Augustin Marchand d’Vins
A Saint-Germain wine bar worth reserving — and a guide to ordering well once you’re there.
Cafés & Bars
Gibon
Gibon is a great new wine bar near Voltaire that serves three courses at lunch for 24€. At night, small plates average 10€, including a plate of three oysters for 6€. The space is small and intimate, service is friendly, and the wine list (like the food) is well priced.
Le Goncourt
I’m a fan of the food + vibe at Café les Deux Gares, so it’s not shocking that I also love the food + vibe at this new offering from Frédéric Lesire and Jonathan Schweizer. The duo behind Café les Deux Gares have branched out into the 11th with a natural wine bar serving small, sharable plates. What sets Le Goncourt apart from many similar establishments in the ‘hood is the quality of the cooking and the near-astonishing level of… Read More »Le Goncourt
Café de la Nouvelle Mairie
For the wine-indifferent, Café de la Nouvelle Mairie is merely a timeless, picturesque terraced café on a shady lane beside the Panthéon. But for alert wine geeks, it might as well be the Panthéon itself, as pertains to natural wine.
Tram Café
Tram Café serves breakfast pastries + excellent coffee in the morning and wonderful dishes for lunch.
Le Jardin de Cheval Blanc
Le Jardin de Cheval Blanc is an ephemeral restaurant on the roof of the Cheval Blanc hotel that runs from June 2 to October 1. The space is lush with trees and other plantings, and the red and white theme – which extends from the table settings to the staff uniforms – feels like holiday. The red theme also extends to the food – Arnaud Donckele (the chef of the three-star restaurant downstairs) supposedly collaborated with chef William Béquin to… Read More »Le Jardin de Cheval Blanc
Les Petites Mains
Les Petites Mains is an ephemeral restaurant in the courtyard of the Palais Galliera fashion museum. It’s a beautiful place to take in the architecture of the building and view the Eiffel Tower from afar. However, when we visited, it was an absolute circus. There weren’t enough servers, and the staff they had were all brand-new (despite already being open for weeks). Drinks were requested once and then again and then again. There was a one-hour delay after our first… Read More »Les Petites Mains
Maison Cluny
This new restaurant from the owner of Le Cornichon occupies prime Latin Quarter real estate with an outdoor terrace looking onto the gardens of the Cluny museum and the vestige of an 8th century convent. It’s a quiet street where you can hear birdsong, and a welcome respite from the tourist bustle near Notre-Dame. MAISON CLUNY 3 Rue de Cluny, 75005Open Tuesday-Saturday from noon to midnightKitchen open from 12-2pm and from 7-10pmClosed Sunday & MondayReservations online or at +33 1… Read More »Maison Cluny
Otto
Otto is a wine bar from Eric Tronchon, an MOF chef who runs the nearby one-star restaurant Solstice. I got to know (and love) Tronchon’s cooking when he was at Semilla, and when he developed the menu for Semilla’s next-door wine bar Freddy’s. The menu at Otto is very similar to Freddy’s: diminutive plates of grilled shitake mushrooms, fried things, grilled seafood. OTTO 5 Rue Mouffetard, 75005Open Monday-Friday for lunch & dinnerOpen Saturday & Sunday with continuous service from noon-midnightNo… Read More »Otto
Le Verre Volé
A bare bones room lined with shelves of natural wines, a tiny kitchen turning out simple and dishes; this doesn’t immediately feel like the kind of place a person would cross town for. And yet many do. Booking is imperative.
