In the fall of 2025, my family and I spent six weeks living in Orléans, France. Orléans is 90 minutes south of Paris by train and the entrance point to the Loire Valley.
During our time living in Orléans, we got to try out lots of restaurants. We had so much fun eating our way through the city – from local bakeries and bistros to Italian pizzerias, brunch restaurants, chocolate shops, Chinese take-outs and more!
(That’s not to say that everywhere we ate was amazing – there were some disappointments. But we still had fun finding new spots and giving them a try.)
We are pretty adventurous eaters who like to eat a bit of everything – meat, fish, starch, vegetables, etc. And I’ve got a sweet tooth, so you’ll see chocolates and pastries on my list below!
Funny enough, we didn’t eat at a ton of traditional French restaurants. It’s not a type of cuisine I usually crave, apart from the baked goods (give me a baguette over a bœuf bourguignon anyday). Luckily, Orléans had lots of other cuisines for us to enjoy!
Below I’ve divided up my list of recommended restaurants in Orléans, France into three categories: breakfast, lunch and dinner, and chocolates and dessert.
I’m also sharing a few restaurants I would not recommend you eat at, plus a few that are still on my list to try. If you’ve eaten at any of these restaurants, let me know what you thought!
My top 5 Orléans restaurants
Yes, mussels at our home in Orléans count!
Here are my top five favourite places to eat in Orléans:
- Saint-Paterne Boulangerie: This was our local boulangerie, so we visited often. Their croissants and baguettes were always fresh and delicious.
- Yensabai: We fell in love with the beef skewers from this Laotian restaurant on the other side of the Loire River.
- Donuts & Co: Fresh and fluffy donuts with decadent toppings…what’s not to love?
- Well in Town: Truly one of the best salads I’ve ever had with burrata cheese, cured meat and lots of balsamic vinaigrette. Their pizza was great too!
- Mussels from the grocery store! This is a silly one, but it really was one of my favourite meals in Orléans. We’d buy a huge pack of mussels from Carrefour for just €5 and my husband, Colin, would cook them up with butter, garlic and parsley.
The best breakfast restaurants in Orléans
Adora
We went to brunch at Adora while my mom was in town and had a delicious meal!
Their dishes had a slight twist on them – my Eggs Benedict had American cheese on it and Colin’s chicken & waffles were savoury with a creme fraiche rather than served with syrup or honey.
But it all tasted great! They also had yummy coffees, teas and smoothies. And I really liked the decor and dishware. I wanted to take some of the plates and mugs home!
Les Fils a Maman
Les Fils a Maman, which translates to Mama’s Boys, is a really fun spot in Orléans. Their entire restaurant is done up with 90’s decor including photos of Britney Spears and Dawson’s Creek on the wall, and a giant Lego statue.
The food is also a lot of fun! Colin and I both ordered Eggs Benedict – one with ham and one with smoked salmon. I loved the fancy bun it was served on (way tastier than an English muffin) but wasn’t a huge fan of the mustard foam on top.
Both dishes came with a huge serving of home fries. We also got an order of chicken strips for Baby C that were yummy too.
But the best part of the meal would have to be the Kinder Tiramisu we had for dessert!
PS: This was also the only restaurant we ate at in Orléans that had the option to tip directly on their POS machine.
Saint-Paterne Boulangerie
This was our local boulangerie – just two blocks away from our apartment – so we visited frequently. It was so fun living in Orléans for six weeks and having our own local bakery!
The croissants at Saint-Paterne were excellent. While my mom was staying with us, we went out almost every morning to buy a croissant, a pain au chocolat and a pain aux raisins to split.
The baguettes were also very good! For just over a euro, we’d bring home a fresh baguette that went perfectly with French butter, peanut butter or dipped in garlicky mussel sauce.
We tried a few other things from Saint-Paterne during our time in Orléans – sandwiches, quiche, mini pizzas, brownies, flans, etc. Some were better than others. But the baguettes and croissants were always a win!
The best lunch and dinner restaurants in Orléans
Well in Town
This was probably my favourite restaurant in Orléans. I’m sad we didn’t make it there until our second last week, because it meant we only got to go twice!
Well in Town is a New Zealand style cafe (their name is a play on Wellington, a city in New Zealand) that serves Italian food, with a French twist. All of those cultures come together to form a very delicious and very popular Orléans restaurant!
On our first visit we ordered the Meat Lover’s Pizza. You can tell that pizza is one of their specialties as the dough was incredible and it was filled with tons of toppings.
