Ask ten Parisians where to find the best croissant in Paris and you will get ten answers. The honest one is this: the best croissant is a freshly baked one from a good artisan bakery within walking distance of where you are staying, eaten in the morning with your coffee. A croissant at 4 pm, however famous the shop, is never quite the same.

The short answer: in our side-by-side tastings, the standouts were Bread & Roses, Des Gâteaux et du Pain, Blé Sucré, Pierre Hermé and Régis Colin. Some of the city’s best-known names, including Ladurée, scored much lower. Below you will find every bakery we tried, ranked from best to worst, plus tips for finding a great croissant anywhere in the city.

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What Makes a Great Croissant?

A croissant is laminated dough: layers of butter folded into a yeasted dough again and again, so it bakes into dozens of thin, crisp sheets. When you judge one, look at:

• The outside: deep golden, crisp and slightly crinkly, shattering into fine flakes rather than big dry chunks.
• The inside: open, honeycomb-like layers that are soft and moist but never wet, greasy or bready.
• The flavor: clearly buttery, with a little salt and a hint of sweetness. The best have a creamy, slightly caramelized aftertaste.
• Freshness: croissants are at their peak within a few hours of baking. Even a great one fades by the afternoon.

In French bakeries, look for croissant au beurre (made with butter). A plain croissant ordinaire may be made with other fats. Traditionally, bakers shaped butter croissants straight and others curved, but that rule is no longer reliable, so read the label.

How We Tasted

We visited boulangeries and pâtisseries across the city, buying several croissants at a time and going back at least twice to each shop so that one bad batch would not decide the score. Each croissant was photographed whole and in cross-section and scored out of 10. Many of the shops were chosen because they had placed well in the annual professional competition for the best butter croissant in Paris and Île-de-France, or were recommended by Parisian food guides.

Bakeries change owners, bakers and recipes, so treat these scores as a starting point and check that a shop is still open before you cross town for it.

The Best Croissants in Paris, Ranked

1. Bread & Roses (score: 9)

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Our winner. The crust breaks into a mix of large and small flakes, and the interior is soft and yielding. What sets it apart is the flavor: rich butter with a clear note of fresh cream, followed by a long, warm, almost smoky aftertaste that lingers on the palate. A second visit was not quite as spectacular as the first, but it still beat every other shop on an average day. Bread & Roses is near the Luxembourg Gardens, which makes it an easy breakfast stop before a walk in the park.

2. Des Gâteaux et du Pain (score: 8.5 to 9)

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The smell alone is worth the trip: butter and caramelized crust. The exterior is brittle yet tender and comes apart in hundreds of tiny flakes instead of chunks. Inside, it is moist without being wet, fairly rich and dense, and melts rather than springs back when you bite. This shop is known for its pastries, and the croissant shows the same care.

3. Blé Sucré (score: 8.5)

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A friend insisted we try this bakery near the Marché d’Aligre, and she was right. The skin is crinkly, the interior wonderfully buttery and the texture excellent. It has one surprising quality: a distinct, pleasant taste reminiscent of soft pretzels. We loved it plain, though that flavor makes it less suited to jam.

4. Pierre Hermé (score: 8 to 8.5)

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Pierre Hermé is famous for macarons, and the croissant is not much to look at. But the skin is ultra-tender and crinkly, and the inside is springy and light, a real pleasure to eat. Each bite seems to release more butter. The flavors beyond the butter are not especially complex, but there is enough subtlety to put it near the top.

5. Régis Colin (score: 8 to 8.5)

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Its location on a busy stretch of rue Montmartre (2nd arrondissement) made us expect hype. Instead, we found a very buttery croissant with a fantastic skin. It is bigger, messier and more substantial than the more refined winners above. Buy it early and eat it straight away: by the afternoon, the flavor had faded noticeably.

6. Thierry Renard (score: 7.5 to 8)

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Our notes said it is about as good as a croissant gets before it becomes truly distinctive. The exterior is perfectly crisp, the interior pliant and neither too fluffy nor too dense, and the butter flavor is delightful. It was the most misshapen croissant of the whole tasting, but if you like to spread butter or jam on yours, this is an excellent choice.

7. Pichard (score: 7.5)

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Pichard once topped the official Paris croissant ranking. Ours was a little burned on the bottom, which actually added a pleasant toasty note. The texture was very light and buttery, though it edged toward greasy. Well worth buying if you are nearby.

8. Poilâne (score: 7.5)

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Poilâne is best known for its large sourdough loaves, and its shops have an old-fashioned charm. The croissant is a notch above really good, with a handsome exterior, though it is a bit bready and flakes in large pieces. The inside is soft and buttery, with little salt or sweetness. It tastes the way we imagine classic croissants did decades ago.