Treize au Jardin
Treize au Jardin is a gorgeous spot for brunch, afternoon tea and cake, or early evening cocktails on a sun-dappled terrace across from the Luxembourg Gardens. Laurel Sanderson and Kajsa von Sydow made their name with brunch and desserts, but are now serving an expanded menu that includes fantastic salads and adult beverages to match their later opening hours. You can catch some rays on the outdoor terrace and bring home a bunch of flowers or a stack of brownies.… Read More »Treize au Jardin
Bouche
There are so many casual wine bars serving good food in eastern Paris. Bouche stands out from the crowd because they’re a little more spacious, their staff is a smidge more friendly, and the dishes are a lot more interesting. It’s a wine bar in the 11th for people who are no longer in their twenties (like me). Open Sunday! We included Bouche among our 50 Favorite Restaurants in 2022. BOUCHE 85 Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, 75011Open Wednesday-Saturday for dinner onlyOpen… Read More »Bouche
Café Méricourt
At Café Méricourt, the interior is light and airy, the staff is among the friendliest in Paris, the loaves arrive daily from Ten Belles Bread, and the coffee, with beans sourced from an array of quality roasters, is reliably great. The food menu leans heavily vegetarian, with tasty options like shakshuka, green eggs and feta, or a daily green bowl. Their famous breakfast sandwich can be topped with bacon or avocado. Carnivores can tear into a delicious focaccia sandwich with… Read More »Café Méricourt
Dose
We have not yet reviewed this restaurant. Check back soon for our thoughts!
Dirty Lemon
Without overtly marketing itself as a lesbian bar, Dirty Lemon seeks to create a space where queer women can eat and drink safely, comfortably, and happily.
L’Avant Comptoir du Marché
Of Yves Camdeborde’s three Avant Comptoirs, this is the one worth making a special trip – a place where the scale of the site finally matches that Camdeborde’s ambition.
L’Avant Comptoir de la Mer
Avant Comptoir de la Mer is bistronomy chef Yves Camdeborde’s seafood variation on his successful adjacent pork-themed pintxo bar.
Ten Belles – Rive Gauche
Ten Belles’ new Left Bank outposts offers some of the charm and all of the flavor of the original.
Combat
This glamorous, unaffected spot is perfect for anyone who has ever worried about outgrowing cocktail bars.
Coup d’Oeil
This wine bar stands out in the natural wine-staturated 11th arrondissement mainly for its ostentatious design.
Chambre Noire
Chambre Noire has become the city’s most daring and youthful natural wine bar.
L’Avant Comptoir de la Terre
Yves Camdeborde’s audacious, standing-room-only French pintxo bar is a jostling, jolly spot in Saint-Germain.
Moncoeur Belleville
Address: 1, rue des Envierges, 75020Hours: Open every day from 10am-2amTelephone: +33 1 43 66 38 54Website / Facebook / Instagram If you already love Belleville, you’ll probably love this simple café perched high above the neighborhood’s namesake park. It’s not much more than cheap rosé served at communal picnic tables by friendly servers, but on certain summer evenings, that’s really all you need. In Other Words Sortir à Paris (2017) “On this small square filled with trees, nestled on… Read More »Moncoeur Belleville
Partisan Café
Combining a historian’s appreciation of coffee culture and Paris architecture with a physicist’s approach to fluid dynamics, Georges Karam’s coffee geekery caters to a distinctly French sensibility.
La Buvette
A simple spot where you can taste bottles of excellent natural wines alongside a few small plates from proprietor Camille Fourmont, formerly the bar manager at Le Dauphin. Not to be confused with the other Buvette, this off-the-beaten path bar (that is technically a shop where you can buy bottles) was selected as the Best Cave à Manger by Le Fooding.
Aux Deux Amis
A truly mixed crowd packs this Oberkampf wine bar, for natural wine and small plates.
Martin
Former Au Passage bartender Löic Martin opened his eponymous bar-restaurant in late 2014 in the shell of a former PMU betting parlor, placing his money on sincere small-plates, a populist booze program, and a boldly central location.
