Budget
Lou Pilha Leva
Place centrale, old nice. local dishes including the best tasting socca, which only costs â¬2.50. locals and the lots of french tourists seem to love this place and it is often quite busy. order your food at the counter and take it with you to sit at the benches outside. try daube pasta/polenta and soupe au pistou, and socca. very nice atmosphere and very decent price. for example, big plate of daube pasta costs â¬7 as well as chicken and fries and a side salad. worth a try, even though the baked food can be somewhat soaked in oil. avoid red wine at this place, though, as they serve it chilled rather than warm.
Restaurant Le Lodge
14 rue halã©vy, 06000 nice, +493884189 if you're watching your budget but want to have a gourmet, healthy meal, this is the place to go for lunch. for â¬11 you get a main course, a drink such as wine, beer or soda and after the meal, a coffee. try the trio of fish. for â¬13, add the dessert of the day. hopefully it's cinnamon creme brulee. don't be put off by the one waitress to a full restaurant ratio, the chefs get the food to you quickly. the meal deals are more expensive during the night, starting at â¬19.
Cheap & cheerful food in Nice is hard to come by if you don't take your time to look for it, though a baguette with different fillings range from â¬4-6, which is very reasonable by Nice standards.
The best deals in the center can be found in the port area.
Old Nice and all along the sea front the prices cannot be described as budget.
However, lunch-time set menus are certainly good value, if not 'cheap' per se. â¬10-12 should get you two courses, often with coffee and wine, and like much of continental Europe lunches can drift happily into the afternoon.
Midrange
Restaurant du Gésu
1, place jã©sus, +33-4-93-62-26-46â. in the heart of vieux nice, this is a friendly, vibrant, old-fashioned restaurant with as much italian influence as provencale. the beignets, and daube with gnocchi are particularly good. â¬15-â¬30.
le Delhi Belhi
Delhi Belhi is an award winning family owned and operated restaurant specializing in Indian cuisine. Open daily for dinner, a-la-carte or prix-fixe menu. Great curries and tandoori specialties. Delhi Belhi is the only Indian restaurant on the entire french riviera that has been included in the prestigeous Gault-Millau guides since 2005. Fluent English also spoken here. Behind the popular cours Saleya flower market. This is a very popular restaurant so reservations are highly recommended at least a few hours ahead.
L'Occitanie
54, bd gambetta, +33-44-9382114111. in the musician's quarter, about 5 blocks from the promenade des anglais. a delightful, authentic brasserie/bistrot with delicious food. reasonable prices, â¬15-30 per person. gambetta is a main north/south street. the area is quiet at night, and safe.
Casa Mia
Rue pontin, old nice. does amazing italian in a very homely environment. the menus around â¬20-25 offer excellent value for the service and quality.
Le Shalimar
11 rue biscarra, +33-4-93139578. has tasty indian food. the lunch menus are a good deal.
les hussards bleus
68, rue de france, at the corner of rue st. philippe, behind neptune plage.guided by two brothers, originally from paris. guests: locals, lots of inside information, less traffic after 7pm.fish, meat, pizza, tagliatelle, omelettes, delicious salads
Domaine de Lintillac
37 rue d'angleterre, +33-4-93885075. specializes in duck. main dishes are an excellent value at a little under â¬10.
Top end
L'Univers
(http://www.christian-plum...). signature chef christian plumail's own restaurant in boulevard jean jaures, very serious gourmet french. expect to pay â¬100 per person. a rival to nice's most expensive restaurant chantecler in the negresco.
Le Safari
1, cours saleya, +33 4 93 80 18 44, fax: +33 4 93 62 62 14, (http://www.restaurantsafa...). long established in the old quarter, now caters more for tourists than the locals. this reflects in the price and language spoken by those dining next to you. overpriced compared to other local similar establishments. for a 3 course meal with wine, expect to pay more than â¬60/head.
A food called "Socca", a chickpea flat bread, is a local specialty though not universally enjoyed, as is a tuna fish sandwich called "Pan Bagnat." Other specialties include Soupe de Poisson Fish Soup, made with chili aioli, croutons, and grated cheese, Salade Nicoise made with tuna, Tourtes aux Blettes sweet tartes made with Savoy cabbage, raisins, nuts, and powdered sugar and pissaladiere a type of pizza topped with sauteed onion, olives, garlic and anchovies. As may be expected, seafood features prominently in Nicoise cuisine, and several restaurants specialise in sea-urchin and oysters.
Check out the daily market in the Vieux Nice for fresh, local produce. You can save a lot of money if you are willing to cook at least some of your meals yourself and if you also eat leftovers, cooking can actually save you time as well since eating at a restaurant will easily cost you one to two hours per meal. There are several decent size 'supermarches' around the city as well as numerous boucheries, boulangeries and fruit and veg shops which are often competetive on price and superior on quality.
No visit to Nice would be complete without a trip to Fennochio's in the Place Rosetti to sample their rightly world famous ice-cream.