What should you eat while in Paris? Since French culture is deeply intertwined with food, the answer to this question is just as important as what you should see and do while visiting Paris. Dining on escargot and freshly baked bread, planning a picnic lunch in front of the Eiffel Tower, and dining at a sidewalk café are essential experiences to have in Paris. In this guide, we cover 10 foods to eat in Paris and where to get them.
Much of this guide traces back to my brother Thomas, who traveled to Paris on his honeymoon and came home with a food-first account of the city. His travel style is different from mine. Food, drink, and memorable experiences are always at the center of his trips, and that perspective shaped a lot of what you’ll find below. Since then, I’ve updated the post with our own more recent trip to Paris, added new recommendations, and refreshed the details.
Food, sometimes elevated into cuisine, is part of the fabric of French life. As the country’s most cosmopolitan city, Paris offers an array of consistently high-quality food, from street-corner baguette sandwiches up to some of the best restaurants in the world.
In a city with more than 40,000 restaurants, finding the single best magret de canard, crêpe, or plate of cuisses de grenouille is nearly impossible. So instead of naming the best restaurant, this guide focuses on what to eat, and where you’re likely to find a great version of it.
10 Foods to Eat in Paris
1. Freshly Baked Bread
Anywhere within the confines of Paris’ Peripherique, a boulangerie (bakery) is no more than a 6-minute walk away. Bread is the main building block of French food and it is delicious. Fresh, quality bread can be found almost anywhere.
Fresh bread in Paris
2. Cheese
If bread is the building block of French cuisine, cheese is its mortar.
As a snack, a dinner course, or dessert, cheeses of all flavors, from mild to bold (or downright stinky!), can be part of any meal. The difference in quality between a café cheese plate and a Michelin-starred cheese course isn’t huge.
3. Croissants
Coffee and croissants at Angelina were the perfect way to start our trip. While good croissants can be had at any quality bakery, Paris or otherwise, these are probably the best I’ve ever had. Light, flaky, and lacquered with a lightly sweet coating, one was enough to fill me up.
Croissants, coffee, and chocolate at Angelina Paris
PRO TRAVEL TIP: Grab a couple macarons on the way out and dine on these sweet treats as you stroll through the Tuileries.
4. Croques
Croque monsieur (a large slice of buttered bread, ham, and melted cheese) or croque madame (the same, but with a fried egg) are a traditional staple, also found in every cafe. Inexpensive, simple, and very filling, they’re great for breakfast or lunch.
Thomas and his wife stopped into café Au Coeur du Marais while wandering the Marais, before walking to Place des Vosges.
Croque madame
5. Crêpes
Similar to a very thin pancake, the flexible crepe can be breakfast, savory, flambéed with Grand Marnier, or served as dessert with a scoop of ice cream.
Grab one from a sidewalk crêperie for the street food experience, or sit-down in a cafe for the highest quality.
Where to get crêpes in Paris: Breizh Café (in Le Marais near the Picasso Museum), Crêperie le Petit Josselin (near Montparnasse Tower), and Krügen (11th arrondissement).
Street food crepes
6. Duck
Duck is one of Thomas’s favorite foods, with its dark, steak-like in texture, with a lush layer of fat. Because raising ducks is more labor-intensive than raising chickens, it’s less common in America than in Europe and Asia.
Magret de canard (roasted duck breast, seared, then sliced and served with a sauce) and confit de canard (a whole leg, seasoned and slow-cooked for hours until it’s fall-off-the-bone tender) are easy to find in any café or restaurant.
On his trip, the one order of magret de canard Thomas had wasn’t very good. He did have cassoulet for lunch at Benoit, which was excellent and included confit, but on the whole, he missed out on a great duck dish that trip.
Cassoulet at Benoit
More places to eat duck in Paris: La Jacobine (Saint-Germain-des-Pres) and Le Petit Marche (near Place des Vosges).
7. Escargots
Another staple on traditional menus across the city, the humble snail is a delicious appetizer. Served with copious butter, garlic, and parsley, eaten with a small fork and special pair of tongs, they have a delicate flavor and texture.
Escargots
Thomas and his wife shared six as an appetizer for lunch at Benoit, a 1-star Michelin bistro specializing in traditional country French cooking, a great choice for anyone who wants to dip a toe into Michelin quality without an overwhelming bill.
