Writers, painters, poets, thinkers, actresses, photographers... In Paris, many artists have frequented the capital's restaurants, bistros and cafés, making them veritable meeting places where it was good to laugh, eat, think, drink, debate vigorously and exchange ideas against a backdrop of alcohol and cigarette puffs, whether at the counter, on the terrace or at their regular tables.
Over the years, troupes of artists and friends have moved from neighborhood to neighborhood, with the Parisian and expatriate intelligentsia still preferring the German-Pratin way of life, the main thoroughfares around Montparnasse and the corner of theOpéra.
For a glimpse into the Paris of yesteryear, discover the capital's historic addresses where the artistic and intellectual Tout-Paris gathered. Mythical restaurants, bistros and cafés that have marked the history of Paris right up to the present day!
Drouant, the mythical home of the Académie Goncourt
A new page is being written for Drouant, the legendary Parisian institution that has been home to the Académie Goncourt since 1914. Taken over in 2018 by the Gardinier brothers, the restaurant surprises and delights with great classics of French gastronomy, brought up to date. [Read more]
If there's one place you can't miss in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, it's the Café de Flore, inaugurated in 1885. A veritable German-Pratin institution throughout the 20th century, the greats of French literature came here to drink coffee and remake the world. It is said that Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir could spend up to 8 hours a day here, writing and observing passers-by.
Sartre wrote: "We settled in completely: from nine to noon, we worked there, went to lunch, at two o'clock we came back and talked with friends we met until eight o'clock. After dinner, we'd receive the people we'd arranged to meet. It may sound strange to you, but we were at home at Le Flore." Other writers, including Camus, Apollinaire, Aragon, George Bataille, Raymond Queneau and Prévert, regularly held lively debates here.
At Les Deux Magots, you'll discover a place steeped in history and an ideal setting for a gourmet break on the terrace. Since 1885, this legendary café has welcomed gourmets and art lovers alike. [Read more]
Considered to be one of the oldest café-restaurants in Paris, Le Procope was inaugurated in 1686 and has seen many great men pass through its doors, particularly thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment, led by Voltaire, Rousseau and Diderot.
Later, the restaurant, with its delightfully old-fashioned decor typical of traditional Parisian cafés, became a meeting place for the great writers of the 19th century, including Verlaine, Victor Hugo, Balzac and Musset.
With a name like that, it's hardly surprising that Le Select quickly became a favorite with artists! Founded in 1923, the brasserie enjoyed its heyday between the wars. Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway were regulars.
During the Occupation, homosexual artistic figures such as Jean Marais, Suzy Solidor, Marlow Moss and Serge Lifar made themselves at home here.
Another Montparnasse institution, for many years the capital's most festive district, La Rotonde enjoyed its heyday between the wars. Picasso, Modigliani, Blaise Cendrars and the whole Surrealist gang all had their little habits there, and it's not uncommon to bump into famous expatriates like Henri Miller, Francis Scott Fitzgerald and... Hemingway, of course!
Nowadays, La Rotonde is mainly popular with tourists - like many of the above-mentioned places - and political figures.
Just a stone's throw from theOpéra Garnier, the Café de la Pa ix catches the eye of all passers-by, with its eye-catching Napoleon III style . Inaugurated in 1862, it was frequented by Parisian socialites, Zola, Maupassant, Proust, Tchaikovsky, Gide and, of course, Hemingway, who was always up for a good time.
At the time, the Café de la Paix was one of the few mythical venues in the Parisian art world that wasn't on the Left Bank. At the cutting edge of the arts, screenings were even organized there in 1896, at the dawn of the invention of cinema!
The Café de la Paix, this world-famous restaurant classified as a historical monument, is without a doubt one of the most beautiful restaurants in Paris. The emblematic Parisian restaurant, ideally located on the magnificent Place de l'Opéra, welcomes you since its renovation in its two bright and airy spaces, entirely redesigned by the architect Pierre-Yves Rochon in 2021. [Read more]
When it opened in 1927, La Coup ole quickly became the place to be for the artistic Tout-Paris in the Montparnasse district , with its sumptuous Art Deco decor attracting revelers such as Jean Cocteau, who took part in the memorable champagne-filled opening night, Joséphine Baker, Brassaï and Edith Piaf, as well as international artists such as Ava Gardner, Ernest Hemingway and Marlène Dietrich.
