Destinations

The 21 Best Cafés in Paris

No surprise, this city is now a specialty coffee (and pastry) capital.

April 10, 2023

There has always been coffee in Paris but it’s only been within the last decade that there has been genuinely good coffee in Paris. That’s thanks to a robust specialty coffee movement that has turned the capital into a coffee lover’s dream. With local roasters and barista-led shops in nearly every arrondissement, Paris rivals all the best European destinations for espressos, pour-overs, flat whites, and crèmes. The aesthetics may vary from café to café but the selection of drinks will be familiar and served alongside delicious sweets. Here, find our recommendations for the best Parisian cafés and coffee shops to grab a cup, take a seat, and linger like a local.

Read our complete Paris travel guide here.

This gallery has been updates with new information since its original publish date.

restaurant
Ten Belles
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Ten Belles was one of the city's original specialty coffee shops; it continues to turn out high quality house blends roasted by Belleville Brûlerie. But due to its small square footage, this spot does brisk takeaway business. Expect regulars, coffee fanatics, and tourists on a stroll through the neighborhood. (Locals love it so much they've invested in the café's gear: sturdy mugs, reusable take-away cups, and thermoses.)
restaurant
Café Loustic
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With its bright pink cushions, half-wood-half-tiled floors, bamboo bar, and graphic vintage Hermès wallpaper, Café Loustic is more like your stylish, chic friend's apartment than your neighborhood coffee shop. That is, if your friend serves V60 pour-overs, a stellar chai latté, and specialty coffee by Belgian roaster Caffènation. (Note to non-bean drinkers: Get the milk oolong tea.) Loustic is an excellent spot to start the day on a sweet note, have a light lunch with a friend, or savor a late-afternoon pick-me-up.

Carin Olsson
restaurant
Télescope
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The fashion set descends on this cozy coffee bar throughout the day (offices for Kenzo and Céline are nearby). Owner Nicolas Clerc works primarily with Scandinavian coffee roasters, offering excellent filter coffee, milk-based drinks, and lovely teas for the non-Java contingent. Computers are verboten so the energy is conversational—but not so roaring that you can't read, write, or sit and people-watch. It's is an excellent spot for a solo outing, friendly catch-up, or client meeting (they'll be impressed by your coffee prowess).
Nico Alary
restaurant
Holybelly
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Barista-brewed coffee is the primary focus at this Parisian coffee bar. But it's also the only place in Paris to get a London Fog (earl grey tea seeped in milk), and also one of the best brunches in town—be prepared to wait in line. Even with the Beastie Boys blaring from the speakers and aproned staffers quickly weaving between tables, the crowd is laid back and casual; weekend brunch-goers tend to be lively and cheerful.

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Café Méricourt
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With its bright green facade, earthy interiors, and row of succulents behind the bar, it wouldn't be hard to imagine this café in tropical environs. Regulars come for coffee and a light breakfast or a casual lunch with colleagues. In-the-know Parisians seek out the novelty of shakshuka or green eggs with their specialty brews. The focus is on French roasters (same as at sister shop, Café Oberkampf), and, though it operates like a full-service restaurant, this is an easy stop-in for a to-go cup.
Jeff Hargrove
restaurant
Fringe Coffee
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It's impossible to miss the light fixtures fashioned like clouds above blonde wood tables. Or the walls, dressed up with thought-provoking works by rotating artists and photographers. This relaxing environment trumps most Parisian coffee shops and the locals, frequently found reading or writing, know it. The owner is an expert in specialty coffee—he photographed an entire book on the third wave coffee movement in Paris. Not to mention the staff is largely Scandinavian; they take orders promptly and hustle to serve everyone quickly.