But the real star was the Toscana Salade. I didn’t know I had a dream salad, but I think I found it here.
It was a bed of arugula, lots of Parmesan cheese, a ball of creamy burrata cheese, plenty of sweet cherry tomatoes, rolls of cured meat, and drizzled in a thick balsamic vinaigrette. I’m drooling while I type!
When we went back the second time, I got the Toscana Salade again and it was just as good. At times it was almost too creamy and rich (odd to say for a salad, but there was that much cheese), but the side of bread helped.
Colin got the fish and chips on our second visit and really liked it. It didn’t look like a huge portion, but the fish was thick, flavourful and actually quite filling.
If I could only recommend one restaurant in Orléans to you, it would be Well in Town! This place gets busy though, so try to come right when they open or make a reservation.
Tex Mex
Imagine our surprise at finding a Tex Mex restaurant in the middle of a small city in France…and then learning that it’s popular with locals and actually pretty tasty!
We headed to Tex Mex one day early in our stay in Orléans. The decor is pretty wild – think almost offensively Americana – and the menu is truly worldwide. We ordered Italian coffees, English fish and chips, and Mexican quesadilla.
Despite the funky decor and global menu, our food was quite good! If you’re a Mexican food connoisseur, this place probably won’t cut it. But if you’re looking for a little taste from home, it’ll do.
Pizzeria Di Napoli
We decided to take monthly photos of Baby C next to a pizza, where the number of pizza slices would represent how many months old she is. We thought it was cute, easy to do wherever we are in the world, and a good excuse to eat pizza monthly!
We arrived in Orléans just a couple of days before her eight month birthday, so set out to find a pizza place. We found Pizzeria Di Napoli and it was perfect!
This takeout-only pizza restaurant specializes in Neapolitan style pizza cooked in their large wood fire oven. They have a short list of options that you can order in a personal or family size.
We ordered from them twice – for Baby C’s eight and nine month celebrations – and both times the pizza was delicious with a nice chewy dough, flavourful sauce and plenty of toppings.
L’Art en Burger
We stumbled into this burger place one day when we were hangry and our original restaurant choice was full. But what a great stumble it was!
L’Art en Burger is elevated fast food. They have a large list of burgers – either with thick steak patties or the thinner smash burger patties – covered in all kinds of toppings and served on fluffy buns.
Colin and I were very happy with our orders (one thick burger, one smash burger, side of fries, side of sweet potato fries, two drinks). They were served very quickly and the restaurant had great opening hours, which is rare in Orléans.
La Boutique – Eldo Traiteur
A little blurry, but the tart tatine and quiche were delicious!
Eldo Traiteur Boutique on Rue Bannier is full of prepared foods that you can take home or eat right away. It would be the perfect place to pick up supplies for a fancy picnic!
We stopped in here a couple of times while living in Orléans and I was always impressed by the selection and the quality. I enjoyed a smoked salmon sandwich on a mini bagel and salmon quiche with very generous amounts of salmon.
I also tried their mirabelle tiramisu, which was full of mirabelle plums instead of coffee, and their tarte tatin. Both were delicious!
This place is a bit on the pricy side, but cheaper than what you’d pay at a sit down restaurant. So if you’re looking for something more up scale (and less fried) than a fast food restaurant but you don’t have time to sit down, Eldo Traiteur is your spot in Orléans!
Ramenhouse
Ramenhouse is a Japanese/Asian restaurant that was just a few minutes from our apartment. Colin, Baby C and I showed up before the lunch rush on a cold day when a warm bowl of noodle soup was the perfect thing to eat.
Before our noodles arrived, we started with an order of gyoza and chicken skewers. These ended up being our favourite part of the meal. I’m sad we didn’t have a chance to go back to Ramenhouse and order them again before we left Orléans.
For our mains, Colin got a ramen and I went with an udon. His was very flavourful, but there was a particular aftertaste neither of us really cared for. My udon wasn’t as flavourful, but was still very pleasant.
Overall, both noodle dishes were good and filled with lots of toppings. But the highlights were the appetizers.
Tante Jeanne
We ate at Tante Jeanne for our final meal out in Orléans. And while it wasn’t exactly saving the best for last, it was still a very nice spot for lunch.
Tante Jeanne is very popular – we arrived at 11:45am on a Wednesday and were given their only available table that we still had to vacate by 12:30pm for an incoming reservation. Pro tip: Make a reservation!
The atmosphere at Tante Jeanne is great with boho/jungle decor and lots of people coming in for lunch. It felt like we had stumbled into a local favourite.
