Restaurant recommendation site for France?

September 13, 2017 9:37 AM

What do the locals in France use to find good restaurants? Essentially, the equivalent of stuff like yelp, Zagat and so on. I'll be traveling there next week, and would appreciate something that could point me to good places to eat near wherever I happen to be.

Buying a copy of the Michelin Guide is also an acceptable option; we're traveling with a toddler though, so we won't be able to eat in places that are too posh. The kid is generally well-behaved, accustomed to eating at the table with us, and is adventurous with food, so we're hoping we might be able to at least lunch at a few nicer places.

posted by destrius to Travel & Transportation around France (10 answers total)

Michelin is free online and isn't only fancy starred places; you can also search for lower-cost restaurants and those awarded the "bib gourmand: exceptional good food at moderate prices." Gault & Millau is the main Michelin competitor. And another dozen from Wikipedia.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 10:45 AM on September 13, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: TripAdvisor is pretty popular in Europe. They have an offshoot called The Fork or La Fourchette which is popular as well.
posted by vacapinta at 11:00 AM on September 13, 2017 [2 favorites]

Le Fooding is a popular one and I've found a few gems with it.

See also David Leibovitz' recommendations and blog:


Have a great time!
posted by cacofonie at 12:32 PM on September 13, 2017

Today's NYT article reports on some new apps:
How to Explore a City Like a Local Using Your Smartphone
posted by LonnieK at 12:45 PM on September 13, 2017

im with vacapinta. i have had great success using tripadvisor in france, and all over europe.
posted by chasles at 2:11 PM on September 13, 2017

Ask your concierge.
posted by GeeEmm at 2:42 PM on September 13, 2017

If you'll be in Lyon, there's Le Petit Paumé
posted by btfreek at 4:14 PM on September 13, 2017

It's a little Old School, but the Chowhound discussion boards are still my absolute go to for these kinds of questions.
posted by frumiousb at 6:35 PM on September 13, 2017

Best answer: What do the locals in France use to find good restaurants?

Word of mouth
La Fourchette
Trip Advisor

In that order
posted by Kwadeng at 10:54 PM on September 13, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: La Fourchette seems like it's what I'm looking for... it's results are probably synced with TripAdvisor so that works too. I know TripAdvisor has reviews but I'm not sure how "real" they are. Over here, only tourists give TripAdvisor reviews so the results are very skewed; most locals use a different website. Thanks all!
posted by destrius at 1:17 AM on September 14, 2017