9. Le Triomphe (score: 7 to 7.5)

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Recommended by a Paris food guide as one of the ultimate croissants, it struck us as rather greasy, and the interior was close to dense. Lovely butter flavor, interesting notes from the flour and a stronger touch of salt than usual kept the score respectable.

10. Maison Kayser (score: 7)

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A pleasant surprise from a chain with branches all over Paris. It is not in the same league as the leaders, but it has good butter flavor and a satisfying internal structure. If you need a dependable croissant near a sight, a Kayser branch is a safe bet.

11. Frédéric Comyn (score: 7)

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Comically puffy, with a muted butter flavor compared with the best. Nothing wrong with it, and a perfectly decent croissant, but not one to seek out.

12. Maison Delcourt (score: 6.5)

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It placed high in the croissant rankings, but we found it slightly dry and bready, without much character. Fine for spreading jam on, but we would not buy it again.

13. Didier Maeder (score: 6.5)

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The crust had a nice medium flake, but the inside was bready, dry and short on butter, and the shape was irregular. A notch below good enough.

14. Boulangerie Martin (score: 6.5)

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This small bakery on the Île Saint-Louis, not far from the Berthillon ice cream shop, has been praised as a top croissant. Ours were buttery but a little dry and not very nuanced. Pleasant enough if you are exploring the island, but not worth a special trip.

15. Du Pain et des Idées (score: 6.5)

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This beautiful old bakery near the Canal Saint-Martin is famous, and rightly so for its pain au chocolat, its orange-blossom brioche (mouna) and its pastries. The all-butter croissant has a lovely butter flavor, but the skin and interior texture were fairly ordinary. Go for the other specialties.

16. Le Grenier à Pain, rue Caulaincourt (score: 6 to 6.5)

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A good showing in the professional rankings raised our hopes, but this Montmartre branch’s croissant was light on butter, a little bready and short on flavor, despite a reasonable texture.

17. Hugo & Victor (score: 6)

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We tried it three times. The interior was pleasant, but the crust felt like a separate shell rather than part of the whole, and the flavor was muted. The shop’s pastries are much stronger than its croissant.

18. Carton (score: 5.5 to 6)

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Not flaky or crinkly, with butter you could see but barely taste. The moisture level and a little salt were the only redeeming points.

19. Ladurée (score: 5)

Ladurée’s croissant looks classic and billowy, but the taste and texture are only a step above mediocre. The skin sheds big, messy flakes, the interior is slightly dry and the butter flavor is faint. Go to Ladurée for macarons and the tearoom setting, not for breakfast pastries.

Scores at a Glance

Bakery	Score (out of 10)
Bread & Roses	9
Des Gâteaux et du Pain	8.5–9
Blé Sucré	8.5
Pierre Hermé	8–8.5
Régis Colin	8–8.5
Thierry Renard	7.5–8
Pichard	7.5
Poilâne	7.5
Le Triomphe	7–7.5
Maison Kayser	7
Frédéric Comyn	7
Maison Delcourt	6.5
Didier Maeder	6.5
Boulangerie Martin	6.5
Du Pain et des Idées	6.5
Le Grenier à Pain (Caulaincourt)	6–6.5
Hugo & Victor	6
Carton	5.5–6
Ladurée	5

Tips for Finding a Great Croissant Anywhere in Paris

• Go early. Most bakeries bake in the early morning. Croissants bought before about 10 am are at their best.
• Look for an artisan bakery. A sign saying artisan boulanger or a shop that bakes on site is a better bet than a chain café that reheats frozen dough.
• Follow the queue. A line of locals at 8 am is the most reliable review in Paris.
• Order like a local. “Un croissant, s’il vous plaît” works everywhere. Many bakeries sell croissants for around a euro or two; luxury pâtisseries charge more.
• Check opening days. Independent bakeries usually close one or two days a week, and some close for a few weeks in summer.
• Try the cousins. If a bakery’s croissant disappoints, its pain au chocolat, pain aux raisins or croissant aux amandes may be excellent.

Pair your croissant with the right coffee using our guide to ordering coffee in France, and explore more sweet treats in our lists of the best patisseries in Paris and best French pastries. For the rest of the menu, see what to eat in France.

Summary

The best croissant in Paris is a fresh one, eaten in the morning. In our tastings, Bread & Roses came out on top, closely followed by Des Gâteaux et du Pain, Blé Sucré, Pierre Hermé and Régis Colin, while some famous names such as Ladurée and Carton disappointed. Use the ranking as a guide, go early, and do not be afraid to trust the busy neighborhood bakery around the corner from your hotel.