat pies, Gallic pleasures that date back at least to the Middle Ages, figure as first courses, before an evolving menu filled with seasonal produce. Nicolas shows off his style with turbot cooked with cep mushrooms, salmon koulibiak for two, beef cheek braised with carrots in red wine, veal sweetbreads with girolles mushrooms, and a luscious chocolate souffle. Located in the Seventh Arrondissement.

Chef Stéphane Jego’s heaving Left Bank bistro is perpetually packed. Like so few other Parisian chefs, Jego knows how to deliver beautiful, traditional French bistro food, modernized with tweaks so subtle most people won’t even notice. He’s barely touched the 1930s space since taking it over nearly two decades ago from a Basque rugby pub. The earthy dishes, often inspired by southwestern French farmhouse food, are so deeply satisfying you won’t mind the occasionally slow service or boisterous regulars. The menu includes Parmesan soup with cabbage and bonito flakes, roasted pigeon with thyme and garlic, roast lamb with smoked oregano, and light and fluffy rice pudding. Located in the Seventh Arrondissement.

Slaying a slew of negative local stereotypes about American food, the return of one of their own is proving to French diners that there’s actually some spectacularly good food in the United States. Chef Dominique Crenn moved from France to San Francisco in 1988, trained with Jeremiah Tower, and became the first female chef in the country to earn three Michelin stars at her restaurant L’Atelier Crenn. Now she’s opened Golden Poppy, named for the official flower of her adopted state, as a very personal homage to California cooking, all presented in trippy, through-the-looking-glass Victorian conservatory decor done by trendy designer Martin Brudnizki. The small-plates menu runs to dishes like Parker House rolls with shiso-miso sauce, egg-yolk jam, and rice cream; griddled corn tacos with grilled conch; and gem lettuce wraps of aged sea bream, mint, coriander, and Korean condiments. Don’t miss the coconut beignets with pineapple for dessert. Located in the Ninth Arrondissement.

The small dining room may have bare-bones decor, but you’re here for the homemade jiaozi (small Beijing-style dumplings), which are probably the best meal you’ll find in Paris for a fiver. Served grilled or boiled in orders of 10, they’re stuffed with your choice of pork and green cabbage; mushrooms, beef, and celery; egg, chives, and shrimp; or tofu, mushrooms, and green cabbage. Located in the 10th Arrondissement.

The neighborhood near the Gare du Nord train station is nondescript, and this tiny bistrot a vins packs its clients in like sardines. No one minds the humdrum location or the crowd, though, because the restaurant serves some of the best and most reasonably priced French comfort food in Paris. Chef Thomas Brachet’s chalkboard menu changes daily but always offers an irresistible mix of contemporary dishes — like a salad of green beans, apricots, speck, and fresh almonds, or John Dory meuniere with vegetable accras (beignets) — and traditional ones, which may include langoustines with house-made mayonnaise, or the best sausage and potato puree in Paris. The stuffed cabbage and rice pudding with cinnamon and orange shouldn’t be missed either. Be sure to book a few days ahead of time. Located in the 10th Arrondissement.

With charmingly quirky railroad themed decor by trendy British interior designer Luke Hall, this hotel restaurant is conveniently situated between the Gare du Nord and the Gare de l’Est stations. But Café Les Deux Gares serves such bright, original, flavorful contemporary French cooking that it’s well worth a visit even if you don’t have a train to catch. Chef Jonathan Schweitzer’s chalkboard menu evolves according to what’s best at the market, expressing his culinary imagination with dishes like smoked scallops with raw cream, chives, and herb oil; line-caught red tuna with cherries, nasturtium leaves, and elderflower vinegar; and lovage sorbet with meringue and cucumber ribbons. Located in the 10th Arrondissement.

