I just made a reservation at Les Grands Buffets de Narbonne, the most famous buffet in France! That might not be exciting on its own, except that tables at this restaurant in the southwest of France are notoriously hard to come by, and the booking process can take upwards of thirty minutes and must be completed entirely in French.
I am publishing this guide to making reservations at Les Grands Buffets in Narbonne before I actually eat there, just to help other travelers understand the reservation process. In this guide I’ll walk you through the entire process, from getting access to the reservation system to finding a date with availability to understanding the rules and finally paying the deposit for your lunch or dinner reservation.
What this guide won’t include is a review of my meal at Les Grands Buffets, as that hadn’t happened at the time of writing. I wanted to write this guide while the step-by-step instructions were fresh in my mind, rather than eight months later when I actually dined in the restaurant. If you want, you can read my full review of my visit to the restaurant now, or you’ll find another link at the end of this article after you’ve finished reserving.
Disclosure: I paid in full for my meal at Les Grands Buffets and didn’t disclose that I was a blogger during the booking process (I also used my personal email, not my blog email) or when I was at the restaurant. I don’t make any money if you reserve your table via the links in this guide – they just take you to the official site.
Booking in Advance for Les Grands Buffets in Narbonne
‼️ If you’re even considering eating at Les Grands Buffets in Narbonne, and you’re reading this, go book your table right now. If you don’t book right now, there won’t be a table. By the time you finish reading this guide, all the tables will be booked.
Don’t believe me? I’m writing this part of the guide in January, before I even travel to Narbonne. I made my reservation on January 6th, 2026 for the first week of August, and the restaurant was already almost fully booked for the summer. There were only two days that week that had any availability, and I could only choose between the very last lunch or dinner seating.
How to Make a Reservation at Les Grands Buffets
Click here to open the restaurant website in a new tab, and then follow these instructions to book your table:
- Click on the orange “booking” button at the bottom of the page. In my experience the website changes to French at this point, and it’s 100% French for the rest of the process.
- Enter your email address, check all the boxes and click “valider”.
- Check your email for something that says “[Les Grands Buffets] Pour réserver aux grands buffets” and click on the button that says “Pour reserver aux Grands Buffets, cliquez ici”.
- Select the number of people and lunch (“dejeuner”) or dinner (“diner”). Click all checkboxes.
- Use the calendar to select your desired date. If the date is grey, there is no availability for your group size that day.
- Click “Continuez”. If you can’t continue, scroll back up as a fourth checkbox might have appeared.
You will now see a calendar that shows the five different dining rooms and any available seatings in each one, linked in orange. On January 17th, two diners wanting to eat lunch on July 30th had a choice of the last seating in two dining rooms.
Note: I do not recommend the “Jardin Hervé di Rosa”, as this outdoor dining area closes in bad weather and your reservation will be cancelled if there’s no seating left in any of the indoor rooms.
Click on the time and room that works best for you, and scroll down to confirm the details. If everything looks good, click the “Continuer” button to advance to the next screen.
This will take you to a screen where you’re asked to confirm the terms and conditions of your reservation, and enter any special requirements for your group. I’ve done a quick translation of the different options in this image, but I forgot to note that “oui” means yes and “non” means no:
Les Grands Buffets Reservation Rules
When you click on “Lire Les Details” in the image above, you’ll be taken to a list of all the rules and regulations for the restaurant. For the average diner there isn’t anything unusual, but it’s good to know a few things. Again, these are my loose English translations, and for the full legalese I suggest you read the rules yourself.
- Your reservation won’t be finalized until the deposit is paid via credit card.
- The full cost of your meal must be paid 30-60 days before your booking. As your meal is pre-paid, you will only pay for drinks on the day of your reservation.
- There’s no children’s menu, all children pay full price, and the restaurant doesn’t recommend that parents bring young children.
- There is no space for strollers, bassinets, prams, luggage, etc. in the restaurant, and they don’t offer any storage either.
- No animals are allowed, except guide dogs whose owners “must provide proof of their use” upon arrival.
- Reservations in the garden (“jardin”) may be cancelled or moved in cases of inclement weather.
- Guests cannot be added or removed from a reservation. Guests who show up with more diners than they reserved for (including infants and children) will be turned away. Guests who show up with fewer diners than they reserved for will be charged for the original number booked.
- Reservations are not modifiable. If you want to modify a reservation, the only option is to cancel (losing your deposit) and rebook (if there is availability).
