The best croissants in Paris? We did the taste test!

We are in Paris for a month.

How about a little taste test now that we are here?

Let’s go search for the best croissants in Paris!

The croissant is the favorite pastry of the French and very popular French breakfast.

With its crisp puff pastry and its golden color, the croissant embodies the traditional French viennoiserie.

France is world renowned for its classic cuisine but even more for its quality patisserie.

Paris is therefore logically the perfect city to eat a croissant worthy of the name.

Unfortunately, many of the croissants on the market are industrial. But if you search a little more in depth, it is possible to find very good artisanal pastries, made according to the rules of the pastry art.

Do you want to taste THE best croissants in Paris?

We have tried some famous and less famous places to eat a croissant in this beautiful city.

What makes a good croissant?

Although there are healthier and less fatty breakfast options than a croissant, this pastry remains a real source of pleasure.

All the flavors are balanced and they are real mouthfuls of happiness.

But what exactly makes a good croissant?

A good croissant is moon shaped and made of puff pastry, baked until golden with visible layers.

If you press on it, you should hear the crisp outside layer of puff pastry crack.

The crumb inside has to be soft and airy.

Its flavor should be buttery with a slight salty touch rather than sweet and sugary.

So what makes a bad croissant?

All the opposites of the points above!

Industrial soft dough of a pale or artificial color, soft and dry on the outside, uniform density and no visible texture inside, oily instead of buttery, artificial flavoring.

And probably way too cheap to be a good croissant anyway.

In search of the best croissants in Paris: which bakeries did we try out?

We were able to find the best croissants in Paris?

Let’s take a look!

The order in which these bakeries below are listed is totally random.

Blé Sucré

7 Rue Antoine Vollon, 75012 Paris

Price: €1,20

For years this bakery has been one of our favorite pastries in Paris.

However the croissants today were a little bit disappointing.

The buttery taste is definitely there but overall the croissant isn’t as crisp and airy anymore.

Their croissant is still good, but not at the same level like it used to be.

We only read after our visit that there has been a change of owners.

Farine&O

153 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, 75011 Paris

Price: €1,10

Olivier Magne is one of the Meilleur Ouvrier de France, one of the most beautiful titles that the profession can offer.

And when you enter this boulangerie and admire the products, you recognize the exceptional technicality brought to each of them.

The puff pastry of the croissant does not deceive. It is super thin, delicious buttery taste, not too sweet and balanced.

The lightest croissant we tasted!

La Maison d’Isabelle

47ter Bd Saint-Germain, 75005 Paris

Price: €1,20

Elected best croissant in 2018, the croissant from Isabelle Leday (ex-Maison Pichard) is very popular.

Rumour has it Boulangerie d’Isabelle is the address where you can find a real traditional croissant.

And it is such a beautiful croissant as well, golden brown, soft and buttery on the inside and amazingly crispy on the outside.

What a unique croissant!

Their secret: the use of Moulins de Brasseuil flour and Pamplie butter.

Eric Kayser

8 Rue Monge, 75005 Paris

Price: €1,10

In 2001, Eric Kayser won the prize for the best croissant.

And it still is an excellent croissant with a golden flaky crust.

The puff pastry is extremely buttery and so is the flavor, yum!

A very good classic croissant!

Some people find this one greasy but we love it that way.

Angelina

226 rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris

Price: €1,60

Angelina in Paris is probably the most famous patisserie and bakery shop in the city, and apparently a must visit for loads of tourists by the looks of the people queueing outside.

So we decided to try it out as well.

But what a deception, what a tourist trap.

The croissant was so soft, no crunch at all as if it was a leftover from yesterday. It did not have the slightest butter flavor or smell, more a cheap product from a commercial baker.

Bland and uninteresting, you end up with a chewy dough ball in your mouth. And what about that sugar glaze on top?

Chez Meunier

18 Rue Rambuteau, 75003 Paris

Price: €1,30

Chez Meunier has a couple of bakeries all over the city.

Unfortunately their croissant was dry and soft on the outside, and soft and uninteresting on the inside.

The entire croissant was uniformly soft, not crunch at all as if it was another leftover from the day before. It had not this slightest smell of butter.

A real deception, supermarket level croissant at best.

Stohrer

51 Rue Montorgueil, 75002 Paris

Price: €1,60

This is the oldest pastry shop in Paris, founded in 1730 – and the birthplace of the famous baba au rum!

Allegedly they also make a mean croissant here.

And it is true, we found that this croissant is among the best croissants in Paris.

The croissant is big and nicely golden, and again a very beautiful croissant!

The super crispy puff pastry on the outside is near perfection. And it smells delicious as well.

Crunchy crust, very soft and airy inside.

Delicious!

Tout Autour Du Pain

134 Rue de Turenne, 75003 Paris

Price: €1,10

Tucked away on a quiet square near La République is this small bakery.

This croissant looks perfect, symmetric and flaky.

Pretty light as well when you weigh it in your hand.

And it doesn’t disappoint when you bite into it: soft and airy, crunchy, nice light butter flavor.

An impeccably perfect classic croissant!

Very good!

Carton

6 Bd de Denain, 75010 Paris

Price: €1,30

It was rather by coincide that we happened to walk past this boulangerie.

This place is located a couple of steps away from the Gare du Nord train station.

The queue was what caught our eye, and to our surprise we saw that this bakery had been awarded the first price for the best croissant in 2022.

And since we were working on this “best croissants in Paris’ article, we just had to try it out.

Glad we did, because this croissant really has it all: crunch, slightly salty sweet, such a beautiful butter flavor, airy fluffy on the inside.

That award is well deserved, yum!

Boulangerie Sain

15 Rue Marie et Louise, 75010 Paris

Price: €1,60

It smells absolutely promising when you stand right in front of bakery Sain.

Our croissant looks very pretty, look at that golden brown color!

But what also is impressive is the weight of this croissant.

It is quite small in size, the smalles croissant we have bought so far but quite heavy!

The outside is flaky and crunchy, however the inside is very doughy and chewy.

What puts us off the most is the cinnamon flavor this croissant has.

Was it added to the pastry or did this croissant come from a tray where some cinnamon pastry was previously sitting on?

No, that pastry is so chewy as if it is overworked. Nothing airy about it, a sticky dough ball in our mouth.

Du Pain et Des Idées

34 Rue Yves Toudic, 75010 Paris

Price: €1,90

We asked our followers on social media where to get the best croissants in Paris, and this bakery is the one that was mentioned the most.

So we needed to give this one a try!

It wasn’t hard to find, the queue in front of the bakery is large.

First impressions when we take this croissant out of the paper bag: what an ugly looking croissant!

But my god, once you set your teeth in it that initial thought is long gone.

What a super light and airy, flaky and crunchy croissant this is! That puff pastry is an absolute masterpiece. Buttery flavor, such refined taste.

Quite a steep price for a croissant, but worth every cent!

Does Du Pain et Des Idées have the best croissants in Paris?

This one is definitely in our top 3!

What about you?

Do you still know of another place that sells the best croissants in Paris?

A place we should definitely check out and add to this list?

Let us know in the comments and we will give it a try when we are in Paris next time!