If you’ve ever been to Italy, you’ll know that a trip there is 20% sightseeing and 80% eating! Eataly is a chain that takes this idea to the next level. Originally from Italy, the term “grocery store” barely scratches the surface of this innovative Italian food-shopping experience. It combines high-end grocery shopping with artisan market stalls, food halls (with restaurants and takeout counters), cooking schools, and more. And with over 40 stores worldwide, the concept is a hit! I finally had the chance to visit and wanted to share my review: Eataly Paris.
Menu
Located in the trendy Marais district, Eataly Paris is a 2500m2 temple of Italian gastronomy. It has multiple entrances and over 5000 references of Italian products, many of which cannot be found anywhere else in Paris. There are seven catering outlets, a fruit and vegetable counter, a bakery, a cheese dairy, meats, build-your-own cannoli bar, the largest Italian wine cellar in France, a wine school and a school cookery offering courses accessible to all. I actually visited to grab lunch, but ended up leaving with a bit more! Lol!
Return to menu – review: Eataly Paris
Grocery
Groceries can be found on the main floor, encircling the iconic La Piazza restaurant. It is a little bit like Ikea, where you need to walk through the entire store before getting to the cash registers.
There are different sections, with different themes. The section that I entered looked like a little European market. Here, I was delighted by stalls with hanging sausages and freshly baked breads stacked on wooden carts. There is also an extensive cheese and charcuterie counter with a big wheel of parmesan. I was intrigued by the sausages — they have some made with Italian wines like Barolo and Roero Arneis. The second one was particularly popular so I took home one of those. Spoiler: it is absolutely delicious (one of the best sausages I’ve had) and I would make a trip all the way to Le Marais just to get another one!
There are takeout counters in this section, as well as a counter for fresh pasta and other prepared foods, like arancini and lasagna. Personally, I was a little underwhelmed with the fresh pasta counter. There was not a lot of choice (maybe because it was a Monday?) and the prices were high, especially for the arancini (they are 2-3€ in most other stores). I got the truffle cannelloni and was pretty disappointed. The taste was great, but they did not dry the pasta so the 4 cannelloni I bought turned into a big blob by the time I got home. The pasta was even stuck to the “non-stick” waxed cardboard box. I would recommend skipping this counter.
Of course, fresh and dried produce are also available here. The selection is very limited, but the vegetables looked flawless (I really saw the most perfect green asparagus here!). With low stock and high prices (the asparagus was twice as expensive as my usual grocery store), I felt that this section was just added in case someone only had time to stop into one store before making an Italian-style dinner. They do have novelty produce, like fresh squash flowers, which are pretty difficult to find where I live. I think there were about a dozen in the box that I got and they are top quality.
The rest of the grocery section is like a regular small grocery store, but Italian. You can find all sorts of novelty dried pastas in any shape and flavour you can think of! Saffron, lemon, truffle… I was especially excited to find pici, which I have not seen outside of Tuscany before. They even have some that are truffle-infused (I will have to go back for these). There are all sorts of sauces and preserves (sundried tomatoes in oil, artichokes, fish, etc) available in this section too. There are also sweet things like jams and and cookies for anyone with a sweet tooth.
Looking for fresh cheeses? There is a whole fridge full of burrata (even smoked!), mozza, ricotta, etc. There are a few French cheeses available too (this is France, after-all lol). It is not much more expensive than a regular grocery store and it is convenient for one-stop-shopping.
In terms of alcohol, the cellars here offer the largest selection of Italian wines in France. Non-French wines are generally really expensive here, so I was pleasantly surprised to find a wide range of products, some even as inexpensive as 7€. Located in the basement, there is also a wine tasting room, an Osteria (wine-focused restaurant), and a locked cellar with exclusive wines. There are also other alcohol products, such as Italian gins by Malfy.
Overall, I am impressed with the selection in the grocery section. I already have another shopping list!
Return to menu – review: Eataly Paris
Restaurants
I haven’t eaten at the restaurants yet, but I saw some of the plates during my visit. La Pasta e la Pizza is located upstairs and serves exactly what the name suggests. You can see the cooks making the meals through an open, central kitchen. There is a wood-burning oven too. The menus are slightly more than the takeaway counter.
In the basement, with the wines, is L’Osteria del Vino. Here, they make risotto and other Italian staples that pair well with their wine selection. It was closed when I visited at lunch.
On the main floor is the iconic La Piazza restaurant. With a giant lemon tree in the middle, it feels like an actual Italian piazza. There are two open kitchens, again with affordable options. This area has lots of sharing plates and you can find the design-your-own cannoli station here too. It is not busy on Mondays, so I recommend going then if you don’t want to wait for a table.
Takeaway
Ok, I have to admit that I absolutely LOVE the takeaway options here. On the grocery side, there is a little pizza + sandwich counter that is SUBLIME.
The pizzas are actually a little different that what you might be used to. In fact, they are really Sfincione, the Sicilian version of pizza that uses focaccia as the crust. There are a lot of options to choose from, including some tantalizing vegetarian ones. There is an option to heat up the pizza in an oven which I highly recommend for crispy ooey-gooeyness. I tried their mortadella pizza which was topped with mortadella, a good dose of stracciatella cheese, and pistachios. Highly recommend! I added a little bit of olive oil from the counter and it was perfection.
They have a small but interesting selection of sandwiches. Like the pizzas, they are served in focaccia. One of their most popular options includes ham, truffled ricotta, and lettuce. Also like the pizzas, they can be toasted in the oven.
If you are super hungry, there are 2 menu options for less than 15€ (pretty affordable for Paris, and especially with the high quality ingredients). They include a dessert and a drink. For dessert, you have a choice between panna cotta and tiramisu. The drinks are mostly Italian citrus sodas (all are really good), but they also offer water (sparkling and still) and cola.
You can either eat there or ask for takeaway. I ate in the nice patio just outside the doors — La Terrazza. I imagine that summer would be bumping there, especially with the Malfy cocktail cart that is parked there!
On the other side of the patio is another small takeaway spot that sells freshly cooked pasta, build-your-own salads, and a few daily prepared options. I haven’t tried the pastas yet, but the portions are very generous and look hands-down delicious.
I was curious about the build-your-own salad. For around 10€, it is possible to get a huge salad with 5 ingredients in addition to a base, sauce, and toppings. I was impressed with the ingredients. The selection is unique compared to other Parisian salad bars and everything was very fresh. One of the ingredient options includes a spinach-ricotta tart! The only thing lacking is the sauces — they only offer olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a mystery white sauce. Since many of the ingredients are vegetables preserved in oil, the options felt redundant. It would be nice if they added something else, like lemon juice or something with herbs (and salt).
The salad I had included a base of mâche and arugula (it is possible to mix bases), eggplant preserved in oil, sun-dried tomatoes, hard-boiled egg, black olives, olive oil, stracciatella, and pistachios. Everything except for the last two ingredients were mixed together before being plated. The other ingredients were put on top, which made the salad look more appealing. The service at this counter was very slow (understaffed) but the serving was veryyy generous. I had something like 15-20 olives. Overall pretty good. I would go back for another salad.
Return to menu – review: Eataly Paris
Overall Thoughts
Overall, I think that Eataly Paris is a great concept. While I don’t think it’s really the place to do all my grocery shopping, it is perfect for novelty Italian products that I can’t find elsewhere (like that sausage!). I think that what they excel in the most is their prepared food. Affordable and generously portioned with exceptional ingredients, this is definitely a gem for anyone craving Italian food! I hope you enjoyed my review: Eataly Paris.
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