As you know, I really love the city of Besançon, which I have already written about at length in a previous article “A great weekend to visit Besançon,” where you will find plenty of information about the city, as well as ideas for tours and things to do in the city and its surroundings.
In this article, I offer a complement with my selection of good food spots in Besançon and the surrounding area, which we had the opportunity to test during two trips to the city with the favorite photographer, in May 2021 and November 2022. These addresses often offer the chance to discover local products and some regional specialties to taste if you visit the Doubs, such as Morteau sausage or Jura wines… Indeed, it is worth noting that 300 years ago, Besançon was a city of winemakers that had the largest vineyard in Franche-Comté (it was the phylloxera outbreak in the 19th century that put an end to this important wine-growing tradition)!
Table of Contents
Gourmet shops in Besançon
In this section, I offer a selection of shops to buy gourmet products in Besançon. On Sunday morning, I recommend heading to the Rivotte market to stock up on local items, especially in our case, cheeses! In 2021, we took the opportunity to raid the market’s cheesemongers for Comté and Morbier (I recommend those from the Histoire de Goûts stand).
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Where to buy good local products? Chez Lulu Muc et le Lapin
The Lulu Muc et le Lapin shop offers 100% Franche-Comté products (cheese, meat, charcuterie, wines, drinks, groceries, confectionery…). The perfect place for gourmet shopping and bringing some specialties back home. The address also offers to prepare a custom Franche-Comté picnic for you.
Picnic menu: cooked Morteau sausage and country terrine (Bulloz Fontain farm); smoked ham (Maison Thaurin in Moutaine); 18-month aged Comté (Marcel Petite); wild garlic tomme (Pré Verdot farm in Pouilley-les-Vignes); organic sheep’s milk tomme (Aubracs farm in Trésilley); pink radishes (Gaec du Champ libre in Grosbois); Comtoise dry biscuits and Gaudes wafers from the Douce Comtoise biscuit factory; “Grand Angle City of Besançon” milk chocolate bar from the Grandvoinnet Chocolaterie in Besançon; baguette from La Huche à Pain; red wine from the Loue valley; Chardonnay white wine from Le Moutherot; organic apple juice from Les Jardins de Cocagne.
My tip: go for a picnic at the Gare d’Eau.
Tested in 2021
Lulu Muc et le Lapin
52 Faubourg Rivotte 25000 Besançon
Tel: 03 81 81 38 65
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Where to buy cheese in Besançon? La Cave aux Fromages
This wonderful address specializing in cheese and local products, which offers a great selection of local cheeses, is located right next to the city’s Museum of Fine Arts. We obviously filled up on Comté, but also on Morbier to bring back in the suitcase (our train neighbors loved it!). The address offers no less than 11 different Comtés with aging ranging from 6 to 40 months.
Tested in 2022
La cave aux fromages
2 rue Gustave Courbet 25000 Besançon
Restaurants in Besançon
Below, I offer a selection of restaurants that we had the opportunity to test during our two trips to Besançon (in 2021 and 2022). I think there’s something for every taste and every budget!
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Where to eat organic and local in Besançon? Restaurant Casinne
This very nice little spot located in the city center favors organic, homemade food with local and seasonal ingredients. It offers a very short menu (which is always a good sign). In particular, the restaurant posts the origin of the majority of the products it uses on a small board at the entrance to the restaurant.
We tasted: veal blanquette with rice (€12.50); mini pumpkins stuffed with mushrooms with polenta and parsley salad (€11.50); for dessert, Tarte Tatin and crème fraîche (€7.50), rum baba with raisins (€7.50), sticky toffee pudding with butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream (€7.50).
Drinks to discover: local beers from the Brasserie l’Origine du Monde and the artisan brewery Bières Ney (€4.70 per beer).
Restaurant Casinne
132 Grande Rue, Besançon
Pricing: lunch menu with only 2 dishes (€12.50 and €11.50) / count about €25 per person for a main course, dessert, drink, and coffee
link to the restaurant’s website
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Where to have lunch on a terrace in Besançon? Restaurant Les Gamins
This restaurant is a little gem and one of my favorites from our 2021 stay in terms of gastronomy! For starters, the establishment’s terrace is set up in a very quiet pedestrian street with little car traffic, which is very pleasant. And on the plate, it’s delicious! The chef is one of the best in the city, and his dishes are simple, balanced, and perfectly executed. You can go there with your eyes closed, I promise you! As for wine, the owner is a connoisseur (a former sommelier) and offers a very fine wine list. I advise you to let yourself be guided if you are an enthusiast and want to discover fine wine estates.
