L’Ami Louis is one of the most atmospheric restaurants in Paris. It’s dark and dramatic, with white jacketed servers bringing overflowing plates of snails, foie gras, and other classic French dishes. The roast chicken, with its accompanying tower of shoestring fries, is as good as everyone says it is. But L’Ami Louis is also one of the most clubby restaurants in Paris. It’s filled with regulars, it’s hard to get a table, and the prices are high enough to scare most tourists away. That’s probably by design. If you need to ask how much the roast chicken costs (it inches closer to 100 euros every year), then L’Ami Louis is probably not for you. It remains one of our favorite places in Paris, when someone else has gone to the trouble to book and ideally when someone else is paying.
L’AMI LOUIS
Open Wednesday-Sunday for lunch & dinner
Closed Monday & Tuesday
32 Rue du Vertbois, 75003
Book by phone (best of luck): +33 1 48 87 77 48
OUR PHOTOS OF L’AMI LOUIS
How can a simple green salad be worth in excess of $30..?..only when patrons are little discerning and demand way outstrips supply.
The French differ in their opinion about this place:
“Sans doute le restaurateur le plus désagréable de Paris. L’Ami Louis vit grâce aux touristes, en particulier US. Il serait temps que ce restaurant soit delisté des guides américains. Une belle arnaque … made in France. A fuir.”
I ate there with my father in 1959. Had no idea how difficult it was to make a reservation, or, who made it. I was 11 years old at the time.
Suffice it to say, I remember it to this day. The food and the environment were outstanding.
The BEST in Paris. And I have gone there since I was a little girl. I brought my little girls there, and then when they were teenagers. We all agree, best meal in Paris!
I work at l ami louis in 1965 with Antoine Magnin great experience
Get a concierge at a good hotel do it for you!
Best time ever…food was awesome, waiters awesome and funny
I’ve been eight or nine times over the years, originally from a review by the late Peter Mayle. Only the true snobs like A.A. Gill and an estate agent I dated from Mayfair give it bad reviews. I’ve never had a bad meal there. And it’s always lively and fun. The foie gras is better than the above reviews say. It’s melt-in-the-mouth served with grilled baguette. The roast chicken is $100+ dollars and worth every goose oil laced bite. As are the addictive matchstick fries and potatoes Anna. The scallops are the best I’ve ever had. As is the veal chop. Avoid the non descript salad. Find a rare Provençal wine. The wine book has more pages than War and Peace, but fun to leaf through. Bargains are rare, but you will find one or two exceptions if you avoid the Burgundies. Get dessert anywhere else. And you will love it!
Had the chicken. Escargot, asparagus, pomme frites and wild strawberries w a friend and without exaggeration rank it among the top five meals of my lifetime.
Check in to the Ritz, have them make the reso.
We’ve gone to the restaurant twice, both time outstanding. Our Concierge took care of it weeks before we travelled, that seems to be the way to go – here is my writeup with lots of pictures of the meal, which while expensive is really outstanding! –
https://johnrieber.com/2013/04/20/chez-lami-louis-love-this-125-paris-chicken-garlic-potato-cake-rocks-too/
Does anyone know how to get a reservation at l’ami Louis? They never answer the phone!