Our history

The establishment has gradually transformed over the years, while preserving its authentic character, unique in Saint-Malo. "In a constant quest for evolution and improvement for the well-being of our customers, our family and all our teams work every day to preserve strong values," explains Jean-Philippe Roy, owner.

Today, this institution, founded over a century ago, offers a diversified range of products to suit every hour of the day: from breakfast to dinner, including snacks and aperitifs.

Writer François-René de Chateaubriand was born on September 4, 1768 at number 3 rue Chateaubriand (then rue des Juifs).

Turn right out of the Brasserie and you'll find this small cobbled street.

The sumptuous blue gates of the Hôtel France et Chateaubriand open onto an inner courtyard. Step inside, and above the staircase leading to the writer's birthplace, you'll discover his family coat of arms and motto: "Mon sang a teint les bannières de France" ("My blood has dyed the banners of France"). It was behind the façade of this mansion, then called Hôtel de la Gicquelais, that he was born and spent his early years.

In his Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe, he describes his birth as follows: "The room where my mother gave birth overlooks a deserted part of the city walls, and through the windows of this room you can see the sea stretching as far as the eye can see, breaking on reefs... I was almost dead when I came to daylight. The roar of the waves, lifted by a gust of wind heralding the autumnal equinox, prevented my cries from being heard: I have often been told these details..."

Various historians have shown that Chateaubriand's romantic impulse certainly led him to alter reality somewhat! His sister is said to have betrayed his secret by revealing that he was born in a street-side room... As for the storm, various municipal and ecclesiastical writings and reports of the time confirmed the meteorological phenomenon on that date! He left the place at the age of nine and did not return until 1786. At the age of 18, he discovered that the mansion had been converted into an inn.

In 1841, the inn was enlarged with a hotel to the right of the stoop (now the entrance to the Hôtel France et Chateaubriand through the glass roof). The inn became L'Hôtel de France. Around 1880, this annex was demolished to make way for the present building. Fortunately, Chateaubriand's birthplace was saved from demolition. A chapel, called Saint-Thomas, on the present site of the Brasserie, was also dismantled in 1880 and replaced by the present building. A Brasserie called Le Grand Café Continental was built. Today, it is known as the "Brasserie Chateaubriand".