Restaurant in Paris, France
Serious French cooking, book well ahead.
Nomicos holds a 2025 Michelin star and an OAD Classical Europe ranking that has moved upward two consecutive years — a reliable signal of a kitchen improving, not settling. Lunch Tuesday to Saturday is the value entry point into Jean-Louis Nomicos's precise classical French cooking in a calm 16th arrondissement room. Book three to four weeks ahead minimum; this does not hold tables for walk-ins.
Nomicos earns its Michelin star and then some — but the real question is whether to book lunch or dinner, because the two experiences diverge more than the menu suggests. Lunch at 16 Avenue Bugeaud is one of Paris's stronger arguments for the midday slot: a serious classical French kitchen, a quieter room, and almost certainly a more accessible price point than dinner. If you are working through Paris's €€€€ tier and want a meal that rewards attention without the full theatre of an evening service, lunch here should be your first call. For dinner, the standard is high but the competition is stiffer — [Le Cinq - Four Seasons Hôtel George V](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/le-cinq-four-seasons-htel-george-v-paris-restaurant) and [Guy Savoy](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/guy-savoy-paris-restaurant) both offer evening experiences with more grandeur. Nomicos is the right dinner pick if you want classical French cooking without hotel-dining formality.
Jean-Louis Nomicos has built a room and a kitchen that both feel deliberate. The address , Avenue Bugeaud in the 16th arrondissement , places you firmly in the quieter, residential stretch of Paris where the dining rooms tend toward intimacy rather than spectacle. Spatially, Nomicos reads as considered and composed: not a cavernous grand salle, not a cramped bistro, but a room scaled for focus. The layout allows for conversation at a real volume, which matters if you are here to talk as much as to eat. Tables are not crowded together. The overall effect is a room that takes the food seriously without making you feel like you are being watched.
That physical restraint is a reasonable metaphor for what Nomicos does in the kitchen. The cuisine category is Modern French, and the chef's approach sits firmly in the classical tradition , technique-led, product-focused, without the decorative abstraction that characterises some of Paris's more experimental rooms. Nomicos has held a Michelin star continuously, with the 2025 guide confirming the rating, and the Opinionated About Dining Classical Europe list placed the restaurant at #251 in 2024 after a recommended listing in 2023 , a trajectory that points upward. A Google rating of 4.6 across 614 reviews adds a layer of consistency that awards alone do not always capture.
The 16th arrondissement context matters for the food-and-travel enthusiast doing their homework. This is not a neighbourhood that drives trend cycles , it is where Paris keeps its serious, longer-tenured restaurants. Think of it as the arrondissement that produced [Tour d'Argent](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/tour-dargent-paris-restaurant) and has historically housed kitchens more interested in getting the sauce right than in Instagram relevance. Nomicos fits that profile exactly. If you have also been to [Flocons de Sel in Megève](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/flocons-de-sel-megve-restaurant) or [Troisgros - Le Bois sans Feuilles in Ouches](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/troisgros-le-bois-sans-feuilles-ouches-restaurant), you will recognise the register immediately: high craft, low noise.
Both services run Tuesday through Saturday, with lunch from 12 to 2 pm and dinner from 7 to 10 pm. Monday and Sunday are closed. For most visitors, lunch is the stronger value proposition. At this level of French restaurant, the lunch formula , typically a set menu at a meaningfully lower price than the full evening carte , gives you access to the same kitchen, the same room, and the same service without the full evening premium. This is standard practice across Paris's starred tier, and Nomicos follows it.
Evening dining here suits a specific profile: the guest who wants the full arc of a French dinner, unhurried across two to three hours, with the kitchen running at full expression. The 7 to 10 pm window is tighter than some competitors , [L'Orangerie](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/lorangerie-paris-restaurant) and [La Scène](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/la-scne-paris-restaurant) both run longer evening services , so arrive close to the start of your reservation rather than planning a late arrival. For a first visit, lunch on a weekday is the lower-risk, higher-value entry point. Come back for dinner once you know you want the full experience.
Booking is hard. At a one-Michelin-star restaurant with limited seats, a quiet residential address, and a loyal local clientele in the 16th, tables do not sit empty for long. Plan three to four weeks ahead for a weekday lunch reservation and further still for a Saturday dinner. The restaurant is closed Monday and Sunday, which compresses the available slots across a five-day week. There is no walk-in culture at this level of French dining.
If you are building a Paris itinerary around serious French cooking, Nomicos sits in a coherent cluster. The 16th gives you access to some of the city's most consistent classical kitchens without the noise of the 1st or the 8th. From here, the logical progression for a food-focused trip leads to [Auberge de l'Ill in Illhaeusern](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/auberge-de-lill-illhaeusern-restaurant) or [Bras in Laguiole](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/bras-laguiole-restaurant) if you are extending into France's regions, or to [Hélène Darroze at The Connaught](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/hlne-darroze-at-the-connaught-london-restaurant) if London follows. Within Paris, the natural companion meal is something in a different register , [Mirazur in Menton](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/mirazur-menton-restaurant) is worth the detour if you can extend south, and [Paul Bocuse - L'Auberge du Pont de Collonges](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/paul-bocuse-lauberge-du-pont-de-collonges-collonges-au-mont-dor-restaurant) remains a reference point for anyone interested in where the classical tradition Nomicos works in actually comes from.
For full Paris dining context, see our full Paris restaurants guide. Planning the wider trip? Our full Paris hotels guide, our full Paris bars guide, our full Paris wineries guide, and our full Paris experiences guide cover the rest.
