22 Best Restaurants in Provence, France

This convivial wine bar, tucked in a corner near a pretty square in the Old Town, is the best place for tasting local wines. The selection of excellent-value wines by the glass allows you to take in (literally) the vast wealth of the Côtes du Rhône, deliciously accompanied by local cheeses, charcuterie, or salad plates.

For a fresh, seasonal lunch, try this chic little outpost that is part restaurant and part gourmet grocer. Imaginative Mediterranean-inflected salads and light dishes are healthy and delicious, and they pair well with a gourmet soda, Marseille microbrew, or a local rosé. After your meal, you can stock up on such southern delicacies as unrefined olive oils from Tête Dans Les Olives, tinned bonito fish, and handcrafted local herbs.

Ask any Marseille food enthusiast where they go for great Italian food, and they're sure to mention this legendary spot, which is renowned as much for its food and flowing wine as for its camaraderie. Options include gorgeous plates of charcuterie topped with giant Parmesan shavings, fragrant bowls of steaming risotto, and line-caught fish of the day; just save room for the towering tiramisu maison. The linen-covered tables may be elbow to elbow, but that's all part of the fun, a feeling that extends to the large outdoor terrace, which is festively lit up at night.

A cave (wine store) by day and a happening wine and tapas bar by night, this is a great place to sample the famous wines of the Côtes du Rhône—perhaps a local Beaume-de-Venise, which goes nicely with the house-made foie gras. Whether you sit inside or out on the terrace, charming, knowledgeable staffers will pour samples until you've found the perfect pairing for your charcuterie or artisanal cheese plate.

You could hardly beat the location of this (mostly outdoor) bistro in the shady, elegant courtyard of the Collection Lambert. Hearty lunches and dinners include a fish and meat choice with plenty of fresh local vegetables and salads on the side—perhaps, salmon gravlax with an Asian-inflected cabbage salad or roasted lamb with bright steamed veggies. Wines are mostly organic with plenty of choices by the glass, or spring for a fresh-pressed juice with a spritz of fresh ginger. Scrumptious desserts round out the meal or make a pleasant teatime break after exploring the collection.

You'll never feel more like a kid in a candy shop than when you feast your eyes on the scintillating pastries, candied fruits (a specialty of the Vaucluse since Roman times), chocolates, and other local sweets sold here. At the charming café next door you can enjoy your selection with tea or coffee; there's also a small menu of savory lunch dishes.

Set in a quiet, leafy courtyard a few steps from the Collection Lambert, this is a good place to enjoy fresh, unfussy, reasonably priced dishes paired with local wines and served by a friendly staff. The pretty dining room's bucolic frescoes set the tone for a cuisine based on whatever's fresh, and you can eat outside in nice weather.

Dating back 100 years, this is among the Cours Mirabeau's oldest cafés. Its old-fashioned interior and terrace facing the pretty square give it a certain Provençal charm, and you'll find a menu of French brasserie classics along with the usual café fare.

We'd love to keep this friendly restaurant a secret, but the chefs craft dishes of such rare subtlety and sophistication (especially at this price range) and the wine list has such a dazzling array of affordable options by the bottle or the glass, that it seems wrong not to share among copains. Though à la carte is possible, opt for the excellent-value prix-fixe menus to try dishes like panfried octopus and soppressata ham, hay-smoked Aubrac steak with parsnip purée and anchovy condiment, or foie gras with trout caviar and passion fruit. For dessert, consider the caramelized puff pastry with fig compote and vanilla cream. Note, too, that the chefs here are happy to accommodate special requests, making this a great place for finicky eaters or those with allergies.

To experience all of the city's culinary diversity under one covered-marketplace roof, head to the food stalls at the new Grandes Halles du Vieux Port, which is open 9 am to midnight. Here you can order the freshest catch of the day or vegetarian dishes, as well as gourmet sandwiches, classic pizzas, and authentic tapas to take away or to enjoy on the outdoor terrace. There's also a year-round farmers’ market, a central wine bar, local craft beer, and much more.

You couldn't have a more perfect setting for chef Marco Casolla's delicious pizzas and pasta dishes—inspired by his native Naples and the bounty of the sea—than the white sands of Toulon's Plage du Mourillon. At this beachside terrace restaurant, diners cool off with an apéro spritz in the shade of umbrellas at lunchtime or wrap up a day at the beach over a sunset dinner.

