The literary café extension of the legendary Shakespeare and Company bookshop, pouring seriously good specialty coffee (their own Lomi blend) alongside Bob's Bake Shop bagels, cookies, and scones. Grab a window seat overlooking rue de la Bûcherie with Notre Dame in view — it's one of the most atmospheric coffee spots on the Left Bank.
Specialty Lomi coffee and Bob's Bake Shop treats in a bookshop café with original guillotine windows overlooking Notre Dame.
Go before 10am on a weekday to snag a window seat overlooking Notre Dame before the tourist crowds arrive.
Literary coffee with a Notre Dame view
If you've just spent an hour getting lost in the stacks of Shakespeare and Company next door, the café is the natural next stop — and honestly, it holds its own as a coffee destination. They pour a signature Lomi blend alongside beans from Cayo and other Paris roasters, and the espresso is genuinely well-made, not just a tourist afterthought. The food side is run by Marc Grossman of Bob's Bake Shop, so you're getting proper bagels, scones, and cookies — the kind of American baking that's hard to find done right in Paris.
The space itself is small and convivial, with wooden tables and benches, original guillotine windows, and shelves lined with English-language books and cookbooks. The real draw is the location: sit by the window and you're looking straight out at Notre Dame and the Seine. Yes, it gets crowded, especially on weekends and in summer, and you'll be sharing the room with plenty of tourists. But the service is quick and warm, the coffee is solid, and there's something about reading a book with a flat white and a view of the cathedral that's hard to beat. Go early on a weekday morning if you want a quiet moment.