The carefully studied interior of this handsome modern bistro — olive-green banquettes, globe lamps, dark wood tables, stenciled tile floors, and custom-made ceramic tableware — is a perfect reflection of the casually stylish Oberkampf quarter of the 11th arrondissement. Japanese-born chef Ryuya Ono serves an intriguingly creative menu of refined dishes with potent flavors. The menu evolves constantly but recent dishes express the chef’s exact and cosmopolitan style: suave haddock velouté with trout roe and smoked and charred potatoes; tuna sashimi lightly dressed with Stracciatella and translucent slices of cucumber and yellow peach; and a juicy suckling pig shoulder in a punchy clam jus. Located in the 11th Arrondissement.

Paris has dozens of North African restaurants serving couscous and tagines, but what sets this cheerful Moroccan restaurant apart is the outstanding quality of its produce, making it a favorite among Parisian chefs. Here, the couscous is made with fresh seasonal vegetables and succulent baby lamb from the Pyrenees. They also bake their bread and North African pastries in-house, while the wine list features an interesting selection of mostly natural wines. The atmosphere is vivid but avoids cartoonish indulgence, with mosaic-topped tables, lanterns, and candles. Located in the 11th Arrondissement.

The tongue-in-cheek decor nods to les routiers, the roadside restaurants once frequented by truck drivers — think red-and-white checkered tablecloths, plastic bread baskets, and moleskin banquettes. Deals like a solid two-course meal for 16 euros, including wine, have kept this jaunty bistro packed since it opened. The menu changes constantly but you can expect dishes like celery remoulade with crabmeat, steak au poivre, stuffed cabbage, beef braised with carrots, and chocolate mousse. Located in the 11th Arrondissement.

Given how hard it is to score a reservation at chef Bertrand Grébaut’s relaxed modern bistro, you’ll probably come to the table expecting a meal that will induce instant rapture. But that’s not Grébaut’s style. Instead, his cooking is “innocent, spontaneous, and balanced,” in the chef’s own words, which translates to superbly delicate, subtle dishes like mushrooms with oyster and foie gras bouillon, or seared tuna with raspberries and tomato water. Service is friendly and easygoing, and the loft-like space is airy. Located in the 11th Arrondissement.

Le Paul Bert, one of the best-known bistros in Paris, successfully caters to the Gallic gastronomic stereotypes of tourists with traditional French bistro cooking. The restaurant’s edgy little sibling, Le 6 Paul Bert, is very different, offering inventive cooking in a contemporary French bistro. This popular, lively restaurant, outfitted with a marble counter and red tables, is now helmed by Pauline Séné, who’s emerged as one of the most talented female up-and-comers in Paris after a stint at (now closed) Fripon in Ménilmontant. In regularly changing menus, Séné proclaims her love of vegetables, fresh textures, and cosmopolitan flavors with dishes like yellow pollack with ajo blanco, zucchini, fennel, and apple; dill gnocchi with smoked herring; pigeon with creamed corn, prunes, and harissa; and brownies with miso caramel and peanuts. N.B. The 26 Euro lunch menu is one of the best buys in town. Located in the 11th Arrondissement.

Paris is filled with cafes du coin, or corner cafes, but very few of them serve such good food at such reasonable prices all day long. Run by trendsetting restaurateur Florent Ciccoli, this cheerful, popular place in the super bobo 11th Arrondissement changes its chalkboard menu daily, but you’ll likely find dishes like freshly baked pizzettes, caillette (a caul fat-wrapped, herb-filled sausage patty garnished with pickled mustard seeds on a bed of potato puree), and blood sausage with roasted corn and guindillas (pickled green peppers from Basque country). Don’t miss the lemon tart for dessert. Located in the 11th Arrondissement.

The talented couple Omar Koreitem and Moko Hirayama run this friendly cafe-bakery, the place to head for a casual but outstanding lunch or snack. French Lebanese chef Koreitem creates the savory dishes, such as bonito with spring tabbouleh, while Japanese chef Hirayama is a superb baker, serving up fennel, pickled lemon, and almond cookies, and flourless chocolate layer cake with coffee-mascarpone cream. Open from 8:45 a.m. to 6 p.m., it’s deservedly one of the most popular places in eastern Paris. Located in the 11th Arrondissement.

