Breakfast & Brunch in Montmartre: Our Favourite Spots

On the cobblestones of Abbesses, the 10am light settles gently, Paris wakes without rushing, and the terraces fill up. Montmartre isn’t just a postcard setting—it’s also a neighbourhood where people live, where time moves slowly, where breakfast isn’t a race against the clock but a moment you give yourself.

We’ve tried the spots around the neighbourhood, from big names to discreet little tables. Places where the croissant is still warm, where specialty coffee lives up to its name, where the waitress knows the regulars. Not an exhaustive list, just our favourites—the places we return to, where we take the people we love.

🥐 Marlette Abbesses: The brunch spirit in a former bakery

At 45 rue des Abbesses, Marlette occupies what was once a neighbourhood bakery. The walls hold the memory of the place, but the atmosphere is decidedly focused on Parisian-style brunch: organic baked goods prepared by us on the Île de Ré, specialty coffee, fresh juices pressed that very morning.

What we love: the homemade pancakes (Abbesses only), the chocolate fondant with its molten centre made with fleur de sel from the Île de Ré, the chocolate chip and sesame cookies. For drinks, the Ube latte (that purple colour that turns heads on Instagram) and the Matcha latte have become house classics.

The savoury menu follows the seasons: avocado toast, scrambled eggs, composed salads, daily specials. No frills, just fresh ingredients and honest cooking. The bacon and cheese savoury scones and the fluffy focaccia round out the offering for those who want a more substantial breakfast.

The spot attracts a mixed crowd: young women catching up with friends who chat without watching the clock, couples making their Sunday brunch a ritual, neighbourhood mums with their children (the atmosphere is kid-friendly without being noisy). On weekdays, you’ll also see locals popping in for a coffee and a cookie before heading to work.

The coffee shop champions a philosophy of slow coffee and urban slowdown. No laptops between 11:30am and 2:30pm or on weekends—you come to be present, not to deal with emails. This unwritten (but firmly enforced) rule is part of the place’s identity.

Practical info: 45 rue des Abbesses, 75018 Paris. Métro Abbesses (line 12) or Blanche (line 2). Open daily. To discover more preparations and the Marlette universe, feel free to explore the full menu.

Other reliable spots in the neighbourhood

Hardware Société: The Australian brunch that conquered Paris

At 10 rue Lamarck, Hardware Société brings a breath of Australia to the streets of Montmartre. Founded by an Australian homesick for Melbourne brunch, the place has become a reference for avocado toasts, homemade granolas and perfectly executed poached eggs.

The atmosphere is laid-back but professional. Service is quick even when the room is full (which happens often on weekends). The menu changes regularly with the seasons and the chef’s whims. You’ll meet an international crowd—Australian tourists on pilgrimage, Anglo-Saxon expats, curious Parisians discovering what “Australian-style brunch” means.

Strong points: consistent quality, efficient service, balanced menu between sweet and savoury. Weak point: the bill can climb quickly if you’re not careful. Count on €15-20 for a dish + drink.

🌿 When breakfast becomes a stroll through Paris

Montmartre lends itself to the game of the gourmet stroll. You start with a coffee in place des Abbesses, walk up towards rue Lepic for a croissant from the corner bakery, stop at a greengrocer for fresh fruit juice, and finish on a bench in square Jehan Rictus with a view of the Sacré-Cœur.

This way of composing your breakfast in multiple stages belongs to the neighbourhood’s DNA. Montmartre remains a village within the city—a place where shopkeepers know each other, where residents have their routines, where people take time to say hello.

“Breakfast in Montmartre is less about place than pace. You wake up without an alarm, go out in slippers to fetch your baguette, settle at a little terrace table, and watch Paris wake up.”

— Resident of rue des Martyrs for 15 years

Café Lomi: The temple of specialty coffee

Technically located in the 18th but not in Montmartre proper (rue Marcadet), Café Lomi is worth the detour if you’re a coffee aficionado. It’s a roaster that opened its own café—the reverse of the usual journey.

