The Top Food From Nice, France You Must Try

No matter what brings you to France, odds are you’re going to eat well on your trip. Whether it’s crepes, croissants or coq au vin, it’s hard to not find delicious eats. And that’s certainly true in the heart of the French Riviera, Nice.

Like many cities and regions, there is special food from Nice that you won’t find anywhere else in France. Niçoise cuisine is unique thanks to the city’s history, position on the sea and proximity to Italy.

I’ve been lucky enough to visit France many times over the years and on my most recent visit to the Cote d’Azur, my husband, Colin, and I decided to dive a little deeper into the food in Nice.

We spent five nights in Nice and went on a Nice food tour to learn about the cuisine from an expert. Suffice to say, we ate WELL during our stay!

I expected to find the usual French fare in Nice – pastries, cheese and probably more seafood since we’re on the coast. And while that was all present (and delicious!), I was surprised by some of the ingredients and dishes that were local to Nice. Swiss chard, anyone?

So get ready to drool as I take you through 15 delicious dishes that will have you raving about the food from Nice, France!

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The best way to try Niçoise food? On a Nice food tour!

I am a huge fan of walking tours and trying local food whenever I visit somewhere new. And a food tour in Nice combines both of those things!

We joined this Nice: Provencal Food Walking Tour during our visit to Nice this past winter. It was the perfect way to learn more about Nice’s history and culture, get a guided tour through Vieux Nice and, of course, eat some delicious food!

To be honest, we would not have tried half of the items on my must-eat list below if we hadn’t gone on this tour. We probably wouldn’t have known about them or if we had heard of them, not known the best place to get them.

Plus, with a food tour, you don’t have to commit to a huge portion. You get to try a bunch of little things rather than, say, ordering a giant pastry covered in onions when you hate onions…

In addition to lots of tasty local food, our tour guide also walked us through Nice’s old town and shared lots of interesting facts about the city. Along the way, he pointed out lots of other restaurants we should come back to, and even took us into his favourite church.

All to say, we had an amazing time on this tour and I highly recommend it! It was a great introduction to Nice, the food was interesting and tasty, and our guide was really entertaining and informed.

Book your spot on the Nice food tour we went on here!

15 Nice, France food items you must try

Below are 15 Niçoise dishes, snacks or specialties I highly recommend you try while in Nice. Some of these we were introduced to on our food tour and others we sought out independently.

1. Pan bagnat, a famous Niçoise sandwich

A quintessential food from Nice is the pan bagnat, which is basically a Niçoise salad but on bread. It features Niçoise olives, tuna, tomatoes, eggs and oil.

We sampled our pan bagnats from Lou Balico, a restaurant that has won awards for these sandwiches. They also have a Cuisine Nissard certification, which means they’ve been recognized for respecting the recipes, products and quality of Nice cuisine.

Our food tour guide explained that you have to use a special bread for the pan bagnat that can soak up the olive oil while not getting too soggy. It was impressive that a sandwich this wet managed to retain some fluffiness!

To be honest, I was not expecting to like this sandwich. Let’s just say if I was at Subway, none of the main ingredients in a pan bagnat would make it on my sub. But I was pleasantly surprised!

Besides the olives (sorry, they just don’t do it for me), I really liked the sandwich! It was flavourful and I really enjoyed the tuna/tomato/egg combination. Colin, who doesn’t like olives or tomatoes, wasn’t as big a fan, but I’d happily eat one for lunch!

2. Local olive oils & balsamic vinegars

Southern France is known for their production of olive oil, so you’ll definitely want to try some while you’re in Nice. I’d recommend sampling a few varieties and then choosing a bottle or two to take home.

On our Nice food tour, we popped into A L’OLIVIER to taste some local olive oils and vinegars.

We got to sample lemon, basil, black truffle and white truffle oils, as well as a mango, raspberry and white cream vinegar. At home, the fanciest we get is extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, so this was definitely a step up!

I loved being able to taste the different flavours, like the richness of the truffle oils and tartness of the fruit vinegars. My favourite was the white cream vinegar, which basically just tasted like dessert!

While I would have loved to bring a big bottle back home, we were travelling carry-on only. But we did get a few smaller bottles for ourselves and to bring back as gifts.

3. Pissaladière, one for the onion lovers

Pissaladière is a popular street food snack in Nice. It’s basically a mini open-faced sandwich on hearty dough topped with onions, anchovies and olives.

I’m going to be honest – I did not like the pissaladière we tried. To me it just tasted like bad pizza. But I think that’s mostly because I don’t like onions, anchovies or olives (though this one just tasted like onions).