For our meals, I got the butter chicken and Colin got a beef skewer with potatoes and salad. Both of our meals were good, but not the best versions of those things we’d ever had. Still, I would go back!
Yensabai
I only have a photo of the menu, as we were too hungry to take a photo of the food before we ate it all!
We got takeout from Yensabai, a Laotian restaurant on the far side of the Loire River, when we were visiting the Orléans Botanical Garden. Besides the actual order taking forever (we were told it would be a 10 minute wait but it was closer to 30), the meal was great!
We particularly liked the beef skewers that came with the lunch combo. We shared those with Baby C but both Colin and I wished we had ordered them for ourselves.
For our main, Colin and I shared a beef vermicelli dish and my mom got a chicken and egg rice noodle. I liked hers better, so luckily she let me share it!
We also got dumplings with the lunch combo that weren’t great. And I ordered mango sticky rice for dessert that was delicious, though very sweet.
Overall, I would recommend Yensabai if you order the right things. Definitely make sure to order the beef skewers!
Le Bol de Riz
If you’re looking for extremely authentic, freshly prepared Chinese food, you’re going to have a hard time finding that in Orléans.
But if you’re looking for a slightly better version of food court Chinese*, Le Bol de Riz will hit the spot!
We went here with my mom to try and satisfy her craving for Chinese food, and I think this place just about did the trick. They have an awesome deal where for just €10 you get two small appetizers (like a spring roll or dumpling), a starch (rice or noodle), a meat or vegetable main, and a drink.
We all went for the €10 combo, and also added on a side of vegetables and a chicken skewer for Baby C. And despite the fact that it was cheap, all the food was already made, and they just microwaved it before serving it to us, it was good!
I particularly liked the fried rice and caramel chicken. Baby C was a big fan of the spring rolls!
(*To be fair, we did see two guys at the back of the restaurant eating what appeared to be a whole fish that was freshly cooked – not the premade stuff that’s available out front – so Le Bol de Riz may not just be “food court Chinese.” That does seem to be their main thing, though I wish we had gotten the fish because it smelled delicious!)
La Fabrique
We had lunch at La Fabrique while on a self-guided walking tour of Orléans, splitting a savoury crepe and a sweet crepe.
The savoury one was served on a galette, which is a Northern France specialty made with buckwheat flour. We got ours filled with smoked salmon, which they were pretty generous with.
I found the savoury crepe a bit salty (but I’m pretty sensitive to salt). Luckily there was some sour cream served with it which helped cut the salt.
But the true winner was the dessert crepe. Ours had banana, nutella and Kinder Bueno pieces. It was super indulgent and delicious. Even the crepe itself without all of the toppings on it was yummy!
The best chocolate shops and patisseries in Orléans
Cordier
Cordier is a triple threat; they’re a patisserie, boulangerie and chocolate shop. While living in Orléans I stopped into Cordier quite a few times and tried something from each part of the shop.
I think the chocolates and pastries are where they shined. Colin and I sampled a few little pastries of theirs, including a lemon meringue pie slice and a chocolate and pear tart that were both very nice.
We were also big fans of their chocolate caramel bars!
Aux Palets Or
We first tried this patisserie when my mom was in town and shared four little desserts amongst the three of us (poor Baby C only got to watch). On later trips I tried their quiche, which was pretty good, and another pastry.
Of the pastries we tried, I really loved the pavlova (chewy meringue and sweet fruit) and something called The Irresistible with yummy caramel in it.
Sebastien Papion
With my mom leading the way, we probably had the longest and most in depth visit to a chocolate shop that anyone has ever seen. It felt like we had moved into Sebastien Papion!
But it was all for a good cause, because we walked away with so many delicious treats. The extremely patient man working there talked us through every type of chocolate they had, plus all of their ice cream and macaron flavours.
Sebastien Papion had a chocolate fountain with chocolate constantly running down the wall and themed chocolates in the shape of little autumnal scenes. There was a boob-shaped chocolate for breast cancer awareness and one shaped like the Orléans Cathedral!
It was really fun trying all of the chocolates when we got home – though we forgot which flavour was which. The macarons were good too (the passion fruit flavour was my favourite) as was the chocolate ice cream. Everything was very rich and decadent!
Donuts & Co
Walking into Donuts & Co felt like walking into an Instagram dream complete with pink walls, a swinging chair and floral decor. But we were there for serious business. We were there for donuts.
And those donuts did not disappoint! The kind employee talked us up from two donuts to four (because if you buy three, the fourth is free, so you might as well go from two to four!).
