Where to eat in Alsace-Lorraine: our guide to the best restaurants

French Taperia, Nancy

Just around the corner from Plaza Stanislas, French Taperia steers away from traditional bistro dishes to bring diners tapas with a French accent. Picture Spanish montaditos (mini sandwich rolls) filled with foie gras, shredded beef, and fig confit, or croquettes filled with mussels instead of jamon (ham).

The restaurant itself is as contemporary as its premise. Design flourishes include bold feature walls, an indoor blossom tree, and a combination of leather barstools and velvet tub chairs.

The menu shifts with the seasons. There’s a cocktail bar on site, too, where bar tenders shake up drinks like the Sarti spritz, made with blood orange, mango and passion fruit liqueur, prosecco and the local Carola Rouge mineral water.

• Getting there: 15 Rue Stanislas, 54000 Nancy, France
• Website: french-taperia.fr
• Open Tuesday to Saturday from midday to 2.30pm and 6.30pm to 10pm.

Brasserie L’Excelsior, Nancy

Lofty stuccoed ceilings, Art Deco lighting, and primly-pressed white tablecloths welcome diners to this Belle Epoque eatery, a 10-minute walk from Nancy’s Unesco-listed Plaza Stanislas.

Waiters wear waistcoats and neckties as they deliver traditional bistro dishes, including like smoked pork knuckle and ham hock in a Munster cheese sauce to tables.

The highlight of a visit here has to be the seafood, which is served atop ice on silver platters. Or the crepes, which are ceremoniously flambeed, tableside.

• House speciality: The Royal Platter of lobster, crab, langoustines, pink shrimp, and 18 oysters.
• Getting there: 50 Rue Henri-Poincaré, 54000 Nancy, France
• Website: excelsior-nancy.fr
• Email: contact@excelsior-nancy.fr.
• Open daily from 8am to 12:30am, Sundays and Mondays until 11pm.

Brasserie le 11, Metz

Bookshelves, wall-mounted maps, and some key pieces of reclaimed furniture provide the backdrop for meals at this eatery, on the periphery of Metz’s old town.

The menu changes regularly, but diners can count on modern brasserie dishes, like skate wing carpaccio or egg with goat’s cheese emulsion and walnuts.

For sunny days, ask for a table out front, and you can eat in view of the city’s elegant Acienne Gare De Metz 19th-century railway station.

• House speciality: The restaurant’s set menus help keep budgets in check, with the plat du jour on sale for €21, two courses for €29, or three courses for €35.
• Getting there: 2 Place du Roi George, 57000 Metz
• Website: brasserie-le11.fr
• Open Tuesday to Saturday midday to 2pm and 6pm to 10pm.

La Fleure de Ly, Metz

A 16th-century private mansion provides the setting for Fleur de Ly, a short shuffle from Metz’s cathedral. Hints to the building’s residential past include the stone chimney place, wooden ceiling supports, and the rickety staircase in the cosy reception room.

Amongst the traditional French dishes on the menu, you’ll spot some slightly less unexpected dishes like salmon gravlax or chilled cream soup with red pepper and strawberries.

• House speciality: Look out for the ‘market menu’ to get three courses for €35.
• Getting there: 5 Rue des Piques, 57000 Metz
• Telephone: +33 (0)3 87 74 01 23
• Open Monday to Saturday midday to 2pm and 7pm to 9.30pm and Sunday midday to 2pm.

La Potence, Remelfing

With floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the rippling Saar River, La Potence is a five-minute taxi ride from Sarreguemines, where Le Boat cruisers can dock.

Interiors are airy, with lots of exposed stone and wood. The menu, meanwhile, is classic French but with a few international flourishes. So, expect to see the likes of hand-cut veal tartare and duck breast listed alongside dishes such as gnocchi and tuna tataki.

• House speciality: Check the restaurant’s website or social media accounts for the daily changing lunchtime Plat du Jour. It could be anything from sweet potato gnocchi with goat’s cheese cream and parmesan to hake bouillabaisse with croutons.
• Getting there: 23 Rue du Château, 57200 Rémelfing
• Website: lapotence.fr
• Open Monday midday to 2pm, Thursday and Friday midday to 2pm and 7pm to 9pm / Saturday 7pm to 9pm / Sunday midday to 2pm and 7pm to 9pm.

Auberge Saint‑Walfrid, Sarreguemines

Just along the river from Sarreguemines’ centre, Auberge Saint‑Walfrid is tucked up inside the restored outbuilding of the town’s^18th-century priory.

Where monks once walked, waiters now present Michelin-starred dishes to diners. Tables are spread between two rooms, with parquet floors, beamed ceilings, and collections of prized Sarreguemines pottery on the walls.

• The menu revolves around seasonality and sustainably sourced ingredients, with breads, charcuterie items, and fruit liqueurs made in-house. Depending on the season, you can count on ingredients such as oysters, roe deer, trout, and pigeon.
• Perhaps unusually for a Michelin-starred eatery, there’s a children’s menu, and for sunny days, the restaurant has a shaded terrace that overlooks a leafy private park.
• Getting there: 58 Rue de Grosbliederstroff, 57200 Sarreguemines
• Wesbite: stwalfrid.fr/
• Email: contact@stwalfrid.fr
• Open Tuesday midday to 1.30pm, Wednesday to Saturday midday to 1.30pm and 7pm to 9.30pm, and Sunday midday to 1.30pm.

