The 10 best French restaurants in Chicago

French cooking in Chicago runs from a 33-year-old bistro in Bucktown to tasting menus in River North, and the last two years added a wave of small, ambitious rooms. This list ranks the 10 best French restaurants in Chicago right now, for anyone looking for a French bistro on a weeknight, a brasserie for brunch or a dressy dinner to mark an anniversary. Nine are inside city limits and one is in the western suburbs.

The list favors kitchens that are French at the core, so onion soup, escargot, steak frites and duck show up again and again. Starters such as onion soup and escargot run about $16 to $22 at most of these places. Steak frites lands between $37 and $55, and the custom tasting menus at Brindille start at $170 a person before wine.

How we chose

The order comes down to staying power and how consistently each restaurant has drawn praise from independent outlets, among them Time Out Chicago, The Infatuation, NBC Chicago, WTTW, Resy and Axios Chicago. Long runs with steady reviews ranked highest. Named, dated honors such as a James Beard Award, a Jean Banchet Award or a Michelin Guide listing broke ties, and newer restaurants needed more than one strong review to place. Every pick was checked against its own website in October 2026. Closed rooms were left off, among them Les Nomades in Streeterville, whose closure Time Out Chicago reported in November 2025.

Hours and prices below come from each business and change without notice. Call ahead if you are making a special trip.

Le Bouchon

Bucktown has had a Paris-style bistro on Damen Avenue since 1993, when Jean-Claude Poilevey opened Le Bouchon. His sons Oliver and Nicolas have run the place since 2016, and the menu still reads like a bistro chalkboard: onion tart, garlicky escargot, salade Lyonnaise, steak frites, poulet rôti. Order the whole roasted duck, carved at the table and sauced with orange and Grand Marnier. More than three decades of steady praise put the small room in first place. Lunch runs Monday through Saturday, a good fallback when the weekend dinner book is full.

Hours: Lunch Mon-Sat 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; dinner Mon-Thu 5 to 10 p.m., Fri-Sat 5 to 11 p.m.

Address: 1958 N Damen Ave, Chicago, IL 60647

Why they made the list

• Executive chef Waldo Gallegos has worked in the Le Bouchon kitchen since opening day in 1993.
• Time Out Chicago put Le Bouchon at the top of its December 2023 roundup of the city’s best French restaurants.
• The whole duck usually feeds two or three people and comes with red cabbage and spaetzle, NBC Chicago reported in March 2024.
• Reservations go through SevenRooms, and the Damen stop on the Blue Line is about half a mile south.

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Brindille

The most formal room on this list is Brindille, open on Clark Street since April 2013. Carrie Nahabedian, who won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Great Lakes in 2008 while cooking at Naha, co-owns the River North restaurant with her cousin Michael. The menu is classic and priced to match: seared foie gras for $49, roast Magret duck breast for $66, squab with foie gras for $64. Custom tasting menus cost $170 for five courses or $235 for eight. That polish puts Brindille second. Valet parking has been discontinued, so plan on a garage or a street spot.

Hours: Tue-Sat 5 to 10 p.m.; closed Sunday and Monday.

Address: 534 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60654

Why they made the list

• The July 2026 dinner menu lists wild Alaskan halibut at $61 and a half dozen Prince Edward Island oysters at $36.
• Wine pairings add $105 to the five-course tasting menu or $150 to the eight-course version.
• The Michelin Guide included Brindille in its roundup of where to eat during Chicago Restaurant Week 2025.
• OpenTable lists the dress code as business casual.

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Obelix

The Poilevey brothers opened Obelix in 2022 at the corner of Sedgwick and Huron as a pricier counterpart to the family’s Bucktown bistro. The October 2026 dinner menu runs from a $29 foie gras terrine and $25 Hokkaido scallop crudo to a $140 beef Wellington for the table. Obelix ranks third, a step behind Brindille on polish and ahead of the newer rooms on track record. Reservations open 30 days out on OpenTable, and pastries can be ordered to go through Tock.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 700 N Sedgwick St, Chicago, IL 60654

Why they made the list

• When Time Out Chicago reviewed Obelix in October 2022, the foie gras taco cost $23 and the mille-feuille $17.
• Obelix took over the space that previously held Entente.
• A caviar sandwich costs $145, and a whole Dover sole for the table is sold at market price.
• The Chicago stop on the Brown and Purple lines is about two blocks away, at Chicago Avenue and Franklin Street.

