French food — especially in its most buttery and decadent forms — is a treat, and there’s nothing wrong with treating yourself to a little continental magic from time to time. Who doesn’t love a plate of stinky cheese, cassoulet, or beef bourguignon?
Also worth remembering: Not all French food is heavy. Provence is famous for the vegetable casserole ratatouille; you can’t think Côte d’Azur without thinking tapenade; and the favorite dish of the Marseillaise is a fish stew called bouillabaisse. You can eat a pound of butter while eating French, but you don’t have to.
Tip: While this map focuses on full-service restaurants in Boston proper, the Greater Boston area also features a number of outstanding French bakery and cafe options worth exploring. Start with Cafe Madeleine in Boston’s South End and then move beyond the city to Little Crepe Cafe in Cambridge, Ma France in Lexington (a French grocery shop with baked goods, charcuterie, cheese, and lots more), Clear Flour Bread in Brookline (serving French and Italian breads), and Mamadou’s Artisan Bakery in Winchester and Arlington, not to mention the recently opened Colette Bakery in Medford.
Restaurants began to reopen for outdoor and indoor dining in June, but the pandemic continues on, and many diners are sticking with takeout and delivery for now. And as the cold weather rolls in, restaurants that provide outdoor dining options will be harder to come by. Fortunately, some of the Boston area’s best purveyors of French food offer takeout and delivery.
This map has been updated with details on each restaurant’s current status in terms of takeout and delivery availability, outdoor seating, and indoor seating. Note that this should not be taken as endorsement for dining indoors, as there are still safety concerns: For updated information on coronavirus cases in the area, please visit the Massachusetts coronavirus website.
Also note that some of the city’s best French restaurants remain temporarily closed at the moment and have thus been temporarily removed from this map, including Miel (currently only serving breakfast), Bistro du Midi, Bastille Kitchen, Grand Tour, and Bar Lyon. Recent months have seen several permanent closures as well: The now-closed Les Zygomates and Bar Boulud have been retired from the map.
Here’s where to eat like the French without leaving the Boston area.
This map was originally published on May 24, 2018, and it is updated periodically; the date of the most recent update appears above.
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