Les Grands Buffets is a buffet restaurant located in Narbonne, France. It is the world's largest all-you-can restaurant, serving around 400,000 diners a year. It is also France's highest grossing restaurant. It focuses on classical French cuisine inspired by the 19th-century chef Auguste Escoffier, with around 150 dishes drawn from or inspired by the 1907 edition of his book, Le Guide Culinaire.

History

The restaurant was founded by Louis and Jane Privat in 1989. It was originally an all-you-can-eat cafeteria meant to cater for a new recreation centre at de l'Espace liberté in Norbonne. It served a variety of cuisines but evolved to become a buffet restaurant that serves classic French cuisine.

In 2008 the cafeteria was renamed Les Grands Buffets. The restaurant was not initially conceived as a tribute to Auguste Escoffier, instead Louis Privat was interested in presenting traditional cuisine. He said: "I asked our chefs to focus on classic dishes: tripe, daube [a Provençal stew], snails. One day, I realised that all the recipes we were working with were recorded in Escoffier's Le Guide Culinaire." Over the year, he introduced various features to the restaurant, including a seven-tier lobster tower. In 2020, the restaurant added the ritual of canard au sang for its signature dish pressed duck.

By 2025, the number of patrons at the restaurant had reached around 400,000 a year, the great majority (86%) of them French. It earned €30m (£26m/$34.8m) in revenue in 2025, which is the highest in France for a restaurant.

A major expansion and upgrade of the restaurant was initiated in May 2026, and scheduled to be completed in 2028.

Food

Unlike most buffets, Les Grands Buffets focuses on French cuisine rather than dishes from around the world. The 150 dishes include a selection of foie gras in pâté en croûte and terrine form, such as Oreiller de la Belle Aurore, or English, Aurora's Pillow, a pâté prepared from over 10 different meats. There is also a wide selection of charcuterie, along with a seafood buffet featuring a seven-tiered lobster tower.

Along with pre-prepared items, over 30 larger dishes are made to order, such as "le canard au sang", or in other words, pressed duck, prepared in the same way as La Tour d'Argent. Other dishes include a traditional form of cassoulet from Castelnaudary, as well as many other classical French dishes such as Tournedos Rossini, a mix of filet mignon and foie gras with a Madeira wine sauce, and more traditional French bistro dishes.

Dessert selections include cakes such as St. Honore, their "Palais de Glaces," or ice cream parlor, Île Flottante, or floating island, and prepared desserts such as Crêpe Suzette. The restaurant also holds a Guinness World Record for the most available cheeses, with over 110.

Wine

In 2020, the wine list, which specializes in wine from Languedoc-Roussillon, was awarded a Special Jury Prize from Terre de Vins magazine for the best selection by the glass. The menu also includes aperitifs and digestifs, as well as dishes containing liquor, such as trou normand, a mix of calvados and apple as a palate cleanser.

Facility The buffet has four large dining rooms that can seat 500 people in each of its four seatings (two for lunch and two for dinner). The rooms are designed in a different style: the Salon Doré Jean de la Fontaine was designed by those who were involved in the restoration of the Palace of Versailles; Tente d’Apparat Jean-Baptiste Nolin features a Louis XIV-inspired tent, Salle Ann Carrington a wood-panelled room; and Salle Max Le Verrier that is decorated in an Art Deco style.

There are broadly three sections to the restaurant: the first section contains the starters, a lobster tower and a foie gras station; the middle section is dedicated to a rotisserie with a counter where cooked meals may be ordered; and the last section offers a variety of desserts including a chocolate fountain. Also included in the buffet are the world's largest cheese board, and a pressed duck ceremony presented every 45 minutes.

Reservations are made solely on their website and are notoriously difficult to obtain, often taking several months. Guests typically spend between 2 and 4 hours at the buffet. The restaurant, as of 2025, costs 65.90 euros per person, not including wine or other drinks.

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