Eat Local in Paris | Our Foodie Guide to One of Our Favorite Food Cities
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Truly, I can’t believe that it has taken Ashley and I so long to write an Eat Local in Paris article (Although we do have an extensive neighborhood guide: Eat Local in Le Marais). Paris, without a doubt, is one of our favorite destinations… We do, however, understand how cliche it is to be in love with Paris.
Paris is just one of the cities that Ashley and I feel right at home in. It took us both a long time to fully appreciate how wonderful this city is but once we found our niche in the city, it opened up to us and became one of our favorite cities in the world.
Being food writers, we both, of course, fell in love with the food. Honestly, how could you not fall in love with the cuisine in Paris? It is just delectable. This city has an unbelievable restaurant scene that just keeps giving us more every time we visit, whether we are eating falafel on a walk through the Le Marais to eating at Auberge Pyrenees Cévennes a little tucked away bistro hiding some of the most delicious cassoulet to keep warm on a winter night.
Ashley and I truly do love Paris; it is a majestic city and has so much to offer a traveler especially when it comes to food. We hope our suggestions help you along on your Paris adventure and that you have a chance to eat local in Paris.
Eat Local in Paris
Auberge Pyrenees Cévennes
106 rue de la Folie Méricourt
11th Arrondissement
We will start off with this great little bistro that I mentioned up in the intro. If there was one reason to go to Auberge Pyrenees Cévennes it is cassoulet. My parents introduced this wonderful little bistro to us the last time we were in Paris and it is a cozy little restaurant tucked down an alleyway in Paris. The menu focuses on traditional cuisine from the French Pyrenees and for us, that meant ordering cassoulet, their house special which is a white bean stew filled to the brim with preserved duck and sausage. It is the kind of meal that just makes you all cozy inside because this is comfort food at its best.
They also had a wonderful salmon with a bearnaise sauce and sauteed leeks. Oh, and they also have homemade foie gras which is just fantastic. There is a bit of variety for those of the pickier type but remember it is all going to be traditional French cuisine so there is going to be a lot of food. They offer a menú daily so you can sample all the wonderful comfort food of the French Pyrenees.
Bistrot Paul Bert
18 rue Paul Bert
11th Arrondissement
Bistrot Paul Bert was exactly the meal that I wanted the last time I was in Paris. It was a perfect lunch spot for Ashley and me.
Our meal of traditional French bistro cuisine started off with a giant plate of housemade paté and Ashley had the scallop soup which was decadent and creamy without being heavy. Then on to our mains of steak au poivre, their signature fillet covered in a savory peppercorn sauce and the buttery and flakey sole meuniere. The meal ended with a floating island of delicious meringue and Paris-Brest, their famous house-made pastry filled with a hazelnut cream.
In addition, it was early December so that meant that the Beaujolais Nouveau had been released a few weeks earlier. So I made sure we had a couple bottles of that throughout our lunch. It is just such a wonderful light red wine and is very drinkable.
This meal was fantastic and are glad that we took the time to eat at this wonderful bistro. I would suggest making reservations before your trip. We got in last minute but that is only because we got there right when they opened for lunch and they were very friendly and let us have a table. This has become my go-to place to eat local in Paris. Oh, yea and don’t forget their amazing fries! They are one of the last places to truly make them in-house and you can only get them if they come with your steak!
Breizh Café
109 Rue Vieille du Temple
3rd Arrondissement
Here is a fun little cafe that is all about two things: crepes and galettes. They are a modern Brittany style creperie that gets creative with their take on crepes but also keeps tradition by bringing all of their ingredients in from Brittany. Ashley and I were able to enjoy a wonderful lunch there.
They have a little bit for everyone when it comes to their crepes and galettes. They have wonderful sweet crepes like their crepe with brown sugar and artisanal butter. Or if you’re in the mood for something a little more savory then try one of their galettes What makes galettes different from crepes is that it is made with buckwheat flour and is usually filled with something savory rather then sweet.