The 13th Arrondissement is the largest of Paris’s Asian neighborhoods, with a mixed population originating from China, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Head to Phở Tài for an excellent bo-bun composed of freshly made nem (deep-fried spring rolls) and sauteed beef on a bed of rice noodles with an umami-rich sauce. The namesake pho is very good, too. Located in the 13th Arrondissement.

Young chef Mory Sacko has become a rising star of French gastronomy for the originality of his intriguing African French Japanese cooking in Montparnasse. The son of Malian immigrants to France, he grew up in the suburbs eating African dishes made by his mother and American fast food for an occasional treat. At a job at a big Paris luxury hotel, he discovered his fascination with cooking, and went on to work with two-Michelin-star chef Thierry Marx, a Japanophile who taught Sacko to love Japanese ingredients and techniques. Expect dishes like lobster in miso sauce with smoked pepper and lacto-fermented tomato, sole seasoned with togarashi shichimi, and lovage cooked inside of a banana leaf and served with a side of attieke, a couscous-like preparation of dried fermented cassava pulp. The name of the restaurant derives from the names of the chef and one of his heroes, Yasuke, the first and only African samurai, an emancipated Mozambican slave who lived in 16th-century Kyoto. Located in the 14th Arrondissement.

It is quiet, hard-working, limelight-shunning chefs like David Rathgeber who make Paris such an enduringly terrific food city. He took over this locally famous restaurant — previously helmed by a flamboyant chef named Lulu who charmed the likes of late President François Mitterrand and other celebrities — and has made it one of the city’s best bistros. It’s well worth the trek to the quiet 14th Arrondissement for his deft take on traditional dishes like pork-knuckle rillettes with foie gras and a superb cassoulet. The menu also offers lighter fare, including sea bream tartare with green tomato and coriander jus, and cuttlefish carbonara. The creme caramel is nothing short of epic. Located in the 14th Arrondissement.

Founded in 1872 by Albert Prunier, this restaurant near the Arc de Triomphe has always epitomized Parisian chic and the city’s avid love of the best quality seafood, including the caviar that Prunier started producing on farms in the Aquitaine region in 1921. Most recently owned by the late Pierre Bergé, cofounder of the Yves Saint Laurent fashion house, Prunier’s new proprietors hired chef Yannick Alleno, who earned three Michelin stars at Pavillon Ledoyen, to reboot the restaurant’s menu. Seated among the landmarked art-deco decor, be sure to try dishes like the Oeuf Christian Dior, a coddled egg on a bed of ham aspic in caviar-speckled cream; langoustines carpaccio with geranium and caviar; and the sole meuniere. Located in the 16th Arrondissement.

Located in the tranquil 18th Arrondissement far from the crowds of tourists around Sacre Coeur and the Place du Tertre, this laidback neighborhood bistro pulls a discerning crowd of locals and word-of-mouth customers from other parts of Paris for the excellent bistro cooking of Paul Boudier and Albert Touton. Many of their dishes have a Southern French or Italian accent, including superb homemade pastas, ceviche with shavings of poutargue (bottarga), and pork belly cooked in cider with roasted fennel. Located in the 18th Arrondissement.

An old working-class neighborhood on the northeastern edge of Paris (and the birthplace of Édith Piaf), Belleville is coming on strong as one of the most interesting food neighborhoods in Paris. Brother-and-sister team Léa and Louis-Marie Fleuriot run this very affordable modern bistro in a former corner cafe. While she works the kitchen, he runs the dining room, and together they offer the kind of market-driven cooking that exemplifies the area. The petroleum-blue facade has big picture windows, and inside there’s an indigo-painted zinc-topped service bar, an open kitchen, and wooden tables with cloth napkins and French-made Opinel knives. The chalkboard menu changes daily but runs to dishes like mussels in creamy, saffron-spiked bisque, haddock in coriander court bouillon with mushrooms and potato puree, and egg-rich, caramel sauce-lashed creme caramel. Located in the 19th Arrondissement.