AlisonPhotographer
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O Coffeeshop
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This surf-inspired coffee shop, owned by an Aussie and a Frenchie, is an outlier in the residential (but still near-ish the Eiffel Tower) 15th Arrondissement. Inside, it's all light-blonde wood, marble tabletops, and turquoise accents (a nod to the sea). The strong showing of coffee shop favorites—noisettes, capps, flat whites—draws a crowd of locals, thankful to no longer to have to travel east for their specialty coffee.
Puxan Photography
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Lomi
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Lomi, one of the city's premier coffee roasters, occupies the ground floor of a modern building designed for social housing in a developing section of the eighteenth arrondissement. Inside, though, it's all high-design exposed stone walls, reclaimed wood tables, and vintage chairs. The calming environment attracts young professionals and students. But since the roasting facility and training/tasting room are on-site, you're also likely to cross paths with coffee distributors and industry folk. Expect all the usuals, from lattes to expertly pulled espresso, plus some wildcards like café fromage—double espresso served with blue cheese (nibble on the small piece, sip the espresso, and let it melt the cheese in your mouth; you'll be surprised how well they pair).

Janelle Sweeney/Le Peloton Café
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Le Peloton Café
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This minimalist café focuses on two things: coffee and cycling. (It's owned by the Kiwi founders of Bike About Tours.) There are only a handful of seats and counter stools, so it's not suited for lingering; stop in on a leisurely stroll through the Marais or en route to the left bank museums. They serve flat whites, drip coffee, espresso, and a menu largely filled with sweet treats, like croissants and waffles with a side of jam.
Puxan Photography
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KB Café Shop
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This high-ceilinged corner café is prized for obvious reasons: its spacious outdoor terrace, just-comfortable-enough wooden tables and benches, and serious coffee on rotation. KB is deep in the coffee scene; they started roasting their own beans a couple years ago. While the menu consists of all the usuals, what's special is the quality in the cup, which is why you'll see lots of young, work-from-anywhere locals or groups of chatting friends, plus a smattering of coffee-caring tourists.

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Boot Café
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Set in a former cobbler's workshop, this pint-sized coffee wonderland is never loud nor rowdy. In fact, it only seats eight people, so more often than not, there's a line snaking around the shopfront for to-go cups. The millennials who frequent Boot are an international cohort of in-the-know coffee fans. They're here for pour overs by Chemex (versus already prepared filter coffee), flat whites, expertly pulled shots of espresso, and a killer hot chocolate.
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Coutume Cafe
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Among the first upscale coffee shops in Paris, Coutume caught the wave of industrial-chic café design. It has an almost scientific approach to coffee roasting and brewing; come here and you'll learn that coffee is serious business. The menu includes everything from espressos, cafés crèmes, and cappuccinos to various "méthode douce café" (slow coffee), like V60, Chemex, and Aeropress.

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Terres de Cafe
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At first glance, this shoe boxed-sized café only seems suitable for knocking back an espresso. But it's worth lingering over a latte among coffee connoisseurs, baristas-in-training, and curious consumers. If you like flat whites or antipodean-style coffee, consider this your go-to for a proper cup. The baristas know what they're doing: Each coffee is nice and strong and consistently extracted with just the right crema.
Edouard Augustin
restaurant
Shakespeare and Company Café
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The café component of iconic bookshop Shakespeare and Company is a compact, modern contrast to the store's wonderfully worn aesthetic. The café gets traffic from bookstore clients and tourists trickling across the street from Notre Dame. Lomi, a Parisian roaster and café, manages the java, so you can grab a quality cup while visiting nearby sights or perusing the bookstore.

Courtesy Noir Paris
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Noir
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Occupying a corner space on the picturesque Ile Saint Louis (known for the Berthillon ice cream shop), this is one of several sharply-designed offerings from the growing specialty coffee group called Noir. Soft lines and curvaceous walls, off-white travertine coffee tables and surfaces, light blonde wood, and banquettes in earthy colors make up the general design scheme but you'll find differences location to location. You'll find the favorites, from espressos and cortados, to charcoal and matcha lattes. Noir roasts their own beans in a facility-café in the heart of the Marché aux Puces and sell bags in their individual outposts, including here.
Courtesy Mardi
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Mardi
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A corner shop in a lovely stretch of the hilly neighborhood between the Buttes Chaumont park and Belleville, this months-old specialty hot spot is faintly Scandi-inspired both in decor (blonde wood tables and stools, exposed stone walls, and handmade ceramic dishware by Charline Robache) and in the cup. It's cozy, friendly, and full of neighborhood locals on any given day. Expect beautifully-executed coffees, from flat whites to pour overs, and a menu that's a bit more sophisticated than the average coffee shop—the lunch selection is seasonal and has included latkes served with chive crème fraîche and a stracciatella tartine with honey-roasted carrots in a chimichurri sauce.