Must-try: guacamole with wasabi, fried spiced potato wafer (daily starter €5.50); guinea fowl supreme stuffed with Morteau (daily lunch special on weekdays €10.90); Black Angus Picanha (Uruguay) with beef jus reduction, lemon polenta crisp (€26.50); for dessert, don’t miss the salted butter caramel rice pudding which is to die for (even I who don’t usually like rice pudding was won over / €6.50); orange blossom madeleine with blood orange sorbet (€4.50); lemon meringue tart (€7.50).
Good to know: vegetarian dish possible upon request, depending on daily arrivals (€14).
Tested in 2021
Restaurant Les Gamins
10 rue Pasteur 25000 Besançon
Pricing (in 2021): daily starter at lunch €5 and a la carte between €11 and €14 / daily lunch special €10.80 and a la carte between €9 and €26.50 / desserts between €4.50 and €9
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Where to eat vegetarian in Besançon? Chez l’Unalôme
This restaurant serving ethical, sustainable, and creative cuisine offers vegetarian and vegan dishes, prepared according to deliveries from local producers with whom the address collaborates directly. The quality of the products is highlighted by the restaurant, which uses, as much as possible, products from agriculture that respects living things and natural cycles. The place offers dining on-site but also takeout.
The address also offers a nice, sophisticated selection of wines (wines by the glass between €6.20 and €7.50) with a significant share of Jura winemakers in particular, and local craft beers (between €5 and €11).
Tested in 2022
Unalôme
3 rue Rivotte 25000 Besançon
Pricing (2022): starters €8.50 / main dishes €19 / desserts €7.50
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Where to have a medieval meal in Besançon? Le Calice Enchanté
I loved the soul and atmosphere of this address, which truly offers a unique experience, I think. The concept of the place is to offer, every day, a starter, a main course, and a dessert that strictly follow medieval recipes, in the tradition of experimental archaeology, and trying as much as possible to use local and seasonal products, of course. The couple who opened this address in 2021 are truly adorable, and they provide the service (and the cooking) in somewhat “medieval fantasy” style clothing, which totally sets the mood. Moreover, they are passionate and fine connoisseurs of medieval history, tales, and legends, and they are inexhaustible on this period and on medieval cuisine as well. As a result, in addition to enjoying a delicious meal, we learned a lot of very interesting things about the subject!
Must-try: for drinks, I recommend tasting the hypocras (a wine with honey, cinnamon, and spices – €4 per glass) and the mead (a honey alcohol – €4 per glass); that day for a starter we tasted a “brouet” (a medieval soup), as a main course it was pork with honey with apple and ginger, and for dessert, an oven-baked apple with almond and hazelnut powder.
Tested in 2022
Le Calice Enchanté
9 rue Peclet 25000 Besançon
Pricing (2022): single starter at €6 / daily main course at €14 / dessert at €4
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Where to brunch in Besançon? Aime Café Miam
This nice little spot located on the Place Saint-Amour offers a very complete brunch formula for €24 on weekends. The place is also ideal for breakfast or an afternoon snack.
Brunch menu:
- a hot drink
- a cold drink
- a granola bowl
- 1 savory dish of your choice: we chose the eggs benedict with bacon and the avocado toast
- 1 dessert: we chose the carrot cake and the banana bread
Tested in 2022
Aime Café Miam
2B Square Saint Amour, 25000 Besançon
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Where to have a gastronomic dinner in Besançon? At restaurant Le Parc
This restaurant is the rising star of Besançon in terms of gastronomy, and you can tell it’s aiming for the award of the same name in the Michelin Guide. The setting of the city park in which it is located (it was actually the former building of the Besançon Tourist Office) allows it to be in the middle of a very soothing green setting. The panoramic terrace is also particularly appreciable in this respect, as it is in the heart of the nature that surrounds it.
On the plate, we find an elegant and ambitious cuisine that pays homage to local products and expertise. Special mention for the wine list, which allowed us to discover a few little gems from the area. And then, as for service, it is impeccable, as it must be in establishments of this caliber. In short, an address to watch for the years to come!
Our tasting menu: duck and foie gras pâté en croûte; finger croque; beetroot and fresh goat cheese, raspberry pickles, and roasted seeds; paella-style fragrant rice; confit lamb shoulder, cauliflower, and broccoli; kiwi, coconut, and tarragon; vanilla cream, rhubarb, and strawberries.
