The grandest of the surviving Montparnasse brasseries, La Coupole opened in 1927 as a cavernous Art Deco dining hall, its pillars painted by the artists of the quarter in lieu of paying their tabs. In its heyday it fed and watered the whole bohemian crowd — Picasso, Man Ray, Joséphine Baker, Sartre — and the enormous room, with its mosaic floor and ranks of white-clothed tables, still trades on that history.
It is now part of a brasserie group and squarely on the tourist circuit, so come for the room and the atmosphere rather than expecting culinary fireworks — though the classics (the lamb curry is a fixture, oysters, steak) are competently done. Best enjoyed late, with a drink, soaking up one of the last great rooms of 1920s Paris.