Les Grand Buffets de Narbonne Dress Code
If you agree to all the terms and conditions noted above, you’ll be taken to the next screen, which goes over the dress code. Guests are “invited” to dress “with elegance”, and the following clothing is forbidden:
- Jogging pants, track pants and sweatpants
- Shorts (including athletic shorts)
- Swimsuits and swim shorts
- Tank tops (!)
- Jerseys from individual or team sports
- Flip-flops and “claquettes” (which loosely translates to casual slide sandals)
- Caps and hats
- Clothing that conceals the face (they note this is as per a new French law)
Click all three checkboxes to continue to the next screen.
Entering Your Personal Information
You now need to enter the information about the primary reservation holder:
- Nom = Last name
- Prenom = First name
- Ville = City
Check all the boxes, including selecting a male or female honorific at the top, and click Continuer.
You’ll then be taken to a screen that asks if you’ve eaten there before – choose “non”.
The next screen will be another reservation confirmation, showing your name, the number of guests, the date, the time and the dining room. This is your last chance to make any corrections .
If everything looks good, you’ll be taken to a screen called “Créez votre compte personnel MON COMPTE”. This is where you create a password so that you can log back into the site to confirm your reservation and make the final payment 30-60 days before your booking. Choose a password you’ll remember (ILOVEFOOD?), enter it twice and continue.
Paying the Deposit at Les Grands Buffets
This was the part that I found most confusing. There are two options for paying the deposit, which I’ve translated using Google Translate above.
From what I can understand, the option on the left costs €5 per person and is added to the total cost of the meal, but allows you to cancel your reservation. The option on the right costs €10 and is applied to the reservation cost, but doesn’t allow you to cancel.
I chose the option on the left, as I was reserving my lunch well before I’d booked my flight to France and my hotel in Narbonne, so I was willing to pay €5 in case the trip didn’t pan out. Click all the boxes and go to the next screen, which will look different depending on the option you select.
Because I chose the left option above, my prepayment screen reminded me that no later than 30 days before my reservation I would need to log into the website to complete the full payment for lunch. It included two checkboxes:
- The first confirms that I understand full payment has to be made no later than 30 days in advance.
- The second confirms that because I opted for that extra €5 payment, my prepayment will be refunded if I cancel between the time I make the full payment and 11 days before my reservation.
When you check both boxes, you’re taken to the payment screen, which is like any normal online shopping checkout.
Email Confirmation of Your Reservation at Les Grands Buffets
I should have taken better notes after I made my payment, but my recollection is that I received two emails after paying:
- The first email said that my reservation request was being processed
- The second email, shown above, came about six hours later and contained confirmation of my reservation.
My email confirmation contained my name, the number of diners, the date and time, and my chosen dining room. It also included reminders about most of the rules I’d already agreed to, from dress code to cancellations to the possibility of being rained out of the garden (seriously, who books the garden?!)
Making the Final Payment
Because I chose the option that included “free” cancellation for a cost of €5, a few months passed between when I made the reservation and when it was time to pay.
Exactly 60 days before my booking, I received an email from Les Grands Buffets with the subject line “RAPPEL DE VOTRE RESERVATION J-60″. According to the email, I now had thirty days to make the final payment or else my reservation would be cancelled.
Using the link in the email, I logged into my account on the Les Grands Buffets website and made the final payment. This became visible immediately in my account and I received a confirmation email about five minutes later (the subject line on the confirmation email was “CONFIRMATION DE VOTRE RESERVATION DEFINITIVE”, which is pretty self-explanatory even if you don’t speak French.
Dining at Les Grands Buffets
The day before your reservation you will receive an email with a confirmation of your booking and a QR code. You should bring the code with you to the restaurant, either on your phone or printed out.
I have a complete review of my experience at Les Grands Buffets de Narbonne, including everything to expect when you arrive and once you’re inside the restaurant, here. Make sure to read it before your visit so that you know how to make the most of your time in this Guinness World Record-holding restaurant in France!
If you’re planning a trip to France, consider reading some of my other guides to the country.
🍷 The Best Wine & Cheese Tastings in Paris
🥂 The Best Wine Tour of Burgundy from Beaune
🧀 How to Spend One Day in Dijon, France
⛵ Things To Do in 1, 2 or 3+ Days in Marseille
🖼️How to Get the Most Value from a Paris Museum Pass
🪻 The Perfect Seven-Day Provence Itinerary
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