L’Éclair de Génie Café
Practical information Address: 31 rue Lepic, 75018 Nearest transport: Abbesses (12), Blanche (2) Hours: Open every day from 8:30am Reservations: Reservations not accepted Telephone: 01 84 79 23 40 Average price for lunch: Less than 10€ Style of cuisine: Baked goods, soups/salads/sandwiches Website Facebook Photo via L’Éclair de Génie Café’s Facebook
La Chocolaterie Cyril Lignac
Practical information Address: 25 rue Chanzy, 75011 Nearest transport: Rue des Boulets (9), Charonne (9) Hours: Open every day from 8am-7pm Telephone: 01 55 87 21 40 Website Facebook Reviews of interest Paris Bouge (2016) “L’incroyable (inégalable même!) chocolat chaud aux notes biscuitées et pralinées, la tablette «grand cru» au lait et noisettes, l’entremet noisettes avec crème de noisettes, ganache gianduja nappé d’une couche chocolat/amande. Vous le sentez ce goût de l’enfance? Addictif, sucré et craquant, lacté et boisé, c’est… Read More »La Chocolaterie Cyril Lignac
Lone Palm
Practical information Address: 21 rue Keller, 75011 Nearest transport: Voltaire (9), Bastille (1,5,8), Ledru-Rollin (8) Hours: Open every day Reservations: Walk-Ins Welcome Telephone: 01 48 06 03 95 Website Facebook Instagram What people are saying Hipsters in Paris (2015) “Excellent drinks made without any pretension, at reasonable prices, with a great vinyl-only soundtrack to get you through the night.” World’s Best Bars (2015) “Witness the cocktail list, a short but inventive thing, populated in the main by American classics with a few… Read More »Lone Palm
Freddy’s
Freddy’s is a great call when you want to share some delicious nibbles and great wine while perched on a stool, especially at odd hours or on Sunday and Monday when many other places are closed.
Frenchie Bar à Vins
If you want a taste of Gregory Marchand’s cooking without the challenge of scoring a reservation at Frenchie, this is where to go.
Verjus Bar à Vins
This tiny space near the Palais Royal functions functions both as a neighborhood wine bar and as a holding tank for those waiting for their table at the restaurant upstairs. The printed wine list is filled with so many interesting bottles, and the ever-changing chalkboard list has plenty of options by the glass. The food options have changed several times over the years. Options on the menu might include fried chicken, veal tartare, house-made pork and duck terrine with pistachios, and warm Mont d’Or cheese with pickled mushrooms. Groups of more than two will have a hard time squeezing in, but the intimate space is perfect for an apéro before dinner upstairs or elsewhere in the neighborhood.
Le Siffleur de Ballons
Sommelier-turned-restaurateur Thierry Bruneau’s versatile and tasteful neighborhood wine bar is a cherished mainstay of the Aligre neighborhood. It’s got a long, lively bar for solo diners, a bevy of small tables for couples and small groups, and a rear room that can be privatized for minor occasions. Managers Tristan Renoux and Frederick Malpart curate the dynamic, well-priced, mostly natural wine selection with an enthusiasm almost unheard of in the Paris hospitality scene. And the bar’s simple menu of salads and gourmet foodstuffs is anchored by a brilliant steak for two, prepared in the kitchen of Bruneau’s restaurant across the road, L’Ebauchoir. Bottles can also be purchased to go. Read More »Le Siffleur de Ballons
Les Caves de Reuilly
Dynamic young Bretonne Pierre le Nen took the helm of this well-regarded neighborhood wine shop in February 2014 and promptly turned it into one of Paris’ most welcoming terraced wine bars, where an impressively wide selection of natural wines and their more conventional forbears can be enjoyed with zero corkage fee. For anyone peckish, plates of cheese and charcuterie are available, along with an array of tinned and jarred rillettes and the like. Le Nen also stocks an indulgent wall of whisky and a respectable range of French craft beer.
Les Caves de Reuilly’s out-of-the-way location in the 12ème arrondissement ensures an ambience worlds apart from the bustle and hype of more central neighbourhoods: here instead are bands of quality-conscious, budget-conscious Parisians, enjoying honest, inexpensive wine, each other’s company, and the cool evening air. Be sure to ask the staff if the terrace looks full – as often as not, they’re able to simply whip out another table and some chairs for newcomers.
Tiger
On a busy street lined with touristy pubs near Saint Sulpice, Tiger is a cocktail-focused breath of fresh air. Gin & tonics are the specialty here, with more than six variations on the standard available, all made with Tiger’s homemade tonic. Other gin-based cocktails make up a strong part of the menu (think French 75 or martinez), and, as one might expect, the selections for individual gins are excellent, including a version from noted calvados producer Christian Drouin. Those seeking a little variety have other options in the form of a short classic cocktails menu, too. Vaguely Southeast Asian small plates are available, too, if you’re hungry, but the laidback atmosphere and fun cocktails are the true draw.
