La Petite Alsacienne: with its pretzels and kugelhopfs, this bakery and pastry shop delights Paris’s 14th arrondissement

A firm favorite among local residents, La Petite Alsacienne draws food lovers to its charming shop in Paris’s 14th arrondissement every day. Its pastries and sandwiches are enough to make anyone’s mouth water, but many customers come for its must-try pretzels or the famous kouglof.

For the past eight years, a touch of Alsace has been blowing through the Pernety-Plaisance neighborhood in Paris’s 14th arrondissement. It was here, at 45 Rue Raymond Losserand, that La Petite Alsacienne set up shop in 2018. Since then, the bakery has been bustling. Far from slowing down, it has only grown busier. Many local residents stop by to buy bread and pastries, while others come from further afield, willing to travel miles to try its famous pretzels.

That Tuesday morning, at around 9 a.m., the line stretched all the way out into the street. We settled in for a long wait, peering through the window at what the customers ahead of us were ordering and hoping the pastries we had our eye on were still available. The holy grail? The homemade pretzel, fresh from the oven. Every day, plenty of customers leave the shop with one or more of these traditional pastries tucked under their arms. Some tourists even post photos of themselves on social media holding the famous pretzel.

It has to be said: it’s easy to get hooked on this plump, incredibly tasty and soft specialty from La Petite Alsacienne. For a little variety, the bakery naturally offers the ever-popular plain pretzel, as well as several other versions: with cheese, chocolate or seeds. Its famous pretzel bread is also used for its lunchtime sandwiches, such as the one filled with pulled duck, onions, wild garlic, tomato and mayonnaise.

But the bakery doesn’t just offer this one Alsatian specialty. It also makes a delicious kouglof or strudel, both homemade.

The more classic pastries, which we didn’t try, look tempting too, including the apple crumble, chocolate tartlet, Grandma’s flan and chestnut flan, which caught our eye. We’ll save them for next time.

Well stocked on the day we visited, La Petite Alsacienne also offers a wide variety of breads and pastries. One thing’s for sure: you’re bound to leave with one or more treats! Prices are affordable, too: a plain pretzel costs €1.80 and a kouglof €5.30. Expect to pay €3.50 for a strudel. The only downside is the line, which can be long depending on the time of day and put some people off. But what’s inside is well worth it!