The history of Franco-American relations is a long and varied one, from being allies against the British during the Revolutionary War to 19th century colonisation which led to the early establishments of cities like New Orleans, Detroit and Baton Rouge. Over time, the culture and heritage of the French diaspora has fused with the USA’s food scene to create some wonderful restaurants that celebrate the decadent flavours and world-renowned hospitality of France, as well as giving proud nods to Creole and Cajun influences. Here, we reveal where to find some of the finest French fare around America.
Located in Napa Valley, The French Laundry is the brainchild of Thomas Keller, whose impressive credentials include the title of first (and only) American-born chef to be awarded two three-star Michelin ratings, as well as the first American male chef to be designated a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honour. This restaurant is one of those shiny three-starred gaffs, serving daily-changing tasting menus centred around classical haute cuisine. Customers have called it a “magical” dining experience that is “phenomenal in every aspect”.
Holding AAA Five Diamond accreditation and a five-star rating from Forbes Travel Guide, La Mer is the only restaurant with such a stellar résumé in Hawaii. Housed within the luxurious Halekulani hotel, it is overseen by globe-trotting chef Alexandre Trancher who worked in Paris, Greece and Japan before coming to Oahu. His vision combines local and tropical ingredients with notes of the south of France; dishes include seared foie gras and a Hawaiian-inspired soufflé. Previous guests praise the restaurant’s “exemplary service” and declare it the “best French cuisine in Hawaii".
With more than 1,500 five-star TripAdvisor reviews, Arnaud’s is the best fine-dining restaurant in NOLA’s French Quarter, named after its very first owner Arnaud Cazenave who opened the premises in 1918. Since then, the restaurant has championed both Creole and French delicacies, with its iconic soufflé potatoes making regular appearances on social media. Other highlights include crab claws provençale and oysters served various ways. Attached to Arnaud’s is the French 75 Bar, a space for cocktails and conviviality that was crowned one of America’s top five bars by Esquire Magazine.
Behind the curtain at this chic Midwest eatery, real social change is taking place. Founder and CEO Brandon Chrostowski created EDWINS as a restaurant and leadership institute to provide rehabilitation, support, training and work experience to formerly incarcerated adults. The result: one of the best French restaurants in the country that also happens to be changing lives, with graduates of the programme enjoying a 95% employment rate. The menu features French staples like lobster bisque, steak tartare, Burgundy snails and duck, with diners saying it is “delicious and delightful.”
French flair is the root of Le Pigeon, with the bold and hearty flavours of truffle, beef and the eponymous pigeon taking centre-stage on its seasonal tasting menu. But it also incorporates surprising additions from further afield into its dishes, such as Middle Eastern spices and Asian favourites like matcha and ramen. The man behind this innovation is chef and co-owner, Gabriel Rucker, who steered Le Pigeon towards being named ‘Restaurant of the Year’ by The Oregonian just two years after opening. One Yelp user declares it to be the “most memorable restaurant in Portland."
The menu at Chez Panisse shifts daily, reflecting the seasons of its Californian location and honouring the flavours, techniques and traditions of French and wider European cuisine. Led by Alice Waters, the restaurant is decorated with a Michelin green star for sustainable gastronomy, owing to 75% of its produce being grown organically on Waters’ own farm, with the remainder sourced from within 50 miles. Past dishes have included leg of lamb with confit garlic and turnip gratin, spring vegetable ragout and apricot galette. According to TripAdvisor, this is the second-best restaurant overall in Berkeley.
The stylish Las Vegas outpost of world-renowned French restaurateur Joël Robuchon has been called “superb”, “nirvana” and “as good as restaurants get” by satisfied diners on TripAdvisor. It has a CV bustling with accolades: three Michelin stars, five stars from Forbes and AAA Five Diamond classification. Under the sharp eye of chef Christophe De Lellis, Joël Robuchon serves a decadent tasting menu as well as a la carte offerings.
