Paris used to be a no man’s land for plant-based fare, and vegetarian visitors were often doomed to bafflement, disdain, or at the very least, confusion over whether eggs, cheese, beef, pork, or chicken were permissible or verboten. These days, thankfully, the culinary landscape is changing, and a host of vegetarian and vegan restaurants and pastry shops now dot the capital.
But if you’re travelling with a mixed crew of omnivores and vegetarians, options are comparatively thin on the ground. While many restaurants have finally thrown vegetarians a (plant-based) bone and begun offering at least one meat-free option, it’s often a variation on a theme: some sort of cheesy pasta dish or a mysterious “market vegetable plate” that costs the same as a bowl of beef bourguignon.
But that’s not the case everywhere. A handful of Parisian chefs have warmed to the challenge of crafting a menu where both meat and meat-free options are creative and delicious, ensuring that every diner leaves the table satisfied.
Vegetarian-Friendly Bistros and Brasseries
Even without a menu, it’s easy to guess what’s on offer at most Parisian bistros and brasseries: starters like escargots and house-made terrine are typically followed by steak-frites, sausage and mash, or beef bourguignon. And while there are a handful of staples sure to tempt a vegetarian, there’s really only so much leek-vinaigrette, egg-mayonnaise, and warm goat cheese salad you can eat. Luckily, there’s Les Philosophes, a cornerstone of the rue Vieille du Temple in the Marais, where founder Xavier Denamur’s keen attention to sourcing means that even the simplest of choices are prepared to perfection. Filling salads are bedecked with delectable raw milk cheeses sourced directly from producers, and an ever-changing vegetarian quiche takes full advantage of seasonal produce, with pairings like spinach and goat cheese or zucchini and summer squash. In the 5th arrondissement, meanwhile, just steps from the Pantheon, classic café Le Soufflot is quietly crafting top-notch versions of French café staples like pillowy omelets made with organic eggs and stuffed with mushrooms, cheese, or both. In the 11th, meanwhile, Recoin beckons with its cozy wine bar vibes and a creative lunchtime prix fixe, which always features at least one vegetarian main, typically a riff on its excellent house-made pasta. But you’ll also find satisfying odes to seasonal produce like butter beans paired with green figs, fresh almonds, and fried sage served in a creamy ajo blanco.
Vegetarian Fine Dining in Paris
The French fine dining world was rocked when Chef Alain Passard removed red meat from the menu of his three-Michelin-star restaurant L’Arpège in 2000. In the ensuing years, he slowly but surely reduced his reliance on animal products, finally taking the leap to a wholly vegan menu in 2025. His risk-taking paved the way for countless others to embrace vegetarian fine dining–and often at far more reasonable prices.
Chef Rémi Lazurowicz is one of them. The chef-owner of the bistronomic restaurant Lazu lends just as much creativity to his meat- and fish-based offerings as to his plant-driven options. Vegetarians might start with a porcini mushroom cream topped with a slow-cooked egg and hazelnuts, and continue with a vegetarian play on classic French stuffed cabbage with fried garlic, sautéed chanterelles, and a plant-based demi-glace so good you’ll want to lick the plate. In a similar vein, at Le Saint-Sébastien, a tight menu of just three appetizers and three mains always includes at least one vegetarian option per course. Radicchio might be griddled on a plancha and served with oyster mushroom pickles, local walnuts, and crumbled blue cheese, or house-made ravioli could be stuffed with creamy Saint-Marcellin cheese and dressed with Tuscan kale and a briny caper sauce.
The contemporary fine dining scene in Paris is largely dominated by prix fixes, and here, vegetarians can find true bliss. At one-Michelin-star restaurant FIEF, diners can choose between the “conscious omnivore” or “amour vegetal” five-course menus, each of which stars exclusively French products. Depending on the season, the plant-based menu may feature a stuffed zucchini inspired by Provençal soupe au pistou with a tomato XO sauce, or an ode to French onion soup boasting a caramelized onion-filled dumpling settled in an onion-dashi broth infused, with Breton kombu and Meyer lemon. Chefs à Table proposes a similar double menu, with its five-course tasting available in either “classic” or “vegetal” forms. Vegetarians may begin with braised red cabbage with tahini cream and mustard pickles, before digging into a rich, creamy Roquefort risotto with seasonal oyster mushrooms.
