Restaurant in New York City, United States
50-year SoHo fixture. Book weeks ahead.
Open since the 1970s, Raoul's is one of SoHo's most durable French-American bistros — OAD-ranked for two consecutive years and holding a 4.5-star average across 1,250 reviews. Chef David Honeysett runs a kitchen built on consistent execution rather than trend-chasing. Book three to four weeks out minimum; this is a hard reservation and weekend dinners fill fast.
Raoul's has held a 4.5-star rating across 1,250 Google reviews and earned a spot on the Opinionated About Dining Casual North America list in both 2023 and 2024 (ranked #216). That kind of consistency at a $$$$ price point in SoHo is earned, not assumed. This is not a restaurant riding nostalgia — it's one that has kept its regulars while continuing to attract new diners who want grounded, technically confident French-American cooking in a room that feels lived-in rather than designed. Book it. But book it early.
Open since the 1970s, Raoul's at 180 Prince Street predates SoHo's transformation into a retail and hospitality destination. Chef David Honeysett runs a kitchen that holds a clear point of view: French bistro technique applied to American ingredients, executed without theatrics. The OAD recognition across consecutive years confirms what regulars already know , the cooking here is reliable in the leading sense. Dishes cited in verified recognition include jumbo lump crab beignets with Fresno chili remoulade, duck cooked to medium-rare with seared foie gras and duck confit on lentils, and profiteroles finished tableside with hot fudge. These are not trend-chasing plates; they are the kind of cooking that earns repeat visits.
The room itself is art-covered and atmospheric without being precious about it. If you are comparing this to La Mercerie a few blocks away, La Mercerie runs cleaner and more contemporary , Raoul's is darker, more layered, and more likely to feel like somewhere with a history. For French bistro energy in New York, both are worth knowing, but they serve different moods.
The wine list at Raoul's aligns with the kitchen's French orientation. A room this age with this profile typically carries a France-weighted list that favors Burgundy, the Rhône, and Bordeaux alongside bistro-friendly bottles that work across the menu's richer preparations. The duck and foie gras combination in particular demands a wine with structure and some fruit weight , a northern Rhône Syrah or a village-level Burgundy both sit in range. The $$$$ pricing tier means the list is unlikely to be a bargain destination, but at a restaurant where the food skews toward classical French technique, the wine program should be read as part of the experience rather than an add-on cost. If wine pairing is a priority for your table, Raoul's is a better environment for it than most SoHo options. For a more architecturally ambitious wine program in New York, Eleven Madison Park operates at a different scale entirely , but Raoul's is the more approachable room for a bottle-driven dinner that does not require a special occasion budget three times over.
This is a hard reservation. Given the OAD recognition and the restaurant's decades-long following, expect to book a minimum of three to four weeks out for dinner, and potentially longer on weekends. Saturday and Sunday brunch (11 am to 2:30 pm) is your leading route in on shorter notice , the dinner crowd thins during midday service, and it gives you the room and the kitchen at their most accessible. Dinner runs Monday through Sunday, 5 to 11 pm. If your schedule is flexible, a Thursday or early Friday dinner booking is easier to secure than Saturday. Do not arrive expecting a walk-in on a Friday or Saturday night , this is not that kind of restaurant anymore, if it ever was.
At $$$$ per head in New York City, Raoul's sits in the same price tier as tasting-menu destinations, but it does not operate like one. You are paying for à la carte French-American cooking in a room with genuine character, consistent kitchen output, and a level of hospitality that comes from a restaurant that has been doing this for decades. The OAD ranking at #216 in Casual North America (2024) places it among a competitive set of independently operated restaurants that earn their following through consistency rather than hype. Compared to the formal French experience at Le Bernardin, Raoul's is less precise and less ceremonial , but it is also less demanding and more repeatable. If your benchmark is a relaxed dinner with serious food, the price is justified. If you want a once-a-year destination meal with maximum technical ambition, look elsewhere.
Raoul's is leading suited to couples and small groups of three to four who want a dinner that feels substantial without requiring a formal occasion. Solo diners can make it work , the bar seating and the room's energy make eating alone here less isolating than a quieter fine dining room , but this is fundamentally a table restaurant. For large groups wanting a French-leaning dinner in New York, consider whether a private room option at another venue serves you better. If you are visiting New York and building an itinerary, Raoul's sits comfortably alongside the broader range of options in our full New York City restaurants guide. For hotel options near SoHo, see our New York City hotels guide.
If you are tracking French bistro cooking across American cities, the reference points worth knowing are Bouchon Bistro in Napa, which operates in a similar register with Thomas Keller's institutional backing, and Bistro Simba in Tokyo for an international comparison. For higher-ambition French cooking in the US, The French Laundry in Napa is the ceiling, and Providence in Los Angeles represents the kind of French-influenced precision that Raoul's deliberately does not pursue. Raoul's occupies a specific and genuinely useful position: serious French-American cooking in a room with character, at a price that is high but not absurd for what you receive. For other destination restaurants worth comparing at the national level, see Emeril's in New Orleans, Lazy Bear in San Francisco, Alinea in Chicago, and Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg.
Raoul's is open Monday through Friday, 5 to 11 pm for dinner. Saturday and Sunday add a brunch service from 11 am to 2:30 pm before dinner begins at 5 pm. The address is 180 Prince Street, SoHo, New York. Reservations are strongly recommended and should be made well in advance , three to four weeks minimum for dinner, less for weekend brunch. For bars and other evening options near SoHo, see our New York City bars guide. For additional context on the neighbourhood and what else to do around a dinner here, the New York City experiences guide and wineries guide are useful starting points.
