The ten best (and butteriest) croissants in Paris, according to a former tour guide
Little else is as reminiscent of France as the flaky, golden croissant. Anyone who has visited Paris will remember well the streets redolent of baking butter, softly lit by the boulangeries and pâtisseries lining them. While croissants are usually not too difficult to find in Paris, uncovering the best, crispiest—and indeed, butteriest—requires some concerted digging (and taste testing).
What makes a good croissant, you might ask? For me, the sign of a great croissant is how covered I am in crisp, buttery shards of pastry after munching – in my book, the more flakage, the better. Particularly specific in his stipulations for a great croissant is Xavier Bordet, head judge of the Île-de-France region's AOP competition for the best croissant. “A true croissant is one which weighs 60 grams, with a further ‘tolerability’ of 5 grams,” says Xavier, “and is made of the perfect combination of flour, salt, sugar, water, leavening and butter… lots of butter. Every French person has a memory of going to their local boulangerie as a child, and having a croissant as a goûter [after-school snack]… this flavour is what we're after.” (Proust can keep his madeleines – we, luckily, have our croissants).
Whether you're set to bring weighing scales to Paris to ensure your pastry's five-gram ‘tolerability’ or are simply on the hunt for something flaky, buttery and delicious, we've rounded up our favourite croissants across Paris, from the most traditional to the funkiest gluten-free and sourdough variations you can devour in Paris tout de suite.
Discover the 10 best croissants in Paris
Instagram/@boulangeriemamiche, @etienne_renard1/10Mamiche, 9e
Mamiche is a bakery like no other, a true tour de force. Female-founded by the inimitable pastry chefs Cécile Khayat and Victoria Effantin, Mamiche prides itself on being incredibly eco-friendly: the shop uses only organic ingredients, produces next to zero food waste, and handmakes every pastry and loaf of bread. A true neighbourhood bakery, Mamiche is patronised by locals, each vying for their own hunk of sourdough or, indeed, flaky croissant. Plump with butter and a honeycomb-like interior, Mamiche’s croissants will practically melt in your mouth, securing their spot as one of the best in Paris.
Address: 45 rue Condorcet, 75009 Paris
Website: mamiche.fr
Robert K. Chin - Storefronts / Alamy Stock Photo2/10Maison d’Isabelle, 5e
When asking Parisians to name their favourite croissant in the city, many will close their eyes, lick their lips, and whisper, “Maison d’Isabelle, bien sûr”. The boulangerie, a pillar in the fabulous farmer’s market le Marché Maubert, was indeed the 2018 winner of the Appellation d’Origine Protégée (AOP) award for Best Croissant in not just Paris, but the entire Île-de-France region. Pick up one of the fluffiest, butteriest croissants you’ve ever had the pleasure of eating at Maison d’Isabelle and join the countless other Parisians in their fluffy, buttery reverie.
Address: 47ter Boulevard Saint Germain, 75005, Paris
Website: no website
Instagram/@brunqqqq3/10Boulangerie Utopie, 11e
Naming a bakery “Utopia” is nothing if not a bold statement. Luckily, Boulangerie Utopie indeed lives up to its name. Founded by two ex-Maison Laudrée pâtissiers and crowned best bakery in France in 2017 by the French television programme M6, the bakery produces one of the finest—and most interesting—croissants in Paris. Indeed, Utopie uses the acetic, tangy Montaigu butter from the Charentes-Poitou region and adds the bakery’s sourdough starter to the dough, creating a complex and tasty take on the traditional croissant. Be sure to arrive sooner rather than later at Utopie to get your croissant fix; the bakers only make between 150 to 200 croissants each day to assure their out-of-this-world quality.
Address: 20 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, 75011 Paris
Website : boulangerieutopie.com
Instagram/@farineo, @pierre.scs4/10Farine&O, 11e
The croissants at Farine & O are what I’d like to think anyone—even a prehistoric caveman—would enjoy. Using ancient grains, purified water, and a certain leavening that has been used by some of France’s best, most traditional boulangères for yonks, each one of Farine & O’s croissant is a golden-brown triumph. While nuttier in flavour thanks to the artisanal ingredients, Farine & O’s croissants are still exemplary and well worth each and every buttery bite.
