Are you planning a trip to Quebec City? You wish to indulge in the culinary experience of French and French Canadian dining?
Where to Eat in Quebec City
Quebec City has long been known not just for its French colonial architecture and French culture, but also for countless casual and fine-dining restaurant establishments. This is not the only reason, or even the best reason, to visit Quebec, but nobody ever leaves Quebec City complaining about the quality of the food or restaurant options!
It would take a month to visit all of Quebec City’s unique restaurants and bistros, but visitors who spend two to three nights in the City can only scratch the surface, so our editors will endeavor here to steer first-time visitors to the best of the best.
It would take a month to visit all of Quebec City’s unique restaurants and bistros, but visitors who spend two to three nights in the City can only scratch the surface, so our editors will endeavor here to steer first-time visitors to the best of the best.
Where to Eat in Quebec City: Fine Dining
Our three favorite fine-dining restaurants, one each in each of the in-town districts, are listed immediately below, followed by several casual, family-friendly restaurants, also by district.
Fine Dining in the Walled City
Our highest fine-dining recommendation within the Walled City is the elegant Restaurant le Sam (pictured above) overlooking the St. Lawrence River and the Terrasse Dufferin from the Chateau Frontenac. The restaurant features a variety of French and French Canadian dishes and a large selection of French and Canadian wines. The service is impeccable. (MAP)
The restaurant’s interior features dark wood paneling, crystal chandeliers, and floor-to-ceiling windows that offer unforgettable views of the river and the boardwalk (and the toboggan slide, especially on a snowy winter evening), and it may be the best venue in the City for a romantic, farewell dinner on visitors’ last night in Quebec.
Honorable Mention: The Restaurant D’Orsay is a palpably Parisian-style restaurant a short walk from the Chateau Frontenac and across the street from the Clarendon Hotel. (MAP)
Fine Dining on the Grande Allee
Our favorite restaurant in the Grande Allee neighborhood is the Ciel Bistro-Bar. The revolving rooftop restaurant above the Hotel le Concorde. Although revolving rooftop restaurants may be passé, Ciel is a legitimately fine French dining experience. It’s a great opportunity to say hello or goodbye to Quebec on the first or last evening. We recommend that visitors plan their first dinner at Ciel on the first night of their stay in Quebec, to get themselves oriented. The Restaurant Ciel offers its guests a 360-degree perspective, with bird’s-eye views of and the walled city below. Grande Allee immediately below, as well as panoramic views up and down the St. Lawrence River. You can catch distant views of the Laurentian Mountains in the distance every 60 minutes.
This is an easy option for guests of the Hotel le Concorde, who need only to take the elevator to the roof, and it’s just a lovely, 10-minute walk from the heart of the walled city. (MAP)
Where to Eat in Quebec City: Fine Dining in the Lower City
Our clear favorite fine-dining restaurant in the Lower City is Chez Muffy. You can find it in the spectacularly beautiful Auberge St-Antoine hotel. The hotel itself might qualify as a tourist attraction. The restaurant is set in a 19th-century maritime warehouse, constructed with stone used as ballast by the merchant ships bringing goods purchased in the New World back to Europe two hundred years ago.
Don’t let the casual name fool you, Chez Muffy is a walkable, and legitimately fine dining experience. guests will be dining in one of the most beautiful restaurant settings in all of North America. (MAP)
Honorable Mention: Café du Monde on the St. Lawrence riverfront. The setting is a contemporary Parisian-style restaurant is probably a taxi-ride from the Upper City, except on a beautiful day or evening. (MAP)
Where to Eat in Quebec City: Casual Dining
Our favorite casual, and family-friendly dining establishments in the Lower City, the Walled City, and the Grande Allee neighborhoods are listed in that order below:
Casual Dining in the Lower City
One of our all-time favorite casual restaurants in the City is the palpably charming Cochon Dingue. You can find one location in lower town in an old stone building in the Quartier Petit Champlain. Our editors have been frequent guests at le Cochon Dingue (the crazy pig) for twenty-five years for breakfast, lunch and dinner. (MAP)
The restaurant is locally famous for its interior décor and its legendary breakfasts. It’s also a very good family-friendly option any time of the day. It is an easy walk through the Quartier Petit Champlain from anywhere in the Lower City. It is steps from the foot of the funiculaire, the outdoor elevator that connects the Lower City to the Walled City above.
Honorable Mention: The quaint Lapin Sauté (sauteed rabbit in English) across the street. It specialities are rabbit dishes, as its name would imply. But it also featuring duck, lamb, and salmon as well. The Lapin Saute’s outdoor terrace is an absolutely unforgettable al fresco dining venue in the summer. (MAP)
Casual Dining in Walled City
Our favorite casual restaurant in the Walled City is the restaurant Les Trois Garcons. (It’s a reference to the three young men who founded it together). Right in the heart of Quebec City’s Quartier Latin (Latin Quarter)on rue St-Jean . Le Trois Garcons is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s best known for its generously portioned gourmet and vegetarian hamburgers. Make sure to try their poutine if you go.
The menu is family-friendly, but the restaurant also has a full bar. The interior contemporary décor also features exposed, centuries-old stone walls and seating in a loft overlooking picturesque rue Saint-Jean. (MAP)
Honorable Mention: Le Chic Shack, in a historic house just across Place d’Armes. It’s a quick walk from the Chateau Frontenac in the lower level of the Musee du Fort. Le Chic Shack is well-known for large gourmet burgers with special toppings and sauces, plus poutines and milkshakes. (MAP)
And so these are just a few of the top places you can include in your explorations of Old Quebec City. The recommendations have been offered to you with full independence. These are simply places we love an d would go again and agin and we are ahppy to share with you.
