France's highest-grossing restaurant is not a Michelin-starred bistro but an all-you-can-eat buffet on the outskirts of Narbonne. Les Grands Buffets, which translates to 'The Big Buffets', serves everything from pressed duck to truffles for €67.50 (£58.74) per person. The restaurant has become a national obsession, with 86% of its 400,000 annual diners being French.
Founded in 1989 by Louis and Jane Privat, the restaurant is the largest buffet of its kind in the world. It features a seven-tiered lobster fountain, nine varieties of foie gras, more than 50 desserts, and a world record 111 varieties of cheese. Reservations are made months in advance, and the restaurant receives around 3.5 million reservation requests each year.
One of the most dramatic rituals at Les Grands Buffets is the preparation of canard au sang, or pressed duck. A server presents a whole roasted duck to diners before a duck master uses a silver press to crush the carcass, extracting blood and juices for the sauce. This 19th-century tradition is performed at every lunch and dinner service, making Les Grands Buffets the only restaurant in France to offer it daily.
Owner Louis Privat said the concept of an all-you-can-eat buffet did not exist in France when he opened. Inspired by Club Med's buffet formula, he believed the French public would embrace it. The restaurant's menu focuses on classic French dishes from Auguste Escoffier's Le Guide Culinaire, and in 2024, Privat and executive chef Philippe Munos were inducted as disciples of Escoffier.
