9 Best Local Restaurants in Bordeaux
Where to Find Bordeaux’s Best Local Food?
Bordeaux presents a well-varied local food scene that ranges from large Michelin-starred restaurants to traditional bars spread throughout the city. This capital of the French wine region has you spoilt for choice. Settle down in one of Bordeaux‘s many typical restaurants and discover the regional dishes that showcase local produce and seafood.
Places locals love to eat in Bordeaux also typically present succulent meat marinated in wine sauce, accompanied by porcini mushrooms, or fresh fish and local oysters. For dessert, you’ll often find the unmissable canelé (a rum-flavored cake filled with custard), as well as macarons de Saint Émilion or delicious poached pears.
1. Le Chapon Fin
Fine regional cuisine in a historic building
Good for: Couples, Food, Luxury
Le Chapon Fin is a gourmet restaurant in the center of Bordeaux serving high-quality traditional cuisine from Gironde. Duck liver pate (foie gras mi-cuit), Brannens pigeon, and blue lobster are some of the must-try specialties here. The restaurant also has an exceptional wine cellar – choose the wine-pairing menu to enjoy the sommelier’s selection.
Established in 1825, Le Chapon Fin was one of the first gourmet restaurants to be awarded 3 stars in the 1993 Michelin Guide. The Art Nouveau-style dining room seats around 60 diners, but if you’re celebrating a family event or planning a business lunch, you can reserve the private “little living room” for up to 18 guests.
Location: 5 Rue Montesquieu, 33000 Bordeaux, France
Open: Tuesday–Saturday from noon to 1.15 pm and 7.30 pm to 9.15 pm (Closed Sunday–Mondays)
Phone: +33 (0)5 56 79 10 10
Le Chapon Fin
2. La Brasserie Bordelaise
Regional dishes and wine testing in an authentic setting
Good for: Families, Food
La Brasserie Bordelaise is a traditional Bordeaux restaurant that serves traditional French and regional cuisine, alongside a large selection of wines. The brasserie is set on a beautiful and lively street right in the middle of the historic center.
Seated around large tables that encourage socializing, you’ll enjoy quality charcuterie, a lovely piece of broiled beef or the famous lamproie à la bordelaise, which is a traditional marinated fish dish from the Gironde area. Their T-bone steak is a must-try, portioned for sharing between 2. The restaurant has a private room available for group and family bookings.
Location: 50 Rue Saint-Rémi, 33000 Bordeaux, France
Open: Daily from noon to 3 pm and 7 pm to midnight
La Brasserie Bordelaise
3. Le Quatrième Mur
Refined French cuisine inside a grand opera theater
Good for: Food, Luxury
Le Quatrième Mur serves contemporary, refined French cuisine in a grand setting within the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux. The award-winning restaurant features 2 main neighborhoods: the brasserie on the first floor and the “table d’hôtes” area on the first floor by the kitchens, where a 7-course fixed-price meal is served.
In the brasserie, enjoy a unique fixed menu for lunch and a different one in the evening and at weekends. Both are renewed each week depending on the freshest produce that inspires the chef. The large table d’hôtes seats 12 and was awarded a star in the prestigious Michelin Guide. It’s a unique gourmet experience in a friendly setting that’s in slight contrast to the classic Michelin-starred restaurants around.
Location: 2 Place de la Comédie, 33000 Bordeaux, France
Open: Tuesday–Saturday from noon to 2.30 pm and then from 7 pm to 10 pm (Closed Sunday–Monday)
Phone: +33 (0)5 56 02 49 70
Le Quatrième Mur
4. La Belle Époque
Traditional cuisine while surrounded by earthenware decor
Good for: History, Photo, Food
La Belle Époque is a renowned local brasserie in the Bordeaux city center where you can enjoy traditional French cuisine. The restaurant was originally the Hôtel de Nantes; you can still admire its remarkable Bordelais blue earthenware decor that was created for its dining room and smoking room in 1865.
The restaurant reinterprets some of the main classics from the Gironde area. There’s a selection of sharing platters as well as an a la carte menu offering a great selection. You can opt for outdoor dining on the terrace with a view of the Quais de la Garonne.
Location: 2 Allée d’Orléans, 33000 Bordeaux, France
Open: Daily from 9 am to midnight
Phone: +33 (0)5 56 79 14 58
La Belle Époque
5. Café Napoléon 3
Bordeaux classics and Basque specialties in a vintage café
Good for: Photo, Food
Café Napoléon 3 is a restaurant that serves regional and brasserie-style cuisine in a chic setting in Bordeaux. The brasserie has been featured in the list of historical and heritage cafés of Europe, notably for its elegant interiors with large mirrors that reflect the restaurant’s beautiful woodwork and chandeliers.
