Chez l’Ami Louis, bistro on rue du Vertbois since 1924

Paris institution

Chez l’Ami Louis

Chez l’Ami Louis, photo 1

The story

Chez l’Ami Louis is a bistro on rue du Vertbois, in the 3rd arrondissement, opened in 1924 close to the place de la République. Louis Pedeboscq founded it, and the dining room holds only fourteen tables.

In 1952 the chef Antoine Magnin took over and made its name. The Gault Millau guide credited him with an eagle eye for produce. Francis Ford Coppola, Bill Clinton and Jacques Chirac dined there, Alice Waters called it her favourite restaurant, and Kamala Harris ate there in November 2021.

Antoine Magnin died in 1987. Thierry de La Brosse took over the bistro in 1986, with Louis Gadby, formerly a waiter in the dining room. From 2010 Olivier Maurey and the de La Brosse family owned it, and in 2024 the LVMH group took a majority stake.

Louis Gadby still welcomes guests in a traditional French setting. The kitchen serves the bistro cooking that made the house: roast chicken, thickly sliced foie gras, roast lamb, scallops and Burgundy snails a short walk from the place de la République.

Practical information

Address
32, rue du Vertbois75003 Paris
Opening hours
Monday – tuesday · ClosedWednesday – sunday · 12:30 – 13:15, 19:30 – 22:30
On site
Bistro lunch and dinner

In the neighbourhood

Souvenirs from the neighbouring houses