Historic Restaurants in Paris

Food and history are entwined in this culinary town, and when a restaurant does things right, Parisians will keep it in business for generations. Paris historic restaurants from the fin de siècle cater to both tourists and sophisticated locals.

Opened in 1905, café La Palette was frequented by artists Picasso and Braque, who established the venue’s initial following of creative types – and indeed, the café is still popular with art students. Palette has maintained the small original structure, which consists of a year-round terrace, carved wood details, and a long wooden bar usually crowded with customers sampling the many wines and liqueurs on offer.

Located in the luxurious Hotel Ritz Paris, Bar Hemingway and the Ritz Bar both cater to an affluent clientele looking to mingle with other fashionable high rollers. Once frequented by Ernest himself – and featuring some of his original photographs – Bar Hemingway is a tiny oak-paneled room where stylish American tourists and jet-setters gather to enjoy mellow conversation with master mixologists and a pricey cocktail scene. Guests looking for a posh nighttime spot can hop right across the corridor to Ritz Bar, a dark and spacious lounge decked out in red and gold furnishings, 19th-century antiques, and a stunning candelabrum suspended over the bar.

Historic restaurants in Paris stick with time-tested traditions, letting diners step into a sophisticated past, perhaps one in which literary geniuses and legendary artists could be dining at the next table.