Helmed by the gregarious Stanislas Jouenne, formerly at La Maison du Whisky, Tiger is a relaxed alternative to the other more serious (and more uptight) cocktail destination nearby, Prescription Club.
Mabel
Grilled cheese seems like the epitome of spontaneous late-night eats, yet you’ll want to make a reservation at Mabel if you’d like yours washed down with a cocktail. The small speakeasy-style bar nestled behind a family-friendly grilled cheese sandwich shop requires clients to be seated, which is great for a cozy tête-à-tête and less exciting for those who want to mingle. It also means that, while walk-ins are welcome, they could well be disappointed. If the sandwich alone is your poison, you’re better off visiting the street-facing shop, where alongside the traditional a handful of other flavors including a classic tuna melt, vegetarian pepperoni, pulled pork, and rum marinated bacon with egg are on offer. They’re authentically greasy enough despite the virtues of seeded bread. Read More »Mabel
La Cave de Belleville
La Cave de Belleville’s unlikely origins sound like the set-up for a knock-knock joke: a pharmacist, a sound engineer, and a gallerist open a cave-à-manger. François Braouezec, Aline Geller, and Thomas Perlmutter deserve a lot of credit for the scale of their ambitions, as La Cave de Belleville, open every day of the week, is at once a wine shop, an épicerie, and a vast, casual wine bar. The airy, well-lit space (a former leather wholesaler) positively bustles at apéro hour, when locals nip in for inexpensive plates of charcuterie, cheese, and canned delicacies. The trio’s limited industry experience is sometimes evident in the inconsistency of the shop’s maximalist selections of wine, spirits, and beer. (Were the wine not mostly natural, it would be hard to call it a “selection”. Filling shelves seems to have been the priority.) But one senses the owners’ intentions are sincere, and the Belleville neighborhood – chaotic, culture-clashy, forever on the cusp of gentrification – stands to benefit greatly from a friendly, accessible social anchor like La Cave de Belleville.
La Cave du Paul Bert
Practical information Address: 16 rue Paul Bert, 75011 Nearest transport: Rue des Boulets (9), Charonne (9), Faidherbe-Chaligny (8) Hours: Open every day Reservations: Reservations not accepted Telephone: 01 58 53 50 92 Average price for lunch: 10-19€ Average price for dinner: 10-19€ Style of cuisine: Small plates A photo posted by Paris by Mouth (@parisbymouth) on May 25, 2016 at 7:47am PDT Reviews of interest Le Figaro (2016) “À la Cave Paul Bert, les coudes contemporains trouvent à lever les classiques et les inattendus de cette vigne dite… Read More »La Cave du Paul Bert
Les Caves de Prague
Parisian wine shops tend to exhibit tunnel vision, often to the point of obsession: either they sell natural/organic/biodynamic wine, or they sell “traditional” wine, and rarely do the twain meet. One sees many of the same wines over, and over, and over again.
Not here. There’s plenty to satisfy any palate or ideology, and what’s more a lot of the labels aren’t the common names littering most modern restaurant lists. Add in a casual vibe, a ton of tables for casual in-store imbibing (with a wonderfully minuscule droit de bouchon), a rather surprising menu of tapas and the usual wine bar comestibles, and there’s finally something new under the Parisian sun.
CopperBay
The bright, expansive bar at CopperBay is a nice antidote to the cramped, dark speakeasies that make up much of the Parisian cocktail scene. It’s unpretentious and accessible, from the perspective of pricing – cocktails start at 10€, which is far lower than most other spots of comparable quality – and of service. Before ordering at the bar, clients are given a deck of cards as the menu. Each one explains a beverage and breaks down the ingredients and flavor profile into a pie chart. Servers are easygoing and attentive. They care about the presentation, potentially too much, and you may find yourself being served a cocktail inside of a plastic bag that roughly resembles a bouquet of flowers, but it’s fun.