Lunch is the stronger value proposition for most visitors. You get the same kitchen and the same classical French approach, almost certainly at a lower price than the evening menu. The room is quieter midday, which suits the food. Dinner works well for the guest who wants the full unhurried arc of a French evening meal, but for a first visit, lunch is the right entry point.
At €€€€ with a confirmed 2025 Michelin star and a 4.6 Google rating across 614 reviews, yes , particularly at lunch. The OAD Classical Europe ranking at #251 in 2024 (up from Recommended in 2023) signals a kitchen that is improving, not coasting. If you are comparing on pure price-to-quality, lunch at Nomicos competes well against Paris's starred tier. Dinner requires a higher spend to justify, but the quality is consistent.
Book at least three to four weeks ahead , this is not a walk-in restaurant. Go for lunch on your first visit; it gives you the full experience at a more accessible price. The 16th arrondissement address means no tourist crowds. Dress smartly: this is a classical French room and the clientele reflects that. Expect precise, technique-led cooking rather than experimental or trend-driven dishes.
For classical French at a comparable level, L'Ambroisie is the more celebrated name but significantly harder to book and more expensive. Kei offers a different register , French-Japanese, warmer room , at the same price tier. If you want more scale and grandeur, Le Cinq is the obvious alternative. For creative French rather than classical, Pierre Gagnaire and Alléno Paris are in a different mode entirely. Also consider La Scène and La Fourchette des Ducs if you want Modern French with a strong OAD profile.
Yes, with the right expectations. The room is quiet and the service at this level of French restaurant is attentive without being intrusive, which makes solo dining comfortable rather than isolating. Lunch is the better solo slot , the midday rhythm is more relaxed. There is no confirmed bar or counter seating in the available data, so expect a standard table.
The restaurant's seat count is not publicly confirmed, but the 16th arrondissement address and classical format suggest a mid-sized room rather than a large event space. For groups of more than four, contact the restaurant directly well ahead of your intended date , Paris's starred restaurants at this level typically manage group bookings on request, but availability is constrained. Booking is already hard for pairs; groups should plan further ahead.
No specific dietary policy is confirmed in available data. The standard approach at this level of French classical cooking is to flag restrictions clearly at the time of booking , not on the day. Given the kitchen's classical orientation, accommodating plant-based or strict allergen requirements may require advance coordination. Call or email ahead; do not rely on a note in an online booking form for anything complex.
There is no confirmed bar or counter seating at Nomicos in available data. This is a table-service classical French restaurant. If bar dining is a priority for your Paris visit, Guy Savoy and some of the city's brasserie-adjacent starred rooms offer counter options. For Nomicos specifically, book a table or do not plan on dining there.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Nomicos | €€€€ | — |
| Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen | €€€€ | — |
| Kei | €€€€ | — |
| L'Ambroisie | €€€€ | — |
| Le Cinq - Four Seasons Hôtel George V | €€€€ | — |
| Pierre Gagnaire | €€€€ | — |
A quick look at how Nomicos measures up.
For a step up in ambition and price, Le Cinq at the Four Seasons George V or Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen are the natural comparisons — both multi-starred and more theatrical. Kei offers a French-Japanese crossover at a similar price tier if you want something less classically rooted. L'Ambroisie is the purist benchmark for classical French cooking in Paris, though considerably harder to book and more expensive. Nomicos sits in a coherent middle ground: Michelin-credentialled, deliberate cooking, without the full ceremony overhead of a three-star room.
Nomicos is a reasonable solo choice for a serious lunch — the format is structured enough that dining alone does not feel awkward, and the 12–2 pm window on weekdays is typically quieter than dinner service. The 16th arrondissement setting means the room tends toward composed rather than social, which suits solo diners who are there to eat rather than to be seen. Booking ahead is still necessary; walk-in availability at a one-Michelin-star address with a loyal local clientele is not reliable.
Lunch is the stronger practical case. Both services run Tuesday through Saturday, but the 12–2 pm slot typically offers better value through a set menu format common to starred Paris restaurants, and the 16th arrondissement dining room feels more relaxed at midday. Dinner from 7–10 pm is the better choice if you want the full evening pacing and are less price-sensitive. For a first visit, book lunch.
Nomicos holds a Michelin star (2024 and 2025) and an Opinionated About Dining Classical Europe ranking, which positions it as a reference address for precise, classically informed French cooking rather than a trend-driven room. The address at 16 Avenue Bugeaud in the 16th is residential and quiet — factor in travel time from central Paris. Tables are hard to secure without advance booking. Chef Jean-Louis Nomicos runs a deliberate kitchen, so come expecting structure and technique over informality.
The venue database does not include specific dietary restriction policies for Nomicos. At a one-Michelin-star restaurant operating structured lunch and dinner services, the standard practice is to communicate restrictions clearly at the time of booking rather than on arrival. check the venue's official channels when reserving to confirm what the kitchen can accommodate.
At €€€€ pricing with a current Michelin star and consecutive OAD Classical Europe recognition, Nomicos delivers value relative to its peer tier — particularly at lunch, where the spend-to-quality ratio at starred Paris addresses tends to favour the midday service. Against Pierre Gagnaire or Alléno at the higher end, Nomicos is the more accessible entry point into serious classical French cooking in Paris. If you are weighing a one-star dinner against a casual bistro, the gap in ambition and execution is substantial enough to justify the price once.
The venue database does not specify private dining or group capacity at Nomicos. At a one-Michelin-star restaurant in a residential 16th arrondissement address with limited covers, large groups should check the venue's official channels well in advance — assume the room is not configured for parties above six or eight without prior arrangement. For corporate or celebration groups in Paris at this price tier, venues with documented private dining rooms are a safer choice unless confirmed directly with Nomicos.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