Address: 153 rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, 75011 Paris Website: instagram.com/farineo
Instagram/@carton_paris5/10Maison Carton Paris, 10e
At first glance, Maison Carton looks to be yet another boulangerie-pâtisserie shop, one of hundreds dotting the streets of Paris. Upon further inspection, however, you will see a small plaque denoting the bakery’s latest news: it was crowned the 2022 winner of the coveted regional AOP prize for Best Croissant of Île-de-France (Carton won seventh place in 2021). Family founded in 1956, the Carton bakery has had 66 years to perfect its croissant craft. Every croissant rolled and baked by the skillful pâtissiers Kir, Jean-Michel, and Ludovic is indeed perfect: flaky, with honeycomb-like layers, buttery but not greasy, a crisp crust with a soft, velvety interior. Just a stone’s throw away from the Gare du Nord train station—home to the Eurostar London-Paris train line—there is little excuse to not speed over to Carton and munch on one of Paris’ dreamiest, most delicious croissants.
Address: 6 Boulevard de Denain, 75010 Paris
Website: instagram.com/carton_paris
6/10Joséphine Bakery, 6e
Bang in the middle of Paris’ 6èmearrondissement, Saint-Germain-des-Près, is the cleverly named Joséphine Bakery. Frequented mostly by locals who arrive early to snatch up the neighbourhood’s freshest baguettes and viennoiserie (the bakery opens uncharacteristically early for Paris: 7.30AM on weekdays), Joséphine prides itself on producing pastries—especially their croissants!—with a French savoir faire. Early birds will be rewarded with guaranteed buttery, crunchy goodness at Joséphine. Miam.
Address: 42 rue Jacob, 75006 Paris
Website: no website
Instagram/@sain_boulangerie, @sophieschiandiolombo7/10Sain Boulangerie, 10e
Just a stone’s throw away from the Canal Saint-Martin is the bobo Sain bakery. Helmed by the inimitable chef-baker, food stylist, television presenter, and part-time cartoonist, Anthony Courteille, Sain produces one of Paris’ best croissants. Made with organic flour (Sain uses flour of the “pre-industrialisation” ancient grain variety), butter, and leavening, Courteille’s croissants are some of the most natural, simplest, and tastiest you can find in the French capital.
Address: 15 rue Marie et Louise, 75010 Paris
Website: sain-boulangerie.com
Instagram/@veronikaduzi8/10The French Bastards, 11e
Yes, you read that right. One of Paris’ best croissants is indeed made by the “French bastards”, a group of three friends who, after living abroad for 15 years and yearning for French bread and pastry every day, decided to open a boulangerie of their own. Confections made at The French Bastards are each a departure from their traditional ancestral counterparts: the pain aux raisins feature currants instead of raisins, black bread buns boast charcoal as a main ingredient, and the croissants are made to look like muffins. Rolled, folded, and laminated on a chilled marble table in the centre of the bakery, The French Bastard’s “cruffins” are the perfect amalgamation of modernity and tradition, of butter and flour. For traditionalists, though, never fear: the boulangerie also expertly bakes traditional, crescent moon-shaped croissants.
Address: 61 rue Oberkampf, 75011 Paris
Website: thefrenchbastards.fr
Instagram/@melaniervl_9/10Copains, 2e
In a culture whose meals, snacks, and treats typically call for some iteration of gluten, it can be difficult for those who abstain to find tasty alternatives. Celiac-sufferers and those who are gluten-intolerant can finally rejoice, for Copains bakery is the new mecca of gluten-free France. Copains’ croissants, made with a homemade combination of rice, oat, and buckwheat flours, are tiny morsels of flaky, buttery, celiac-friendly goodness. The bakery itself is just as beautiful as its products, with baked goods dotted around the museum-like shop, on display like precious works of gluten-free art.
Address: 60 rue Tiquetonne, 75002 Paris
Website: instagram.com/copains.paris
Julian Elliott / Alamy Stock Photo10/10Boulangerie Le Moulin de la Vierge, 2e
Under an orange awning set back from the Place des Petits Pères is the fabulous Le Moulin de la Vierge bakery. Initially used as a space to stash the owner Basile Kamir’s (a former music journalist) impressive and vast record collection, Kamir’s boulangerie instead now houses some of Paris’ finest French pastries under frescoed ceilings. While the bakery’s croissants are perhaps some of the most traditional on this list, those in the know guard Le Moulin de la Vierge’s unique secret: in the morning, you can order a warm croissant, freshly plucked from the oven. Get your croissant while it’s hot!
Address: 10 Place des Petits Pères, 75002 Paris
Website: no website