I tried the smoked herring galette with Saint-Malo potatoes which is one of their traditional Brittany galettes which I personally loved. Ashley enjoyed the simply delicious smoked salmon galette, with ikura salmon roe, crème fraîche, and dill. In my opinion, Ashley won the best meal. They also have a sweet buckwheat galette, with honey, ice cream, and puffed grains thank looked just amazing. The customers the table next to us seem to really enjoy this one as they ordered seconds!
Breizh Cafe can be a little touristy especially since it has blown up on Instagram but the food is just delicious and defiantly worth a stop while in Paris. I also suggest to get reservations ahead of time.
L’Avant Comptoir De Le Mer
3 Carrefour de l’Odéon
6th Arrondissement
L’Avant Comptoir De Le Mer is a unique restaurant in Paris that is very popular with the locals. This restaurant is actually one half of a restaurant split between the land and the sea. We were in the seafood bar hence the De Le Mer in the name but the other bar next door does the same thing but it is all about small bites or tapas (Parisian style of course!) from the land. Today though we want to focus on the seafood bar as that is where we enjoyed our meal.
The concept is quite simple: it is a wine bar with a few seats at the bar and standing room along the wall. You can walk up to the bar and order your wine and then look up at the ceiling to see the menu. Each item has its own card showing you the name and a picture of the dish. Then order from the bar and enjoy.
Ashley and I got there early and grabbed a seat at the bar. This place fills up quickly and it is usually only standing room left. We ordered some wine and then a seafood feast made up of all kinds of different small seafood bites. We slurped down oysters, ate scallops, mussels, cheese, octopus and so many more little treats. As we continued to order more and more people started to fill up this tiny little place leaving it quite packed and it became clear that this is a very popular place to eat local in Paris.
This place was so much fun and everything was great. This will be on our list again to enjoy this great find. We also want to check out their place next door to try all the wonderful meats they have, L’Avant Comptoir de la Marché which is located in the Marché Saint-Germain, and also their other restaurant, the classic Le Comptoir du Relais.
Last minute tip, pay attention to how much you order because it can add up quickly and get pricey on you. We think it is worth every cent though.
Chez Georges, le Jeu du Mail depuis 1964
1Rue du Mail
2nd Arrondissement
Ashley and I enjoyed this famous little French bistro when we were moving from Rome to California. We had a few days in Paris and for our anniversary we got reservations for Chez George. It is famous not just for the amazing food but for the fact that this was Julia Child’s favorite lunch spot when she was living in Paris.
We were so young when we first went to Paris!
If you love French Cuisine this is a must eat spot in Paris. Despite a little hiccup by me, we had an absolutely wonderful meal of duck rillettes, ratatouille, cornichons, sole au mueniere and tarte tatin. This is classic French cuisine and a wonderful place to for a meal especially if you are like us and crave french cuisine.
La Droguerie du Marais
56 Rue des Rosiers
4th Arrondissement
Yes, it possible to get a crepe anywhere in the world but for some reason, that cannot be explained by science, there is just something about get a nice hot crepe on a cold Parisian night. La Droguerie is a creperie in our favorite district, Le Marais. I stopped by here just looking for something sweet and this place was a perfect snack for us back home in our bed trying to stay warm on a chilly December night.
La Droguerie has a variety of crepes but I tend to stick to just Nutella. It is the perfect way to end an evening and there is no better way to end your evening when you eat local in Paris.
Drink Local in Paris
Chez Georges
11 Rue des Canettes
6th Arrondissement
Not to be confused with Chez Georges Le Jeu du Mail Depuis, this is a great little wine/bistro that is an excellent place to hang out if you happen to be Saint-Germain-des-Pres neighborhood of Paris. It is a quite simple place that is popular amongst the locals to go grab a small bite to eat and enjoy a bottle of wine or two. Ashley and I snacked on rillettes while we had some great wine and a nice buzzy vibe to keep us in a cheery mood.
