Where to Find the Best Hot Chocolate in Paris

ByStephanie Rytting Posted on

Parisian hot chocolate just hits different – it’s something about the combination of absolutely adorable tablescapes and rich, creamy chocolate that makes this hot drink stand out in a country that’s in an active love affair with coffee and wine.

As a woman who will happily choose hot chocolate over coffee any day, it’s been an absolute pleasure to, ahem, *research* where to find the best hot chocolate in Paris.

I’ve visited France 10 times and Paris 7 times, so I’ve had plenty of opportunities to visit many of these incredible cafes and boulangeries to sample the best chocolat chaud in the city.

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5 Best Places to Get Hot Chocolate in Paris

Without further ado, these are my top picks for best cocoa locations in Paris:

1. Angelina

Angelina Café is the OG of hot chocolate in Paris. Well, to me, at least. Angelina was the first café that I went to for hot chocolate, and I’ve been back at least half a dozen times since.

Angelina has several locations around Paris, but their flagship café is located on Rue de Rivoli (one of the best walking streets in Paris), and just across the street from the Jardin de Tuileries (a favorite Parisian garden) and the Louvre.

The café is quite large and has only indoor seating, but the dining room is absolutely lovely (and make sure you use the restrooms because they are also so pretty!).

Angelina’s signature hot chocolate is “chocolat chaud a l’ancien“, or “Old Fashioned Hot Chocolate.” One order of chocolat chaud costs €12, and is served in a charming little ceramic pitcher, along with a little pot of whipped cream, and a teacup and saucer.

The hot chocolate is very thick and very rich – it almost tastes like you’re drinking melted chocolate, in the best way possible.

Besides hot chocolate, Angelina is most well-known for their housemade Mont-Blanc pastry, a pastry of baked meringue topped with chestnut vermicelli purée and whipped cream.

If you need more than just a mid-afternoon treat, the savory plates at Angelina are exceptionally delicious as well.

Angelina has a takeout area where you can buy pastries to-go, and you can also pick up their hot chocolate mixes, and their pitchers and teacups to bring home, which all make for very fun souvenirs.

Angelina has become quite popular, so there is usually a queue to get in – expect to wait between 20-30 minutes to be seated.

2. Carette

Carette is an adorable Insta-famous cafe in Paris, and they have several locations in the city. Their most popular location is near Trocadero (very close to the Eiffel Tower), but their other locations in Montmartre and Place des Vosges (which is a bit of a hidden gem in Paris) are equally charming and often less busy.

You can sit inside the café or on the wicker chairs on the patio – if the weather is even half-decent, the patio seating is definitely my preference!

Their signature hot cocoa dish is “Chocolat Carette” (€12), which is hot chocolate served in a metal teapot, with a dish piled high with whipped cream, and your own teacup and saucer.

Your server will pour some of the hot chocolate into your cup, and then leave the rest of the pot for you at the table. There’s enough cocoa for more than two full cups of the rich and fairly dark chocolat chaud – the cream helps considerably to lighten up the cocoa and is absolutely delicious.

The other pastries at Carette, the croissant in particular, are frequently used to dip into the chocolate.

3. Ladurée

Ladurée is a famous patisserie chain in Paris that is most well-known for their macarons (and indeed, after doing extensive macaron taste-testing on my latest visit, Ladurée was a real macaron winner).

So, while we came for the macarons, we stayed for the hot chocolate, a surprising standout in our hunt for delicious Parisian chocolat chaud.

To start – the Ladurée Café on the Champs Elysées is absolutely stunning. It’s probably the most beautiful dining room that I’ve visited in Paris. A man was playing on a grand piano in the corner, and everything from floor to ceiling oozed elegance.

But on to the hot chocolate! Like Angelina and Carette, the chocolat chaud (€12) is served in a kettle, which you can pour into your teacup. The cocoa is accompanied by a cup filled with a generous amount of whipped cream. The cocoa is dark, rich, and thick, and benefits immensely from the whipped cream.

While Ladurée is famous for its macarons and sweet treats, the savory main dishes are also high quality and delicious. Our steak-frites dish was incredibly tender and juicy.

This location is very popular, and while quite large, the wait was pretty long – at least 30 minutes. We did come late afternoon on a weekend, though, so that is to be expected.

Tip: For Carette, Angelina, and Ladurée, if you can come first thing in the morning, you are much more likely to avoid crowds and get seated more quickly.

4. Bo & Mie

Bo & Mie is certainly not the same type of Instagrammable sit-down cafe as the first three spots in this post, but it definitely deserves it’s place on this list.

Bo & Mie is a self-described “creative boulangerie” producing both delicious classics, lesser-known pastries, and mouthwatering new takes.

We were drawn in by the beautiful framboise croissants (the raspberry croissants in the picture above), as well as the kouign amann pastry, a specialty from Bretagne with caramelized pastry layers.

And of course, we couldn’t help but order a hot chocolate to go with the pastries.

And the hot chocolate was fantastic! While there are a couple of sit-down tables in the café, most people just order to go, which is what we did as well.

There are multiple locations around Paris, but we stopped at the location right behind the Louvre, next to the Louvre-Rivoli Metro station.

5. Many Boulangeries Around the City

While not every boulangerie serves hot chocolate, we found that many of the corner bakeries in Paris also had hot chocolate available to order, and by and large, the hot chocolate at just about every boulangerie we ordered from was quite good.

Of course, you’re just ordering it for takeout, but sipping on some creamy and smooth chocolate while you walk is a great way to start your day in Paris.

And bonus – the hot chocolate is going to be much more affordable than the first three cafes on this list!

So, What’s My Favorite Hot Chocolate?

Okay, to be honest, I loved all of them. I know, I know, that’s not that helpful! I would say the first three hot chocolates from Angelina, Carette, and Ladurée are all insanely decadent and on another level. While the presentation differed a little bit between the cafes, the taste was very similar to me, and I would equally recommend any of these spots.

The takeaway hot chocolate from the boulangeries were also very good and creamy, but not as rich or thick as the cafés. Definitely consider boulangerie hot chocolate on a day-to-day basis, but make sure you go one of the first three cafes at least once while you’re in Paris!

Stephanie is obsessed with everything having to do with France, and she's visited the country 10 times (including a 3 month stint when she lived in Paris). She draws on her extensive knowledge of the country to bring you detailed and helpful guides, from the perspective of a fellow traveler.