Each donut started with a light and fluffy base, and then was covered in super sweet and flavourful toppings. We loved the Kinder Bueno and Myrtille (a type of blueberry) flavours best.
We liked them so much that I was back to buy more donuts just two days later!
And 5 restaurants in Orléans I would not recommend
Before I get into my list of Orléans restaurants that I don’t recommend, I want to remind you that this is all based on my personal preferences and experiences at these restaurants. Your own may vary!
1. Chez Dionysos
We went to this restaurant with my mom as she wanted to treat us to a meal on her final day in Orléans. Sadly – and despite very high reviews – it was such a let down!
All of our meals were bad. I hated the flavour of my lentils and celeriac in a prawn bisque, which were served with a dry and bland piece of fish. Colin’s wild boar sausage was mostly rice and sitting in a grimy-tasting red wine sauce.
My mom’s dish had one saving grace; the prawns and scallops were very good. But they were served on top of a risotto that was sour.
It’s been a long time since I’ve found the entire table’s meals to be so unappealing. It honestly felt like the chef was sick and couldn’t taste the food properly.
On the plus side, the server was very nice!
2. Plaisir Pho
This Vietnamese restaurant was just down the street from us, which I was very excited about. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a let down the few times we ordered from Plaisir Pho.
We found the portions to be very small for the price and none of the dishes we tried were that good. They weren’t bad – just not great either!
However, the lovely man who handed me my takeout both times was very sweet. The food was also ready very quickly.
3. Sushis Kin
If you thought I was excited about the Vietnamese place by our apartment, imagine how thrilled I was to learn that there was a sushi place nearby and that multiple reviewers called it, “the best sushi in Orléans.”
Unfortunately, Sushis Kin didn’t live up to the hype for me. The couple working there were very nice and, to their credit, the fish was actually very fresh.
But the rice was a big letdown! As any sushi fan will tell you, the rice can make or break a sushi roll. I was surprised that the rice was the problem, as I had read that the chef trained in Japan.
We probably could’ve gone back and ordered just sashimi (no rice) but never bothered, as it was pricy and not worth it for us. We’re spoiled with such good and affordable sushi in Vancouver!
4. Sushi Ninja
We had tried to go to a Chinese restaurant with my mom, which was closed, and then an Indian restaurant, that was too expensive, so eventually ended up at our third choice, Sushi Ninja.
After our experience at Sushis Kin, I had lowered my expectations. So I actually had a decent meal at Sushi Ninja, but I still wouldn’t recommend it if you’re looking for the best restaurant in Orléans.
The fish was fresh, the dumplings and chicken skewers were not bad, and my roll was pretty good.
On the other hand, Colin’s roll was covered in a sauce we didn’t like and my mom struggled with the rice in her bowl (like I said, good sushi comes down to the rice).
I also ordered a beef and cheese skewer that was a thin piece of beef wrapped around a huge gob of cheese. Not my thing!
5. Ooh My Cookie
This was another place that I thought I would love, as the aesthetic inside was super cute and they had a full glass display of delicious looking cookies. We took home a few to try and, sadly, were not too impressed.
I got a brookie (brownie + cookie) that was super dry and bland. Then Colin and I split a Kit Kat cookie, which was stuffed with chocolate and pretty good, and a peanut butter cookie, that was a bit of a choking hazard with the amount of peanut butter inside of it.
Again, not a horrible experience, but not one I’d recommend. With so many other chocolate shops and patisseries in Orléans, I’d skip Ooh My Cookie.
Plus more Orléans France restaurants I still want to try
We got to try lots of restaurants while living in Orléans for six weeks, many of which we really enjoyed and that made my recommended list above.
But there were plenty more that we didn’t get a chance to try. After doing lots of research online and passing by some of these places in person, here are the restaurants I want to dine at whenever we go back to Orléans:
- Aux Fines Gueules
- Notre cher et tendre…le boeuf
- Le Brin de Zinc
- Le Comptoir de Mamie Bigoude Orléans
- Polpettone
- Kimme
- Pure Passion
- Le Ptit Gavroche
- L’Hibiscus
- Nang Chill
- L’escalier
- Angkor
- And a few chocolate shops on my list: Jeff de Bruges, L’Atelier du Chocolat and Victorine
If you’ve been to any of the restaurants on my list, I’d love to know what you thought of them. Comment below or leave me recommendations of your favourite places to eat in the Loire Valley!
Hungry for more French food? Check out the top foods you have to try in Nice, France. Or continue planning your trip to Orléans and the rest of the Loire Valley with my posts below.