Other top choices for escargot are Le Petit Châtelet, Du Pain et des Idees, and the venerable L’Escargot Montorgueil.
8. Frogs’ Legs
After a show at Le Moulin Rouge, Thomas and his wife wandered over to Le Chat Noir for drinks and a snack. A plate of cuisses de grenouille (frogs’ legs), a bowl of fries, and cocktails made the perfect complement to the Frenchmen singing Bohemian Rhapsody and Wonderwall along with the bar’s piano player.
Imagine a smaller chicken wing, with more substantial meat, served with butter and herbs. These are a bit harder to find than escargots and were a pleasant surprise at Le Chat Noir.
Frogs legs
L’Escargot Montorgueil is also a great choice (two for one, as this is also a great place to get escargots, as its name implies), along with Roger La Grenouille.
9. Onion Soup
In France, French onion soup is just “onion soup”, or soupe à l’oignon. While easy to find in America, the French version will usually have less cheese and is more likely to be made from actual beef stock, not premade broth.
Like most options on this list, it can be found in every sidewalk cafe and most restaurants.
Onion Soup and Escargots
10. Macarons
These small, colorful cookies are one of Paris’ most popular sweet treats. Made of meringue, almond flour, and sugar, they have a crunchy exterior and are filled with buttercream, jam, or ganache. They come in a variety of flavors, such as coffee, pistachio, raspberry, caramel, chocolate, and vanilla.
A visit to Ladurée is an essential experience to have on a first visit to Paris. With a location on the Champs-Elysées, it makes a great spot to visit as you stroll along this famous city street. Ladurée has several more locations in Paris, including Le Marais, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, and on Rue Cler.
Ladurée
Macarons at Lauderée
3 Quintessential Dining Experiences in Paris
1. Dine at a Sidewalk Cafe
Spending an afternoon people-watching in a sidewalk cafe is the essential food-related experience in Paris. Order anything from a single cup of coffee through an entire meal, and breathe in the feel of city. There’s no rush. Enjoy.
Most cafes have a wide selection of high-quality food. Choose one with a long history, and you’ll dine where artists, authors, poets, and philosophers sat. Thomas and his wife chose Le Select (Hemingway was a frequent patron) because it was close to the Catacombs tour.
Les Deux Magots, Le Procope, and Cafe Le Nemours are other great cafes with a lot of history.
2. Michelin-Star Restaurant
One of the best pieces of travel advice Thomas received long ago, while planning his first trip to Paris, was “Go eat at the best restaurant you can.”
Each trip, he’s made a point of going to at least one Michelin-starred restaurant. It’s worth noting that dining at this level can be extremely expensive. Lunch is usually less costly than dinner.
On his most recent trip, Thomas and his wife chose two.
First was Benoit for lunch, where they had escargot and the three-course lunch tasting menu.
For dinner, they chose the 2-star Alain Ducasse restaurant at the Meurice hotel.
The experience of eating at a restaurant of this caliber elevates food into both art and luxury. Their meal consisted of nine separate courses, each a masterpiece. The best approach to enjoying an experience like this (it’s far more than just a meal) is to select the chef’s tasting menu and put your palate in their capable hands. Wine drinkers should ask the sommelier for pairing recommendations as well.
The course that stood out to Thomas most was “Braised wild turbot,” a white fish. It arrived with a few sprigs of broccolini, a thick creamy sauce on the side, and a freeze-dried, wafer-thin slice of candied grapefruit, with a second sauce drizzled over the fish after it was presented. At first he didn’t enjoy it. The sauce was bitter enough to overwhelm the delicate fish, but on the final bite, when he combined all five elements at once, the flavors came together into one amazing synergy.
Since Thomas’s trip, Tim and I spent a week in Paris, and during that time we dined at L’Oiseau Blanc. We chose this 2-star Michelin restaurant for its breathtaking views of the city.
L’Oiseau Blanc sits on the top floor of the Peninsula hotel. With its close proximity to the Eiffel Tower and its wall of windows, L’Oiseau Blanc offers one of the best views you can get from a restaurant in Paris. The service and the food are also impeccable, as they should be at a 2-star Michelin restaurant.