Lindsey Tramuta
restaurant
Dreamin' Man
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This sliver of a coffee shop on the end of the 11th arrondissement has a custom wood bar, upcycled tables and stools, and lots of wabi-sabi style. Folk music à la Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen plays on repeat, creating a chill vibe for a crowd of regulars (many of who come twice a day). At most, there will be two people working the bar including the owner, Yuichiro Sugiyama, who takes the art of coffee very seriously. Sugiyama works with April and Prolog coffee from Denmark for pour-overs, espresso, and lattes—tea drinkers should opt for the hojicha latte, which can be made iced in the warmer months. All of the sweets are made by Sugiyama's pastry-chef girlfriend Yui Matsuzaki, from scones served with cream and jam, seasonal fruit tarts, lemon cake, shortbread cookies, muffins, and occasionally a Japanese pudding that's to-die-for.
Courtesy Motors Coffee
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Motors Coffee
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Set up in an old travel agency, the industrial-sleek space is VERY compact (there's outdoor seating, too). And while it could be in London or New York (the design plays up brick walls, white tiles, a simple black bench and cinder block tables), regulars come for the expert coffee. Each espresso shot is perfectly pulled. Each flat white is impeccably served. The shop works with the best roasters in the world to offer a regularly changing selection of coffees and offers special (higher end, generally) pours for the most discerning. You'll also find cold brew, espresso tonics, and dirty chai. They also make their own cakes and cookies (and an excellent Basque cheesecake) but work with Boneshaker for doughnuts (the city's best).

Courtesy Partisan
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Partisan
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The crowd here is trendy and cosmopolitan—definitely on the younger side, definitely on the fashion-industry side. Locals know to come early in the morning because the rest of the day will see a steady stream of people, many who are visiting or have crossed Paris to drink coffee here, pack the space until closing time. Partisan is the only specialty coffee in Paris to offer two methods (or approaches) on its menu: Italian and New Wave. New Wave refers to a lighter roast common to specialty coffee that bring out a coffee's aromatic profile, its terroir, and the drying technique that has been chosen. In general, there's more acidity in these coffees. Italian roasts are darker, more robust (and actually represents half of Partisan's orders among clients). Both are used for espressos, lattés, flat whites, and other coffee drinks. Also served: a much-loved matcha latte.
Courtesy Café Nuances
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Café Nuances
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Without question, this is the city's most design-forward coffee shop (thanks to the talents of Uchronia). Set up in a former crèmerie, the aesthetic is all art deco in the front and contemporary (some might say a touch futuristic) in the back. There are counter seats toward the front, but this spot does brisk take-away business given its location in the center of the city, not far from the Place Vendôme (and, notably, the Ritz Paris). The owners, brothers Charles and Raphaël Corrot, adore coffee and wanted to offer a singular take on the espresso bar. They focus on five unique coffees, each with their own flavor profile, with beans they import from top producers. Slow Dance, for example, is a coffee with chocolate and nutty notes while Coffee & Cigarettes has, you guessed it, clear notes of tobacco and spice.

Courtesy The Dancing Goat
restaurant
The Dancing Goat
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A five minute walk from Père Lachaise cemetery, this is one of the largest, most classically beautiful spaces among specialty coffee shops in Paris. Picture windows let in incredible light at all times of day and the other decorative features make it a warm and inviting place to linger over coffee: soft, rounded lines, varied floor tiles, massive mirrors, marble pedestal tables, Thonet bistro chairs, and well-placed plants. From filter to flat whites and golden lattes, the menu covers all the heavy hitters. The hot chocolate is worth ordering for anyone who keeps off caffeine. Food options are admittedly limited (but go well with the drinks!). The owner, Englishman Daniel Chapman, has wanted to serve light lunch fare and brunch but has yet to find the right chef. In the meantime, he serves granola, divine cookies (some of which are gluten-free), and a rotating selection of cakes.