10 Best Local Dishes from Paris
The best foods in Paris are mostly world-famous French dishes that are worth travelling for. These classic recipes will lighten up even the gloomiest of days thanks to their outstanding tastes and flavours. Paris, the City of Light, is justly famed for its food, which has been exported to every corner of the globe.
From simple snacks picked up from local cafes to classic dishes served on red-and-white checked tablecloths in modern bistros, Paris has something delicious for everyone. Our carefully curated list of classic Parisian food also provides prominent locations where you can find the dishes in question, making it possible for everyone to try the best foods the city has to offer.
Steak frites at Relais de l’Entrecôte
Paris’ most well-loved steak and fries

Steak frites is perhaps the most emblematic bistro dish in the French gastronomic pantheon. A simple and succulent recipe, it consists of a beefsteak, often strip steak, rump steak or entrecote (ribeye steak), pan-fried, and accompanied by French fried potatoes. The dish, much loved for its hearty goodness, is now found on tables throughout the world.
Paris’ favourite version may be found at Relais d’Entrecote, a small, family-run steakhouse chain with 3 different addresses in town. In each, the formula is the same. There’s only 1 choice on the menu, consisting of a walnut dressing salad, followed by a strip of sirloin steak, their special sauce and fries – with no exceptions made. Make sure you save space for their profiterole cream buns topped with hot chocolate.
French onion soup at Pied de Cochon
The most famous bowl of soupe a l’oignon in Paris

Although history tells us that onion soup has existed – in one form or another – since Roman times, it was the French who improved and claimed this popular dish. Legend has it that King Louis XV ennobled the dish while cooking one day in his hunting lodge. Finding the pantry empty, he cooked up a soup, adding butter and Champagne, thus creating one of the most iconic French dishes.
Paris’ culinary temple of onion soup is undoubtedly Pied de Cochon. This time-worn brasserie is located in the formerly working-class neighbourhood of Les Halles. Made with steaming veal stock, chunky onions and topped with melted Gruyere cheese and pieces of baguette, this is one of the ultimate French comfort foods.
Pâté, cheese and cold cuts at Le Rubis wine bar
Finger food and a glass of wine on the edge of an old marketplace

Charcuterie, or sliced cold cuts, are the number one snack at wine bars across Paris. From sliced dry sausage, and farmhouse pâté, to enticing cheese trays just oozing pungent goodness, chances are you’ll find something tasty at every countertop.
This venerable wine bar, hidden on a side street off of the tony rue Saint Honoré shopping street, hasn’t changed a bit in decades. Locals from all walks of life gather at the timeworn bar as much for the reasonably priced wine and charcuterie platters as the friendly banter.
Sandwich jambon-beurre at Petit Vendôme
An everyday classic meal you can find all over Paris

There are few dishes as ubiquitous in Paris as the ham sandwich. Present throughout the world in innumerable different versions, it rarely reaches perfection – despite the fact that it’s one of France’s most loved sandwiches.
Petit Vendôme is a great place to grab a ham sandwich in Paris. This is one of the few truly authentic bistros in the swanky district of Vendome. The crusty baguette is slathered with hand-churned butter and stuffed with farm-raised ham. It’s best eaten at the zinc countertop with a pitcher of their delicious house wine.
Paris Brest at Stohrer
A creamy treat from the oldest pastry shop in Paris

A classic French pastry, this wheel-shaped, praline cream-filled delicacy can be found in bakeries and pastry shops throughout France. Originally created in honour of the Paris-Brest bicycle race, it quickly became a fast favourite for sweet-toothed enthusiasts around the world.
Dating from 1730, Stohrer is Paris’ oldest pastry shop and makes what many consider the ultimate Paris-Brest. Only top-notch ingredients are used and everything is baked fresh in-house and daily. Those in the know say it’s the homemade hazelnut cream used here that makes it better than all the rest. Read More...