Beefbar – the quay-side bar that rewrote the steakhouse rulebook

On the quiet, boat-lined side of Monaco, away from the casino glitter, Beefbar occupies a glass-fronted address on the Port de Fontvieille that has been feeding the Principality's meat lovers since 2005. It began almost by accident: Riccardo Giraudi, head of the family's meat-import business Giraudi, could not find a steakhouse in Monte Carlo good enough for his clients, so he built one himself, using the same Black Angus, Wagyu and Kobe beef his company already shipped across Europe. Two decades on, that single room on the marina has grown into a brand with restaurants on every continent, yet this is still the one the group calls home. It holds a place in the MICHELIN Guide selection, recognised for meat cookery that trades white tablecloths for a looser, more cosmopolitan idea of what a grill restaurant can be.

01The room and the setting

The dining room sits behind a wall of glass looking straight across the Fontvieille marina, close enough to the water that the yachts moored outside become part of the view. Inside, dark, noble materials meet contemporary lighting for a look that is polished without feeling formal — the house style Beefbar later exported to every other city it opened in.

Monaco also hosts something unique within the brand: the first-ever Beefbar Butcher Shop, a marble-and-brass display of ageing cabinets designed by architects Humbert & Poyet, showing off the cuts and breeds before they reach the grill. The same designers later recreated a version of this showcase for Beefbar's Belle Époque room inside La Fermette Marbeuf in Paris.

02The chef

Executive chef Thierry Paludetto has been at the stove since the earliest days, a former member of Joël Robuchon's team who has worked alongside Riccardo Giraudi on every seasonal menu since 2005. Twice a year the pair devise new collections in Monaco before the dishes travel out to the group's other kitchens worldwide, which is why the Fontvieille address still functions as the brand's testing ground rather than simply its oldest outpost.

Insider tip

Open daily for lunch and dinner; booking recommended, especially for dinner on the marina-facing tables.

03The cooking

The kitchen's reputation rests on two things: a precise, high-temperature custom broiler built to give a clean crust without theatrics, and sourcing that reaches Australia, Japan and the United States for wet- and dry-aged beef alongside French and Dutch cuts handled by the family's own meat business. The menu moves between playful, globally inspired small plates and the serious cuts — Black Angus, Wagyu and certified Kobe beef — that built the brand's name, a formula that in March 2023 earned Beefbar the top spot on the World's 101 Best Steak Restaurants list.

04What to order

Dishes are built for sharing, starting with the restaurant's own street-food repertoire: the signature Croque Sando with Beefbar sauce, Rock Corn, and Kobe beef gyozas served in tea fumes, followed by a Kobe beef bao bun and crisp Black Angus tacos with avocado and habanero. From the grill, expect the full run of imported breeds finished simply with the house mash or truffle fries, the same formula that first drew Giraudi's meat-trade clients through the door twenty years ago.

05The neighbourhood

Fontvieille is Monaco's working marina district, reclaimed from the sea in the 1970s and now home to the Principality's second port, a stadium and a cluster of quieter restaurants away from the casino crowds. Beefbar sits directly on the quay at 42 Quai Jean-Charles Rey, making it a natural stop for anyone walking the port before or after a visit to the nearby Prince's Palace gardens.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.