The Angel’s Paris

A très grande guide to eating and drinking in the City of Light

The view from Belleville at sundown during The 2024 Summer Olympics.

I just returned to Los Angeles after two weeks in Paris and a third in New York. It was a fun trip filled with lots of family time (and Olympic games!), but we’ve been gone far too long. I’m beat. Good thing there’s no better city to return home to than L.A.

Outside of L.A. and New York, Paris is the city I know best. My first overseas experience was a trip to Paris with my mom, sister, aunt, and grandma. I was eight, and my inaugural bite of a French butter croissant catalyzed a lifelong obsession with the purist’s pastry. In high school, I spent several summer months in France’s capital. Then, a few short trips throughout my 20s culminated in a six-week stint in the summer of 2022, where I conducted a lot of reconnaissance. Now in my 30s, I have a pretty good handle on the Parisian food scene. (Embarrassingly, I do not speak French.)

All this to say: this deeply researched guide on where to eat, drink, and (as an added bonus) buy food gifts and kitchen goods has been a long time coming. I like to shop for clothes almost as much as I like to eat in Paris, but to keep things manageable, this list will stay in line with my beat. 

Before I get into the nitty-gritty, a few notes on neighborhoods and getting around. I most frequently find myself in Oberkampf on the border of the 10th and 11th arrondissements, Belleville (just underneath the beautiful Parc des Buttes-Chaumont), and Le Marais. But Paris is an exceptionally walkable city with a smooth-sailing metro system and a surplus of electric Lime bikes that will get you anywhere in a zip, so don’t be afraid to pick seemingly far away places to dine.