Serving haute cuisine in the Windy City, Corsican-Vietnamese chef Roland Liccioni trained in France and in the UK under the tutelage of the famous Roux Brothers, before moving into the kitchen at Les Nomades. His vision gives a contemporary and cross-cultural twist to French cuisine, marrying it with influences from southeast Asia and the US. He grows much of the restaurant’s produce himself and works with local farmers to ensure the best sustainable, seasonal items are used. The “outstanding” and “extraordinary” food includes sautéed Dover sole, Peking duck breast with Rouennaise sauce and mandarin and vanilla crème brûlée.
Overlooking Central Park, Jean-Georges (named after acclaimed chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten) is as lauded for its location as it is for its culinary prowess. The two Michelin-starred site also gained four stars from the New York Times and is widely regarded to be one of the best foodie haunts in the country. The restaurant offers a seasonally sensitive six- or ten-course tasting menu, featuring egg toast with caviar and herbs, green asparagus with morels, and Hudson valley foie gras among its current programme. Singing the praises of an “exceptional” and “exquisite” dining experience, the reviews really speak for themselves.
Café Provence has been under the management of the Quillec family for over 20 years. Crowned one of the top 100 restaurants in the US, as well as the best restaurant in Kansas City and among the top 10 French restaurants in the country, epicures come here for “a little bit of Paris in Kansas.” On Tuesdays, a four-course prix fixe menu is available, based around seasonality. The a la carte dinner menu has a plethora of options to suit all palates, from earthy mushroom ravioli with braised rabbit and Riesling velouté sauce to aromatic moules marinières and a salty blue cheese-dressed salad of endive, walnut and apple.
French chef Philippe Verpiand and his wife Monica Bui steer the ship at Étoile Cuisine et Bar, situated in Uptown Park. They pride themselves on presenting a fresh, unpretentious interpretation of French cuisine without compromising on authenticity. Highlights of the menu include a catch of the day served with roasted cauliflower mousseline and vanilla beurre blanc, French onion soup topped with a Gruyere crouton and comforting coq au vin. One happy Yelp user says Étoile “sets the standard for service and delicious food”, with another calling it “consistently excellent and excellently consistent.”
First established in 1996, Chapeau! has since evolved into the “wonderful neighbourhood French restaurant” it is known as today. Chef and owner Philippe Gardelle captures the casual and cosy atmosphere of a quintessential French bistro and brings it to San Francisco’s Lower Richmond District. Dishes include a frisee salad of duck confit, rich filet mignon and French toast finished with hazelnut creme Anglaise and salted caramel ice cream. Diners on Yelp can’t get enough of this “truly memorable establishment” and its food which “fills your soul.”
Le Diplomate, located on 14th Street, is a love letter to the Parisian-style brasserie. Every thought has been given to recreating a slice of French bohemian style in the interiors, with hanging lanterns, cascading foliage, red leather banquettes, wicker chairs and absinthe-green walls. The menu is varied and plentiful, with fruits de mer platters and cheese plates, appetisers to amuse your bouche like mushroom tart with truffle pecorino and pâté de Campagne, plus indulgent entrées like steak au poivre and lobster frites. Rest assured “you can order anything and it will be delicious”, according to one raving Yelp review.
Two Michelin-starred DANIEL has been going strong since 1993, building up a revered reputation for French gastronomy under namesake chef Daniel Boulud and his talented kitchen brigade. There are a choice of menus depending on your needs and desires, including a four-course prix fixe, a seven-course tasting menu and a la carte served in the restaurant’s lounge area. There is equal attention given to the wine offering, which traverses the regions of the Rhône, Burgundy and Champagne. A visit here is definite bucket-list material, with previous guests recalling a “luxurious food experience” and “a joyful gastronomic revelation.”
We’ve established by now that French cuisine heavily favours meat, but Michelin-starred Le Jardinier (meaning “The Gardener”) debunks that trope to place the emphasis on vegetables, fruits and herbs – although, importantly, it is not an entirely meat-free zone. Whether you come for lunch, dinner or Sunday brunch, there is always something unexpected to try at this restaurant. The Spring Discovery tasting menu starts and ends with fresh seasonal ingredients, beginning with grilled asparagus in the first course and strawberry mousse in the finale. Diners on TripAdvisor love the “excellent modern French cuisine” and the “amazing” variety delivered in the tasting menu.
