Restaurant in Clermont-Ferrand, France
Michelin-recognised bistro at bistro prices.
L'Écureuil earns its 2025 Michelin Plate with market-driven bistro cooking — duck breast, braised pork cheeks, brioche French toast — at an accessible €€ price point. The short blackboard menu and chic country room make it the right call for a relaxed dinner or celebration in Clermont-Ferrand without the formality or spend of a starred table. Easy to book, with a good-value lunch deal available.
If you want a Michelin-recognised bistro dinner in Clermont-Ferrand without paying €€€€ prices, L'Écureuil is your clearest option. This is the kind of place that works well for a relaxed date night or a low-key celebration where the food matters but you are not looking for a three-hour tasting menu event. The chic country decor sets a warm, unhurried tone — think a room that reads dressed-up without being stiff , and the format (a short blackboard menu of market-driven plates) rewards diners who prefer knowing exactly what they are eating rather than surrendering to a chef's multi-course sequence.
Come at lunch if budget is a concern: the midday deal brings the price point down further from an already accessible €€ position, which makes it one of the more practical ways to eat well in the city without planning too far ahead.
The setting at L'Écureuil reads as chic country , a deliberate aesthetic that sits somewhere between farmhouse warmth and bistro polish. Visually it signals comfort rather than ceremony, which aligns with what the menu is doing. Dishes listed on a blackboard keep things fluid and seasonal: what is written up today reflects what was available at the market this week. That approach keeps the cooking grounded in what is actually good right now rather than locked to a printed card that may not change for months.
The Michelin Plate awarded in 2025 is a useful benchmark here. The Plate recognition , Michelin's signal that a restaurant produces consistently good food without yet earning star status , tells you the kitchen is operating at a level above the average neighbourhood bistro. Among the dishes referenced in the Michelin citation: duck breast with black olives, pork cheeks braised in red wine, and a brioche French toast. These are market-bistro classics executed with enough care to catch a Michelin inspector's attention, which at €€ pricing is a genuinely favourable ratio of quality to spend.
L'Écureuil's database record does not specify a dedicated cocktail program, and the bistro format here does not position drinks as a standalone reason to visit the way a cocktail bar would. What the format does suggest is a wine-led table: a short, rotating menu of French bistro cooking in the Auvergne is almost always paired with a tight, regionally-weighted wine list. For the full picture on Clermont-Ferrand's drinks scene, the bars guide for Clermont-Ferrand is the better resource if cocktails are a priority. At L'Écureuil, the drinks are almost certainly there to support the food rather than headline independently. If you are choosing between a venue where the cocktail program is the draw versus a venue where the cooking is, this is the latter.
L'Écureuil is at 18 Rue Saint-Adjutor, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand. Booking difficulty is rated Easy, which means you should be able to secure a table without weeks of advance planning , though calling or booking ahead is still advisable, particularly for weekend evenings or if you are planning a small celebration. No phone number is listed in our current data; check the venue directly for current hours and reservations. Google reviewers rate it 4.3 from 387 reviews, a score that reflects consistent satisfaction rather than occasional brilliance. The lunch menu offers a simpler deal at a lower price point than dinner, making it a practical first visit option.
For broader context on eating well in the city: our full Clermont-Ferrand restaurants guide covers the range from Michelin-starred tables to neighbourhood finds. If you are staying overnight, the Clermont-Ferrand hotels guide and experiences guide round out the trip. Wine-focused visitors may also find the wineries guide useful.
For comparison against other French restaurants operating at a higher register: Mirazur in Menton, Bras in Laguiole, Flocons de Sel in Megève, Troisgros in Ouches, and Auberge de l'Ill in Illhaeusern all sit several tiers above in both ambition and price. L'Écureuil is not competing in that category , it is the reliable, well-priced option for a city that also has access to those destinations within a drive. Internationally, Frantzén in Stockholm and FZN by Björn Frantzén in Dubai represent what the leading end of modern cuisine looks like globally , a useful frame for understanding where a Michelin Plate bistro sits on the full spectrum.
Locally, Apicius, Jean-Claude Leclerc, L'Ostal, L'En-but, and L'Instantané all offer distinct alternatives depending on what you are after. See the comparison section below for a direct breakdown.
Quick reference: Michelin Plate 2025 | €€ | 4.3 / 5 (387 reviews) | 18 Rue Saint-Adjutor, Clermont-Ferrand | Easy to book | Lunch deal available.
At €€ with a Michelin Plate, yes. The quality-to-price ratio here is one of the stronger arguments for booking. You are getting market-driven cooking that passed Michelin scrutiny at a price point that does not require a special budget. The lunch deal takes that value further. Compared to Apicius or Le Pré at €€€€, L'Écureuil costs considerably less for food that still meets a recognised quality standard.