La Fleur de Sel, Sarralbe

A few minutes’ walk from Sarralbe’s pink sandstone ‘Saar Cathedral’, La Fleur de Sel is a family-run eatery with a menu that changes with the seasons. Traditional French bistro dishes like foie gras are elevated with compotes, purees, and emulsions.

There’s an Italian undertone to the offering thanks to options such as tiramisu and Neapolitan iced coffee. Looks-wise, it’s cosy, with plumply upholstered seating and bright, playful artworks on the walls.

• House speciality: On Wednesdays and Thursdays, a special lunch menu is available for €25.
• Getting there: 36 Rue de Strasbourg, 57430 Sarralbe
• Website: fleursel.com
• Open Wednesday to Saturday midday to 2pm and 7pm to 9.30pm and midday to 2pm.

Taverne Katz, Saverne

Mere metres from the Chateau des Rohan, Taverne Katz is a bona fide winstub. Blue chequered tablecloths anoint the tables, antique books, vases, and jugs adorn the shelves, and cuckoo clocks and framed watercolours hang on the wood-lined walls.

On the food front, dishes like braised pork cheeks, chicken pot pie, and roast ham are served with sides of potatoes and spaetzle and the Katz sundae comes highly recommended.

• House speciality: Translated as ‘baker’s oven’, baeckeoffe is a warming, robust stew made at Taverne Katz with three meats, potatoes, and onions marinated overnight in white wine and herbs.
• Getting there: 80 Grand Rue, 67700 Saverne
• Website: tavernekatz.com
• Email: contact@tavernekatz.com
• Opening hours vary by season, check the website for details.

La Garenne, Saverne

Set against the backdrop of the Unesco-listed Northern Vosges Regional Natural Park, just outside Saverne, La Garenne sets a soothing tone with whitewashed walls, light wood tables, and natural stone floors.

The chefs here put a modern spin on classic French and German bistro dishes. Think: foie gras with strawberries or veal schnitzel with wild garlic pesto. The wine list is worth a visit alone, with a dizzying selection of 250 bottles on the list.

• House speciality: Veal and beef often steal the show at La Garenne. Try the beef burger that’s served with raclette cheese, bacon, and fries, the beef ribs for two, or the veal chop that’s served with spaetzle.
• Getting there: 88 Rue du Haut Barr, 67700 Saverne
• Website: lagarenne.fr
• Email: reservation@lagarenne.fr
• Open Tuesday to Saturday midday to 2pm and 7pm to 9.30pm and Sunday midday to 2pm.

Au Pont Saint-Martin, Strasbourg

This timber-framed restaurant overlooks the canals in the Petite France area of Strasbourg. On one side of the eatery, tables spill out onto the cobbled streets, while on the other side, they jut out over the water on a stilted covered jetty.

Inside, wood-panelled walls and tables draped in red and white chequered cloths await.

The menu is acutely Alsatian. There are nine types of flammkuchen (a wood-fired dough dish topped with cream, onions and bacon), in two sizes, as well as classic options like homemade spatzle noodles and sauerkraut with five different meats.

Try to save space for dessert – the restaurant serves kougelhopf (a tasty sponge cake baked in a crown-shaped mould) with rosehip coulis.

• Getting there: 15 Rue des Moulins, 67000 Strasbourg
• Website: pont-saint-martin.com
• Email: info@pont-saint-martin.com
• Open Monday to Friday from midday to 2pm and 6.30pm to 10pm and Saturday and Sunday all day.

Winstub Le Clou, Strasbourg

The tables of Winstub Le Clou spill out onto the cobbles of Strasbourg’s Old Town. With its wood-panelled walls, patterned tablecloths, and antiques, it’s the epitome of a typical Alsatian winstub.

Its menu is as authentic as its looks. Count on classics like foie gras, homemade ‘presskopf’ (meat jelly) terrine, onion tarts, and filling side portions of pork, potatoes, and tangy sauerkraut.

• House speciality: For dessert, try the warm prune soup with a gingerbread ball.
• Getting there: 3 Rue du Chaudron, 67000 Strasbourg
• Website: le-clou.com
• Email: info@le-clou.com
• Open daily from 11.45am to 2.30pm and 6pm to 11pm.

Chez Yvonne, Strasbourg

Ensconced in Strasbourg’s Cathedral Quarter, Chez Yvonne is a local institution. Founded in 1873, it has welcomed French presidents, chancellors, television personalities and singers over the years.

The interiors of this winstub-style restaurant feature all-wood-panelled walls, framed watercolour paintings, and fringed pendant lighting. The main menu showcases dishes like snails cooked Alsatian-style in wine, bacon, and garlic butter and lewerknepfle (liver quenelles with cream) whilst a chalked-up blackboard advertises specials that change daily.

Chez Yvonne is also a Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand restaurant, meaning you can count on quality food for a pocket-friendly price.

• House speciality: Calf’s head cooked ‘pot-au-feu’ (slow-cooked on the hob as a stew) or cockerel in Riesling.
• Getting there: 10 Rue du Sanglier, 67000 Strasbourg, France,
• Website: restaurant-chez-yvonne.net
• Email: info@chez-yvonne.fr
• Open daily from 11:45am to 2:15 pm and from 6pm to 10:30pm.