Since Ladik is a fantastic cook who takes care of our dinners, we practically don't go to restaurants. Lunch is either a foodtruck or a cafeteria.
Below are the places that have worked well for us:
SAINT-ÉMILION
There are certainly several restaurants and pizzerias in Saint-Émilion itself, but when it's around noon and we're hungry, we head south ...
At Flea's (La Puce, 323 Grand Bigaroux - Saint-Émilion)
This is an iconic dining room for us. Whenever we are in the St. Émilion area, we look forward to going there for lunch.
The menu is a given. There's only one for each day. What lies beneath each course, none of the diners know. Anyone who doesn't like it can go elsewhere.
An elderly lady in a pulled-up sweater shuffles through the space and "throws" one goodie after another on your table. The €14 menu (summer 2021) has several courses. Each is served on a larger plate for everyone at once, and then each diner takes as much of it as they want. There's plenty of everything, you'll eat like royalty. Wine is included, a bottle is automatically put on the table as soon as you sit down, and if you drink it, another one lands on the table. :)
MÉDOC
In addition to pizzerias, which are almost everywhere, our favourite places in the Médoc are:
At Granny's (Bistrot "Chez Mémé", Rue de Saint-Julien, St-Julien-Beychevelle)
A small restaurant where you can eat very well. You're not served by a grandmother, but by the owner and his wife. They're nice and helpful.
There are several dishes to choose from. Whatever we had here, we always had a bite. The price for the main meal is around 16€ (June 2022). Wine is not included, you can choose from several chateaux, including a local "grandma's".
The moment in Saint-Seurin (L'instant de Saint-Seurin, Rue Maquis de Vignes Oudides, Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne)
Nice little restaurant.
The peculiarity here is that they don't have a menu. Instead, they put a chair at your table and put a black sign on it, where the menu of the day is written in chalk. And you choose from it. Then they take the sign away and put it on the table for the other newcomers. The original way to save money on paper and toner.
The food was delicious, made with fresh local ingredients. I highly recommend it.
PESSAC-LÉOGNAN
Coincidentally, we have never looked for a restaurant or dining room here. However, in Léognan itself, I got a tip about an excellent little cheese shop.
It's called Du Leo Fromage (on the Cours du Maréchal Leclerc) and it seems to be run by a Mr Leo who certainly understands cheese. Since he doesn't speak English (and we don't speak French), we put two bottles of good red on his counter, which we bought at the wine bar next door. Leo immediately understood, recommended two cheeses from his selection, and soon we were enjoying our evening with them in our bag. The cheeses were delicious and went great with the wines.
And if you want a baguette or bread, there is a famous bakery across the road.