Upon first glance, you’d be forgiven for confusing the industrially chic Partisan Café for another could-be-anywhere cosmopolitan, third-wave coffee joint. But like most things coffee, the devil is in the details. In this, financial analyst-cum-café owner, Georges Karam spares none. Combining a historian’s appreciation of coffee culture and Paris architecture with a physicist’s approach to fluid dynamics, Georges’ coffee geekery caters to a distinctly French sensibility.
Southern hospitality, savory hand pies, salads and slices of layer cake from Laurel Sanderson (formerly at Sugarplum Cake shop).
Address: 31 rue Lepic, 75018
Nearest transport: Abbesses (12), Blanche (2)
Hours: Open every day from 8:30am
Reservations: Reservations not accepted
Telephone: 01 84 79 23 40
Average price for lunch: Less than 10€
Style of cuisine: Baked goods, soups/salads/sandwiches
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Photo via L’Éclair de Génie Café’s Facebook
Address: 25 rue Chanzy, 75011
Nearest transport: Rue des Boulets (9), Charonne (9)
Hours: Open every day from 8am-7pm
Telephone: 01 55 87 21 40
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Paris Bouge (2016) “L’incroyable (inégalable même!) chocolat chaud aux notes biscuitées et pralinées, la tablette «grand cru» au lait et noisettes, l’entremet noisettes avec crème de noisettes, ganache gianduja nappé d’une couche chocolat/amande. Vous le sentez ce goût de l’enfance? Addictif, sucré et craquant, lacté et boisé, c’est l’obsession de Cyril Lignac.”
Address: 5 rue saint Bernard, 75011
Nearest transport: Faidherbe-Chaligny (8)
Hours: Closed Saturday & Sunday; Open Monday-Friday 8:45am-6pm
Reservations: Walk-ins Welcome
Telephone: 09 80 81 82 85
Average price for lunch: 20-39€
Style of cuisine: Baked goods, Middle Eastern, modern French
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Le Figaro (2016) “Officiellement, ce petit bout d’enseigne s’annonce comme un «coffee & bakery» (il y a de cela) si ce n’est qu’on y profite aussi de la sacrée touche d’un binôme cuistot – pâtissière boutiquant des assiettes intuitives, sans codes ni frontières hors celle du feeling.”
Pancakes, poached eggs and hearty seasonal fare served alongside excellent coffee sourced from Belleville Brûlerie in a sunny space along the Canal St. Martin. An international array of coffee preparations (flat whites, espressos, long blacks, cappuccinos, and very good “real deal” filtered coffee) are accompanied by hot chocolate made from homemade chocolate syrup and a selection of teas from Le Parti du Thé. The exceptionally friendly service is notable. Also notable, the lines for weekend brunch. Get there early.
This bright pink pastry shop sells single serving profiteroles from Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) pâtissier Philippe Urraca. The choux are baked every 40 minutes to keep them crisp. The snowball sized choux are assembled to order, and available in a dozen flavors ranging from classics like the standard vanilla ice cream with hot chocolate sauce to the more unique, such as lemon pastry cream and meringue filling served with lemon curd sauce. Each choux is served in an ice cream cup with a plastic shot of sauce on the side, so you can eat them on the run or settle down in the salon. The choux were notably crunchy, but overall, the flavor combinations were uneven. The salted caramel was a favorite.
Ob-La-Di might be the most Instagrammed café of the 2015 rentrée, but there’s real substance at this stylish spot in the Haut Marais. Most of the baked goods are made in-house, and many of them manage to be vegan and gluten-free, and still actually taste good. Coffee is expertly prepared with Lomi beans by Lloyd, formerly of Boot Café, who also curates a killer playlist most days. Creative offerings include an affogato made with cookie dough ice cream, horchata, a vegetarian burger, and avocado toast that is worth an eye-popping €9 price tag due to the homemade purple potato bread and chimichurri sauce, plus pomegranate seeds.
— Catherine Down, September 2015
An Absolute Favorite
A shoebox sized coffee shop inside a former cobbler. The coffee's made for walking so plan to take your Belleville Brûlerie coffee and Emperor Norton baked goods to go.
Just steps from the Canal Saint-Martin, this shoebox-sized café is serving beautiful coffee with Anglo-inspired breakfast and lunch bites like scones, healthy sandwiches and sausage rolls.
A coffee bar with emphasis on the bar - cocktails and coffee in a shared space from one of the partners in the Belleville Brûlerie.
Good coffee and other beverages in a bright and airy space with reliable wifi. A few Scandi-inspired nibbles (it’s inside the Finnish Institute) are served for breakfast and lunch.
Black Market, a well loved cafe with great coffee, is adapting and transforming--into a bigger and better coffee shop set in a building that was formerly stables. This is an upcoming opening and we’ll update our description and trusted reviews as soon as we know more.
