What to order: Organic sourdough. With big windows looking into the airy storefront café, Ten Belles, opened by a Franco-British team, is making some of the best organic sourdough, focaccia, and rye in the city. Pick up a freshly baked, golden-crusted loaf at their boulangerie in the 11th arr.; loaves and baked goods are also available at their coffee shop in the 10th—just off the canal Saint Martin—or across the river in the 6th. (Ten Belles also serves some of the best coffee in Paris.)

What to Order: Baguette bâtarde. Opened in 2019, the counters and concrete walls of The French Bastards overflow with choice. If you must choose one bread, make it the namesake bâtard (bastard). Bâtards are shorter and wider than a traditional baguette, somewhere between that and a loaf of bread. The French Bastards offers two first-rate options: standard and seeded. But good luck leaving without also snagging a piece of focaccia spiced with piment d’espelette, or an impossibly flaky cruffin.

What to order: Miche mamiche. Victoria Effantin and Cécile Khayat opened Mamiche (“my loaf”) in the 9th arrondissement in 2017 and another one in the 10th in 2019, and the lines—for morning loaves, lunchtime sandwiches, afternoon goûter, and evening baguettes—never seem to shrink. Get the signature miche mamiche, a big, crusty, golden feast of a loaf dusted with a shaggy flour “M.” While there, you might also grab a slice of babka, a ham and cheese roulé, or whatever else catches your eye.

What to order: Pain noir. The menu of five to seven breads changes daily at Shinya Pain, depending on the type of flour owner Shinya Inagaki uses. You can’t go wrong, but the Pain Noir, the pain de méteil au sésame, and the brioche paysanne are standouts. The small storefront on the rue des Trois Frères in Montmartre is open only Thurs-Sun afternoons. Make it a stop after a stair-climbing visit to nearby Sacré-Cœur basilica and snag a sourdough cookie or a savory scone for the walk home.

What to order: Pain des amis. Be prepared to stand in line at local fixture, Du Pain et des Idées, near the Canal Saint Martin. With a hand-painted ceiling dating to 1875 and gilded mirrors, Christophe Vasseur’s bakery is beautiful. Just as beautiful are the long, flat, crisp-crusted pain des amis or “bread of friends” sold by the quarter, half, or loaf. Also snag a few mini-pavés (rolls stuffed with savory combinations)—the pruneaux (prune) and lardons fermiers (farmer’s) are truly special.

What to order: Signature sourdough loaf. If bread is holy in Paris, then Poilâne is a temple. The world-famous, third generation-owned bakery in the city’s 6th arr. takes you back in time. Get a full round of wood-fired, oven-baked, slightly acidic signature sourdough inscribed with a “P”— or ask for a half, quarter, or just two slices. Add a bag of punitions (sablé cookies) and peek into the room behind the cash register for a glimpse at the famed bread chandelier designed by Salvador Dali.

What to order: Multigrain. Le Petit Grain—a stone’s throw from restaurant Le Grand Bain in Belleville and also owned by chef Edward Delling-Williams—opened in 2018, using organic flours for the breads and pastries. The multigrain loaf in particular is a revelation, and should you also be craving something sweet but not too sweet, get the sesame kouign-amann, an earthy take on the rich, buttery Breton specialty.

What to order: Baguette de tradition. On weekends, the line of regulars here often spills out the door and around the 11th arrondissement block, but the wait is well-worth it for the lineup of classic and inventive breads and pastries. Try one of their more creative endeavors—activated charcoal baguette, black sesame roulé, or any of their pain du weekend (weekend-specific breads revealed weekly on Instagram), for example—but be sure to also grab a baguette de tradition.

What to order: hallah. Babka Zana makes, as the name suggests, babka. The owners opened the bakery in Pigalle in January 2020 and offer their namesake in several forms—roll, cake, and pie—as well as flavors like pistachio-orange blossom and a chocolate-hazelnut that employs a rich pâte à tartiner from the oldest chocolatier in Paris, La Mère de Famille. But the sleeper hit is the tender, braided hallah. Buy a loaf and linger outside the window to watch bakers knead, roll, braid, and bake all day

What to order: Le pain aux cinq grains. A sleek, recently-expanded bakery, Chambelland makes some of the best gluten-free, certified organic, fermented with natural yeast breads (and sweets including cookies, tarts, and eclairs) in the city. Made without preservatives, the square pain aux cinq grains, or five-grain loaf, topped with sesame, sunflower, poppy, and toasted flax seeds is truly excellent as is the pissaladière, a savory combo of caramelized onions and anchovies on olive focaccia.