9 Best Local Restaurants in Bordeaux

Le Chapon Fin is a gourmet restaurant in Bordeaux serving high-quality traditional cuisine from Gironde. Duck liver pâté (foie gras mi-cuit), Brannens pigeon, and blue lobster are some of the must-try specialities 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.

Find Le Chapon Fin right in the centre of Bordeaux, within the famous "golden triangle" between Place Tourny, l'Opéra National de Bordeaux and Place Gambetta. 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.

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 centre.

Seated around large tables that encourage socialising, you'll enjoy quality charcuteries, a lovely piece of grilled 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 among 2. The restaurant has a private room available for group and family bookings.

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 areas: the brasserie on the ground floor and the "table d'hôtes" area on the first floor in front of the kitchens where a 7-course fixed-price meal is served.

In the brasserie, you can 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.

La Belle Époque is a renowned local brasserie in the Bordeaux city centre 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 such as duck breast grilled on a hot plate (magrets de canard à la plancha) and cold cured meats and cheese boards (planches de charcuterie et de fromages). You can opt for outdoor dining on the terrace with a view of the Quais de la Garonne.

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.

From the menu are simple yet authentic dishes such as salade landaise duck salad and omelette piperade, which is a pepper, tomato and onion-filled omelette. Cafè Napoléon 3 is well placed between le Grand Théâtre and Place des Quinconces, on the same street as the tourist office, Canalés Baillardan (a shop selling rum and vanilla cakes) and the wine cellar, Vinothèque.

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 film screening or theatre guests.

From the menu, you can order deviled eggs, a traditional calf’s liver dish called foie de veau à l'ancienne, classic steak tartare or oysters from Arcachon Bay. Wash them down with a good, reasonably priced wine.

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 like oysters sourced directly from the Arcachon Bay, as well as salads and dishes that feature all varieties of duck such as foie gras terrine and cured gizzards (gésiers confits). 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 neighbourhood of Quartier Gambetta.

Le Grill Au Thym is a French restaurant in Bordeaux that presents grilled meats as its speciality. You can enjoy French and regional cuisine in a cosy setting with an open fireplace and exposed brick walls. From 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 form the wood-fired grill range from fish, rib steak with marrow, suckling pig to rib-eye steak grilled on the embers. In nice weather, you can opt for its 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.

Le Pressoir d'Argent is a fine restaurant at the luxury InterContinental Bordeaux - Le Grand Hôtel in the historic centre of Bordeaux. Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay pairs regional produce with flavours 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 to the wine selected by the sommelier. Must-tries include the Gironde black truffles and foie gras from the Charente region and the iconic Brittany lobster.