(Last Update: 05.06.2025) You all know Léon, one of the most famous restaurants in Paris. This restaurant, famous for its mussels, is, as the name suggests, a chain originating from Brussels, Belgium. First opened by Léon Vanlancker in Brussels in 1893, Léon opened its first branch in Paris more than a hundred years later, in 1989. Its original name in Belgium was "Chez Léon", meaning Leon's Place, while in Paris it was called "Léon de Bruxelles", meaning Brussels.