Located on the second floor of the Rittenhouse Hotel, Lacroix has been awarded AAA Four Diamond status and a further four stars from Forbes’ Travel Guide in recognition of its fine international cuisine. The dominant influence is inarguably French, with dishes like onion tarte tatin, beef tartare with silky egg yolk and grilled lobster all gracing the menu, which is based around locally sourced, seasonally available produce. It’s also very popular for breakfast and brunch: try the petit déjeuner (croissant, ham, avocado, boiled egg, coffee and fruit juice) or pain perdu if you wish to go thoroughly continental.
Listed as the top restaurant in Richmond and one of the finest for French-inspired cuisine in the country, L’Opossum’s love of the whimsical and witty only enhances the experience here. The menu changes regularly, but prospective diners can expect to be served dishes like seared foie gras, Chesapeake Bay oysters and Arctic char à la Côte d’Azur alongside some imaginative vegan options too. One diner describes the ambience at L’Opossum as like stepping back in time to a 1920s French bistro.
At the immersive, Michelin two-starred Mélisse, diners are guided through a mammoth culinary journey by the front-of-house staff and the very chefs who prepared the food in front of you. The seven-course tasting menu is really more akin to 10 courses, with canapés and amuse-bouches preceding the main event, and a presentation of petit fours at the close. Josiah Citrin devised the concept, showing off his immense skills and expertise honed over more than 25 years of cheffing. Legions of gushing Yelp reviewers wax lyrical about the restaurant’s “epic menu”, saying “they never disappoint.”
In 2020 and 2021, The Refectory won the title of ‘Best Restaurant in Columbus’ two years in a row and is also an AAA Four Diamond establishment; lauded as “magnifique” and “phenomenal” by former visitors. Lyon native Richard Blondin is the chef at the helm, combining iconic flavours and techniques from his homeland with a sprinkling of American soul. He serves up a five-course tasting menu, but also offers a selection of frequently evolving small plates where the keys are handed to the diner, as you choose how much, how little and from which category you wish to sample.
Being Thomas Keller’s second entry in this list and also the second three Michelin-starred restaurant in his portfolio, Per Se is his “New York interpretation” of The French Laundry. The “superb” dining experience is marked by the classical cookery skill and meticulous choice of ingredients that characterise fine French cuisine, with daily nine-course tasting menus that cater to omnivores and herbivores alike, plus a wine list of over 2,000 varieties to complement. Previous dishes have included caviar with Maine lobster, brioche melba toast and pickled onion and a 48-hour braised short rib of beef topped with duchess potato.
With a setting fit for Louis XVI himself, The French Room sits inside Dallas’ Adolphus Hotel and promises guests an “awe-inspiring exploration of culinary and service excellence.” Open exclusively for “unique and delicious” afternoon high tea, the journey begins with a collection of savouries, ranging from a finger sandwich of cucumber cress and herby soft cheese to decadent bites like truffled egg croissants and salmon eclairs. Follow this with a scone of your choice before dipping into the sweet patisserie tier, with its fruit pastries, Valrhona chocolate tart and salted caramel bundt cake.
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Inspired by a fascination with the long-standing gastronomic heritage of France and a classically-trained background, executive chef Gary Donlick crafts his concept for Bistro Niko around modern French food culture and American ingredients, creating a relaxed neighbourhood feel. Bookings can be made for brunch, lunch and dinner, with menu highlights being the restaurant’s signature artisanal charcuterie board, snails en croûte with garlic butter, beef cheek bourguignon and veal tenderloin. TripAdvisor users wax lyrical about the “French country dishes, reasonable prices and snappy service” that they “can’t wait to come back” for.