Here, no chrome espresso machine making noise. This is coffee craftsmanship: gentle extraction, respect for aromas, beans sourced directly from producers. The menu changes with arrivals. The barista can explain for ten minutes where your coffee comes from and why it has notes of red berries.

Food-wise, the offering is limited but quality: homemade granola, porridge, slices of good buttered bread. You don’t come here for a full brunch, but to drink the best coffee in the neighbourhood in an industrial-chic setting (large bay windows, raw wood tables, green plants).

Crowd: young thirty-somethings working in creative fields, Japanese tourists seeking caffeinated excellence, north Parisians who swear by Lomi. The atmosphere is studious on weekdays (lots of open laptops), more relaxed on weekends.

The little old-fashioned spots (the ones we guard preciously)

Montmartre still hides small neighbourhood cafés, the ones that haven’t changed their décor in thirty years, where coffee costs €1.50 at the counter and where the owner calls you “dear” even if you’re forty.

These places don’t do Instagrammable brunch. They serve a strong coffee, an industrial (but honest) croissant, and sometimes buttered toast with jam. The appeal isn’t gastronomic—it’s the atmosphere, the regulars leaning at the zinc counter at 7am, the owner who grumbles kindly, the neighbour’s dog sleeping under a table.

• Le Progrès (7 rue des Trois Frères): Bar-café where you’ll meet workers, neighbourhood retirees, a few night owls ending their evening. Guaranteed atmosphere from 6am.
• Chez Camille (8 rue Ravignan, place Émile-Goudeau): Small terrace overlooking the square where Picasso had his Bateau-Lavoir studio. Decent coffee, gentle prices, dream location.
• La Vielleuse (rue Aristide Bruant): Bar-tabac-newsagent run by the same family for three generations. Open at 5:30am for early risers. The coffee is undrinkable but the atmosphere priceless.

These spots aren’t on TripAdvisor. They’re part of Montmartre’s intangible heritage—the Paris that resists gentrification, where a café remains a café and not an “experience.”

🥖 Composing your breakfast Parisian-style

You can also do as neighbourhood residents do: go downstairs in pyjamas under a coat, buy your baguette, go back home, and have your breakfast at the window overlooking the rooftops of Paris. But for that, you need to know the right addresses for your morning shopping.

Bakeries where the baguette is worth the trip

Montmartre has about ten artisan bakeries. Not all are equal. Some have become tourist traps (dry croissants, reheated industrial bread). Others hold firm and defend a certain idea of the craft.

• Grenier à Pain (38 rue des Abbesses): Named best baguette in Paris several times. Quality is consistent, butter croissants melt in your mouth, special breads (with walnuts, with figs) are worth it. Expect a 10-minute queue on Sunday mornings.
• Arnaud Delmontel (39 rue des Martyrs): Renowned for its pastries and patisserie. The pain aux raisins is a knockout. Prices slightly above average but justified.
• Coquelicot (24 rue des Abbesses): Bakery-tearoom where you can eat in. Cosy atmosphere, homemade products, warm welcome. Perfect for a quick but quality breakfast.

To complete your morning basket, pop by the greengrocer on rue Lepic (seasonal fruit, freshly squeezed orange juice), the cheese shop (a piece of comté to go with the bread), and possibly the butcher if you want to prepare eggs and bacon.

Rue Lepic market: Sunday morning local-style

On Sundays, rue Lepic transforms. Fruit and vegetable stalls invade the pavement, market gardeners call out their prices, residents do their shopping in pyjamas under their coats. This is working-class Montmartre, the one that existed before the neighbourhood became a tourist destination.

You’ll find fresh produce at gentle prices, farmhouse cheeses, artisan charcuterie, honey from the Île de Ré (a nod to Marlette, which produces its preparations there). The atmosphere is good-natured, shopkeepers are chatty, you bump into neighbours, you pay cash.

To extend the walk, climb towards the Sacré-Cœur via the stairs of rue Foyatier (yes, it’s a workout after a croissant), settle on the steps, and watch Paris spread at your feet. Breakfast then becomes an excuse to gain altitude—geographically and mentally.

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