Paul

This place is amazing! Real authentic French food and friendly staff members. Do yourselves a favor and stop by here if you get a chance you won’t be disappointed. We got some sort of potato pancake with goat cheese and salad and it was great! Also, ask for butter, it costs extra but it’s worth every penny.

Found this bakery in an alleyway across the street from the pier that heads towards the Musee de Louvre. It was super busy with people walking in and out buying baked loaves of bread or their pastries in the display cases. Apparently, bread is major part of French diet so good fresh bread sells pretty fast.
The display cases housed a lot of desserts from chocolate log cakes, to cookies, to eclairs (salted caramel and chocolate), etc. to fresh sandwiches and fresh bread that people were just buying up left and right.
Inside the store, there are no chairs. Instead there are high above the waist table tops where people can stand around to eat their foods to eliminate the need to waste space for chairs — ingenious.
I didn’t want anything too heavy since I hadn’t had dinner yet and I just wanted to try something so I ended up getting an salted caramel éclair. which I found to just be ok. There was definite flavor in the éclair, but it got too sweet towards the end that I wasn’t able to eat more than half of it and had the pass the remainder off to someone else to finish. Overall, I think the breads and sandwiches are pretty good, but their desserts were just okay to me.

While I was looking forward to the croissants, we also impulsively purchased a palmier, which we had never had before. It was delicious. Very convenient location near Monoprix.

Paul was my saving grace when I was in Paris. There are many locations located throughout a lot of the main touristy sites like the Louvre, and whenever I couldn’t decide what to eat, I settled upon a sandwich from this place. My favorite sandwich that I tried was the butter, salami, and pickle one, that might sound pretty disgusting, but in actuality, is damn good. The bread is perfectly chewy, and who knew salami and tiny pickles could go so well together? Whenever I was really hungry, I would get the combo, which comes with a sandwich, a pastry, and a drink, which I personally think is the best deal. It’s pretty reasonably priced for Paris, and you really can’t go wrong with Paul.

I found this restaurant by chance during my first day I. Paris and nervously stepped in hoping I would easily be able to order with zero knowledge of French. I was pleased to find that the servers spoke English and were quite kind and helpful.
I ordered a chicken sandwich which arrived with a side of greens and vinaigrette. The sandwich was okay. The bread was a sourdough with black seeds that was extremely hard making it less pleasant to eat. The chicken was neither dry not juicy and was okay, but the Dijon mustard on the dish was great!
Afterwards I had a latte and chocolate éclair. I honestly expected the chocolate-​filled éclair to be much too sweet and heavy but I was pleasantly surprised to find it wonderful. Though it was chocolate filled the éclair did not have a sickly sweetness. The outer bread was soft (though not fluffy) and the chocolate contained strong cocoa flavors with just enough sugar. The latte was a bit weaker than I would have preferred though.

Um delicioso café da manhã francês, recomendamos bastante experimentar e conhecer o local que é muito bonitinho. Para comer no local entre e vá para as mesas que ficam ao fundo do restaurante.

Excellent choice for a quick breakfast and/​or baguette/​quiche lunch! The staff is friendly, the pastries are delicious and the prices are great.

Stopped in here for a to-​go lunch sandwich. They had a decent selection of to-​go items but not as expansive as the nearby Eric Kayser. The sandwich I got (baguette, meat, cheese, tomato) was really good though! Service was very friendly too.

Coming to Paris as an American, speaking absolutely no French except for the very basic phrases, I had no idea what to expect trying to order food. But any Paul locations in Paris (it’s a chain, think like Panera Bread) were awesome and delicious. Just about every day I found myself at this location while I was on vacation, as it was right near our hotel and I had to get my daily fix of macaroons and delicious panini sandwiches.
I was in heaven every time I stepped into this place, the food was to die for and everything was so fresh. If you are in the Opera area of Paris, you have to come in here. Completely English/​American friendly, we were often not the only English speaking people in here.

We stumbled upon Paul while walking from the Lourve to the Opera and I’m glad we did! Friendly staff, super cute décor, delicious pastries/​drinks and great prices!

Very good bakery/​pastry/​coffee shop. Tried the brioche and a danish and both were very good, nice texture, and tasted fresh. The French really know how to bake. Definitely a good place for a snack while taking a break from The Louvre.

Very friendly place (I didn’t expect this in Paris) and great quality bakery. We were at the Monoprix next door and asked for a restroom. They said they don’t offer restrooms but sent us to Paul’s next door. While the kids were able to go to a restroom, we shopped for pastries.

When I’m in Paris, I take a shuttle from the airport that drops me off near the Opera. Almost always, I’m starving, and just up the street is Boulangeries Paul, a guaranteed quick, tasty meal at a very reasonable price. The first time I visited this particular Paul was many years ago, and I ended up having Quiche Lorraine with a frisée salad for breakfast because they were serving lunch. Maybe I was just starving, but it sticks in my memory as one great quiche!
Over the years, I’ve been to other locations and enjoyed other meals at Paul branches (there are well over 300 in Paris alone, and a number in other countries, including… wait for it… USA’s Florida!!) I haven’t been to the one in FL, but I may remedy that sometime this year. I will admit that my expectations are not high for how well the quality and value has transplanted to U.S. soil, but we’ll see!
I will say that I stumbled upon a Paul establishment (mostly just a kiosk) near the Tower of London last April. It was pretty lousy.
Paul typically has a prix-​fix option at a very good price. For locals, it’s a bit like Au Bön Pain here… fresh bread and a selection of quick menu items that are great to pick up on the way to work or for a lunch break. Nothing fancy, but tasty. (I’d consider Paul at a better price-​point than Au Bön, however.) Décor varies depending on the location, but the one at the Opera is really quite charming. They have a dumbwaiter that delivers up your order to the waitress. Service at a Paul tends to be faster than at other French boulangeries, but again, many among their regular clientele have to keep their eyes on the clock. It is not necessarily the usual relaxed eating experience with waiters & waitresses who allow you to languish over your meal.
Finally, keep in mind that my rating above is for the «Opera» Paul and that they are not all created equal. But if you’re hungry and spot a Paul, you can consider it a safe, quick, economical bet. And a good one? A true treat.