The following year, the dance hall opened its doors in the basement of La Coupole , the ideal place to sway to rumba, bolero, guaracha and samba until the end of the night.
Like La Rotonde, La Closerie des Lil as succeeded in moving the painters of Montmartre - the famous Bateau-Lavoir painters - from the top of their Butte to the Left Bank. It was even the first café to give its letters of nobility to the Montparnasse district! Frequented as early as 1860 by Impressionists Renoir, Monet and Pissaro, as well as Baudelaire and the Goncourt brothers, this former coaching inn was renamed Closerie des Lilas in 1883.
Later, this restaurant-bar-brasserie became a favorite spot for Montparnos, and it was not uncommon to come across Verlaine sharing a game of chess with Lenin ; Fitzgerald discussing his latest manuscript Gatsby the Magnificent with Hemingway - and other members of the American intelligentsia fleeing Prohibition -; Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett.
Opened in the late 19th century, the Café du Dôme quickly became a gathering place for French and Anglo-Saxon intellectuals, even becoming the main meeting place for American artists. Among the famous Dômiers, a charming little nickname coined to designate the artists who met at the Café du Dôme, were Robert Capa, Cartier-Bresson, Foujita, Gauguin, Anaïs Nin and Soutine.
Now an expensive fish restaurant, the Dôme was, before the First World War, the most chic restaurant in the Montparnasse district. Even so, a penniless artist could buy a sausage-purée for the equivalent of one euro!
Originally christened Café Pigalle, it was given the nickname Café du Rat Mort because of the smell that apparently reigned in the establishment, reminiscent of a putrefied rodent (glamorous).
Alphonse Daudet, Courbet, Toulouse-Lautrec, Virginia Woolf and Degas didn't seem to mind, however, as they all took up residence there for long evenings. It's even said that the first arguments between Verlaine and Rimbaud broke out at the Café du Rat Mort.
Cited in Balzac's La Muse du Département, Zola's La Curée and Maupassant's Bel-Ami, the Café Riche left its mark on a whole generation of artists. Taken over by restaurateur Louis Bignon in the late 1840s, it became an essential part of any successful social evening, with its luxury food, fine wines... and high prices!
Among its most famous customers were Flaubert, Alexandre Dumas, Offenbach and Gustave Doré. Café Riche closed its doors for good in 1916, to make way for a bank.
A world-renowned institution, the Café Tortoni de Paris was a huge success in the 19th century. Founded under the Directoire period, the café, with its luxurious decor reminiscent of Venetian cafés, welcomed politicians, intellectuals, dandies, socialites and financiers - the Stock Exchange being just a stone's throw away.
Opened by Italian artisan ice-cream makers, the fashionable venue treats gourmands to choice dishes, such as its Italian-style frozen desserts and hot chocolates. Mentioned many times in literature, by Stendhal, Maupassant and Proust among others, Café Tortoni counted Manet and George Sand among its regulars, but closed its doors in 1893.
A meeting place for English-speaking artists and writers in the 1920s-1930s, such asHemingway, Scott Fitzgerald, Man Ray and Isadora Duncan, who lived just across the street, the Dingo American Bar and Restaurant opened in 1923. For a long time, it was one of the few establishments in the capital to remain open all night. The address is now occupied by an Italian restaurant.
To discover all the secrets of Paris, follow in the footsteps of the greatest writers, musicians and painters who have visited the capital in their time. [Read more]
For an original, historical and gourmet stroll, let's discover the oldest tea rooms and pastry shops in Paris. [Read more]
Discover the Paris of yesteryear at one of the capital's oldest restaurants, where mythical figures from French history once sat. [Read more]
Drouant, the mythical home of the Académie Goncourt
Les Deux Magots: legendary café in Paris's Saint-Germain des Près district
Le Café de la Paix: the sublime historic restaurant in Paris with a renovated setting
In the footsteps of the greatest writers and artists in Paris
The oldest restaurants in Paris, historic and legendary tables
