Best French Restaurants in Soho (10012)
6 hand-picked restaurants, critic-reviewed and ranked
Last Updated: January 2026
Our Top Pick
Balthazar Bakery
Classic SoHo French brasserie with serious seafood, steak frites, and buzz.
Notable Picks
8.9
Opened in 1997 by restaurateur Keith McNally, Balthazar is a benchmark SoHo brasserie for towering seafood platters, textbook steak frites, and one of the city’s most copied onion soups. Locals and visitors use it for everything from power breakfasts to late-night suppers in a room that still feels like old downtown New York.
Must-Try Dishes:
French onion soup gratinée, Steak frites, Seafood plateau
What makes it special: Classic SoHo French brasserie with serious seafood, steak frites, and buzz.
8.7
Since opening in 2011, pastry chef Dominique Ansel’s original SoHo bakery has drawn daily lines for inventive French pastries from the Cronut to the DKA. It functions as both a neighborhood coffee stop and a destination dessert shop, trading table-service comforts for creativity and a constant stream of limited-run sweets.
Must-Try Dishes:
Cronut, DKA (Dominique’s Kouign Amann), Frozen S’more
What makes it special: World-famous French pastry counter where the Cronut and DKA were born.
#3
Raoul's
8.6
A SoHo fixture since the 1970s, Raoul’s is a dim, classic French bistro known for peppery steak au poivre, escargots, and a small but coveted bar burger. Regulars lean on it for late-night dates, celebratory dinners, and a transportive room that still channels old downtown energy.
Must-Try Dishes:
Steak au poivre with pommes frites, Bar burger, Escargots
What makes it special: Long-running SoHo bistro for steak au poivre, martinis, and moody charm.
8.4
Opened in 2025 by the team behind Libertine, Chateau Royale is a bi-level Greenwich Village townhouse serving updated French classics like duck à l’orange, lobster thermidor, and caviar-stuffed beggar’s purses. Critics and early regulars treat it as a modern special-occasion spot, anchored by theatrical martini carts and a plush, vintage-leaning dining room upstairs.
Must-Try Dishes:
Beggar’s Purse with ossetra caviar, Duck à l’orange, Filet au poivre
What makes it special: New-wave French townhouse with throwback dishes, martini carts, and glam.
8.3
Ladurée’s SoHo outpost marries its signature Parisian macarons and pastries with a full café and back garden for leisurely brunch and afternoon tea. It’s less about quick coffee and more about lingering over sweets, eggs, and salads in a space that feels pulled from a travel postcard.
Must-Try Dishes:
Assorted macarons, Ispahan pastry, French toast or brunch eggs
What makes it special: Macaron-focused French patisserie with a hidden garden for brunch and tea.
8.1
Chef Paul Denamiel’s Little Prince has operated on Prince Street since 2013, serving a tight menu of bistro dishes in a compact, plant-framed room. It’s a neighborhood choice for steak frites, the much-talked-about French onion soup burger, and cozy brunches that feel more like a local hang than a destination spot.
Must-Try Dishes:
French onion soup burger, Steak frites, Steak tartare
What makes it special: Intimate neighborhood bistro known for its French onion soup burger.