If you want to dine with a view in Paris, this is a fantastic restaurant to consider.
L’Oiseau Blanc
3. Have a Picnic
Bread, cheese, cured meat, and a bottle of wine is a cheap, easy, delicious meal. Bakeries and small markets (think convenience store, but actually good quality) selling a wide array of food are plentiful across the city. Head to one of the city’s many open spaces and soak in one of the most Parisian experiences possible.
On my recommendation, Thomas and his wife stayed at Hotel Brighton and were lucky enough to have a small balcony in their hotel room. A light dinner watching the sunset over the Tuileries perfectly capped their first day in Paris.
We love to assemble a picnic lunch while strolling the shops on Rue Cler. Pick up bread, cheese, fruit, and wine, then head over to Champ de Mars for a picnic with a view of the Eiffel Tower.
I took this photo of Tim and our small picnic lunch in Champ de Mars on our first visit to Paris.
Beer and Cocktails in Paris
Wine is the lifeblood of France, much more than other libations, and so finding quality beer and cocktails was more difficult than expected. Finding something better than a standard rum and coke or Heineken required some searching.
Isadora Cocktail Bar in Les Halles is intimate, dimly lit, and staffed by creative and attentive bartenders.
Harry’s New York Bar, with its white-jacketed bartenders and dark wood paneling, did feel like stepping back in time. Established in 1911, this is the oldest cocktail bar in Europe.
Harry’s New York Bar
On the first morning of his trip, jet-lagged and wandering past Ile de la Cité, Thomas and his wife found Bieres Cultes Chatelet, a small store with a few sidewalk tables. The shelves were stocked with Belgian, French, and German beers, along with some familiar American craft brews. Beer for breakfast did nothing to relieve the jet lag, but it was a fantastic way to begin a honeymoon.
Bieres Cultes Chatelet | photo credit: Thomas Bowers
Bar Hemingway, located in the Ritz, is a tiny cocktail bar named for one of its most famous patrons. Sip on perfectly crafted cocktails and dine on sliders and mini hot dogs.
Bar Hemingway
For a longer list of bars in Paris, including a few rooftop bars with an extraordinary view of the city, check out our guide to the Paris Rooftop Bars and Restaurants ↓
Rooftop Bars & Restaurants in Paris: Where to Dine with a View
Our favorite rooftop bars and restaurants in Paris.15 Recommended Restaurants in Paris
This list of recommended restaurants is a combination of my top picks plus a few of Tim and Julie’s, from their trips to Paris.
1. Angelina Paris
Located on Rue de Rivoli, across from Tuileries Garden, Angelina Paris is a great place to add on a walking tour, if you plan to go for a stroll from the Louvre to Champs-Elysees. This tea room serves pastries, croissants, and the best hot chocolate in Paris.
Angelina Paris
Hot Chocolate at Angelina
2. Ladurée
This is another spot to satisfy your sweet tooth. Take your pick from the long list of macarons and other treats on the menu. Enjoy them right away or slowly sample them as you stroll through the streets of Paris.
3. Dine on the Eiffel Tower
There are two restaurants on the Eiffel Tower. Madame Brasserie is an upscale restaurant on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower with views of the Trocadero. Tim and I dined here and enjoyed the experience. Le Jules Verne is a 2-star Michelin-starred restaurant on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower. The views of the Paris are amazing from this spot, especially at sunset.
Madame Brasserie
4. La Jacobine
La Jacobine is well known for their duck but they also serve delicious onion soup, escargot, goose liver, and coq au vin. This restaurant is located in St.-Germain-des-Pres and reservations are highly recommended.
5. Les Deux Magots
Les Deux Magots is one of Paris’ most famous cafes. Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, Julia Child, James Joyce, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Simone de Beauvoir all dined here.
Les Deux Magots
6. Restaurant le Meurice Alain Ducasse
For a fine dining experience, put Restaurant le Meurice Alain Ducasse on your list.
Alain Ducasse is a French-born chef with world-class restaurants located around the world. He is a culinary genius, with more Michelin stars than any other chef (as of 2022). He also became the first chef to have three 3-star restaurants in three different cities.