I’m not sure if I would like pissaladière if I tried it somewhere else (we sampled ours at Chez Felix) but I think the fact that I don’t like the main ingredients, which I’m told don’t vary, means probably not.

Though if onions, anchovies and olives do it for you, this is an excellent snack! I can definitely see getting this after a late night bar crawl.

4. Socca, Nice’s favourite street food

Our food tour guide told us there were three main things everyone has to eat in Nice: pan bagnat, pissaladiere and socca. It was time for us to try #3, socca!

Socca is a chickpea flour bread that looks a bit like a thin pancake. The outside gets crispy but the inside is still soft and doughy. It’s very popular in Nice and is served both in restaurants and at street stalls.

We tried our socca at Bar René Socca where we actually got to go into the kitchen and watch the socca be made. It was incredible to watch how much work went into making the socca, including needing to throw logs into the fire at exactly the right time.

As popular as socca is, it’s not really for me. I found it kind of bland and wanted some toppings or spreads to go with it. Luckily, the next street food options were more up my alley!

5. More street food: Savoury beignets, panisse & petit farci

Who knew Nice would be such a hot spot for street food? After pissaladiere and socca, there’s still more bread-y goodness to try!

I found these next ones we sampled to be much more flavorful (and deep fried), so therefore, more delicious.

We tried beignets, which unlike their New Orleans counterparts, are actually savoury in Nice. The ones we had were stuffed with zucchini, which I don’t usually like, but these were delicious.

We also had some petit farci, which are fried vegetables stuffed with meat. I particularly liked the stuffed pepper ones!

And then we tried something that tasted like a deep fried spring onion, but I didn’t catch the name. Whatever it was called, it was delicious!

Another Nice street food is panisse, which is similar to socca in that it’s made out of chickpea, but usually served in the shape of a fry with a slightly different texture.

6. Tourte de Blettes Sucrée, a classic Niçoise dessert

Swiss chard for dessert? I know, I thought it sounded strange too. But stay with me!

Our guide explained that swiss chard is a big deal in Nice, so big that a nickname for people from Nice is actually Chard Eaters. And so, they decided to turn their favourite vegetable into a dessert!

The swiss chard tart, or tourte de blettes sucrée, we sampled was stuffed with swiss chard, apples and raisins, then dusted with icing sugar. Much to my surprise, the sweet swiss chard tart was delicious!

True, it’s not my favourite French dessert, but I can see the appeal. I happily ate my slice as we sat in Garibaldi Square and learned more about Nice’s history from our guide (like how it used to be part of Italy until it was traded to France!).

You can also get a savoury version of the swiss chard tart, which is similar to a quiche.

7. The best ice cream in Nice!

After walking down some of the quiet back streets of Old Nice (which reminded me a lot of the back alleys of Venice), our guide brought us to what he called the “best ice cream in Nice.”

Don’t mind if I put that assertion to the test!

Néron Glacier Pâtissier Artisanal serves homemade ice cream and pastries with a focus on using the best raw ingredients.

I went for the yogurt verbena flavour, as the verbena was local to the area, and Colin chose hazelnut. Both were delicious! I loved the floral taste of mine and how unique it was to any other ice cream I’d tried before.

I’m only sad we didn’t grab some of the yummy looking pastries to go!

8. Salade Niçoise, Nice’s most famous food export

If there’s any food from Nice that you’ve heard of before, it’s probably the Niçoise salad. You can find this popular salad on menus around the world, but it’s always nice to try the authentic dish in its home city!

I’ll be honest, we didn’t actually order a Salade Niçoise in Nice because 1) we’re not huge fans of the main ingredients and 2) we already had the sandwich version of this salad with the pan bagnat!

A traditional Salade Niçoise is all about the tuna and accompanied by tomatoes, olives, anchovies and eggs in an olive oil vinaigrette. Some places like to get fancy and add in things like potatoes, beans, onions and peppers, but purists won’t stand for it.

9. French (and Italian) cheese

You can’t come to France and not enjoy some French cheese!

Colin and I had a delicious meal at Le Sunset-Nice, a restaurant looking out over the water view on the Promenade des Anglais.

We ordered a beef carpaccio with greens, tomatoes, olives and, most importantly, really good cheese. Beef carpaccio actually became one of our go-to orders while in France because it was always so fresh and tasty!

To be honest, it doesn’t seem like Nice is known for a specific type of cheese, as there isn’t a ton of land to graze cows, sheep or goats on the busy Cote d’Azur.

But there are some well-loved cheeses from nearby regions that are readily available in Nice, such as Brousse du Rove, Banon, Roquefort, Bleu des Causses and Pélardon. We had also picked up some local cheese while in Provence, which we ate in Nice.

