Candelaria
candelaria
52 rue de Saintonge, 75003 Paris France
Tel: +33 1 42 74 41 28
MENU RANGE:
Up front: tacos, taquitos, elote, frozen margaritas; in back: inventive cocktails, chips & salsa
KNOWN FOR:
Tacos, frozen margs, fancy cocktails
COCKTAILS:
Exhilarating flavor combinations, pleasingly presented.
PRICE POINT:
$-$$
SERVICE:
Up front: super friendly, fluent in English; in back: well, they spilled a drink ALL over me and barely issued an apology, so, there’s that.
OVERALL FOOD QUALITY:
Terrific - inexpensive, delicious, simple, and fast…not always an easy combination to find in Paris.
Worth Going Out Of Your Way For:
I wouldn’t necessarily go all the way across town for a visit, but if staying on the Right Bank, definitely worth a stop.
good to know:
Reservations only taken for the speakeasy, not for the taqueria.
Quixotic Projects, Candelaria’s parent company, also operates several other highly regarded venues, including Les Grand Verres at Palais de Tokyo and Le Mary Celeste, specializing in seafood small plates.
Photo credit: @candelariaparis
Narrative:
I’m enough of an introvert that a tiny restaurant with a dozen seats is not my idea of a good time. So it took some convincing from my husband to check out Candelaria, even though we had made a reservation (reservations are only taken for the speakeasy in the back; the food out front is first come, first served, and that’s where the tiny counter is).
We had a mildly underwhelming time in the cocktail bar (hidden behind a white panel at the back of the taqueria - just walk right through or, if you’re unsure, ask the taqueria counter staff)…my husband likes a classic cocktail and, as noted above, I had an entire drink dumped on me which tends to dampen my enthusiasm for anything.
Both my husband and I have an aversion to speakeasy-type bars - anywhere you need some semblance of a secret code to enter is not our jam. We gave this one a whirl because it was close to our hotel and for the tacos. I'm willing to give it another chance on our next trip to Paris to see if the cocktails become more my thing, or to catch the Saturday/Sunday brunch menu.
But once we headed back out to the taqueria, my mood lifted. On the taco menu that evening were tinga (one of my favorites), carnitas, and butternut squash, plus taquitos, elote, and chips & salsa on the non-taco front. Drinks included Jarritos sodas, frozen margaritas,
WHAT DID WE TRY?:
One of each kind of taco - tinga, carnita, and calabaza - as well as chip & salsa.