On nice days, the lively scene in the dining room spills out onto a spacious terrace, though both are lovely places to enjoy something from the short menu of home-style dishes that's made even more irresistible by the fact that nothing on it costs more than €17 (three-course lunch menu, €16). Look for such comfort foods as spelt risotto with veal and cèpes or pork caillettes (meatballs) with chard and pickles; for dessert, consider the melting chocolate mousse cake that's just like the one grandmère makes.

If you're hankering after a great coffee, you can't go wrong at this chic café in the up-and-coming Saint-Lambert village district of the city.

This under-the-radar cave à manger, for people who want to eat and drink well without the fuss of a fancier place, specializes in small plates with big flavors. Try the morteau sausage with lentils and pickled onions, the briny oysters in an herb-infused broth, or the tender pork cheeks with sweet corn cream—all accompanied by a feisty natural wine. Plates are intended to be shared, but that's up to you.

This restaurant, opened in 1927, is the spot to stop for lunch and to bask in the sun on your way up the eastern slope of Mont Ventoux. The food is far beyond the merely acceptable, whether you opt for simple omelets (with truffles in season), traditional options like tartiflette (a baked dish of potatoes, cheese, and bacon from the Savoie region) or even heartier fare such as a spit-roasted pig (for groups of 15 or more). Bikers, hikers, and car-trekkers alike gather at plank tables on the wooden deck or warm themselves in the chalet-style dining area.

This classic wine bar is ever popular for its great location and reliably good French food. The menu features modern riffs on the classics—pigs’ feet (and ears if you're lucky), ricotta-spinach dumplings with mushrooms spiked with pecorino cheese, or asparagus eggs Benedict—and the owners also have a tender spot for vegetarians. The long and well-priced list of biodynamic and organic wines by the bottle or glass makes sampling the local options a cinch.

If you're hankering for a good cup of coffee (not found in the more standard cafés around Aix), you won't go wrong here. The clientele is mainly students and locals—who know a reliably excellent brew when they taste one—and breakfast pastries and a small menu of snacks accompany the long list of coffee drinks, teas, and other beverages.

Finding a decent place for a sit-down meal amid the village's head-spinning number of tourist cafés is challenging, but you can't go wrong with this welcoming eatery at the historic port. Watch the boats pass by while dining on heaping platters of shellfish or the catch of the day.

Nearby yet removed from the bustle of the Vieux Port and MuCEM's crowded cafés, this luminous, lunch-only dining room in the Musée Regards de Provence has panoramic new port and city views. Chef Thierry Lennon's cooking is worthy of the setting and features dishes like roasted cod with saffron risotto or tender duck breast with honeyed red cabbage. If you've forgotten to reserve, don't worry: there's a cafeteria-style buffet with fresh gourmet sandwiches, salads, and desserts that you can enjoy on one of two terraces. Open until 6, it's a nice place for an afternoon pick-me-up or an apéro before heading off somewhere else for dinner.

Since the 1970s, this quaint (there is no other word for it) English tearoom—dark wooden beams, teapots on shelves, a table laden with cakes and pies—has catered to locals and homesick expats, all of whom are intrigued by the pieman's tempting wares and properly brewed teas served in silver pots. Owned from the beginning by a Frenchwoman whose mother was English, Simple Simon is a real ode to British tradition, with Cornish salad, bacon and eggs, and hot dishes like shepherd's pie, cheese-and-onion crumble tart, or turkey hot pot at lunch. During the theater festival, it's also open for dinner.

This favorite spot in the center of town draws crowds, especially after the morning market, for its excellent French comfort food with a twist. It's a great place to relax—inside the cheerful dining room or outdoors in the garden or under the 16th-century building's beautiful stone vaulting—and feast on rotisserie chicken with crispy frites, fresh oysters on the half shell, jumbo shrimp with mango and avocado, or a charcuterie plate.

The scent of roasting coffee emanates from this popular spot on the lively Canébière, Marseille's central spine. The coffee is good, but the hot chocolate is famous (it's so thick you may need a spoon to finish it); enjoy either option and a homemade pastry at the counter, alongside locals sharing the day's gossip.