There are many things in Paris that are extremely good, tempting and expensive. Vegan food is no exception. It can be very hard to stick to a budget. Here are a few places I have found where you can enjoy the good life for less.
Restaurants: (see restaurant list for details)
One of the best deals in town is Maoz Vegetarian falafel shop. For 6€50 you get a falafel sandwich with a self-serve salad bar to fill your pita. Squeeze in as much as you can! You’ll also get a handsome portion of great crispy fries and a drink. They always seem laid back about going back for more salad, which must mean it’s okay otherwise you can bet you’d get a big “Il faut pas!!!!” You can also just get the sandwich and load it up for 3€90. I should add, that it’s also very good.
Falafel on rue des Rosiers is also value for money. There’s no do-it-yourself here but for 5€ (prices have recently gone up) you get a well stuffed and very satisfying falafel pita. To eat it inside, you’ll pay 1€50 more.
Green Garden Chinese restaurant has a set menu for 10€. It includes appetizer, main course, dessert and coffee or tea with soy milk. The à la carte menu has good prices too. It’s easy to over-order here but they happily pack up leftovers.
Krishna Bhavan Indian is also good value: 10€ will fill you up.
Saveurs Veget’Halles vegan and vegetarian restaurant has a lunch special: 12€90 for main course plus choice of either starter OR dessert. That’s a tough choice right there. But for a veg*n restaurant in Paris, it’s a great price. La Victoire, Le Potager and Le Grenier are not cheap, with la Victoire probably being the priciest with its 19€ small main courses. That said, these restaurants are not that expensive by Paris standards, but they wouldn’t make my budget list.
If you do want the Vegan menu and atmosphere of La Victoire, you can try the Weekend ‘Brunch’ (starts at noon) buffet: for 19€90 it’s all you can eat (but no drink). Fill up, skip dinner and still in budget!
Generally speaking, satisfying vegetarian main dishes at Paris restaurants will usually cost between 10 and 15 euros. My dad has always said “the drinks is where they get ya,” and Paris is no exception. If you can resist drinks and desserts you can leave without breaking the bank. Really, drinks will generally cost at least 3€50 and often much more. Keep water in your bag or go for the tap-water carafe d’eau if you can handle it.
Cafés can be affordable if you find one that has a good salad, and they all have a complimentary bread basket. I’ve almost always found that the café waiters are very cool about veganizing the salads. Maybe it saves them money on the ham and eggs or something.
Groceries:
Naturalia organic food stores have a good range of lentil, quinoa, and veggie salads already prepared, which is convenient for a picnic or unexpected hungry moments. Naturalia has a lot of branches but is considered pricey. It’s worth seeking out the many organic food co-ops around town. Prices are a bit better, they have lots of bulk options, and more interesting variety. Monoprix has vegan options too that might be worth checking out. Ed Epicerie stocks mainstream basics at lower prices. As a veg student in the 90s this was my épicerie of choice. They’re all over, and recently made a big push to carry more organic goods.
Markets:
Raspail organic market on Sundays is the best but has a reputation of being the most expensive. There’s always something to discover at the other farmers markets and they are easier on the pocket book. Here’s a list of Paris’ many markets.
Just as an example, Marché Bastille on Sunday, is fun and at the Bastille end there’s a Lebanese stand selling hot-off-the-grill, best-I’ve-ever-had Manakish for about 2€50. It’s not a meal but is filling, although you might end up eating two anyway!
Nice post! I would love to see a post about finding good salads in Paris!
hi emily,
thanks again for your company on sunday! we were so stuffed after VSDC that we didn’t need food at night. we already had entered Le potager du marais, but it was so crowded and hot stuffed that we left after being seated. next day we ate at Le Grenier, which was ok but pretty “macrobioticy”, as you called it, and then went back to VSDC for a great dessert, after which again we didn’t need a dinner 🙂
let us know when you and/or your husband find yourselves in Ghent!
best wishes
tobias
Hi Tobias,
It was great meeting you both and such a pleasure to talk veganism! It’s fun to hear your impressions of my local vegan hangouts. I was surprised to learn about the dense concentration of veggie restaurants in Ghent. I looked them up on Happy Cow and am excited to visit. My husband will be there the end of this week and will drop you a line.
Take care,
Emily
Hi Beth! I have some thoughts on Paris salads that I’ll write up sometime. Nice idea.
Hi, I am about to go on a trip to Paris for 7 weeks. I was wondering if anyone could help make a grocery list for vegan items, I’m not sure exactly what to look for. This will be a BIG help! Thank you!
Read about your site in VegNews mag – very thrilled! My husband and I are looking to travel to Paris in September for the first time. Can you recommend which part of Paris would make sense to find a hotel in so that we are within striking distance of vegan (or vegan option restaurants)? We love to walk and are used to taking public transit everywhere we travel so we are not limited in that way. Thanks so much! Cheers,
Tannis
Toronto, ON Canada
Hi Tannis,
I am so glad you found my site in VegNews. I love that magazine. Most of the veg restaurants are quite central in the 1st through 6th arrondissements. There is a charming hotel which is not in the center but not too far out called Hotel Eldorado. I also really love renting a little apartment from rentparis.com. They are all centrally located and, I find, cheaper than most hotels.
Have a great time in Vegan Paris!