We are definitely happy that we found this wonderful little bar because it really made our night.
Mariage Frères Thè Français
30-32 Rue du Bourg Tibourg
4th Arrondissement
If you are a fan of tea like me then this is the place for you. I was introduced to this tea shop a while back but forgot the name of the place. I spent years trying to figure out what the name was and even where it was. Lucky for me though, as Ashley and I were roaming the streets of the Marais we stumbled upon this wonderful shop. I could not believe it and this time I’m not forgetting about it.
The tea shop reminded of a store that you might see in a Harry Potter book. It has tall wooden shelves behind the counter that has large circular boxes of tea. Go on in smell the selection and walk away with a bag of some great tea. In fact, Mariage Frères is Paris and France’s oldest tea house! If you are looking for unique and rare tea varieties and a special souvenir to bring home you have to make a stop at Mariage Frères.
I love this place and can’t wait to buy some more tea there.
Shakespeare and Company Café
37 Rue de la Bûcherie
5th Arrondissement
If you have been to Paris then you have probably visited Shakespeare and Company a famous English bookstore on the Left-Bank of Paris. It was opened in 1919 by Sylvia Beach and Hemingway was known for hanging out around here.
Anyway, we are not here to tell you about the bookstore (which you should check out if you haven’t been) but the coffee shop that is now connected to the bookstore. It is a perfect place to grab a coffee and read a book out in the Paris sunshine. The café has been a dream of the bookshop since the 1960s and they were finally able to open in 2015.
They have a bunch of picnic benches outside so that you can take advantage of the Notre Dame views or you can stay inside and soak in its Instagram-worthiness. Be sure to grab a pastry as well as they get them from Bob’s Bake Shop and they are amazing!
Le Red House
1 Rue de la Forge Royale
11th Arrondissement
Red House was introduced to us by our friends Expat Edna. This bar is a dangerous one for Ashley and I because we could definitely spend too much time here. It is run by a crazy expat New Mexican who knows how to have a good time. Their cocktails are excellent and Ashley had many of their fresh french strawberry daiquiris during the hot July nights and days.
This place is definitely a good time where you can spend a great evening with a great group of friends. The place makes you feel like you are always welcomed.
Little Red Door
60 Rue Charlot
3rd Arrondissement
Little Red Door was a bar that we accidentally stumbled upon because we confused it with Red House. Before we realized our mistake we had enjoyed a couple of drinks and were having a great time. It was a really cool sleek bar that made up some great cocktails. It is a great, hip little spot where you can relax your feet and enjoy cocktails with many of the local youth.
There are obviously many more places in the City of Lights to enjoy a great drink or a bite to eat. This list of where to eat local in Paris will continue to grow every time we explore one of our favorite cities in the world. Paris can take some time to get use to but if you spend the time to look Paris will open up before you with wonderful little bistros, wine bars, and cocktail bars to keep you entertained and charmed for many years. Enjoy your time in Paris and take your time and try not to rush. It is a beautiful city that just bursting with innovations along with a strong tradition of appreciating their roots. And one of our favorite places to eat local across the globe.
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About Us
We are Ashley and Alex and we're foodies and boozies who eat, drink and live local. Our goal is to scour the globe looking for inside local tips, the best places to eat and the best places to drink with the locals.
We are also authors of a culinary guidebook, "Eat Local in Barcelona: A Guide to Catalan Cuisine." This guidebook is all about learning how, what and where to eat and drink local in Barcelona. Find out more in the link below!
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I first fell in love with Paris back in 1994/1995. You are spot on about their foods and accoutrements. I was amazed at how Parisians make the last meal of the day into an evening adventure, unlike the quick pace of American meals. Food in Paris is presented in a leisurely atmosphere where the meal is the journey not the destination. The table is yours for the night.
Paris. The city of love.
I miss Paris.
Thanks for sharing this. I am visiting Paris for a week. Will certainly try out some of these places for the local cuisine.