Restaurant in Haguenau, France
Short seasonal menu, strong value for Haguenau.
Grains de Sel holds a Michelin Plate for 2024 and a 4.4 Google rating across 288 reviews — strong signals at the €€ price tier. The kitchen runs a short seasonal menu focused on ingredient quality, with food-and-wine pairings that Michelin specifically flagged as savvy. For accessible, seriously cooked food in Haguenau, it is the clear first booking.
At the €€ price tier, Grains de Sel is one of the most direct cases for booking in the Haguenau dining scene. You are getting a short, seasonal menu built around ingredient quality, a Michelin Plate recognition for 2024, and food-and-wine pairings that Michelin's own inspectors called savvy. For this price bracket in Alsace, that combination is difficult to match. If you have already been once and are deciding whether to return, the answer is yes — especially if you want a meal that rewards attention without requiring a special-occasion budget.
Grains de Sel sits on the Grand Rue in Haguenau, close to the Halle aux Houblons — the old hop market that defines the historic core of the city. The address puts it within easy reach of anyone staying centrally or passing through on the Alsace route between Strasbourg and the northern Rhine plain. For context on what else is worth your time in town, see our full Haguenau restaurants guide.
The kitchen operates on a short seasonal menu format. That matters practically: you are not choosing from a long à la carte list. The menu turns with the season, which means the ingredients are doing most of the work , and according to the Michelin assessment, that is exactly the point. Chef Gilles Schnoering has been established here long enough that this approach reads as deliberate restraint, not limitation. Fresh, well-made, ingredient-led: that is the consistent character of the cooking according to Michelin's inspectors.
The wine pairing programme is worth noting separately, because it is specifically called out in the Michelin citation as savvy. In a region with as much serious wine culture as Alsace , Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, local Pinot Noir , a kitchen that thinks carefully about what goes in the glass alongside the food is not a given even at higher price points. If you visited before without taking the pairing, that is the thing to try on a return visit. The drinks component here is not an afterthought; it is part of what makes the meal work as a complete experience. For broader context on the Alsace drinking scene, our Haguenau bars guide and our Haguenau wineries guide are worth consulting before you go.
A Google rating of 4.4 across 288 reviews is a meaningful signal at this price level. It indicates consistent execution rather than occasional brilliance , the kind of score that comes from a kitchen that delivers reliably rather than one that peaks on a good night and drops on a bad one. For a returning guest, that consistency is precisely what you want to know before booking again.
For direct regional comparison: Au Crocodile in Strasbourg operates at a higher price tier with more formal ceremony; Grains de Sel is the better choice if you want serious cooking without the associated cost or occasion pressure. Further afield in Alsace, Auberge de l'Ill in Illhaeusern represents the region's pinnacle of classic French-Alsatian tradition , a different category entirely, both in price and formality. Grains de Sel occupies a more accessible middle ground that makes it genuinely usable as a regular restaurant rather than a once-a-year destination.
If the seasonal menu format appeals and you are interested in how other French kitchens work this approach at different price points, Flocons de Sel in Megève, Bras in Laguiole, and Mirazur in Menton all use ingredient-driven seasonal thinking as a foundation , though at considerably higher price tiers and with multiple Michelin stars. At the other end of the formality scale, Troisgros in Ouches and Paul Bocuse in Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or represent the more classical Lyonnais tradition. Grains de Sel sits closer in spirit to the ingredient-focused end of that spectrum than to the technique-forward, multi-course productions at places like AM par Alexandre Mazzia in Marseille or Assiette Champenoise in Reims.
For a complete picture of what Haguenau offers beyond the table, see our Haguenau hotels guide and our Haguenau experiences guide. If you want a second option for dinner during your stay, Le Jardin is worth considering as a complementary booking.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grains de Sel | Modern Cuisine | €€ | "Gilles Schnoering, well established in his restaurant near the Halle aux Houblons, treats his guests to a short seasonal menu; his fresh, well - made creations owe much to the quality of the ingredients used. Savvy food and wine pairings. "; Michelin Plate (2024) | Easy | — |
| Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen | Creative | €€€€ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Kei | Contemporary French, Modern Cuisine | €€€€ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| L'Ambroisie | French, Classic Cuisine | €€€€ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Le Cinq - Four Seasons Hôtel George V | French, Modern Cuisine | €€€€ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Mirazur | Modern French, Creative | €€€€ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
A quick look at how Grains de Sel measures up.
At the €€ price point with a short seasonal menu, Grains de Sel is a low-pressure solo option. The focused format means you are not committing to a long, elaborate tasting — one or two courses lands comfortably. Phone ahead to confirm availability and seating arrangements, as contact details are not listed publicly.
Yes, at €€ pricing, the seasonal menu here represents solid value. The Michelin Plate recognition in 2024 signals consistent kitchen quality, and the emphasis on ingredient-led cooking means the menu changes to reflect what is actually good right now. If you want a longer, more theatrical tasting format, look to Strasbourg — but for focused, well-executed seasonal food at a fair price, this delivers.
Nothing in the venue record indicates a strict dress code, but a Michelin Plate restaurant on the Grand Rue in Haguenau warrants neat, presentable clothing. Think tidy casual to business casual — the kind of thing you would wear to a considered dinner, not a special-occasion gala.
Bar seating is not confirmed in the available venue data. Given the short-menu, restaurant format and the Michelin recognition, this is primarily a sit-down dining room. check the venue's official channels at 113 Grand Rue, Haguenau, to ask about seating options before assuming bar access.
Yes, for a special occasion in the Haguenau area, this is the obvious call. The Michelin Plate (2024), attentive wine pairings, and seasonal French cooking at €€ pricing give you a genuinely considered dinner without the cost or travel of heading into Strasbourg for something more formal. Book ahead — a venue at this level in a smaller city fills tables.
At €€, it is one of the stronger value cases in the area. Michelin Plate recognition means the kitchen has been assessed and found consistent — you are not gambling on quality. The short seasonal menu and wine pairing focus add substance without inflating the bill. For what you get in Haguenau at this price, the answer is yes.
Within Haguenau itself, alternatives at this quality level are limited — Grains de Sel is the reference point for considered modern cooking in the city. If you want a step up in formality or broader choice, Strasbourg (roughly 30km south) has multiple Michelin-recognised tables across different cuisines and price points. For Haguenau specifically, this is the booking to make.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
