The 13 Best Bakeries and Boulangeries in Paris

Another Parisian classic, Maison Landemaine, has almost 20 locations in and around the city. That doesn’t mean they sacrifice quality for quantity, though. Each location bakes all of its bread in-house every single day—it’s actually the law in France that, to qualify as a bakery, you must bake in-house—and their baguette is the perfect blend of a crunchy exterior and an airy, rip-apart interior. All of the bread is made with eco-friendly organic flour that’s sustainably farmed, and the in-house leavening process means that you won’t be getting cookie-cutter baguettes here. The bakery actually makes several baguette varieties and a whole slew of other carb-friendly options, like cocoa bread, fougasse, Nordic bread, and all manner of delicious pastries and cookies. Try one of everything, because you only live once.

Every year in Paris, the city holds a competition to see which bakery has the very best baguette, with the winner nabbing the right to supply France’s presidential palace. The 2020 winner of Le Grand Prix de la Baguette de Traditional Française de la Ville de Paris was Maison Julien Les Saveurs de Pierre Demours, a family-run bakery in the 17th arrondissement, just a few blocks from the Arc de Triomphe and the Avenue des Champs-Elysées. The shop’s head baker, Taheb Sahal, is only in his mid-20s, so it should be interesting to see what he does in years to come.

The only bakery to have gotten the “best baguette” nod twice, Le Grenier à Pain has shops all over Paris, including one near Montmartre. The owners describe themselves as “great artisans of bread,“ and they clearly have a passion for the product. Their bakery is practically a cathedral to the art of breadmaking, with ten or so different varieties made daily, plus all the other delicious delectables they have to offer. You have to try a baguette, of course, but Le Grenier also dabbles in sourdough, fougasses, and bread full of things like hazelnuts and figs.

Christophe Fertillet’s Levain, Le Vin is more than just a boulangerie. Sure, they offer delicious loaves of bread, all made from natural and sustainable flours, but the space also slings hand-chosen charcuterie and carefully curated biodynamic “natural” wines, all of which can either be taken to go or enjoyed in-house. It’s the perfect place to while away a couple of hours, enjoying some of the best of what France has to offer.

If you’re as interested in where your food comes from as what it tastes like, you’ll love Boulangerie-Pâtisserie Terroirs d’Avenir, which is owned and operated by the sustainable agriculture organization Terroirs d’Avenir. The group’s mission is to promote small farms, buying locally and using what’s both in season and native to the region. All of that is evident in the Boulangerie, which sits in a row of brightly-painted shops on Rue du Nil that are all run by the organization, including a grocery, dairy, butcher, and fishmonger. The bakery specializes in old varieties of bread made with local grains, but they carry old favorites, too, like brioche, pastries, and the good ol’ baguette.

It’s not impossible to find gluten-free products in French bakeries; you just have to know where to look. Boulangerie Chambelland specializes in organic, naturally gluten-free bread made with rice and buckwheat flour. They also make gluten-free cookies, cream puffs, and a few pastries, though you won’t find anything that would rely on traditional puff pastry, like croissants. Prices do tend to be a little higher than your traditional Paris boulangerie, but everything’s organic and small-batch, so that’s to be expected.

Shinya Inagaki worked as a baker in some of the best boulangeries in Paris before striking out on his own with Shinya Pain. Located in Montmartre, the bakery specializes in natural sourdough loaves, locally-loved scones, and innovative loaves you might not find elsewhere in Paris. One look at the bakery’s Instagram will tell you the operation is pretty no-frills: The only pictures posted are of each day’s offerings written out on butcher paper.

There are Gontran Cherrier bakeries all over the world—including one at Charles DeGaulle airport—but don’t let that turn you off. The baker’s first location was in Paris’ 17th arrondissement, and that’s still where his heart lies. While the shop slings all the traditional baguettes, croissants, and loaves you’d expect from your run-of-the-mill boulangerie, it also takes creative stabs at other loaves, including one infused with rye and miso, or one speckled with sardines, pine nuts, and fresh coriander. The bakery even offers a monochrome range of buns in all different rainbow hues, from a red roll flavored with paprika, a squid ink black roll, and a green roll made with nigella or fennel flower.