The south section of Maoming Road, between Huaihai Road and Nanchang Road, concentrates some of Shanghai's most established French Concession restaurants — a mix of long-operating Shanghai cuisine establishments, new European restaurants, and the bars that have been here since the 1990s. The road is less tourist-saturated than Xintiandi or Tianzifang and more consistently used by French Concession residents.
The three-storey restaurant buildings along this section are mostly from the 1920s–1940s, with outdoor terraces that fill in warm weather. The road is at its best from about 6–10 pm when the dinner crowd occupies every available terrace. The surrounding streets (Nanchang Road especially) have an equivalent concentration of good-value cafés and bakeries.