Le Petit Vendôme
Le Petit Vendôme fills a baguette with Brittany ham off the bone and salted butter, and Time Out Paris has put the sandwich on its list of the city's fifty best dishes.1 The counter dates to the 1950s and stands a few doors from the Place Vendôme.2
Why go
Hams hang from the ceiling, the menu is chalked over the bar and the frontage is painted in colors nobody puts on a street this expensive.1 The queue at lunch goes out the door, and Time Out's critic watched what it is for: a croûte auvergnate built in front of you, with Bleu d'Auvergne, garlic sausage or country ham going on in layers.1 The ham sandwich is the one people argue about, and the critic does not hedge: "what critics call the best ham sandwich in Paris, and it's true."1 There is a sit-down room behind the counter with cerise banquettes and a bistro menu on it.1
Order this / avoid
- The jambon-beurre, on bread from Boulangerie Julien, which won the city's own baguette prize in 1995.1
- The croûte auvergnate, if the queue is moving and you want something hot.1
- Pork cracklings and Saint-Nectaire, which is the other filling Time Out names.2
- Sit down for the andouillette or the duck confit if you have an hour.2
- Avoid planning a pudding. Time Out: "don't expect to fit in a pudding."1
What locals & experts say
- Time Out Paris scored it five out of five and named the baker:
Baguettes from Boulangerie Julien (best baguette in Paris, 1995) are filled with tender and scented Brittany ham and creamy, salty butter, an antidote to all tasteless, odourless pink supermarket slices.
1 - And on the queue:
A huge queue stretches out of the door, putting off the casually curious.
1 - Time Out's twenty-six for 2026:
During the day, you'll see lines upon lines of people queueing up for its jambon-buerre, and other fabulous French sandwiches, freshly made with ham on the bone, pork cracklings and Saint-Nectaire cheese.
2 - And its call on the room:
It's a little chaotic in here, but we love it.
2
Good to know
- The sandwich was 4 to 6 euros in 2012 and Time Out put a visit at 10 to 20 euros in 2026, depending on the filling.12
- The sit-down dishes were 16.50 to 17 euros in 2012, and I have not found a newer figure for them.1
- Every judgment on this sandwich I have found is Time Out's. I have read nobody else on the room.
- Hygiene: I have not read a French inspection record for this room, so I have nothing to report either way.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "Sandwich David leb favorite jambon beurre"
Verdict
should-visit — Queue at lunch, order the jambon-beurre and eat it standing. Time Out has scored the room five out of five and put the sandwich on its own list of the city's fifty best dishes. It is also the only publication I have found that has written the place up at all.