L'Écureuil does not operate a tasting menu format. The menu is a short blackboard selection that changes with the market. If you want a structured multi-course progression, consider Le Pré - Xavier Beaudiment or Apicius for that experience in Clermont-Ferrand, both at €€€€. L'Écureuil is the right choice if you prefer to order from a concise seasonal selection at your own pace.
For a low-key celebration , anniversary dinner, birthday with a small group, an occasion where atmosphere matters but formality does not , yes. The chic country setting reads warm rather than corporate, and the Michelin Plate gives you confidence in the cooking. If you need more ceremony and are willing to spend more, Le Pré or Apicius at €€€€ would better suit a milestone dinner with a longer, more theatrical experience.
At the same €€ price level: L'En-but and L'Instantané are both worth considering. For a step up in ambition and spend, L'Ostal and Jean-Claude Leclerc sit in the middle tier. Apicius and Le Pré - Xavier Beaudiment are the highest-end options in the city. See the comparison table below for a side-by-side.
A bistro format with a short blackboard menu is generally solo-friendly: no awkward minimum spends, no set menus that assume two or more. The relaxed tone of the room makes it a comfortable choice for eating alone, particularly at lunch when the pace is lighter and the deal makes it easy to keep spend in check.
The database does not confirm a seat count or private dining option. For groups of six or more, contact the restaurant directly before assuming availability. At €€ the per-head cost is manageable for a group dinner, but the bistro format may have practical limits on table size. If a private room is a requirement, Apicius or Le Pré are more likely to offer that infrastructure at their price tier.
The short, market-driven blackboard menu means the selection is limited on any given day, which can make it harder to accommodate strict dietary requirements compared to a larger restaurant with a broader kitchen. It is worth calling ahead to confirm what is available if dietary restrictions are a concern. The bistro format generally allows for some flexibility, but this is not a venue with an extensive menu that can easily route around multiple restrictions.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| L'Écureuil | €€ | Easy | — |
| Le Pré - Xavier Beaudiment | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Apicius | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Le 62 | €€ | Unknown | — |
| Il Visconti | €€ | Unknown | — |
| Le Duguesclin | €€€ | Unknown | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
The blackboard menu at L'Écureuil changes with market availability, which means the kitchen works with a short, rotating list of dishes rather than a fixed menu. That flexibility often makes it easier to flag restrictions when booking or on arrival. Dishes noted in the Michelin record — duck breast, braised pork cheeks, brioche French toast — skew meat-forward, so vegetarians should confirm options in advance. No allergy or dietary policy is documented in the venue record.
No group capacity data is available for L'Écureuil, and the bistro format with a short blackboard menu suggests this is not a large-group-event space. For groups of 4–6, the setting should work for a relaxed dinner; larger parties should contact 18 Rue Saint-Adjutor directly to confirm. If a private dining room is a requirement, this probably isn't the right venue.
Yes — a bistro format with a short blackboard menu and a Michelin Plate at €€ pricing is one of the more practical solo dining setups in Clermont-Ferrand. There's no theatrical omakase counter or fixed multi-course commitment to navigate alone. The simpler lunch deal mentioned in the Michelin citation is particularly suited to a quick, quality solo meal without a lengthy commitment.
Le Pré - Xavier Beaudiment is the benchmark for serious fine dining in the Clermont-Ferrand area, with Michelin star recognition — the right choice if you want to step up in ambition and price from L'Écureuil's €€ level. Le 62 and Le Duguesclin offer comparable casual bistro territory for those who want a similar register. Apicius and Il Visconti serve different cuisine types and are worth considering if French bistro isn't the priority.
It works for a low-key celebration — Michelin Plate recognition and a chic country interior give it enough occasion weight for a birthday dinner or anniversary without the pressure of a formal tasting-menu restaurant. At €€ pricing, the financial stakes are modest. If you want a grander, more ceremonial meal, Le Pré - Xavier Beaudiment in the broader area is the more appropriate choice for a significant occasion.
Yes, straightforwardly. A Michelin Plate at €€ pricing is the definition of good value in this category. The blackboard format keeps the menu tight and market-driven, and the Michelin citation specifically calls out the lunch deal as available 'at a snip.' For what you get — recognised modern cuisine in a considered setting in Clermont-Ferrand — the price-to-quality ratio here is difficult to fault.
L'Écureuil does not appear to operate a formal tasting menu — the Michelin record describes a short blackboard menu that changes with the market, plus a simpler lunch deal. This is an à la carte or set-lunch bistro, not a tasting-menu destination. If a structured multi-course format is what you're after, Le Pré - Xavier Beaudiment is the more appropriate option in this region.
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