How and where to eat snails in Paris – 10 amazing places

For many first time visitors to France eating traditional dishes such as snails is one of the great bucket list experiences in France. This post includes ten amazing places to eat snails in Paris, as well as how to order and eat snails. My options here all have English language menus and booking engines to make life easy for you. So let’s learn about how and where to eat snails in Paris.

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Collage of pictures of snails in parsley and garlic butter How and where to eat snails in Paris - 10 amazing places

How are snails served in France?

Snails are usually served in the shell with a sauce. The most common sauce is a simple butter sauce with plenty of garlic and parsley. It is normal for the sauce to be heavy on the parsley and have a green hue, like those below, which I enjoyed on a food tour.

Snails are typically served on a special plate with indentations to hold them in place (also like below). Often the plates are metal, but you do see china plates as well. Rather than normal cutlery you will be provided with special tongs (that look a bit like eye lash curlers) and a fork with two relatively large tines.

Plate of snails in parsley butter in Paris restaurant How and where to eat snails in Paris - 10 amazing places — You will often find snails served in special little dishes designed to hold the shells

How to order snails in France

By far the most common way of serving snails in France is with a butter sauce with garlic and parsley. While there is generally one way of preparing the snails, there are multiple ways to describe them on the menu. Depending on the restaurant, snails may be described as:

Snails in parsley butter sauce or parsley snails;
Burgundy snails;
Escargots de Bourgogne or Escargots Bourguignonne;
Escargots persillés.

If you aren’t sure what you are ordering confirm with your waiter.

The only other question is how many snails should you order? Like oysters, snails are typically served in plates of either six or twelve. Many restaurants tend to offer only a plate of six. Snails are typically eaten as an appetiser (entrée), so that is where you will find them on the restaurant menu.

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How to eat snails in France

Ordering might be relatively straight forward, but if you aren’t used to them, eating snails can definitely be a test of most non-French diners’ cutlery skills.

The correct way to east snails is to take the tongs in your left hand and the fork in your right. Use the tongs to pick up the snail shell – in my experience this can be tricky. While it’s not that hard to pick the snail shell up, picking it up politely, and having the opening of the shell easily accessible can be a bit awkward. It’s definitely a case of practice making perfect.

Plate of six snails and baguette slices on Paris restaurant table How and where to eat snails in Paris - 10 amazing places — Special forks and tongs are normally provided when you order snails

Once you’ve got the shell securely in the tongs, use the fork to twist the snail meat out of the shell. If the snails are well cooked they should twist off the shell easily. Pull the meat out of the shell, and pop it in your mouth in one mouthful. It is OK to use the snail meat to mop up any extra sauce.

It is considered ill mannered not to use the provided cutlery, but if you are genuinely struggling with the tongs, or if for some reason you haven’t been given any, it is OK to pick up the shells with a napkin, and then use your fork to extract the meat.

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What wine goes with snails?

If your snails are served in a butter sauce with garlic and/or parsley, they pair best with white wine. Something with a minerally taste goes best. Loire Valley and other sauvignon blanc wines, or unoaked white burgundies (made with chardonnay grapes) are typically recommended.

What do snails taste like?

While food writers often describe snails as having an earthy taste, personally I don’t find they have a lot of flavour. What you tend to taste is the sauce – but when it’s a buttery, garlicky and parsley sauce, who can complain? Rather than a particular flavour, what you will find with snails is a texture. The snail meat is firm, and slightly chewy. They should not be so rubbery as to be unpleasant to eat.

Where to eat snails in Paris

French people eating snails all the time, all over France is somewhat of a myth. Snails are popular among French people, but they are not served everywhere. These are recommended restaurants that serve snails regardless of where you are staying in central Paris.

Au Pied de Cochon 6 rue Coquillière 75001
https://www.pieddecochon.com/en/

As its name would suggest, Au Pied de Cochon specialises in pork dishes, but for those in search of more traditional visitor choices, this brasserie is a double threat – it serves both snails and frog legs.

L’Escargot Montorgueil 38 rue Montorgueil 75002
https://escargotmontorgueil.com/

Since 1832. Proust and Picasso ate there, and you can too. Yes, it’s touristy, but snails definitely the are the stars of the show here, served with a variety of sauces. This is also a place for frogs’ legs if you are having trouble finding them elsewhere.

Robert & Louise 64 rue Vieille du Temple 75003
https://www.robertetlouise.com/en/

Robert & Louise is well known for its wood fired oven grilled and roasted meats served with crispy goose fat potatoes, but they also serve snails. Join the happy throngs at the shared tables and enjoy.

Restaurant Bonnie 10 Rue Agrippa d’Aubigné 75004
https://bonnie-restaurant.com/en/

On the 16th floor of the Tour Morland, Bonnie is one to add to your list if you are looking for snails with an Eiffel Tower view. A modern bar and restaurant, cuisine is modern French with American accents, proving that it’s not that traditional French restaurants that serve snails.

Café Louise St-Germain-des-Près 155 Boulevard Saint-Germain 75006
https://www.cafe-louise.fr/

I ventured into this place for a late lunch one Saturday and immediately loved it. Real food for real people in what is an otherwise Instagram-y, beautiful people part of Boulevard Saint-Germain. And they are open until 2am if you need that late night plate of snails.

L’Alsace 39 av. des Champs-Elysées 75008
https://www.restaurantalsace.com/en/

If your quintessential Paris experience is eating a plate of snails on the Champs Elysées, then L’Alsace is the restaurant for you. A traditional brasserie menu is complemented by a range of
Alsace specialties as the name would suggest.

Chez Francis 4 avenue George V 75008
https://chezfrancis-paris.com/en/accueil-english/

If eating snails with an Eiffel Tower view is more to your liking, you can’t miss Chez Francis. A solid upmarket brasserie, so typical of the eighth arrondissement.

Bouillon Chartier 4 rue du Faubourg Montmartre 75009
www.bouillon-chartier.com/en

Bouillons are historical Parisian working men’s restaurants that traditionally served hearty plates of simple French dishes at keen prices. If you want to eat snails on a budget you can’t go pass a bouillon. With an Art Nouveau interior, waiters in long white aprons who write the orders on
the white paper table cloth, it doesn’t get much more French, or traditional, than this. No bookings.

Brasserie Bellanger 140 rue de Faubourg Poissonière 75010
https://lanouvellegarde.com/en/brasserie-bellanger/

Handy to the Gare du Nord, Brasserie Bellanger is part of the new breed of Parisian brasseries – traditional food made modern, sustainably and with love. Proof that even in the trendy tenth arrondissement you can find a traditional plate of snails if you know where to look.

Le Vrai Paris 33 Rue des Abbesses 75018
http://levraiparis-bistrot.com/#accueil

There are plenty of tourist traps in Montmartre that serve snails (often reheated in a microwave), but Le Vrai Paris is not one of them. This restaurant serves a pleasing mix of traditional and modern dishes, snails included.

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