Restaurant Review Of La Felicità, Paris

During my last trip to France, I had lunch at what is considered to be Europe’s largest restaurant. I haven’t made a decision yet on whether my dining experience was fabulous, great, good, or mediocre.  Perhaps I should have eaten more. I can, however, share my restaurant review of La Felicità Paris: my meal and the venue.

La Felicità ConceptLa Felicita menu

Located in Paris’ 13th arrondissement, La Felicità is gigantic and frankly, I consider it to be an enormous food court. What is it with food courts in Paris lately? Beaupassage, the hip area in the 7th arrondissement with restaurants run by Michelin-starred chefs was certainly unique. And now we have La Felicità.

The concept was created by the “Big Mamma Group”, and it opened in May, 2018 adjoining another creative space called, Station F, which opened a year before. This incubator for startups and entrepreneurs combined with La Felicità is a hub for technological innovation and foodies alike.

The Big Mamma Group owns other Italian restaurants in Paris and they get rave reviews:

  • Ober Mamma
  • East Mamma
  • Popolare
  • Mamma Primi
  • Pink Mamma
  • La Bellezza
  • BigLove

Instagram-worthy Venue

Inside La Felicita, Paris-Review of La Felicita Paris
Inside La Felicita, Paris

How can I describe La Felicità? Imagine a large airplane hangar or industrial arena that has been converted into a huge dining space (over 48000 square feet with 1000 seats. 5 bars and 3 kitchens). It has restaurants throughout as well as a library on the 2nd level. You can eat on picnic tables or regular tables and each food stall has different offerings including pizza, hamburgers and baked goods.

La Felicità’s venue is definitely unique. It’s also instagram-worthy. There are gigantic balloons, colourful railway cars with painted murals, plants everywhere, and the most unusual bathrooms I’ve ever been in.

Inside La Felicita
Inside La Felicita

Want to read a book while there? Head to the 2nd floor where there’s a library complete with desk lamps.

Library area at La Felicita
Library area at La Felicita

Missing the outdoors? Just look up and down at the foliage. A green canopy covers a large eating area.

Green canopy at La Felicita
Green canopy at La Felicita

Do you like colorful surroundings? Go to the bathroom.

You can’t help but notice all the Barbie dolls on the door. And the stalls? Dark, but colorful.

Barbie dolls on the washroom door-La Felicita
Barbie dolls on the washroom door-La Felicita
Bathroom at La Felicita
Bathroom at La Felicita

Want a drink?

Cocktail bar-La Felicita
Cocktail bar-La Felicita

Review of La Felicità: Ambience And Food

Map of La Felicita
Map of La Felicita

The Entrance

I met up with a friend at La Felicità on a Saturday afternoon. We didn’t have to line up to get in and we had no problem getting a table, but then again, we went well after the lunch hour.

When you enter La Felicità, the “guide” or map that is handed to you. It states that “it is an immense FOODMARKET where you order and pay at each counter and each bar. You sit where you want”. Dining is certainly informal.

This place reminded me of Movenpick’s Marché that has food stations as well. You walk around with a tray and choose the dishes you want. That’s the downside. It’s not a relaxing experience initially. Your friends might not be choosing the same types of food as you, so after grabbing your trays, you head off in different directions to explore the foods and somehow meet back to find a table. I can imagine that when it’s really busy it might be difficult finding a table big enough for a large group. 

The Foodmarket

Baked goods at La Feclita

As the Big Mamma Group runs this place, pizza is a big seller, but there is certainly a wide variety of foods such as salads, pasta, seafood, desserts, baked goods, and drinks.

They have interesting food stations entitled, “Hamburgheria”, “Pizzeria Biologiga”, “Panificio”, the expected “Caffetteria”, “Biergarten”, and the impressive-looking “Cocktail Bar”.

My Meal

After getting our maps, we wandered around, checked out what foods were being offered and finally decided on:

  • a salad (Insalata Della Casa with a mixture of salads including spinach plus yams, walnuts, provolone cheese, and honey mustard dressing).
  • San Pellegrino
  • dark chocolate brownie with pralines

How was the food? Okay. Not the best food I’ve ever had. The salad was tasty but was not made in front of me so I don’t know how fresh it was. The brownie looked lovely but was dry. Perhaps ice cream or whipped cream would have helped. As I said, I should have eaten more….or one of their pizzas as they are known for their Italian food.

Cost of lunch: 20 Euros

The setting for La Felicita is great. I certainly have a very favorable impression of La Felicità, Paris with respect to its design. It’s interesting. It’s creative. It’s fun. I do regret that I did not eat something more adventurous; however, I will return to give it another try.

If you visit, you can determine if my restaurant review of La Felicità is accurate. Is it a glorified food court or a really special culinary place worth visiting? Perhaps just meet up after work for a drink. It has a cool vibe—a fun place to hang out.

Hours:
Saturday 12-11 pm;
Sunday 12-10:30 pm;
Monday and Tuesday 12:15-2:30 pm;
Wednesday 12:15-2:30 and 6-10:30 pm;
Thursday 12:15-2:30 and 6-11 pm;
Friday 12:15-2:30 and 6-11 pm;

Address: 55, boulevard Vincent-Auriol, near the Bibliotheque Francois Mitterand
Website: https://www.lafelicita.fr/#1

Restaurant review of La Felicita Paris

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

3 Comments

  1. Keith Van Sickle says:

    This looks like a big food court, similar to others I’ve seen in big cities–I was in Lisbon last year and went to the Time Out market a couple of times. La Felicità looks like it has an ideal location, right next to a bunch of startups!

  2. It’s a glorified food court and the food is cold when you get it. The salads were in a gigantic bowl large enough to feed an army which means they are pre-made and getting soggy by the time there’s a bowl of it on your tray. The pizza was cold by the time we found a seat. Three of us all wanted something different and it was chaotic trying to sit. It’s big but also very crowded and we ended up with no choice but to sit with strangers (at a small table, not a communal-style table which would be fine). It’s a lot more trouble than it’s worth. The prices are high for what you get. I was wishing we went to one of the many excellent pizzerias that have been opened by people from Naples in recent years.

    1. I would agree that it wasn’t the best food I’ve ever had but a bit better than a typical food court. Too bad you had a bad experience.