The wines: house aperitif (Batak pepper syrup and Jura crémant); IGP Champlitte Domaine de la Paturie Par Amour; Cotes du Jura Trousseau Domaine des Ronces.
Tested in 2021
Restaurant Le Parc
Place de la 1ère Armée Française, 25000 Besançon
Pricing: chef’s tasting menu at €97 / 3-course menu at €74 / food and wine pairing at €65
The tip: market menu only at lunch with starter + main + dessert at €39
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Where to have dinner in a restaurant with a green star in Besançon? Restaurant Le Saint Cerf
This restaurant, which has had a green star in the Michelin Guide since 2021, is one of our very great discoveries from our stay in Besançon in November 2022. In the kitchen, we find the young chef Xavier Choulet, who works only with seasonal products from regional partners. The address really seduced us, both by the quality of what is on the plates and by the intimate and cozy atmosphere of this contemporary bistro, which embodies the renewal of Besançon’s gastronomy. An address that I therefore warmly recommend.
Tested in 2022
Restaurant Le Saint Cerf
1 rue Mégevand, 25000 Besançon
Pricing (2022): “évasion” menu at €70 (food & wine pairing at €30) / seasonal menu at €50 for 3 courses
The tip: the lunch menu with starter + main course + dessert at €30
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Where to have dinner with a view in Besançon? Restaurant Le Sauvage
This beautiful address at the Le Sauvage hotel (which I told you about in my other article on Besançon) also has a very good restaurant. If you are not staying at the hotel, you can still enjoy the place during a meal at its restaurant. And during sunny days, you can enjoy dinner on the terrace with a view of the setting sun, and I can assure you that the setting is enchanting. This dinner was also the occasion for a wine-related discovery: a Vin de Pays de Franche-Comté, a Chardonnay old vines from Vignoble Guillaume, which we adored (photo below)!
Must-try: cucumber gazpacho with trout gravelax marinated with herbs; veal, pork, and poultry pâté en croûte; roasted cod loin, crunchy vegetables, ricotta spinach cannelloni; poached, confit, and grilled octopus with a creamy risotto; cheese selection; poached rhubarb, crumble, and sorbet.
Tested in 2021
Restaurant Le Sauvage
6 Rue du Chapitre 25000 Besançon
Pricing: menu at €39 with starter + main course + dessert
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Where to have lunch along the Euro Vélo 6? L’Epicerie du Canal
During our bike ride along the Doubs and before our canoeing activity, we made a stop at L’Epicerie du Canal. To be honest, we had some disappointments during our lunch (very long service, dishes okay but nothing more…), but we might have just stumbled upon an off day… Otherwise it’s a shame because the establishment is ideally located if you are going for a walk in the area, and besides, the setting really does not lack charm. Let’s hope we just had bad luck.
The positive point of this lunch is that it was an opportunity for me to discover a Franche-Comté specialty (and you know how important that is to me when I’m traveling): the croûte aux morilles, a recipe based on morel mushrooms in cream sauce and toasted bread croutons (lightness personified / €22.50).
Tested in 2021
Epicerie du Canal
7 Rue du Halage, 25720 Avanne-Aveney
Dish prices between €15.50 and €23
Bars in Besançon
In this section, I offer a selection of bars in Besançon to go for a drink in Besançon. Unfortunately, for the moment, I have only had the opportunity to test one address, so I will perhaps have to complete it during our next visit to the Franche-Comté city.
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Where to have a cocktail in Besançon? At the Buvette du Conservatoire
This address overlooking the Place de la Révolution is a very nice place that offers quality cocktails and some very nice little boards to accompany it all. The bar is also set up in an old grain granary whose building dates back to 1722. During our visit in 2022, we were told about the installation, right next door in 2023, of a Loiseau restaurant at that location… To be verified during our next visit to Besançon!
Tested in 2022
La Buvette du Conservatoire
27 rue des BoucheriesPricing (2022): cocktails between €8 and €12 / mocktails €8 / boards and tapas between €4 and €16
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Thanks to Besançon Tourisme and the aiRPur agency for these two gourmet welcomes during which we discovered many beautiful addresses in Besançon.
I hope that with all this, I have made you want to visit the Doubs and Besançon, and if you, too, have your favorite addresses and tips for this destination, don’t hesitate to share them in the comments below!
Photo credits: Nicolas Diolez and Melle Bon Plan Photos are not royalty-free; the photographer's authorization is mandatory before any use
