Ellsworth is an adorable little restaurant near the Louvre! With a little American flair and lots of Parisian flair, Ellsworth is fun stop not too far from a very touristy part of Paris. I have been to Ellsworth twice for lunch; once in the summer with Dan and once in the winter on my Paris Ladies Trip. I enjoyed both of my meals and will definitely return again!
Ellsworth!
The interior of Ellsworth is quite small and there is no outdoor seating; read, make a reservation in advance (easy to do online). The front of the restaurant is a wine bar with lots of interesting and somewhat rare French wines, including a few from one of Dan and my favorites, the Southwest of France (near the Basque region). Since we had made a reservation in advance, we were seated on the main floor at a long table just past the bar.
Wine bar in Ellsworth.
Ellsworth’s menu changes seasonally, and its pretty small. There are only a few choices for lunch, with a few more options for dinner. When we visited, Ellsworth offered three prix fixe choices, with two or three options for each course. Appetizer and main course for 24 euro, main course and dessert for 24 euro, or appetizer, main course, and dessert for 37 euro. Note – you cannot order a la carte for lunch. While small, I think Ellsworth does a good job of offering very different courses, so that most people can find something to eat. Most of our group went for the two course prix fixe, but a few of us went for the three course, including yours truly = ) !
Ellsworth Lunch Menu, Winter 2019.
As I mentioned, Ellsworth has a great wine list; its multiple pages long and covers almost all of France’s wine regions. Dan and I have recently been interested in French wine from the Southwest of France, but not like Bordeaux. More like wine made with the Tannat grape from areas near the Basque region. Ellsworth had a couple on the menu, and I picked a bottle of dry white (surprise!) wine called Evidéncia from Clos LaPeyre. While I usually don’t drink white wine, this one was excellent and quite dry. A few of us split this one bottle. I wish I had brought a bottle home!
Evidéncia from Clos LaPeyre.
Moving on to food, since I ordered the three course prix fixe, I started with the pork terrine. Pork terrine is a famous Paris dish made up of various pork bits cooked in a crusty french bread, and its one of my favorite Parisian dishes! Its also hard to find outside of Paris. This one was particularly delicious and cooked perfectly in French bread. It was also sizeable – big enough to share with everyone who wanted a bite.
Pork Terrine with shallots and ginger.
For mains, I think everyone ordered the Fried Chicken with pickles and Buttermilk Ranch. Ellsworth, and its sister restaurant, Verjus, are actually famous for their fried chicken and its the only dish that’s always on the menu at Ellsworth. And, as a Virginia native, this fried chicken and buttermilk ranch is REALLY good! Like Chick-Fil-A good. I ordered this when I was here previously, and it was just as good then.
Fried chicken in Paris.
For dessert, Ellsworth offered two options – Malt Ice Cream, Chocolate Sorbet, Espresso Espuma, and Milk Crumb or French Blue Cheese. Our table sampled both. The Malt Ice Cream dish was really delicious, and was meant to resemble a malt chocolate shake (another American nod!). The cheese was also good, but less extravagant.
Dessert cheese course.
Malt Ice Cream, Chocolate Sorbet, Espresso Espuma, and Milk Crumb.
We ended up spending almost two hours at Ellsworth and actually got kicked out as the restaurant was closing for the afternoon! After lunch, most of our group walked to the Haussman area to shopping in Les Grands Magasins! If you are opting for a similar itinerary, the famous department stores are an easy 15 minute walk from Ellsworth.
STEAL OUR LUNCH
Ellsworth: 34 rue de Richelieu, Paris, France 75001. Lunch Tuesday – Friday 12h15 – 14h15, Saturday – Sunday 12h30 – 14h30. Dinner Tuesday – Saturday 19h – 22h30. Reservations recommended and can be made here.