At last, I’m sharing my favorite vegan eats from my trip to Paris last month!
While French food is not very vegan-friendly and you can’t roll into a corner cafe and expect to find vegan options, there are loads of vegan and vegan-friendly eateries in Paris. We stuck mostly to these places and only stopped at “regular” places for beverages. We were there for a week and still didn’t get to eat everywhere to wanted — there are seriously SO many vegan-friendly restaurants!
We had originally thought about going on an overnight adventure to another city in France during the middle of our trip but I am so glad we decided against that because there was more than enough to keep us busy in Paris for a week. It also was refreshing to stay in the SAME place for our entire visit. Whenever we go on week-long trips we are either backpacking or traveling around and only staying in the same place for a night or two. I actually unpacked my entire suitcase!
We stayed in an airbnb in the 10th arrondissement specifically so we’d be within walking distance of lots of vegan restaurants. Many of the vegan-friendly places are clustered in the 10th, 2nd and 3rd, with others scattered about. (The Parisian districts/neighborhoods are numbered and are arranged in a snail shape)
Our days pretty much looked looked like this: wake up groggy because jet-lag is SO real, slowly get ready for the day, nibble on something small at the apartment and make our way out. Walk to get coffee and food, walk to see a couple museums and sights, walk to eat again, walk home, watch Netflix, take melatonin and end up staying up way too late (seriously not kidding about the jet-lag; I am a huge baby when it comes to sleep so it’s really no surprise I was so affected by it). We did manage to go out in the evening a couple times later in our trip once we started adjusting to the time change, but we were usually too pooped from walking everywhere, seeing all the sights and eating all the things!
Now, on to the eats and drinks!
First things first: There is a small vegan grocery store, Un Monde Vegan, in Paris which we hit up the first night for some goodies. We grabbed soy yogurt, dairy-free chocolate hazelnut spread (France is land of Nutella!) and some vegan cheese. Because obviously we needed some cheese to enjoy with all those baguettes!
Breakfast & Cafes:
Soy yogurt paired with a banana and some chocolate hazelnut spread at home held me over until we ate our first meal of the day.
My FAVORITE cafe: Cloud Cakes. It’s 100% vegan and their croissants and “cappuccinos” (which you can see is really a latte) were always on point! We went here several times …
Their Buddha Bowl was loaded with veggies and super comforting! (I ate this twice) They didn’t serve it until lunch time so sometimes we’d have to time our arrival a little later so we could have a complete meal rather than just espresso + pastry.
We even stopped back in the afternoon once to try their desserts!
The only other vegan croissant we could find was at a brand new vegan patisserie. Unfortunately we didn’t care for these at all. They were burnt on the outside and not great on the inside. I’m not sure what kind of fat they used but it didn’t have a good texture. But …
The macaroons were delicious! {Thanks to my dear friend Christina for gifting me this French language book – it helped me decipher so many menus!}
The only substantial breakfast we had the entire trip was at Bob’s Kitchen. The hummus + avo toast and breakfast bagel sandwich were delicious! We also split a chocolate protein shake for good measure.
Did I mention Paris has a cat cafe!? OBVIOUSLY we had to go. We legit waited in line to get into this place and it was totally worth it.
It was Easter weekend!
A cat doing what cats do best.
Just a sleepy kitty in a suitcase in a cafe, no big deal. I’m not sure what I expected, but basically all the cats were sleeping. Of course.
Restaurants:
Hank Pizza was the first meal we had our first night in Paris. It was so good we came back for more a few days later. You pick out the slices you want and they reheat them in the oven to hot and crispy perfection! Quick and easy.
Clearly I enjoyed this place…
Each of these pizzas was delicious in its own way! The top two have potatoes while the bottom has little dollops of smoky tofu cheese.
Super tasty samosa from Brasserie 2eme Art! This is a lovely restaurant with a varied menu in the trendy 2nd arrondissement.
This place also is great for general cafe-going and people-watching!
I tried the Pad Thai – the broccoli was delicious but the tofu was scant.
AJ went for the cheeseburger, which was AMAZING! Highly recommend.
Speaking of burgers, Hank Pizza has a sister restaurant, Hank Burger.
Did I mention all of these photos of me chowing down are completely candid? What can I say, I like to eat.
Le Potager du Marais has traditional French food made vegan! We had the slowest service everrrr but this vegan French onion soup was well worth it! Just look at that cheese!
I tried the savory buckwheat crepe, which I wasn’t a huge fan of. But I did woof down those veggies before trading plates with AJ…
He ordered the seitan bourguignon which was super meaty and filling and quite tasty!
Our fancy meal of the trip was at Gentle Gourmet! The menu was very spring-y and loaded with seasonal produce.
