If you’re going to go to Paris, two things (at least) come to mind – eat at wonderful French restaurants and see the Eiffel Tower. Irvina Lew, Real Food Traveler’s Europe Editor, did her own, delicious research and has created a list of the best restaurants in Paris that have a view of the Eiffel Tower.

Save this article to Pinterest so you can plan your visits to restaurants with a view of the Eiffel Tower. Graphic by RealFoodTraveler.com.

Hungry for more? Hear our conversation with Irvina, author of “Forays In France-A Flavorful Memoir.”

Best Restaurants with a View of the Eiffel Tower

Visiting the Eiffel Tower tops many visitors Must-Do list, particularly on their first trip to Paris. And for good reason: the sensation of traveling upwards and sidewards, at the same time, is almost as exciting as its city view. Even so, there are times when the iron lady experience costs more than this tourist is willing to pay. The price-tag entails either dealing with long lines (even with advance purchases) or the expense of a gastronomic meal at Le Jules Verne restaurant, which provides easy access to the second level via their exclusive-to-guests elevator. I have been lucky to have lunched twice at Le Jules Verne, when the restaurant was part of Alain Ducasse’s dynasty. Chef Frédéric Anton—who earned the prestigious best chef in France, or MOF, title in 2000 and the Gault & Millau Chef of the Year 2025 award—reigns at the current two-Michelin star incarnation. I look forward to experiencing his lauded $180 Euro fixed price lunch (not including wine, tax or tip) one day. Meanwhile, I have chosen these special occasion and less costly alternatives where I enjoyed the view OF the tower, instead of FROM it.

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LES OMBRES
As soon as my grand-niece, Lyndsey, confirmed Thanksgiving week 2024 in Paris, I contacted my cousin in London who took the Eurostar with her fourteen-year-old daughter to spend the day with us. We met at 11am for a Bateaux Parisiens barge cruise on the Seine just footsteps from Les Ombres, on the top floor of the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac Museum. Architect Jean Nouvel designed the striking Alain Ducasse restaurant with glass window walls and an expansive landscaped terrace, so that diners can relish the nearby Tour Eiffel. We chose the special Rhizome prix-fixe lunch menu, which starts with an amuse, a gift of the chef, and offers two choices each for entrées (appetizers), plats (main dishes) and desserts, without the assortment of regional cheeses, available a la carte. The multi-starred Michelin chef Ducasse focuses the menu on sustainably sourced fish, seafood, grains and produce from the Mediterranean region, where his illustrious career started. I chose a squash agnolotti appetizer with a spicy Bolognese sauce, my guests indulged in the cauliflower puff pastry. The Maitre d’ who noticed my apprehension about ordering Pigeon, proposed substituting chicken, which relieved Lyndsey and me; my British guests appeared to relish their lightly smoked octopus. For dessert, they ordered grilled figs with sorbet; we chose the delicate hazelnut mousse.

Les Ombres Terrasse photo by Philippe Vaures Santamaria.

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MARGAUX
I was delighted to have discovered MARGAUX during my recent January 2025 trip to Paris, when I returned to study at the Sorbonne for the first time in six decades. The intimate French restaurant had just launched the previous week facing the Seine River near a pedestrian bridge crossing in the prestigious residential 16th arrondissement. The Eiffel Tower dominated the view through the window wall as we lunched on bentwood chairs at a white cloth covered table in the brick-floored dining room. The restaurant named for the owner’s grand-maman features a traditional menu with home-style dishes prepared by chef Paul-Alexandre Laumont. Appetizer options—Soupe a l’oignon, Escargots en persillade (snails) Oeufs mayonnaise a la truffe (eggs) or Saumon fumé bio, crème crue et blinis (smoked salmon)—were tempting until we noticed the pale green circle topped with a creamy sauce on a plate that centered the adjacent table and decided to share the Poireaux vinaigrette, the leek tower. Chicken Cordon Beu and Boeuf Bourgignon were enticing but I ordered a yummy Steak au poivre, which arrived with a plate of pommes duchesse, a circle of mashed potatoes with a crusty top. My friend chose a less familiar Salade de gesiers, magret de canard fumé, a smoked duck breast studded salad surrounded by small, delicately fried gizzards. To end, we each ordered our own flaming Crèpe Suzette!

Steak aux Poivres at Margeaux, one of the best restaurants with a view of the Eiffel Tower. Photo by Irvina Lew.

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GIRAFE
This January 2025, I also stopped into Girafe after touring the fascinating Department Store exhibit at the adjacent Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine museum in the same building, one of two semi-circular buildings that comprise the Palais de Chaillot, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower. There’s an unobstructed view of the tower from the terrace at Girafe and from the 9th floor La Suite Girafe and its wraparound balcony. I had dined there in November 2021, during a three week visit just after the France reopened its doors to vaccinated Americans as the threat of Covid diminished. We opted for some glamorous, late-night weekend dinners, after almost two years stuck eating at home, and chose Girafe, which my friend had previously enjoyed. Inside the splendid 1930s interior, the marble clad bar hinted at their specialties as it was covered with oyster-studded plateaux and seafood towers. We supped on epicurean crabmeat appetizers and delectable desserts, amidst some very chic date-night diners, including the stunning woman drinking dinner at the adjacent table, who never removed her elbow-length, fingerless black gloves when she nibbled on an occasional shrimp. Although the outdoor terrace was closed for the season, exactly at ten p.m., we managed to glimpse the tower for its glittering five minute on-the-hour show, when the sparkling lights move up and down between the iconic legs and the pointed top.

The Eiffel Tower view never fails to please and it’s also available at a table on the terrace of Carette, a patisserie on the Trocadero, from a touristy bateaux mouche or the elegant Ducasse-sur-Seine on the river.

-Story by Irvina Lew, Europe Editor at Real Food Traveler, is author of the forthcoming book Forays in France: A FLAVORFUL MEMOIR.

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