A tiny spot with tiny terrasse near the Marche des Enfants Rouges from Australian barista Chris Nielsen. This is an upcoming opening and we’ll update our description and trusted reviews as soon as we know more.
Part concept shop, part café, the stylish space has small plates, cookies and cakes, and a tightly edited, but well-prepared, coffee menu. Coffee available to-go, as well.
Address: 6 rue du Forez, 75003
Nearest transport: Filles du Calvaire (8)
Hours: Open Monday-Saturday for breakfast, lunch & dinner and Sunday for brunch
Reservations: Walk-ins welcome, but book a day or two in advance for brunch
Telephone: 09 83 82 53 53
Average price for lunch: 10-19€
Average price for dinner: 10-19€
Style of cuisine: Vegetarian & vegan, soups/salads/sandwiches, healthy eating
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Address: 58 rue du Faubourg Poissonnière, 75010
Nearest transport: Poissonnière (7), Cadet (7)
Hours: Open Monday-Saturday for breakfast & lunch and Sunday for brunch
Telephone: 01 45 23 59 42
Address: at Le 66, 66 Avenue des Champs-Elysées, 75008
Nearest transport: Saint-Philippe-du-Roule (9)
Hours: Open every day for lunch
Le Figaro (2014) “Risotto champignons, potimarron, échalotes confites et kale: plus un riz cuisiné qu’un risotto mais pas désagréable. Galette de pomme de terre, épinards, pesto de kale: sans grande finesse. Cake citron-pavot: carré.”
Lost in Cheeseland (2013) “American chef Cameil Kaundart swaps refined sugar for agave syrup or non-refined sugar to sweeten up desserts and uses almond or hazelnut milk for all coffee and spiced tea beverages. A rainbow of fresh savory dishes changes regularly and you can expect a hearty range of salty-sweet treats for weekend brunch (that is, if you were wise enough to reserve a spot).”
Le Figaro (2013) “Archétype sans faux pli de la dînette «Marais» où, sous le motif d’un décor rétro-minimaliste, le régime naturopathe (du bio, du veggie, du sans gluten) se glamourise dans l’instant de recettes pleines de jugeote.”
Unlock Paris (2013) “The daytime cafe has a seasonal, daily-changing menu of mostly vegan dishes, made without dairy and without gluten, such as kale, lentil and tofu salad, or beetroot and alfalfa tart, available in a fixed menu including a starter, main course and dessert for €17. Vitamin-packed fresh juices are made to order and cafe from Coutume is also on the menu for those needing even more of a boost.”
Photo via Café Pinson’s Facebook
Beans are roasted right before your eyes at this excellent coffee boutique. Take a bag home, or take a seat in the back room and order a drink from the expert barista.
This wedding cake bakery has a café in front, serving house made American style treats, and - whoa! - free refills on drip coffee.
In business since 1880, Verlet roasts and sells single origin coffee beans, house blends, and fine teas, with a salon for on-the-spot drinking upstairs.
Perhaps better known for its open armed embrace of kale (in salad and chip form), Loustic also has quite good coffee. Beans are sourced from Caffènation and prepared with care. The stylish space, designed by Dorothée Meilichzon, is a bit of a place to see and be seen, but the bobo is balanced out by free wifi and friendly staff.
Colorful pastries (and some savory goods, too) at this vibrant and playful tea salon.
An absolute favorite for coffee
A brand-new roastery from the Parisian coffee powerhouses David Flynn (formerly of Telescope), Thomas Lehoux (Ten Belles), Anselme Blayney (Ten Belles and Le Bal Cafe). The roastery and accompanying tasting space are geared towards production and professional trainings during the week, but will be open to the public for cuppings and coffee on Saturdays.
Serious coffee served in a library-like environment. Pleasantly, the back section of the cafe is a designated co-working space with a strong wireless signal and plenty of plugs for freelancers to camp out. Irritatingly, the staff change the pricing system for said space just about every week.
Nineteenth century Russian nobles spoke French, but the French pastries at this salon de thé in the Printemps department store have a Russian accent.
Forget about café crème and go for a flat white at this Aussie-inspired shop, one of the new wave of serious coffee places popping up in Paris. Also on order are fresh juices, sandwiches, and house-made tea cakes and scones.
Tucked into one of the covered passages in the ninth, Le Valentin specializes in Alsatian sweets, and serves breakfast and lunch in their tea salon.
Address: 112 rue Saint Maur, 75011
Nearest transport: Parmentier (3), Couronnes (2)
Hours: Closed Monday; Open Tuesday-Friday 8am-6pm; Open Saturday & Sunday 12pm-6pm
Reservations: Walk-Ins Welcome
Telephone: 01 71 93 16 24
Average price for lunch: 10-19€
Style of cuisine: Gluten-free, soups & salads & sandwiches, cakes
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David Lebovitz (2013) “Tiny gluten-free bakery and café with very good coffee.”
Photo via Thank You, My Deer’s Facebook page