Emily
Thanks Emily – after I spent a little more time on your site I read what you had to say about veganparis.com and booked a wonderful flat in the 3rd arrondissements. And I’ve printed off your restaurant list so we’re good to go! I’m grateful for your website – it’ll make the trip to Paris smooth as silken tofu. 🙂
Cheers,
Tannis
Lovely Veganparis! I’m visiting Paris for the first time in September and planning our trip has been so much easier because of your site. We’ve booked a tiny studio apartment (because then we can cook!) in the 1éme arrondisement, so we’re bang slap in the middle of town and, before I start waffling on, I just wanted to say thank you!
cheers
Chloe
xxxxx
I have to say I’m a little surprised to find a vegan-based Paris site — after sticking to a vegan diet for a year and a half, I went veg upon beginning travels around the world. I’m now living in Paris for the next 5 weeks and happy to see that I might be able to find some non-dairy options. Thanks!
Wow! Thanks for the vegan restaurant list!! My mom and I are coming to Paris in March; she is vegetarian, I am vegan. Your list will definitely come in handy!
Hi Emily,
I was wondering if you knew where I would be able to buy tofu in Paris?
Catherine,
Many of the grocery stores in Paris have a tofu section. My favorite store was the Franprix; there are many small ones throughout the city, but the biggest one is located in the market right off Avenue Daumesnil (Gare de Lyon, metro line 1).
Thanks Callie! Do they keep it in the dairy section or something?
Would you also happen to know where I could find veggie burger patties/fake meats?
They do not keep it in the dairy section, it is in a aisle. It is not the cold kind of tofu but rather the warm kind that comes in a box. Depending on the store you go to their might be fake meats, I didn’t see any. But do check out the dairy section for soy yogurt! The french are not big on ‘frozen foods’, as a matter of fact the concept of grocery stores is pretty new to the culture.
Hope I’ve helped!
If you are still looking, you might visit http://www.happycow.net/europe/france/paris for a list of restaurants and also groceries.
I am in Paris for holiday, from Oregon, where we just had a big VegFest. If anyone would like to join me for dinner sometime before Monday the 28th, I’d welcome the company. I’m staying near Metro Jacques Bonsergent.
Ciao,
Charley
hi, my partner is lactose intolerant (but eats meat), while I am vegetarian so your website is so amazingly helpful. My partner went to paris last year and ate dry cereal and salads every day, she survived but it put a bit of a dampener on the trip. This time I plan to use your list of vegan restaurants to help both of us eat yummy food in paris without stress. I was just wondering if you know anywhere that sells lactose free milk and yoghurt in paris? A grocery store chain we could look out for maybe? I’m not sure if these sort of products exist over tthere yet but we’ve gotten so used to them here!
Cheers, Jess
Hi Jess:
My husband and I, both vegan, were in Paris last month arriving with print-outs from Emily’s outstanding lists. They were an amazing resource – thank you Emily (we also loved our flat they we find through your rentparis.com suggestion)! The trip was so stress free, we had absolutely no problem eating at all. The health food chain Naturalia is everywhere. You’ll soon get used to seeing the red sign – it was like a beacon to us vegans – we went almost daily and picked up our multi-grain baguette, soya yogurt, hummus, soya milk. Monoprix was also handy and we picked up food staples there as well – not as much for vegans though as Naturalia but handy in a pinch.
We stayed in the Marais district (arr 3) and it was chock full of eating opportunities – many of Emily’s suggestions are in that neighbourhood. The only area we were challenged was rue Cler (around the Eiffel Tower)…not veg friendly. We ended up in the local Naturalia, put together a picnic and ate on the Champs de Mar gazing at the Tower.
Have a great time! Thanks again Emily.
Salut,
Tannis
Hi Emily,
Even though you are no longer here, I was wondering if you can tell me about any Bio markets in Paris that sell food in bulk similar to markets in the US that sell nuts, different kinds of grains, seeds, trail mix, etc in large bins. One fills a bag with the desired amount and it’s sold by weight.
I am looking for the dried falafel mix in bulk for a fundraiser in which I am involved. It’s getting down to the wire…any ideas? I will go to the kosher markets but was hoping you may know of a place.
Thanks!
Helyn
Greetings: Could you please recommend the best places to buy fresh organic produce and raw organic nuts? Are the BioCoop’s my best option?
Kindly,
K
Hi,
There’s a vegan and organic B&B which propose dinners (from 30€ to 50€ for menus all included 3 or 4 courses with wine and coffee or tea). It’s located in the safe and pretty 16th arrondissement (west of Paris).
The Gentle Gourmet propose as well vegan cooking classes.
For more info, they have a website or you can look on happycow!!! They have really good reviews
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We just ate at Saveurs Veget’Halles this evening. The menu advertises “gluten free” (sans gluten) on designated dishes, but they aren’t! There was a celiac in our party and we made it known. The problematic meal (for the celiac) was marked and confirmed as gluten-free — only to be served with bread, a very likely cross-contaminated dish or simply not gluten-free, AND caused the unpleasant reactions before we even left the restaurant! If you NEED a gluten-free meal then do NOT eat here!
I am a vegan and I have been living in Paris for 3 months now, and WOW do i wish i had found this blog sooner! thank you for everything!! i live in the 11th, but go to school in the Marais and the LQ, so i’m a bit everywhere and it can be hard to find anything nutritionally fulfilling. Is there ANYWHERE in Paris where I can find vegan cheese or an earth-balance like butter substitute? i can get by with soy and grains, but i do miss my “butter”!
This is JUST what I needed to read! I’m slowly transitioning to vegan and it seems daunting living here in Paris. This reminds me that it IS possible. If its possible to be vegan in paris, its possible anywhere. Thanks for the post!