Paris Pratique - Ordering coffee in France - French Style (2024)

FAQs

How to order a cup of coffee in France? ›

When ordering, simply ask for coffee by saying 'un café, s'il vous plaît', substituting café with your drink of choice (for example, to order a coffee with milk in French you would say 'un café au lait, s'il vous plait').

“Pour moi, ce sera un américain.” “I'll have a big cup of coffee.” “Un américain” (= “an Americano” or “a long black”) is also called “un café allongé.” It's an espresso with more water or in other words, a big cup of coffee. “Pour moi” means “for me,” and is useful when you order after someone else, for instance.

If you order "un Café" in France, you will be served with a shot of espresso, which is the most standard and popular coffee drink you will find in France.

I'd like a small latte, please.” “Could I have a medium coffee to go?” “Can I get a large mocha for here?” “I'll take a small coffee and a donut, please.”

Using je voudrais + un/une + noun to order food

To order food, you can simply use the indefinite article un (masculine) or une (feminine) + the item. You would normally add s'il vous plaît ('please'), at the end of the sentence: Une soupe de poisson, s'il vous plaît. One fish soup, please.

Tipping in French restaurants and cafés is not required

Technically they're right; service is included—a gratuity is not. Regardless, you are not obligated to leave them anything. For a simple beverage, you can round up to the nearest euro or leave 20 to 50 centimes per drink.

In France, if you order a café, you can expect a small espresso. If you're looking for a larger mug of coffee, that's cafe filtre—and as it's mainly popular with the tourist crowd, you won't find it many places outside of Starbucks! A noisette, which means hazelnut, is also somewhat of a misnomer.

Café au lait (/ˌkæfeɪ oʊ ˈleɪ, kæˌfeɪ, kə-/; French: [kafe o lɛ]; French for "coffee with milk") is coffee with hot milk added. It differs from white coffee, which is coffee with cold milk or other whiteners added.

The French love their coffee, especially after a large meal. Rather than indulging in milky lattés and cappuccinos, enjoy short pulls of espresso (referred to in France simply as café) all day long. For a longer pull of espresso—or something more similar to an American-style coffee—order a café allongé.

If you drink your coffee at the bar versus drinking it at a table, the price is different. It will be around 1 euro – 1 euro 30 centime if you are drinking an expresso at the bar. At a table the cost would be 3 euros. A café crème can be around 2 euros to 2 euros 50 centime at the bar and around 5 euros at a table.

What is a latte called in France? ›

Un Café Crème: A café crème is somewhat equivalent to a cappuccino or latte. It's made up of equal parts espresso, steamed milk, and foam. Un Café Au Lait: Similar to 'un café crème' but usually has a lot more milk and is served in a bigger cup or even a bowl.

Café Crème or une crème │ Coffee with steamed cream. It's generally ordered in the morning and very often taken with a croissant. The cream helps neutralize the pH or acidity level of coffee and it's a bit easier on an empty stomach. Café au lait │ Coffee with steamed milk.

How to say coffee in French. You probably already know the word “café”, which means both the drink and the place that serves it. Plural is “cafés”. A cup of coffee in French is literally “Une tasse de café”, but most people will just say “Un café”.

A café crème is espresso topped off with warm foamed milk. It's what we would call a café au lait here in the states. Usually, day-old baguettes or croissants are served with a café crème for dipping. The French do not use actual creme in their coffee and they only use whole milk.

It's usually served in small cups, so no one will be surprised if you order more than one cup. Depending on where you're drinking, you may hear locals order the “un café” as a café noir. It's exactly the same thing: a cup of black coffee with nothing added.