Nice sits at the intersection of Provençal, Niçoise, and Italian culinary traditions, backed by the Mediterranean larder of the sea, the mountains, and the plains of the Var. The result is one of the richest restaurant scenes in France outside Paris — currently home to seven Michelin-starred restaurants, two of which rank among the highest-rated fine dining establishments in the country.

Reservations are essential for all starred restaurants, often weeks or months in advance. Always verify current hours as they change seasonally.
See also: guide.michelin.com/en/fr/provence-alpes-cote-dazur/nice/restaurants

📍 25 rue Gubernatis, 06000 Nice · restaurant-flaveur.com · Tel: +33 4 93 62 53 95
Hours: Tue–Fri 12h–13h30 and 19h30–21h15 · Sat 19h30–21h15 · Closed Sun–Mon
Rating: ★ 4.4 (383 reviews) · Michelin: ★★ (2 stars since 2018) · Price: €€€

Flaveur is the brainchild of brothers Gaël and Mickaël Tourteaux, who honed their culinary skills at upscale establishments under prominent chefs including Alain Llorca and Michel Del Burgo. The only restaurant in Nice with two Michelin stars — one for each brother — Flaveur is also on La Liste as one of the 100 best restaurants in the world.

The cuisine is creative but simple, making the most of each flavour and giving each ingredient its due time at centre stage. The brotherly duo source their fish from small-boat fishermen and use organic, permaculture vegetables grown on the hills above Nice. The intimate space seats very few — the aquarium-themed interior is the work of Cannes designer Jean Rogliano.

Signature dishes: Mediterranean lobster · San Remo caramote prawn · scorpion fish in vadouvan spice broth · Niçoise peach bouillon · poultry from Pierlas with peanut rougail

Expect a 4–5 hour dinner experience. Reviewers consistently describe it as one of the finest meals of their lives. Book as far ahead as possible.

📍 12 rue Lascaris, 06300 Nice · restaurantjan.com · Tel: +33 4 97 19 32 23
Hours: Tue–Sat 19h–22h · Closed Sun–Mon
Rating: ★ 4.8 (1,102 reviews) — highest-rated restaurant in Nice · Michelin: ★ · Price: €€€

Chef Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen, once a yacht chef and photojournalist, serves a fixed set menu highlighting South African flavours, blending sweet, sour, and spicy in a unique French-African fusion. He is the first South African chef ever to earn a Michelin star, and he earned it here in Nice in his tiny 20-seat restaurant near the Old Port.

Jan bought the restaurant next door, baptized it Le Bistrot de Jan, and made his cuisine accessible via an à la carte menu — and a weekday 3-course lunch menu for just 32€. Whatever the weekly offering is, you can't go wrong.

The truly unique feature of JAN is MARIA — a private dining room and mind-blowing cheese room across the street, where dinner guests are escorted mid-meal for the cheese course before returning for dessert. One reviewer described it simply as “the best dining experience I have ever had.”

Signature dishes: Duck and peach with cherry jus on smoked mashed potato · apple, chorizo and haddock starter · MARIA cheese course

⭐ Top pick for a special occasion. The 4.8 rating from over 1,100 reviews is extraordinary for a fine dining restaurant. Reserve weeks ahead.

📍 24 rue Bonaparte, 06300 Nice · lesagitateurs.com · Tel: +33 9 87 33 02 03
Hours: Mon, Thu–Fri 19h30–22h · Sat–Sun 12h–14h and 19h30–22h · Closed Tue–Wed
Rating: ★ 4.8 (1,305 reviews) · Michelin: ★ (since 2021) · Price: €€€

Julie Buseto and Samuel Victori were awarded their Michelin star in 2021 — the only new star in Nice that year, earned in the middle of the pandemic. Located in the trendy Petit Marais district near the Port, this convivial restaurant blends Japanese-inspired techniques with the finest local Mediterranean produce for a cuisine that feels both surprising and deeply rooted.

Reviewers rave about the langoustine tortellini, the lobster bisque, the dashi beurre blanc, and a pistachio dessert described as among the best ever tasted. The cellar table is particularly sought after. One of the best value-for-quality propositions in Nice's fine dining scene.