7. Benoit
Benoit is another Michelin starred restaurant operated by Alain Ducasse. The experience and the food are not quite as extravagant as at the Alain Ducasse restaurant in Le Meurice, so if you want a fine dining experience without an enormous price tag, Benoit is a restaurant to consider.
8. Le Chat Noir
This was one of Thomas’ best unexpected experiences in Paris. He and his wife wandered into Le Chat Noir after watching a show at Le Moulin Rouge. Not only was the food great (frog legs, fries, and beer), but the live entertainment created a fun atmosphere.
9. Les Ombres
Les Ombres gets our vote for best view of the Eiffel Tower from a restaurant.
The restaurant is enclosed in glass giving every table a prime view of the Eiffel Tower. Les Ombres is a fine dining restaurant that serves French haute cuisine. Tim and I had lunch here, choosing three dishes off of the menu. The food was phenomenal and all around this was a perfect experience, with the view of the Eiffel Tower being the highlight.
Les Ombres
10. Le Maison Rose
This small restaurant, which serves French cuisine, is one of the most photographed places in Montmartre. Even if you don’t plan to dine here, go for a stroll up Rue de l’Abreuvoir, past Le Maison Rose, and then continue on Rue de Saules, to Le Consulat, another famous cafe in Montmartre.
La Maison Rose
11. Berthillon
Berthillon is a small but elegant tea room that serves the best ice cream that we have had in Paris. It is located on Ile Saint-Louis, next to Ile de la Cite, not far from Notre Dame Cathedral.
Ice cream at Berthillon
12. L’Oiseau Blanc
Dine in a 2-star Michelin restaurant with a view of the Eiffel Tower. Sitting on the top floor of the opulent Peninsula Hotel, this restaurant, with is walls of windows, offers one of the best views you can get from restaurant in Paris.
Tim took this photo of me at L’Oiseau Blanc just before the start of our incredible dinner.
13. Langosteria
Located on the 7th floor of the Cheval Blanc hotel, overlooking Pont Neuf and the Seine River, is a fantastic, upscale Italian restaurant. The views from the restaurant are some of the best in Paris, as you can see Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and much of the city skyline.
You can order a la carte or order their tasting menu. Langosteria primarily serves fresh oysters and seafood, with caviar, raw fish, pasta dishes with shrimp and lobster, and grilled fish on the menu.
The view from Langosteria
14. Sequoia Rooftop
Just a few steps from Palais Garnier, sitting on top of the Kimpton St. Honore Paris Hotel, is a rooftop terrace with a stunning view of the Eiffel Tower and Palais Garnier.
Sequoia Rooftop
Sequoia Rooftop serves appetizers such as beetroot hummus, guacamole, sushi, and more.
This was one of our favorite rooftop bars in Paris, because the view is incredible, they loved the healthy selection of appetizers, and this rooftop has a laid-back atmosphere.
15. The Buddha Bar
If you are looking for a very cool dinner/drink spot, go to the Buddha Bar. The lower level is a restaurant and along the second level are lounge areas with views over the restaurant. It feels like you have left Paris and entered Asia. The Buddha Bar is located one block from Place de la Concorde.
Buddha Bar
Food Tours in Paris
In addition to sidewalk cafes, picnic lunches, and world-class dining in a Michelin-starred restaurant, there are also a number of food tours in Paris. On these tours, learn about French cuisine, sample street foods, go wine tasting, or even take a cooking class.
Food Tours
Plan Your Trip to Paris
- Planning your first trip to Paris? → Our Paris Travel Guide covers itineraries, where to stay, and how to plan your time.
- Need a day-by-day plan? → Our 3 Days in Paris itinerary walks you through the best of the city, including where to eat.
- Deciding where to stay? → Our Where to Stay in Paris guide breaks down the best neighborhoods for first-time visitors.
- Want more to do beyond eating? → Our 40 Things to Do in Paris guide covers the top sights, hidden gems, and neighborhoods to explore.
- Looking for a night out with a view? → Our Paris Rooftop Bars & Restaurants guide has more spots for cocktails and dinner with a skyline view.
- Planning a day trip from Paris? → Our Versailles Day Trip guide covers tickets, timing, and how to see it all.
If you have any questions about foods to eat in Paris or restaurant recommendations, or if you want to share your experience, let us know in the comment section below.
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