The wine was certainly on point.
This asparagus appetizer contained various types of the veggie prepared in different ways. This was my first time having white asparagus – I found it to be milder than green (they presented it steamed) and I really liked it!
My meal was a free-form ravioli, covered in green pea sauce. The ravioli was basically slices of very lightly cooked beets. Not very filling, but a delicate and enjoyable dish.
AJ tried the risotto, which was very rich and probably the best vegan risotto I’ve ever tasted!
Dessert included beets and chocolate wafers!
Hands down my favorite meal of the trip was at Carmen Ragosta. Carmen is an Italian fashion designer from Naples with a small shop + restaurant near the canal in the 10th arrondissment.
After greeting us and walking us through the menu, Carmen disappeared in the back and shortly after presented us with these amazing plates of plant-based goodness!
Her vegan tiramisu was UNREAL!
The atmosphere was a unique and cozy blend of fashion and food. We literally stayed for hours chatting with Carmen and will never forget this experience!
Snacks, Sips and Sweets:
My first glass of Parisian wine after an overnight trip with an unexpected layover and no sleep – it tasted divine!
There was a large marche near our apartment from which I got these super sweet, ruby red strawberries! If you’re scouting out places to stay, it’s worth finding an apartment near a market so you can easily run out for fresh produce.
Sometimes “dinner” was baguette, cheese, cucumber, hummus and wine back in our apartment! The baguettes in France were SO delicious (duh) and super cheap – 1 euro at our local boulangerie.
Ara Chocolat is a vegan chocolate shop owned by the kindest people! Highly recommend! They were the ones to tell us about Carmen Ragosta – without them we never would have discovered her.
They provided samples of their solid chocolate and shared a little bit about their beans and the farms where they’re grown. Small businesses built on fair-trade practices and high-quality ingredients are the best!
One night we hiked up to Sacre Coeur with wine and sandwiches we made from baguette, spinach and vegan cheese and salami from Un Monde Vegan. This place was overrun with tourists but it was still a fun adventure.
La Basilique du Sacré Cœur de Montmartre
We grabbed cocktails at a cafe near our apartment one night and I was pleasantly surprised their small menu included my favorite drink of all time – The Last Word! It tasted even better in France, home of green chartreuse – a French liqueur with a natural green color.
Speaking of which, I was delighted to see all these the chartreuse options at a wine shop we frequented – much more affordable than in the states!
My special birthday treat was the vegan tea at Shangri La Hotel! Their afternoon tea is all vegan and so extravagant! I love sweets and even I was sugared out about halfway through that tower of goodness.
Highlights of the Sights:
OK, I can’t JUST talk about food! All that deliciousness fueled our walks to, from and around the beautiful monuments and museums of Paris. We were there for a week and experienced just the tiniest fraction of what this magical city has to offer.
Musée d’Orsay was both of our favorites. Filled to the brim with so many Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings, I wish we had more than one afternoon to visit this house of masterpieces!
I thoroughly enjoyed the modern art exhibits at Centre Pompidou…
…But wasn’t quite sure about the contemporary exhibit.
{Obligatory Eiffel Tower photo}
The Seine in springtime was so dreamy!
Notre-Dame Cathedral is a mighty sight to see! This was my first trip to Europe and my first immersion in such rich history.
Being tourists at Notre Dame on a beautiful day.
We waited in line to enter the Louvre in the cold mist but it was totally worth it. I honestly think it would take months to go through this place!
And finally, a huge thank you to this guy who gifted me this trip to Paris! It was an unforgettable way to spend my 28th birthday and a super fun “engagement moon” before we dove into wedding planning.
Want to learn more about eating and living vegan in Paris? Check out the blog Finny + Dill by my dear friend and soon to be full-time Paris resident Christina Pippin! She has some great tips on vegan eating and ethical shopping in the city of lights!
Have tips for eating vegan in Paris? Share in the comments!
Great post!! I can’t wait to go now! What French language book was that that your friend recommended? Did you start out pretty proficient in French or do you have any recommendations for apps/podcasts etc to learn the language? I took it in High school and some in college but I’m rusty.
Thanks for the post!!
Thanks, Amanda! I used the Lonely Planet French Phrasebook & Dictionary. I am not at all proficient in French – I took one semester of it in high school so have a very basic familiarity but quite limited vocabulary. However, most people will tell you it’s not imperative to know the language well (or at all) as most shop owners know decent English. As long as you are kind, they will be kind back 🙂
Great post! I have been in Paris in Fall of 2016 and loved it. We went to so many different places to eat vegan food and none of them were the ones you mentioned haha. So many places to go to !! I took notes and bookmarked some of the places you mentioned and I can’t wait for a vegan croissant 🙂