2026-05-10

Where to find the best croissant in Paris

Pierre Hermé once said a good croissant is "honest butter, patient lamination, and a baker who hasn't taken a shortcut on the third fold." Most Paris croissants now fail at least one of those three.

So we ate 47 of them — beurre and ordinaire, plain and chocolat — across 14 arrondissements. The list below is the four that consistently deliver: shatter on the outside, honeycomb in the middle, butter that tastes like cultured Normandy butter and not vaguely-floral fat.

Du Pain et des Idées (10th)

The croissant here is technically not the order — the escargot pistache-chocolat is. But the croissant beurre is what you eat second. It's smaller than most, deeply golden, and the lamination is so precise you can count layers. Christophe Vasseur is one of the few Parisian bakers who still does everything by hand. Closed weekends; arrive before 11.

Boulangerie Utopie (11th)

Two MOF-trained bakers, no ego. The croissant is bigger and rougher around the edges than Du Pain et des Idées — which is the point. You taste the butter first and the salt second. Ask for the pain au chocolat too; the chocolate is from Ducasse's manufactory and it shows.

Cyril Lignac, Pâtisserie (11th)

A celebrity baker can still bake. The croissant here is the most refined of the four — almost too pretty — but the structure is real and the shatter is satisfying. Best paired with their café au lait, which is unusually good for Paris.

Mamiche (9th and 10th)

Two women, two locations, no nonsense. The croissant is what we'd call the "neighborhood standard at its peak." Not Vasseur-precise, not Lignac-pretty — but the everyday croissant you'd want next door, every day, forever. The one in the 9th has counter seating; the 10th has a small bench outside.

What to ask for

When you walk in, you want un croissant pur beurre (pure butter — not "ordinaire," which is margarine). If they ask "ordinaire ou beurre?" — you say beurre. Always.

Best time to eat one is between 8:30 and 10 AM, when they've cooled enough to stop steaming but are still warm in the middle. Don't take a croissant home from a bakery in the morning to eat at lunch — by 1 PM the lamination has compressed and you're eating a different pastry.

Where the famous bakeries miss

  • Pierre Hermé — pastry empire, croissant is fine, not great. Skip.
  • Poilâne — incredible bread, weak croissant. Go for the bread.
  • Maison Landemaine — chain expanded too fast. The 11th branch is good, others are inconsistent.
  • Carette (Trocadéro) — tourist trap. The croissant tastes like a pastry has been Instagrammed too many times.

Want a croissant route mapped on a single morning? Plan a trip and tell us "I want to eat four croissants" — we'll route it.