Signature dishes: Japanese-French fusion tasting menu · local fish and seasonal vegetables · 9-course menu (€165pp)

⭐ Tied with JAN for the highest rating in Nice. An extraordinary achievement.

📍 5 rue Antoine Gautier, 06300 Nice · restaurantonice.com · Tel: +33 7 86 55 50 33
Hours: Wed–Fri 19h–20h30 · Sat–Sun 12h–13h30 and 19h–20h30 · Closed Mon–Tue
Rating: ★ 4.6 (322 reviews) · Michelin: ★ (2024) · Price: €€€

Lorenzo Ragni and Florencia Montes are the talented Italo-Argentinian couple at the helm of this intimate address in the antiques quarter. After international careers in Michelin-starred restaurants, they met at Mauro Colagreco's Mirazur in Menton. Today, they jointly sign a festival of crisp, gutsy dishes that reflect the seasons and the local catch.

They earned their first Michelin star less than ten months after opening — the two new stars awarded in Nice in 2024. The name can be read in Italian (oh nice!) or French (oh, Nice!) — both interpretations feel right.

Signature dishes: Tagliatelle of cuttlefish with lemon and citron · seabass with champagne and cockle emulsion · bloody orange sorbet with koji rice pudding · 5 or 7-course tasting menu (€125–145)

📍 2 rue Gustave Deloye, 06000 Nice · laromate.fr · Tel: +33 4 93 62 98 24
Hours: Tue–Sat 19h30–22h · Closed Sun–Mon
Rating: ★ 4.4 (149 reviews) · Michelin: ★ · Price: €€€

Close to Place Masséna, L'Aromate features a monochrome interior warmed by swathes of gold and a glass-walled kitchen at its centre — so diners can watch the culinary mastery in action. Chef Mickaël Gracieux and his wife Élise Morselli-Lourtet have built one of the most intimate fine dining rooms in Nice. Gracieux trained under Charial, Robuchon, and Ducasse before earning his first star in 2008.

The menu is admirably concise: 4 or 6 courses (€120 or €160), dinner only. Local seafood — green crab, San Remo prawns — drives the menu, with creative Mediterranean combinations.

Signature dishes: Seasonal local seafood · sardine tart · 4 or 6-course tasting menus

📍 15 rue Bottero, 06000 Nice · Tel: +33 6 19 88 68 90
Hours: Wed–Sun dinner · Sun lunch also · Closed Mon–Tue
Rating: ★ 4.1 (293 reviews) · Michelin: ★ · Price: €€€€

V is for Vanessa — Vanessa Massé's passion for wine won her Michelin's Best Sommelier award in 2021, which accompanies the restaurant's own Michelin star, earned with Danish chef Mads Thomsen. The restaurant maintains a commitment to sustainable gastronomy, sourcing 90% of produce from local organic producers within 100km.

The restaurant's menu is full of simple, creative dishes made with local produce with international touches. Three tasting menus are on offer — four, six, and eight courses — with the option of natural wine pairings from a list of 70 vignerons, 80% French. A second, more casual restaurant on the upper floor called Pure & Vins offers aperitif, snacking, and dinner Monday–Thursday from 18h — an excellent and more affordable entry point.

Signature dishes: Steak tartare with fourme d'Ambert on buckwheat · chapon with artichoke and bacon in smoked white butter · lavender ice cream with miso caramel

Note: Some recent reviews mention the restaurant may be relocating — verify before booking.

📍 37 Promenade des Anglais, 06000 Nice · lenegresco.com · Tel: +33 4 93 16 64 10
Hours: Wed–Sun 19h–21h30 · Closed Mon–Tue
Rating: ★ 4.5 (298 reviews) · Michelin: ★ · Price: €€€€

Le Chantecler is the main restaurant of the iconic Hôtel Negresco on the Promenade des Anglais. Freshness, proximity and seasonality guide chef Virginie Basselot's hand, where the ingredients sing. Dishes are plated more artfully than most high-end restaurants — as much a delight for the eyes as the tastebuds.

The 18th-century Régence dining room — all boiseries, chandeliers, and period tapestries — is the most spectacular in Nice. A piano accompanies dinner. The experience is as much about setting and ceremony as it is about cuisine.

Signature dishes: Two set menus plus à la carte · poultry with white cabbage, kumquat, and pistachio · 5 or 8-course tasting menus · exceptional desserts

Book a window table for lunch (when available) for the light filtering from the Promenade. A bucket-list Nice experience.

