This is probably the most famous ice cream shop in Paris. It was founded in 1954 by Raymond Berthillon, who at the time operated a hotel at the same location.

The company is still run by his descendants.

As the story goes, the enterprising Mr. Berthillon decided one day to bring out an ice cream maker that he had bought several years earlier.

Little did he know how that decision would change the course of his career, and make his name synonymous with Parisian ice cream.

He soon had a loyal following of fans among the local school children, and before long his notoriety spilled beyond the Ile Saint-Louis and gradually made its way around Paris.

Berthillon chose to make his ice cream with only fresh milk, sugar, cream and eggs, and used fresh ingredients for flavorings, e.g. fruit, berries, chocolate, vanilla, etc. To this day, the method remains the same.

In 1961, the famous restaurant critics Henri Gault and Christian Millau described him as “This amazing ice cream maker who hides in a bistrot on the Ile Saint-Louis.”

Today, three generations of the family continue the tradition.

Not surprisingly, there’s usually a long line up at the store, but Berthillon ice cream is also sold by other cafés and vendors elsewhere on the Ile Saint-Louis and at many other places around Paris.

Berthillon is closed each year from around mid-late July until the end of August.

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Berthillon
31, rue Saint-Louis-en-l’Ile, 75004 Paris
Tel. +33 (0)1 43 54 31 61
Métro: Pont-Marie
Hours: Wed. to Sun. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.