Two Michelin-starred Addison is housed within the luxury Fairmont Grand Del Mar Hotel and is southern California’s only Forbes five-star restaurant, thanks to chef-director William Bradley. Additionally, it has been recognised with an AAA Five Diamond Award and by Relais & Chateau for Bradley’s masterful creativity. The nine-piece tasting menu is on “another level”, taking its lead from the Californian seasons and their produce, but relying on French technique and influence to make the flavours and textures really soar. Past courses have included oysters, artichoke gratin, Wagyu tartare and peanut butter terrine.
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Overseen by Vincent Guerithault, Vincent’s is a fusion of France and the American Southwest. Chef Vincent is French-born and trained, having held positions in Paris and Provence before coming to the US in the 1970s. The melting pot of his experiences is a small restaurant empire, of which Vincent’s on Camelback is the centrepiece; being “an oldie but most definitely a goodie” according to one TripAdvisor review. Dine on scallops with truffle beurre blanc, foie gras with poached pear, duck confit with Lyonnaise potatoes and so much more.
Chef Robert Wiedmaier began working in kitchens at 14 years old, ultimately opening Marcel’s in 1999. It is multi-award-winning, inspired by his Flemish roots and the techniques of French nouvelle cuisine. A tasting menu here can be presented in four, five or six courses, with dishes ranging from mussels with flavours of tomato and vermouth to boudin blanc sausages with mushrooms, finishing with desserts showcasing chocolate and hazelnut or rhubarb and lime. One discerning customer notes the quiet ambiance, fabulous food and great service among the restaurant’s charms.
Closed during the off-season but reopening each June, the French Alpine Bistro is owner Karin Derly’s homage to the European principles of warmth, friendliness and belonging. The comforting menu features French staples like onion soup, steak tartare and escargots to start, followed by duck and white bean cassoulet, filet mignon and a truffled gnocchi bake. Interactive fondue courses and filled crêpes really make you feel like you’re in a French mountain village. With hundreds upon hundreds of five-star TripAdvisor ratings, people love the atmosphere and wholesome dishes.
Placing fish and seafood at the heart of its dishes, Michelin three-starred Le Bernardin has retained a four-star review in the New York Times for more than three decades and has been honoured by the James Beard Awards more times than any other NYC venue. The thousands of five-star reviews on TripAdvisor are further evidence of its acclaim. Daytime diners can enjoy a three-course prix fixe menu, or visit in the evening for a four-course prix fixe or the monumental eight-course tasting menu. Caviar, tuna, langoustine, Dover sole and lobster are the lead stars, with vegetarian options also available.
Orsay combines the memory of Jacksonville’s Huguenot heritage with flavours that reflect the soul of Florida today, calling itself “a French bistro incarnated in the American South”, with a menu to reflect that. It has been stamped with a ‘Snail of Approval’ from Slow Food First Coast, recognising the restaurant’s commitment to responsibly sourced produce. Whether you just come for the sustainably fished raw bar or for a big multi-course dinner, leave plenty of room for dessert and bookend it with some delightful petit fours. Guests on Yelp love the “warm, welcoming atmosphere, world-class cuisine and exceptional service.”
Not only is Jeune et Jolie quite possibly the most aesthetically beautiful French restaurant in America, it is also among the crème de le crème for its food, having been awarded a Michelin star. Owner John Resnick, executive chef Eric Bost and the team are keen to ensure accessibility for everyone though, regardless of whether you’re marking a special occasion or just a chilled evening with friends, nurturing “the most lovely atmosphere to escape to.” Choose from a four-course tasting menu (you pick the items) or an à la carte served in the bar or lounge area.
Mistral is located in Boston’s trendy South End district and has customers raving about the food. Chef-patron Jamie Mammano throws the spotlight on flavours and dishes hailing from the French Mediterranean, offering an abundant a la carte menu that begins with appetisers such as pea soup with crab and carpaccio of sirloin beef with black truffle aioli, before giving way to main courses of lamb rack with potato and parsnip gratin, halibut and roast duck. End your meal with a sweet treat; the chocolate profiteroles and fruit tart sound particularly good.