Yes, for what it is. At $$$$ per head, you are getting consistently executed French-American cooking in a room with decades of character and back-to-back OAD recognition. It is not a tasting menu experience , if you want maximum technical ambition at this price tier, Atomix or Le Bernardin will push harder. But for a repeatable, satisfying dinner that does not demand a special occasion, Raoul's earns its price.
Three to four weeks minimum for a weekend dinner. Weekday evenings are slightly easier but still require advance planning given the OAD profile and the restaurant's established following. Weekend brunch is your leading option on shorter notice , book one to two weeks out and you have a reasonable chance of securing a table.
Dinner is the core experience , the kitchen's French-American menu and the room's atmosphere are built for evening service. That said, weekend brunch (Saturday and Sunday, 11 am to 2:30 pm) is significantly easier to book and gives you the same room and kitchen at a lower barrier to entry. If you are flexible, brunch is a smart move. If you want the full experience, dinner is the right call.
Workable but not the strongest solo option at this price tier. The room has energy and bar seating, which makes eating alone more comfortable than at a formal tasting-menu restaurant. For a solo dinner at $$$$, you will get more from the experience at a counter-format restaurant. Raoul's is leading experienced with two to four people where the table dynamic matches the room.
Raoul's does not operate a tasting menu format , this is an à la carte French bistro. If a tasting menu is your preferred format at the $$$$ tier, Eleven Madison Park or Atomix are the right comparisons. Raoul's strength is its à la carte cooking and the freedom to order around what you want rather than following a set progression.
Specific dietary accommodation policies are not confirmed in available data. French bistro menus typically center on animal proteins and dairy, so the menu at Raoul's is unlikely to be naturally accommodating for plant-based diets. Contact the restaurant directly before booking if dietary restrictions are a factor , at this price point and difficulty level, confirming in advance is the right approach.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raoul's | French Bistro, French | In a city that changes faster than you can go from uptown to down, Raoul’s (open since the 1970s) is a stalwart—here long before SoHo was a brand name. Once inside, order a cocktail and admire the art-filled walls; it’s a veritable walk down memory lane for the bohemian set. This is a place where diners return for consistently well-prepared French American cooking. The kitchen has a delicate touch as seen in the golden-brown jumbo lump crab beignets with a drizzle of Fresno chili remoulade. Duck cooked to medium-rare accompanied by seared foie gras and duck confit on a bed of lentils is a delight. Few things beat profiteroles filled with vanilla ice cream and served with a tableside pour of hot fudge.; Opinionated About Dining Casual in North America Ranked #216 (2024); In a city that changes faster than you can go from uptown to down, Raoul’s (open since the 1970s) is a stalwart—here long before SoHo was a brand name. Once inside, order a cocktail and admire the art-filled walls; it’s a veritable walk down memory lane for the bohemian set. This is a place where diners return for consistently well-prepared French American cooking. The kitchen has a delicate touch as seen in the golden-brown jumbo lump crab beignets with a drizzle of Fresno chili remoulade. Duck cooked to medium-rare accompanied by seared foie gras and duck confit on a bed of lentils is a delight. Few things beat profiteroles filled with vanilla ice cream and served with a tableside pour of hot fudge.; Opinionated About Dining Casual in North America Recommended (2023) | Hard | — |
| Le Bernardin | French, Seafood | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Atomix | Modern Korean, Korean | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Eleven Madison Park | French, Vegan | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Masa | Sushi, Japanese | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Per Se | French, Contemporary | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
The menu is French bistro in format, anchored in dishes like duck with foie gras and crab beignets, so it skews heavily toward meat and seafood. Specific dietary accommodation policies are not documented in available venue data, so check the venue's official channels before booking if restrictions are a factor. At $$$$ per head, confirming this in advance is worth the call.
At $$$$ in New York City, Raoul's prices you into tasting-menu territory, but it delivers à la carte French bistro cooking rather than a structured progression. The OAD Casual North America listing in both 2023 and 2024 (ranked #216 in 2024) supports the case that the kitchen earns its price tier. If you want format and ceremony for the spend, Per Se or Eleven Madison Park are more appropriate. If you want a proper French dinner in a room with genuine history, Raoul's holds up.
Book a minimum of three to four weeks out. Raoul's has a decades-long following in SoHo and OAD recognition that keeps demand steady, which means same-week availability is rare. Weekend dinner slots go fastest; if your schedule is flexible, a weeknight dinner will be easier to secure.
Raoul's works for solo diners who are comfortable in a bistro environment rather than a counter-service format. The room has art-covered walls and a neighbourhood-institution atmosphere that rewards sitting with a drink, so a solo visit is more enjoyable if you are not rushing. That said, the reservation demand and $$$$ price point make it less obviously suited to solo dining than a counter-focused spot like a neighbourhood wine bar.
Raoul's does not operate a tasting menu. It is an à la carte French bistro, and that format is the point. Signature dishes documented by OAD include jumbo lump crab beignets, duck with foie gras and confit, and tableside profiteroles. If a structured tasting progression is what you want at this price level, Atomix or Per Se are the relevant alternatives in New York.
Dinner is the core experience. Raoul's has operated as a dinner-first restaurant since the 1970s, and the kitchen's French bistro identity is built around its evening service. Brunch runs Saturday and Sunday from 11 am to 2:30 pm and is worth considering if dinner reservations prove too difficult to secure, but the full room atmosphere and the dishes OAD highlights are a dinner proposition.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