A recent favorite during this chilly winter was the “Hot Butterhead” of fragrant calvados, rum, Velvet Falernum, and liberal chunks of still melting butter, served warm in a mug wearing its own woolly sweater. The drinks menu has a good selection of pastis in all its forms, classic drinks, and CopperBay’s own original creations which are complex, multilayered and memorable (even if in the case of some, like the cauliflower-banana rum cocktail, perhaps for the wrong reasons). By way of eats, there’s a small menu of impeccable if typical products (burrata, rillettes). Although CopperBay appears to have gone through a few soul searching iterations since opening in late 2014 – the vaguely nautical bar no longer brands itself as “Mermaids & Magic Potions” for example – it’s hitting its stride right now.
Gravity Bar
Practical information Address: 43 rue des Vinaigriers, 75010 Nearest transport: Jacques Bonsergent (5) Hours: Closed Sunday & Monday Reservations: Not Accepted Telephone: 06 11 84 21 76 Average price for a cocktail:12€ Average price for dinner:10-19€ Style of cuisine: Small plates Facebook Reviews of interest Le Figaro (2016) “Un comptoir arrondi derrière lequel des barmen à casquette s’affairent à préparer des mixtures bien dosées, à base de gentiane notamment (12€ le verre). La clientèle de jeunes barbus et belles bohèmes apprécient… Read More »Gravity Bar
Ob-La-Di Café
Ob-La-Di might be the most Instagrammed café of the 2015 rentrée, but there’s real substance at this stylish spot in the Haut Marais. Most of the baked goods are made in-house, and many of them manage to be vegan and gluten-free, and still actually taste good. Coffee is expertly prepared with Lomi beans by Lloyd, formerly of Boot Café, who also curates a killer playlist most days. Creative offerings include an affogato made with cookie dough ice cream, horchata, a… Read More »Ob-La-Di Café
Le Syndicat
Oh, that papered over and possibly abandoned storefront? That’s Le Syndicat. Cleverly hidden in plain sight, it doesn’t consider itself a bar per se, but rather, an “Organization in Defense of French Spirits,” where Romain Le Mouëllic and Sullivan Doh (last seen at Sherry Butt) are revisiting and reviving old-fashioned French spirits as the base for unusual cocktails aimed at a fashionable, younger audience. The bar is pegboard and concrete warmed up and made gritty-glamorous by the addition of gold… Read More »Le Syndicat
Lulu White
Start your Pigalle bar crawl off at this intimate absinthe-focused speakeasy named after a legendary New Orleans madame. This signless spot, from the team behind Little Red Door, joins Dirty Dick and Glass on the increasingly bar-lined rue Frochot. It’s an elegant space in which to explore a variety of absinthes, whether in cocktails or in a flight of three served with water or seasonal syrups. The frozen Carmen Miranda with Four Roses bourbon, strawberry cordial, and Pernod absinthe whirled together in a slushy machine was a hit. The bartenders are unpretentious and friendly, and will make you an off-list cocktail without the green fairy if you are so inclined.
-Catherine Down, January 2015
La Cave à Michel
There is no real “Michel” behind La Cave à Michel – the name of this lively, standing-room-only Belleville wine bar uses the name in its French sense of “everyman.” And indeed, the bar is as welcoming and informal as its product standards are rigorous and precise. The product of a friendly collaboration between caviste Fabrice Mansouri and Romain and Maxime Tischenko, the brothers behind next door tasting-menu restaurant Le Galopin, La Cave à Michel rivals the Left Bank’s L’Avant Comptoir for the best Parisian cuisine you’ll eat standing up. Romain Tischenko reins in his more maximalist impulses in the bar’s tiny kitchen, and turns out small plates of jewel-like delicacy: beef tartare beneath ricotta salata, bass céviche, or mozzarella with salmon roe. Mansouri’s selection of natural wines is well-considered and well-priced. If service can become a little sluggish at times, it’s because the bar is reliably packed with restaurant industry regulars and Mansouri has a gift for banter. Serious cuisine is rarely this fun.
