Food Lover’s Guide to Paris vs Eater
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Food Lover’s Guide to Paris
Explore Paris's culinary scene with expert recommendations from a renowned food critic. Discover over 500 top restaurants, cafes, bakeries, and specialty shops, with detailed commentary and search filters. Includes a map, glossary, and bookmarking features for easy navigation.
- Over 500 culinary destinations
- Search by cuisine, neighborhood, and price
- Map with offline geolocator
- Glossary of French culinary terms
- Bookmark favorite spots
- Regularly updated recommendations
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The most authoritative guide to eating well in the City of Light is now available as an application for iOS. Paris has been home to food critic, cookbook author, and cooking school teacher Patricia Wells for more than 35 years, and no one knows Paris’s culinary scene better. With this app, discover Patricia’s top picks of restaurants, cafes, wine bars, bakeries, pastry, chocolate and cheese shops, markets, wine shops, specialty food shops and kitchen and tableware shops. Regularly updated, Patricia and her small but expert team are constantly expanding and fine-tuning their list of favorite gastronomic destinations. Visitors will find old favorites as well as new inspirations, covering every category from spots for quick bites to crêperies, sushi and dumpling treasures, as well as Michelin three-star haute cuisine restaurants. “Food lovers rejoice! You can now tour Paris with Patricia Wells, the city’s most reliable guide to its very best spots. Her app is fast and easy to use, chock-full of terrific information and a great read. In other words, it’s a delicious must-have.” Dorie Greenspan, author of Dorie’s Cookies and Around My French Table FEATURES • Discover more than 500 of the city’s ultimate culinary destinations, tested by Patricia and her team and regularly updated with detailed dependable commentary. • Search by category using a filter to refine your search by cuisine type, neighborhood, details such as Michelin stars or gluten-free, atmosphere, price, and culinary specialties. • Browse the app contents by category or neighborhood, or by restaurant specifics such as price, cuisine type, specialties or restaurant details like vegetarian-friendly or Michelin-star rating. • A map of Paris shows the location of all the addresses in the guide (use the filter to limit the addresses to those you are interested in). An offline geolocator allows you to see your location even when you’re not connected to the internet. • A-Z glossary of French culinary terms to help translate menus on the spot. • Bookmark your favorite addresses, and access Patricia’s current favorites and seasonal recommendations in the Picks section. • English language only. ABOUT PATRICIA Patricia Wells, author and former Washington Post and New York Times journalist, was global food critic for the International Herald Tribune for more than 25 years. She has written five print editions of The Food Lover’s Guide to Paris and 14 other books, including Bistro Cooking and Trattoria. With her husband, Walter, Patricia has lived in France since 1980 and also teaches classes at her popular cooking school – At Home with Patricia Wells – in Paris and Provence. For more information visit www.foodloversparis.com To offer feedback or report issues on the App, email bon.app@foodloversparis.com © 2017 Patricia Wells
Eater
Discover top restaurant and bar recommendations curated by expert editors. Find new places in any city, get personalized suggestions, and easily make reservations. Never have a bad meal again with trusted insider picks.
- Editor-curated restaurant picks
- Personalized recommendations
- Insider community connection
- Smart search functionality
- Create and share custom lists
- Direct table reservations
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The Eater app is the most trusted way to find great restaurants. Our editors have spent years eating at the best restaurants and bars so you always know where to go next. Get instant access to all of Eater’s restaurant picks in every major city, whether you're exploring a new neighborhood, planning a trip, or need a quick rec on the go. With the Eater app, you’ll never have a bad meal. What you’ll love about the Eater app: - Curated by editors: Trusted recommendations and reviews from people who know restaurants - Insider to insider: Follow and connect with editors, chefs, and friends, and be part of the Eater community - Ask anything: Smarter search that finds the places you actually want - Recommended for you: Eater’s take on restaurants near you and wherever you travel - Create and share: Browse Eater lists, make your own, and share your favorite spots with friends - Browse to book: Reserve tables directly in the Eater app so you’re one step closer to a great meal With the Eater app, the next great place to eat or drink is in the palm of your hand, no matter where the day (or night) takes you. Download the Eater app to find your next great meal.
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Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Eater at Free against Food Lover’s Guide to Paris's $4.99. Eater also leads on rating (4.1 vs 3.4) and update cadence (weekly vs every 4 months). Food Lover’s Guide to Paris's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (57% vs 41%). On ratings volume, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Eater is free to download; Food Lover’s Guide to Paris costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Eater holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 24 and 64 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 57% of Food Lover’s Guide to Paris's written reviews are positive against 41% of Eater's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Food Lover’s Guide to Paris ships an update every 4 months, Eater weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Food Lover’s Guide to Paris | Eater |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.4 (24 ratings) | 4.1 (64 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 57.4% of reviews — better | 41.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 24 | 64 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #12 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 82 MB | 154 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Food Lovers & Co. Inc | Vox Media, Inc. |
Customer experience
Food Lover’s Guide to Paris
Eater
User reviews
Food Lover’s Guide to Paris
From 24 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Excellent food recommendations
- 👍 Trusted guide for Paris dining
- 🗺️ Useful map integration
- 📚 Comprehensive glossary
- 👍 Content is well-written and informative
Room to improve
- ⚠️ Outdated information
- ⚠️ Not updated for years
- ⚠️ Poor app functionality
- ⚠️ Unresponsive support
- ⚠️ Inconsistent restaurant listings
Eater
From 64 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Convenient access to Eater content
- 🚀 Curated restaurant recommendations
- 💡 Ability to save/reference restaurant lists
Room to improve
- 🐛 App crashes/won't open for some users
- 🔒 Forced opt-in for data tracking
- 🗺️ Outdated restaurant information
- 🌍 Limited to certain regions/cities
Bugs and requests
Food Lover’s Guide to Paris
Reported bugs
8 issues- Venues not found
- App not updating
- Emails for support rejected
- Map not working correctly
- App freezing
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- Unresponsive buttons
- Formatting issues
- Built-in web browser issues
Requested features
5 requests- App needs to be updated regularly
- Improve search and sorting functionality
- Indicate when reviews were last updated
- Better iPad optimization
- More restaurant coverage
Eater
Reported bugs
2 issues- Search and account icons smushed on main map page
- Location settings get stuck after disabling tracking
Requested features
3 requests- Add filters and sorting for map/list view
- Allow sharing of restaurant lists
- Improve font size and layout on map view
In-app purchases
Food Lover’s Guide to Paris
No in-app purchases
Eater
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Food Lover’s Guide to Paris free?
Is Eater free?
Which has better reviews, Food Lover’s Guide to Paris or Eater?
Do Food Lover’s Guide to Paris or Eater have ads?
Which is updated more often, Food Lover’s Guide to Paris or Eater?
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