Rue Mouffetard – A Lively and Busy Food Street

Rue Mouffetard is both Bohemian and Multicultural:

A busy rue Mouffetard

Like rue Cler and rue Montorgueil, rue Mouffetard , in the 5th arrondissement, is another of the famous food and market streets in Paris. In fact this lively and busy pedestrian-only street is one of the oldest, having been built during Roman times. Visitors to rue Mouffetard will find an area full of fast food joints, cafés and restaurants as well as countless shops selling all kinds of food stuff, including wine, fruits and vegetables, cheese and olive oil, meat and fish.

A Roman Road

Rue Mouffetard is a 600-metre stretch of road that begins at Square Saint-Médard at its southern point and ends at rue Descartes at its northern point. It’s certainly not as upmarket as rue Montorgueil, but it offers an atmosphere that’s both Bohemian as well as multicultural.

If you want a simple meal without blowing the budget, there are plenty of dining options here. Prices for set menus (formules) range from 16€ to 25€ and in addition to French cuisine, you have a choice of Italian, Argentinian, Turkish, Chinese, etc. About midway up rue Mouffetard, is rue du Pot de Fer, another street that is lined with cafés, bars and restaurants.

rue du Pot de Fer, off rue Mouffetard

A Market Street

We read somewhere that rue Mouffetard has some nice cheese shops and that was enough to induce us to make a trip here. If you enjoy going through markets, there is a permanent open-air market in Square Saint-Médard at the southern end of rue Mouffetard.  There is another market on Place Monge, near the Place Monge metro. It looked like quite a big market, but unfortunately by the time we got there it was in the process of shutting down for the day. The Place Monge market is open on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays between 07:00 and 14:30.

About midway along rue Mouffetard is the Young and Happy hostel, whose budget conscious residents will find lots of affordable food in the markets and cheap eateries in the area.

Place de la Contrescarpe

At the northern end of rue Mouffetard is the Place de la Contrescarpe, a small and pleasant square surrounded by shops and cafés. This is a great location for enjoying a drink or meal and watching the world go by. The younger travellers seem to gather around the fountain and munch on their sandwiches and other takeaway meals.

Whilst there are plenty of food shops and eateries in rue Mouffetard, I did not see a cheese shop as glorious as La Fromagerie in rue Cler – perhaps they are in the markets which we unfortunately didn’t get to this time.  On balance, I still prefer rue Montorgueil as far as food streets go.

You can see more photos of rue Mouffetard Here.

Getting to Rue Mouffetard

We were travelling on Metro Line 7 when we decided to make an impromptu stop at the Place Monge station to visit rue Mouffetard. Place Monge is closer to the northern end of rue Mouffetard. Censier Daubenton is another Line 7 metro stop that will get you to rue Mouffetard. This metro station is closer to the southern end of rue Mouffetard.

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