— Aaron Ayscough, January 2016
La Crèmerie
Practical information Address: 9 rue des Quatre-Vents, 75006 Nearest transport: Odéon (4, 10) Hours: Closed Sunday and for Monday lunch. Open for wine sales and as a wine bar from 11am-2:30pm and from 6-10:30pm. Reservations: Strongly recommended for dinner because the small, intimate space often fills up Telephone: 01 43 54 99 30 Average price for lunch: 10-19€ Average price for dinner: 20-34€ Style of cuisine: classic French, small plates Website Reviews of interest Le Fooding (2013) “The little bites are… Read More »La Crèmerie
Le Barav’
This friendly upper Marais wine bar serves simple charcuterie, cheese, salads, and sandwiches to go along with 5€ glasses, or a bottle from their cave next door. The plate of truffled ham is always a good bet. In the summer, there’s a great terrace on the street.
La Cave des Abbesses
In front, a wine shop with a good selection of estate-bottled wines. In back, a place to drink them, accompanied by charcuterie and cheese.
Ma Cave Fleury
Inexpensive couples of quality grower’s champagne served on a nice outdoor terrace overlooking… a gritty street lined with sex clubs and prostitutes. It’s quite a combo. The charcuterie and cheese plates are standard, but it’s the warm, witty personality of the proprietor and former comedienne Morgane Fleury that is the main draw for those looking for affordable, natural wine.
Les Papilles
Bring some friends to share in Bertrand Bluy’s family style dinner at this cave à manger.
Willi’s Wine Bar
Willi’s Wine Bar has been a Paris institution since 1980, when Mark Williamson opened up near the Palais Royal. If you’ve come to Paris to drink wine, this is a great place to stop in for a glass (or bottle) and some simple food. It’s also a good place to book for larger groups. WILLI’S WINE BAR 13 rue des Petits-Champs, 75001Open Monday-Saturday for lunch & dinnerClosed SundayReservations online or at +33 1 42 61 05 09 OUR PHOTOS OF… Read More »Willi’s Wine Bar
L’Arbre à Café
Address: 10, rue du Nil, 75002Hours: Open Tuesday-Friday 12:30-3:15pm, 4-7:30pm. Open Saturday 10am-3pm, 4-7pm. Closed Sunday & Monday.Telephone: +33 1 84 17 24 17Website / Facebook Fuel your coffee fetish at the same place that Pierre Hermé does. This little shop on the foodie dream street of rue du Nil sells coffee equipment and freshly roasted single-origin beans from 15-20 small-scale coffee farmers. It’s not a true café where you can linger, but you can grab one of the most interesting… Read More »L’Arbre à Café
Le Garde Robe
Natural wine, snacks to soak it up, rowdy crowds and dancing bartenders. One of the original natural wine hangouts in Paris. Bottles also available for purchase to go.
– Meg Zimbeck, 2011
Coinstot Vino
Guillaume Dupré runs this wine bar in the passage des Panoramas, serving a range of small plates for snackers, a few hot items for the hungry, and vins natures for the thirsty.
Ten Belles
Just steps from the Canal Saint-Martin, this shoebox-sized café is serving beautiful coffee with Anglo-inspired breakfast and lunch bites like scones, healthy sandwiches and sausage rolls.
Bar 228 at Le Meurice
You don’t need to be a guest at the grand Le Meurice hotel to enjoy the luxury of having tuxedoed waiters serve you solidly made classic cocktail in the intimate, clubby den. But you may need to be a millionaire. The atmosphere might be retro, but at 25 euros a pop, the prices certainly are not.
Experimental Cocktail Club
The original (and still insanely popular) speakeasy that sparked the trend in 2007 and spawned an empire that now includes Beef Club and Prescription Cocktail Club. Despite being the oldest of the new wave joints, it’s still one of the swankiest and hardest to get in.
— Catherine Down, July 2013
Harry’s New York Bar
Famous for being a Hemingway haunt, Harry’s is responsible for the invention of the (now) classic cocktails the Bloody Mary, the French 75, and the Sidecar. Stiff, white coat clad bartenders keep a strict dress code in check so shorts aren’t going to cut it. Pants (sigh) are required if you’d like to make it through the door of this historic bar.