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Gavroche

Restaurateur Jason Chan, who once owned Juno, opened Gavroche on Wells Street in fall 2024 with about 30 seats and a modern French menu that keeps one foot in the bistro. Chef Mitchell Acuña, a North Pond alum, sends out the Oeuf Arpège, an eggshell of corn custard topped with caviar, and gnocchi Parisian in lemon truffle cream. The King Louis burger can go royale, with foie gras and caviar, for $55. Two years of strong notices put Gavroche fourth, the highest spot for a restaurant this young. Sunday brunch fills fast, so book ahead on Resy.

Hours: Dinner Wed-Thu and Sun 4:30 to 9 p.m., Fri-Sat 4:30 to 10 p.m.; Sunday brunch 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; closed Mon-Tue.

Address: 1529 N Wells St, Chicago, IL 60610

Why they made the list

• The dinner menu lists escargots à la Bourgogne at $17, duck à l’orange at $26 and an A5 Miyazaki ribeye at $81.
• Pastry chef Christine McCabe previously worked at Charlie Trotter’s and Joël Robuchon, according to Resy.
• The wine list is entirely French, and the garage-door front opens to a 10-seat patio on mild nights.
• Axios Chicago included Gavroche in a November 2024 look at new French restaurants and priced the onion soup with a Gruyère crisp at $16.

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Bistro Campagne

For a French dinner that feels like a neighborhood habit instead of an event, Bistro Campagne on Lincoln Avenue has been the answer since 2002, when the late chef Michael Altenberg opened the bistro. Chef Adam Grandt now runs a kitchen committed to local organic farms, and the menu sticks to country staples: onion soup, mussels, roasted chicken and bavette steak. More than two decades of steady cooking in Lincoln Square put Bistro Campagne fifth. Last seatings come early, at 8:30 p.m. on weeknights and Sundays, so plan on an early dinner.

Hours: Tue-Thu 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. (last seating); Fri-Sat 5 to 9 p.m. (last seating); Sun 5 to 8:30 p.m. (last seating); closed Monday.

Address: 4518 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60625

Why they made the list

• The neighborhood business site lincolnsquare.org spotlighted the steak frites in February 2025.
• Time Out Chicago’s December 2023 French roundup recommended finishing with the brioche bread pudding.
• A pay-box public parking lot sits directly across from the restaurant, according to OpenTable.
• The Western stop on the Brown Line is less than half a mile north.

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Creepies

Anna and David Posey spent four years getting Creepies open next to Elske, their restaurant on Randolph Street, and the bistro finally arrived in August 2025. The food is French with a Midwestern accent: tarte flambé on a tavern-style crust, mussels under giardiniera and Pernod, Parisian gnocchi with ham and cheese, and a half roast chicken served with its liver. Two months after opening, Michelin added Creepies to its Chicago guide as a recommended restaurant, Time Out Chicago reported. A short track record keeps the bistro at sixth for now. Save room for dessert, since Anna Posey runs the pastry side.

Hours: Thu-Mon 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m.; closed Tue-Wed.

Address: 1360 W Randolph St, Chicago, IL 60607

Why they made the list

• The Infatuation scored Creepies an 8.3 and singled out the Brie gougères and the raspberry meringue cake.
• The fries are cooked in clarified butter.
• The wine list leans natural, with most bottles from France and California.
• Chef de cuisine Tayler Ploshehanski was previously a sous chef at Elske.

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Mon Ami Gabi

The Lincoln Park location of Mon Ami Gabi has filled the ground floor of the Belden-Stratford since 1998, and the Lettuce Entertain You brasserie is an easy French dinner for a group with mixed tastes. Steak frites comes five ways, from classique to Roquefort, at $36.95 to $38.95, and the fall 2026 menu adds scallops Rockefeller and boeuf bourguignon. Nearly three decades in the Belden-Stratford put Mon Ami Gabi seventh. Budget for the 3.5% surcharge that lands on every check.