At his Prévelle, Romain Méder (formerly of the Plaza Athénée) serves a Michelin-worthy love letter to plants, where animal proteins always play second fiddle—and often fade into the background. So it’s no surprise that all a vegetarian has to do is ask, and they’ll be granted a wholly plant-driven offering with dishes that may include a spotlight on pumpkin, with slices of roasted squash served atop a fermented pumpkin and pumpkin seed praline cream, and paired with pumpkin ketchup, pumpkin pickles, and plump pumpkin gnocchi.
Mesa is a wholly plant-based restaurant located within the HOY hotel featuring a creative, five-course tasting menu with loads of international flair. Diners may taste a vegan brioche with miso butter, followed by saffron arancini and a smoked tofu taco with lemon cream. At Vivide, the vegan tasting menu boasts a far Frencher accent, with dishes like a mushroom-scented play on pommes boulangères. Above all, the chef relies on French products whenever possible, so sweet woodruff may stand in for vanilla in a silky soy ice cream with major matcha vibes.
Plant-Based Paris Wine Bars
Parisian small plate-driven wine bars have long offered at least one plant-based dish or two, but at a few contemporary spots, the vegetables really shine. At his Chocho, Chef Thomas Chisholm’s innovative plates might include tempura-battered salsify served with a slow-cooked egg yolk and coffee mousse, or beet and pear layered in a savory millefeuille served with dill and koji sauce. Innovation gets dialed up to the avant-garde at Le Grand Bain, where the vegetable offerings have long been the stars of the imposing, ever-changing menu. Think house-made gnocchi served with roasted pears, smoked sabayon, and truffle, or eggplant paired with Stilton cheese, figs, pine nuts, and Timut pepper honey. At Pristine, the wholly vegetarian menu often takes influence from foreign cuisines, so that smoked eggplant may be served with mole sauce and chile-infused oil, or a steamed bao could be stuffed with onions, green pepper, and cheesy mornay sauce. The attention paid to cultivating umami with ingredients like miso, cheese, and a heaping helping of smoke means that even the most skeptical of omnivores won’t leave disappointed.
Where to Eat Vegetarian at Paris’s International Restaurants
Since traditional French cuisine rarely caters well to vegetarians, it’s unsurprising that plant-based visitors have long relied on Paris’s wealth of international restaurants. While it’s no longer the only recourse, these options remain a great way to take full advantage of the wide range of gastronomy Paris has to offer.
The street food scene teems with such options. Dumbo has become a local go-to for smashburgers, and the vegetarian patty is even tastier than the classic beef option. Le Daily Syrien is known for its “extra-falafel” sandwich, a generous marriage of crispy falafel, hummus, fried eggplant, cauliflower, potatoes, and pickled turnips, but you can also grab a seat in the casual dining room to dig into a host of vegetarian plates like fava bean foul, fattoush, or phyllo cigars stuffed with feta cheese.
In the sit-down category, Fellows is a criminally reasonable fresh pasta spot with just seven creative options at any given time, like mafaldine with harissa- and ancho-spiked tomato sauce, or a slow-cooked mushroom Bolognese ladled over pappardelle. All of the dishes here are vegetarian—and a handful are even vegan.
Contemporary Lebanese restaurant Kubri may be one of the city’s best in any category, thanks to Chef Rita Higgins’ delightful parade of mezze, like charred hispi cabbage with Aleppo pepper butter, apricot pickles, and shanklish cheese, or creamy hummus topped with broccolini, smoked almonds, and za’atar chili crunch.
Vegan Boulangeries and Pâtisseries in Paris
Any run-of-the-mill Parisian boulangerie offers more than enough choice for vegetarians, but vegans are typically left with a baguette and little else. Luckily, it’s no longer difficult to scratch your plant-based pastry itch. VG Pâtisserie is the OG, an artisanal vegan bakery in the 11th peddling all the éclairs, Paris-Brest, and macarons you crave. In the 17th, La Mauvaise Herbe has mastered classics like lemon tart and millefeuille, but co-founder and pâtissière Florence Neveux’s innovations feature just as heavily: Think an Earl Grey entremet with seasonal pear, or a cappuccino reimagined as a luxurious tartlet.
Rodolphe Landemaine is the vegan baker behind the Land & Monkeys mini chain, which boasts five outposts throughout the city. His bakeries look the part of the classic French boulangerie, but here, everything from the glistening croissants, to the “tuna-mayo” baguette, to even the rich pistachio flan, is entirely devoid of animal ingredients.
Emily Monaco is a journalist, international cheese judge, and culinary tour guide based in Paris. Her writing has appeared in the BBC, Saveur, Food & Wine, and the Infatuation. Find her writing and musings on life and food in France in her newsletter, Emily in France.