The menu features simple yet authentic dishes that will tempt your tastebuds with classic flavors and culinary expertise. Indulge yourself with a meal in a delightful setting. Cafè Napoléon 3 is well placed between le Grand Théâtre and Place des Quinconces.
Location: 6 Bis Cours du 30 Juillet, 33000 Bordeaux, France
Open: Daily from 7.30 am to 10 pm
Phone: +33 (0)5 56 81 52 26
Café Napoléon 3
6. Brasserie L’Orléans
A landmark dining spot established in 1942
Good for: Families, Food
La Brasserie L’Orléans serves simple traditional French dishes inside a beautiful old stone building in the Quartier des Grands-Hommes of Bordeaux. You can easily spot its Parisian-brasserie facade with big red awnings over its street-side terrace. Located close to Place Quinconces and the Grand Théâtre, it opens until late to welcome concertgoers and movie screening or theater guests.
The menu has both classic French offerings and flavors from further afield. Take your pick of tasty tapas, pasta, and meat and fish dishes. Wash them down with a good, reasonably priced wine.
Location: 36 Allée d’Orléans, 33000 Bordeaux, France
Open: Monday–Thursday from noon to 2.30 pm then from 7.30 pm to 10.30 pm, Friday from noon to 2.30 pm then from 7.30 pm to 11 pm, Saturday from noon to 3 pm then from 7.30 pm to 11 pm (Closed Sunday)
Phone: +33 (0)5 56 00 50 06
Brasserie L’Orléans
7. Le Brocéliande
An intimate restaurant with a patio right on the street
Good for: Couples, Food
La Brocéliande is a laidback French restaurant in Bordeaux, where you can enjoy traditional cuisine with influences from the Gironde area. The menu is updated monthly to suit the season, to ensure the freshest ingredients. You’ll find local delights as well as salads and dishes that feature all varieties of duck. Meat lovers can indulge in their tasty rib-eye steak in wine sauce.
With a patio on the street for the summer evenings and an intimate dining room, this restaurant is a great place for dinners for 2. Find the restaurant on Place des Martyrs de la Résistance, not far from UGC Cinéma Cité Bordeaux and CGR Cinéma Bordeaux Le Français in the lively neighborhood of Quartier Gambetta.
Location: 15 Place des Martyrs de la Résistance, 33000 Bordeaux, France
Open: Monday–Wednesday from 8.30 am to midnight, Thursday–Friday from 8.30 to 2 am, Saturday from 5.30 pm to 2 am, Sunday from 4.30 pm to midnight
Phone: +33 (0)2 40 74 25 51
Le Brocéliande
8. Le Broil Au Thym
French delights from the wood-fired broil
Good for: Food
Le Broil Au Thym is a French restaurant in Bordeaux that specializes in broiled. You can enjoy French and regional cuisine in a cozy setting with an open fireplace and exposed brick walls. On the menu, you’ll find a selection of traditional Gascony cuisine such as foie gras mi-cuit or delicious garbure, a meat and vegetable stew that will warm you up in winter.
Delights from the wood-fire range from fish to rib-eye steak to duck, broiled on the embers. In nice weather, you can opt for a table on the little terrace on the pedestrian street. Find the restaurant in Quartier Saint-Pierre in the heart of historic Bordeaux, right between Place du Parlement and Place de la Bourse.
Location: 4 Rue des Faussets, 33000 Bordeaux, France
Open: Monday–Friday from 7 pm to 11 pm, Saturday–Sunday from noon to 2 pm then from 7 pm to 11pm
Le Broil Au Thym
9. Le Pressoir d’Argent
Dine at Gordon Ramsay’s gourmet restaurant in Bordeaux
Good for: Food, Luxury
Le Pressoir d’Argent is a fine restaurant at the luxury InterContinental Bordeaux - Le Grand Hôtel in the historic center of Bordeaux. Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay pairs regional produce with flavors from across the Channel to create an exceptional culinary experience at this 2 Michelin star restaurant.
Everything is delicious and considered down to the smallest detail, with high quality produce cooked with finesse from starter to dessert, including the homemade bread and the wine selected by the sommelier. It’s an excellent place for a special occasion, with food that begs to be savored.
Location: Place de la Comédie, 33000 Bordeaux, France
Open: Wednesday–Saturday from 7 pm to 9.30 pm (Closed Sunday–Tuesday)
Le Pressoir d’Argent
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