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Number 9 of 20 in Paris

Le Grand Véfour

The Grand Véfour opened under the arcades of the Palais-Royal five years before the Revolution, and its dining room of gilded mirrors and painted panels has been receiving the famous ever since.

The front of Le Grand Véfour under the arcades of the Palais-Royal.
LPLT, CC BY-SA 3.0
What it is
Grand restaurant
Opened
1784
Area
Palais-Royal
Nearest museum
Louvre Museum, 600 m

Paris this week

    What Le Grand Véfour is known for

    1. The room

      A neoclassical dining room of the early nineteenth century: gilded mirrors, painted wall panels and a painted ceiling, looking out on the garden of the Palais-Royal.

    2. The plaques

      Small brass plates on the banquettes mark where the regulars sat: Napoleon, Balzac, Victor Hugo, Colette, Jean Cocteau, André Malraux. Ask to see whose seat you have.

    3. The garden

      The restaurant is at the quiet northern end of the garden of the Palais-Royal, under its arcades. Walk through the garden to reach it, and through the covered Galerie Vivienne afterwards.

    What to know

    • Opened in 1784 as the Café de Chartres
    • Took its name from Jean Véfour, who bought it in 1820
    • Sauce Mornay is said to have been created here

    Where Le Grand Véfour is

    Address

    17 rue de Beaujolais
    75001 Paris, France

    Nearest station

    Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre, on lines 1 and 7

    Museums and sights nearby

    Distances are in a straight line from the restaurant.

    Two and a half centuries under the arcades

    The restaurant opened in 1784 as the Café de Chartres, when the arcades of the Palais-Royal were the centre of the pleasures and the politics of Paris. Jean Véfour bought it in 1820 and gave it his name, and it became the smartest table of the Romantic generation.

    It was closed from 1905 to 1947. The chef Raymond Oliver reopened it in the autumn of 1948 and made it famous again, with Colette and Cocteau, who lived a few doors away, as his regulars. A bomb damaged the room in 1983, and it was restored.

    Le Grand Véfour: common questions

    Where is Le Grand Véfour?
    At 17 rue de Beaujolais, in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. The nearest station is Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre, on lines 1 and 7.
    Which museums and sights are near Le Grand Véfour?
    Louvre Museum is 600 m away, Musée d'Orsay is 1.1 km away, Musée de l'Orangerie is 1.1 km away. Distances are in a straight line from the restaurant.
    What is Le Grand Véfour known for?
    The room, The plaques, The garden. A restaurant under the arcades of the Palais-Royal since 1784, where Napoleon, Victor Hugo and Colette each had their table. One of the oldest restaurants in Paris, five minutes from the Louvre.
    When did Le Grand Véfour open?
    In 1784. Opened in 1784 as the Café de Chartres.

    What visitors say about Le Grand Véfour

    Rating from Google

    4.4

    1,541 ratings on Google

    Google's figures as read on 5 October 2026.

    Read every review on Google

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