The 10 Best Restaurants in Nice
Michelin stars, Niçois grandmothers' recipes and dinner on a rock in the sea.
Nice has its own cuisine, older than the Riviera's glamour: stuffed vegetables, daube, pistou, socca and pissaladière, cooked with Ligurian accents. The best tables in town honour it, whether they charge €20 or €200.
This is our working shortlist, from the Old Town's tiny bistros to the tasting menus near the port.
- 1
La Merenda
🍽️ Restaurants · Vieux Nice (Old Town) · €€ · allow 1.5 hrs
The Niçois classics in a room the size of a kitchen. Go early or book.
A handful of tables and a short chalkboard of Niçois home cooking: pistou soup, stuffed vegetables, daube and tripe for the brave. It's small and much loved, so call in or book ahead, and check the days it opens.
🕯️ Cosy inside📞 Book ahead - 2
JAN
🍽️ Restaurants · Le Port & Mont Boron · €€€€ · allow 3 hours
The special-occasion booking: Riviera produce with South African soul.
Chef Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen's restaurant near the port mixes Riviera produce with the flavours of his South African childhood, in a warm, intimate dining room. A special-occasion booking.
📞 Book ahead❄️ Air-conditioned🕯️ Cosy inside - 3
Flaveur
🍽️ Restaurants · Place Masséna & the Centre · €€€€ · allow 3 hours
Bold, spiced, Michelin-starred cooking. Lunch is the gentle way in.
A modern dining room a few minutes from Place Garibaldi, where the Tourteaux brothers cook Mediterranean produce with spices from their travels. Tasting menus at dinner; lunch is the gentler way in.
📞 Book ahead❄️ Air-conditioned - 4
Le Plongeoir
🍽️ Restaurants · Le Port & Mont Boron · €€€ · allow 2 hours
Dinner on a rock above the sea. Book the terrace for sunset.
Built on a rock just off the coast road past the port, under an old diving-board tower. Tables sit right above the water, with the whole Baie des Anges in view. Book a terrace table for sunset.
🌊 Sea view🌿 Terrace outside🌅 Sunset spot📞 Book ahead - 5
Acchiardo
🍽️ Restaurants · Vieux Nice (Old Town) · €€ · allow 1.5 hrs
Daube with gnocchi at a family bistro the locals still love.
A long-standing family bistro on Rue Droite where locals still come for Niçois dishes at fair prices: daube with gnocchi, beignets, stuffed vegetables. Simple, warm and busy.
🕯️ Cosy inside💛 Budget friendly - 6
Le Bistrot d'Antoine
🍽️ Restaurants · Vieux Nice (Old Town) · €€ · allow 2 hours
The lively Old Town bistro everyone ends up at. Book.
Generous French bistro cooking, a chalkboard of the day's dishes and a terrace on Rue de la Préfecture that fills up every evening. Book, or arrive early.
🌿 Terrace outside📞 Book ahead - 7
Peixes
🍽️ Restaurants · Vieux Nice (Old Town) · €€€ · allow 1.5 hrs
Ceviche and tartares in a cheerful fisherman's-cabin room.
A small seafood bar near the Opera serving ceviche, tartares and plates to share, in a room decked out like a fisherman's cabin. Good for a lively dinner.
🕯️ Cosy inside - 8
La Petite Maison
🍽️ Restaurants · Vieux Nice (Old Town) · €€€€ · allow 2.5 hrs
Glamorous sharing plates and the best people-watching in town.
The Nice original of a name now known in London and Dubai: Niçois and Mediterranean plates to share, a busy room and plenty of people-watching. Book ahead.
🌿 Terrace outside📞 Book ahead - 9
Café de Turin
🍽️ Restaurants · Le Port & Mont Boron · €€€ · allow 1.5 hrs
Oysters under the arcades of Place Garibaldi.
A Nice institution for shellfish: oysters, sea urchins in season and towering seafood platters, served under the arcades of Place Garibaldi.
🌿 Terrace outside - 10
Lou Pilha Leva
🍽️ Restaurants · Vieux Nice (Old Town) · € · allow 1 hour
The budget pick: every Niçois street food at shared tables.
Order at the counter and eat at long tables in the lane: socca, pissaladière, panisse, beignets and stuffed vegetables. The easiest way to taste all of Nice's street food in one sitting.
🌿 Terrace outside💛 Budget friendly🧒 Good with kids
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