📍 3 rue Clément Roassal, 06100 Nice · Tel: +33 4 93 76 86 17
Hours: Wed–Sat dinner only · Closed Sun–Tue
Michelin: ★ (2024) · Price: €€€

At 70 years old, Chef Bruno Cirino won a Michelin star for cutting-edge vegan fine dining that will blow your mind. Racines is the only Michelin-starred vegan restaurant in France. Cirino showcases simple, flavoursome seasonal fare via a great value set menu. At Racines, ripe ingredients from the kitchen garden create Mediterranean cuisine with inventive touches. Local and sustainable produce is the true star of the show, with the menu reflecting the changing seasons.

A unique address in Nice — and in France. Not for vegetarians who want meat substitutes, but for those who want to discover what a world-class chef can do with the finest vegetables, herbs, and plants.

The Bib Gourmand is the Michelin Guide's designation for excellent cooking at a reasonable price — typically a three-course meal for under €40. These are some of the best value restaurants in Nice.

Michelin Bib Gourmand · Near Place Masséna

L'Alchimie offers great value for money with a bistro-style setting and clever culinary flair evident throughout the menu. Tables are snapped up fast — book ahead. The restaurant's specialty is gourmet food enhanced by global flavours.

These restaurants have no Michelin star but are among the most discussed, beloved, and celebrity-frequented tables in Nice.

📍 62 boulevard Franck Pilatte, 06300 Nice · lareservedenice.fr · Tel: +33 4 97 08 14 80
Hours: Tue–Sat 12h15–13h30 and 19h15–21h30 · Closed Sun–Mon · Rating: ★ 4.5 (1,419 reviews) · Price: €€€

The most beautifully positioned restaurant in Nice proper — a sleek modern terrace perched directly above the sea on the Corniche, between the Old Port and the Cap de Nice. The menu is contemporary Mediterranean, with an emphasis on the finest local seafood: roasted sea bass, Dublin Bay prawns, cannelloni Riviera.

Go for the terrace at sunset. One of the great Nice dining views.

📍 11 rue Saint-François de Paule, 06000 Nice · Tel: +33 4 93 92 59 59
Hours: Mon–Sat 12h–14h30 and 19h30–23h30 · Closed Sun · Rating: ★ 3.5 (1,506 reviews) · Price: €€€€

In the heart of Nice, La Petite Maison is a trendy hub frequented by celebrities including Elton John, Bono, and Rod Stewart. The Provençal menu is rooted in the sharing philosophy: stuffed Mediterranean vegetables, Niçoise salad, pissaladière, and lobster linguine. The restaurant boasts an elegant ambiance with expansive windows, rustic wood floors, and high ceilings.

No Michelin stars, but no shortage of real ones. A Nice institution for over 30 years, and the restaurant of choice for the city's most glamorous dinner parties. The divisive Google rating (3.5) reflects very high prices and variable service — but many reviewers describe it as an unforgettable experience when everything clicks.

Tip: Go for lunch when the energy is slightly more relaxed. Celebrity spotting is year-round.

📍 48 boulevard Victor Hugo, 06000 Nice · nespo-restaurant.com · Tel: +33 4 86 84 06 06
Hours: Tue–Sat 12h–15h and 19h30–00h30 · Closed Sun–Mon · Rating: ★ 4.1 (832 reviews)

Elton John called NESPO his new favourite restaurant in Nice — giving it “11 out of 10” — and it has become a magnet for other celebrities, including scouting trips for the next season of The White Lotus. It also offers a weekday lunch deal: 3 courses for just 30€, chosen from the weekly specials posted online each week.

A vibrant, modern dining room on boulevard Victor Hugo. The menu is contemporary French with a confident hand: truffle pasta, lobster linguine, sole meunière for two, crème brûlée described by reviewers as the best they have ever tasted.

• Michelin Guide: Nice restaurants — official list
• Best of Nice Blog: Top Quality Restaurants — the best single English-language source on Nice dining
• Time Out France: Best Restaurants in Nice — updated 2025
• Pocket Wanderings: Michelin Star Restaurants in Nice 2025
• SeeNice.com: Michelin Star Restaurants