Hours: Mon-Thu 4:30 to 9 p.m.; Fri 4:30 to 10 p.m.; Sat 4 to 10 p.m.; Sun brunch 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner 2 to 9 p.m.

Address: 2300 N Lincoln Park W, Chicago, IL 60614

Why they made the list

• Onion soup au gratin and escargots de Bourgogne each cost $17.95 on the current dinner menu.
• A weekday happy hour runs from 4:30 to 6 p.m.
• The chilled Grand Plateau of lobster, shrimp and oysters costs $98.95 and serves two to four.
• Wine Passport Series dinners are ticketed through Tock.

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Chez Joël Bistro

Taylor Street is best known for Italian food, which makes Chez Joël Bistro an outlier: a southern French bistro on the Little Italy strip since 1999. The house signatures are coq au vin, escargots and steak frites, with seasonal seafood filling out the menu. Chez Joël ranks eighth for more than two decades of steady cooking at middle-of-the-list prices, plus a garden patio that makes summer the season to go. Ask for a patio table when you book in warm weather.

Hours: Mon-Thu 5 to 9 p.m.; Fri-Sat 5 to 10 p.m.; closed Sunday.

Address: 1119 W Taylor St, Chicago, IL 60607

Why they made the list

• Time Out Chicago’s December 2023 French roundup pointed diners to the baked brie, grilled octopus, lamb shank and bouillabaisse.
• Time Out rates the bistro two out of four on price.
• Gayot includes Chez Joël on its 2026 list of top French restaurants in the Chicago area.
• The University of Illinois Chicago campus is a short walk away.

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Bistronomic

Paris-born chef Martial Noguier opened Bistronomic in February 2011 on Wabash Avenue, a block west of Michigan Avenue, after cooking at one sixtyblue and the Pump Room. The menu is bistro food with a chef’s hand: country pâté, ravioli, steak frites, roast chicken and, when it runs as a special, skate wing grenobloise. The three-course La Cantine prix fixe at $45 is the smart order. Bistronomic ranks ninth as a dependable French lunch or dinner near the Magnificent Mile shops. Vegetarians should ask about the meatless menu, which Time Out Chicago calls a secret.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 840 N Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60611

Why they made the list

• Noguier received his first James Beard Award nomination in 2009, according to the restaurant.
• Bistronomic prints separate lunch, brunch and dinner menus, plus a French cheese list.
• The Chicago stop on the Red Line is about two blocks away, at State Street.

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Petite Vie

Paul Virant ran Vie in Western Springs for 19 years before closing the restaurant in October 2023, then reopened around the corner in June 2024 with Petite Vie, a French brasserie on Burlington Avenue. The August 2026 menu covers escargot à la Bourguignonne for $22, French onion soup for $16, trout amandine for $33 and steak frites for $43. Virant was named Chef of the Year at the Jean Banchet Awards in January 2024. As the one suburban pick, Petite Vie rounds out the list at 10th. Happy hour runs 4 to 5:30 p.m. Sunday through Friday.

Hours: Dinner Mon-Thu 4 to 9 p.m., Fri-Sat 4 to 9:30 p.m., Sun 4 to 8 p.m.; brunch Fri-Sun 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Address: 909 Burlington Ave, Western Springs, IL 60558

Why they made the list

• The oeufs mimosa cost $22 and the croque madame $21 on the August 2026 menu.
• NBC Chicago visited in January 2025 and walked through the Burgundy snails in Pernod butter and the bacon-wrapped country pâté.
• Desserts include profiteroles and a chocolate soufflé.
• The cocktail list leans on vermouths and spritzes.

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Also worth knowing

Jenner Tomaska and Katrina Bravo, the couple behind the tasting-menu restaurant Esmé, opened Petite Edith on Wells Street at the north edge of River North on November 20, 2025, as a seafood-focused French bistro at a much lower price. Look for monkfish on the bone, whole fried sea bream with smoked potato chips and Franklin Frites with truffle aioli, a nod to the late restaurant mk.

In Roscoe Village, Le Sud sits at the corner of Roscoe Street and Oakley Avenue and calls itself a French bistro with a Mediterranean soul. The Provence-inspired menu runs to poulet rôti, steelhead trout and wood-fired seafood, and the restaurant serves brunch on weekends.

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