Plus, because Nice is so close to Italy, you can find lots of incredible Italian cheese on offer too. I’m pretty sure we had a hearty parmesan with our beef carpaccio.

10. Macarons, since we are in France after all!

Macarons are available throughout France and are definitely something to indulge in. Just try to stop yourself at one!

A macaron is a meringue-based pastry that combines egg whites, sugar and almond meal. Colours and flavours are added, a creamy filling is piped into the middle and, voila, a delicious little treat!

The last stop of our food tour was ANGÉA Les Macarons, a delightful little patisserie that specializes in, you guessed it, macarons. I went with a raspberry flavour and Colin chose coffee. Both were delicious and super flavourful!

They also had macaron ice cream sandwiches, which I was very tempted to buy on our way out.

11. Daube Niçoise, a blend of French & Italian

Because Nice is located on the border between France and Italy, a lot of the food from Nice is influenced by both countries.

A great example of this is Daube Niçoise, which is a braised beef stew that combines French flavours and Italian ravioli. Sadly, I only found out about Daube Niçoise when we got back from Nice, because I would have loved to try it!

But we did still make the most of our proximity to Italy! While on a day trip from Nice to Menton, we had a very Italian lunch of parma pizza and burrata cheese with pesto.

My research told me that Menton had delicious Italian food, namely pizza, and they did not disappoint!

12. Fresh local seafood

Being on the Mediterranean coast, Nice is a fabulous place to enjoy fresh seafood. As a huge seafood lover, I did not let this fact go to waste!

Colin and I treated ourselves to a few orders of fresh mussels throughout our time on the French Riviera. They were always so plump, served in the tastiest sauce and overflowing out of the bowl.

While in Nice, we also met up with travel blogging friends for dinner at a Michelin guide seafood restaurant, Peixes. Everything we ate was so yummy, included the seared tuna!

13. Ratatouille, and no, not the movie!

Ratatouille, besides being an adorable animated movie, is a vegetable dish that originated in Nice, France. It’s made by simmering together vegetables and herbs until they become a stew.

I have to admit that Colin and I didn’t actually order ratatouille on our trip, but I’ve included it on this list because it’s definitely a famous food from Nice. We skipped it because many of the main ingredients (like tomatoes, onions, zucchini and eggplant) are not vegetables we enjoy.

(I’m realizing that this post makes it sound like Colin and I hate veggies. We don’t! Serve me up some broccoli, bell peppers, bok choy, gai lan or carrots anytime!)

But if you’re a big fan of tomatoes and zucchini, definitely give ratatouille a try in its birthplace!

14. Lemons from nearby Menton

Menton, just 25 minutes from Nice by train, is known for their lemons. First grown in the 17th Century, Menton Lemons grew in popularity and are now a protected food in France.

There’s even a legend in Menton that Eve didn’t take an apple from the Garden of Eden, but a Menton Lemon!

To truly appreciate Menton’s citrus culture, you can attend the Fete du Citron (Lemon Festival) which happens every year in February/March. Colin and I attended in 2024 and were blown away by the citrus statues they create!

While at the festival, you can sample lots of lovely lemon products, including lemon-flavoured beer (above) or lemon candies and pastries (which I inhaled before taking a photo).

Of course, you can also try some of Menton’s famous lemons while in Nice.

15. French boulangerie & patisserie favourites

Last but certainly not least, I couldn’t write a list of foods to try in France and not bring up boulangerie (bakery) and patisserie (pastry shop) goodies. France does baked goods well, and that holds true in Nice!

While in Nice, we enjoyed baguettes and croissants from our local bakery. Even chain coffee shops and grocery stores had great quality breads!

We also stopped into a few patisseries to pick up delicious creations, like the chocolate cakes above. And on our day trips around the French Riviera, we often stopped into whatever sweet-smelling place we passed to try something new.

It’s hard to find a bad baked good in France, so just follow your nose and enjoy!

Wrapping up: My favourite food from Nice, France

When we booked our trip to Nice last winter, I knew we were going to eat well. That’s just what you expect in France!

But I didn’t realize how many Niçoise dishes we’d get to try and just how unique the food from Nice really is.

While they weren’t all winners for me (sorry, pissaladiere and socca), I was pleasantly surprised to find out how much I enjoyed the pan bagnat and swiss chard tart (my top two Nice dishes). Who knew?

Of course, you can never go wrong with French staples like bread, cheese and pastries. Plus seafood is always a good choice while on the coast.

But if you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, I highly recommend you dip your toe into the local Nice cuisine. Join the Nice food tour we went on to get a great taste (pun intended!) for the city, its culture and its food.

Bon appetit!