Do you have plans to see Paris? Do you still dream of seeing the Eifel Tower and tasting the unique French cuisine?
On an average basis, the City of Lights alone receives over 30 million visitors. Still today, adoration for the French culture and cuisine remains. Here’s the local foodie’s guide on what to eat in Paris as you plan your vacation of a lifetime.
1. Best Pastries, Chocolates, and Sweets
Paris isn’t only a hallmarked food capital of the world. It also belongs to the country known well for its pastries. If you’ve got a sweet tooth, Paris is a great and perfect food destination for you.
Nothing can get any more French than crepes, croissants, and éclairs.
Let’s begin our list of the best foods in Paris with crepes. You can find the top crepes in Paris at La Droguerie, Creperie Breton, and Crepes d’Or. If you want quality yet cheaper crepes, look for the Nadia takeaway place at Boulevard Saint-Germain.
If you want to find great croissants, head to La Petite Marquise at Place Victor Hugo. You can also find awesome éclairs in Stohrer on Rue Montorgueil.
Do you want to know how baklava with a French twist tastes like? From La Droguerie, you only need to cross the street and look for Korcarz. It also serves magnificent apple tarts and bread loaves.
Finally, no sweets list is complete without chocolates. Look for La Patisserie Cyril Lignac for chocolate-flavored sweets. Angelina Patisserie and Eric Kayser also make great Pain au Chocolat.
Do you want confectionaries like truffles, dark, and other kinds of chocolates? Find chocolatiers like Jacques Genin, Jean-Charles Rochoux, and Franck Kestener. You can also look for Patrick Roger, a MOF Chocolatier that sells unique combinations.
2. What to Eat in Paris for Breakfast and Lunch
Croissants and coffee or juice are the typical breakfast items in Paris. Not the kind of person who prefers to eat bread for breakfast? If you want something heavier than bread, you’ll find a lot of restaurants offer breakfast meals.
Twinkie Breakfasts offers an American-style all-day brunch menu. The snug little restaurant also serves gluten-free, English, Greek, and more styles of brunch meals. It offers a trendy place to relax from 10 am to 5 pm after a day of touring Paris.
If you’re looking for a rustic café, head over to Eggs & Co at Rue Bernard Palissy. Taste a unique French-style take on an all-eggs menu. Try their oeufs en cocotte, which are eggs baked in ramekins with cream and other garnishes.
A popular Parisian breakfast destination is the Holybelly in Rue Lucien Sampaix. Here, you can find dishes like black-rice porridge made with coconut milk. If you’re in the mood for pancakes, take them with bacon, Bourbon butter, and maple syrup.
At only 20 EUR, you get a hearty breakfast and excellent coffee. Note that getting a table at Holybelly may take some waiting. They don’t take reservations, so get in line early if you want to try this Melbourn-style café.
3. Dinner Experiences in Paris
Don’t know what to eat in Paris from all the great options available? If you can’t pick a dish, why not splurge on dinner instead? It’s a great way to get a taste of everything at a cheaper price than trying everything on the menu.
One of the best restaurants for this is the Spring Restaurant. The Illinois-born owner, Chef Daniel Rose, changes the food every week. There’s no need to look at a French menu for this since it offers only one five-course dinner at 70 EUR.
The restaurant is popular, so you’d have to make reservations at least two months beforehand. You’ll find the Spring Restaurant when you take a short walk from the Louvre. It’s in the narrow street called “Rue Bailleul”.
You can check these tours for more amazing dining experiences in the City of Lights.
4. Paris Dining for the Budget Traveler
Local restaurant owners know not all visitors can afford high-end meals all the time. That’s not stopping them from giving you a great dining experience. Here are a few of the best places to eat when you’re on a tight budget.
Let’s first discuss a couple of awesome yet more affordable places for dining. The Bistro Paul Bert serves affordable dinner options of elevated French classics. The three-course meals there cost only 36 EUR.
If you want to get a French-Italian culinary experience, head to L’Office. NYC Chef Kevin O’Donnell’s restaurant offers a three-course menu at 26 EUR only.
5. Vegan and Vegetarian Choices
Every type of foodie will enjoy Paris’ culinary variety. Vegans and vegetarians can find a ton of awesome restaurants all around the city. The falafel is a famous food in Paris.
The top falafel stop is the L’As du Fallafel on Rue des Rosiers. One look at the lines forming outside of the humble little shop is proof of how good their falafels are. L’As du Fallafel offers an amazing natural vegan sandwich that even non-vegans enjoy.
If you want to experience a 3-star Michelin restaurant that serves no meat, go to L’Arpege. Expect high-end foods like vegetable sushi and vegetarian brioche burgers. Note that their lunch-tasting menu is the most affordable, but it can still set you back a huge amount.
Paris-Dining Never Looked So Good
We hope we were able to help you learn what to eat in Paris and where. All around the city, there are delectable dining options that are ideal for any hungry tourist.
If you want to see more lists on food and culture, feel free to check out our other posts on our site!