— Catherine Down, July 2013
Little Red Door
The tiny red door leads to a tiny dark bar with cozy couches, cushy bar stools, and an elevated nook that is ideal for people watching. The bar menu is short, sweet and well-curated.
Prescription Cocktail Club
Just what the doctor ordered: another reliable standby from the ECC team. Two floors of creative cocktails, dark lounge-y space, and too many fashionable people packed into one space.
Septime La Cave
The newest bottle shop on the block from the boys behind Septime lets you shop or stay to sip and snack on olives, house-smoked duck breast, foie gras with eel.
Dirty Dick
This cheekily named Polynesian themed rum bar has a congenial international crew behind the bar, reasonably priced tropical cocktails, flaming scorpion bowl beverages for a crowd, and interesting craft beers to boot. Tiki chic.
Au Nouveau Nez
A small, thoughtful collection of natural wines lines the wall at this Oberkampf shop, where you can snack on charcuterie and cheese while enjoying a bottle, at zero corkage. There’s more space at the second location, in the 20th.
Moonshiner
Skip the pizza at Da Vito and head directly for the refrigerator in the center of the room. The walk-in fridge filled with beer kegs and hanging hams is an entrance to this elegant but unpretentious speakeasy. Get a seat at the bar if you can–both to ogle the impressive collection of vintage barware and because the service leaves a little much to be desired. The drink menu runs heavy on whiskey and mezcal (in a good way) and includes a fresh, seasonal punch for only 6€ each day.
— Catherine Down, July 2013
Fragments
Black Market, a well loved cafe with great coffee, is adapting and transforming–into a bigger and better coffee shop set in a building that was formerly stables. This is an upcoming opening and we’ll update our description and trusted reviews as soon as we know more.
Red House
Red House is where your bartender hangs out on his/her night off. An easygoing dive with really solid, inexpensive cocktails.
Le Vin au Vert
Wine afficionados Etienne Lucan and Sebastien Obert opened this bare-bones cave-à-manger in 2009, having put in time on the floor at Cali-transplant Kevin Blackwell’s only-slightly-less bare-bones restaurant Autour d’Un Verre. Years later, Lucan and Obert oversee one of Paris’ most surprisingly excellent and affordable wine selections. Their prices remain well-suited to the location on the sketchier side of the 9ème arrondissement, but their natural wine selection, heavy on grower Champagne and the wines of allocated cult vignerons like Jean-François Ganevat and Eric Pfifferling, would make mouths water in any tonier district. During apéro and dinner hours, the tables are reliably full of locals enjoying simple cheese and charcuterie plates, or one of the restaurant’s limited main courses (typically a choice between chicken and a sausage). Le Vin Au Vert is a discreet destination for anyone for whom food is an accompaniment to wine, not vice versa.
Fondation Café
A tiny spot with tiny terrasse near the Marche des Enfants Rouges from Australian barista Chris Nielsen. This is an upcoming opening and we’ll update our description and trusted reviews as soon as we know more.
La Caféothèque
Beans are roasted right before your eyes at this excellent coffee boutique. Take a bag home, or take a seat in the back room and order a drink from the expert barista.
Télescope
Télescope was one of the first in a collection of cafés that are changing the way the capital caffeinates. With only a few tables, no wi-fi and scant food options, the focus is squarely on the nectar inside your cup.
Verlet
In business since 1880, Verlet roasts and sells single origin coffee beans, house blends, and fine teas, with a salon for on-the-spot drinking upstairs.
Loustic
Perhaps better known for its open armed embrace of kale (in salad and chip form), Loustic also has quite good coffee. Beans are sourced from Caffènation and prepared with care. The stylish space, designed by Dorothée Meilichzon, is a bit of a place to see and be seen, but the bobo is balanced out by free wifi and friendly staff.
Coutume
Part of the new wave of cafés, Coutume serves serious coffee drinks along with light & healthy lunch fare.
Belleville Brûlerie
A brand-new roastery from the Parisian coffee powerhouses David Flynn (formerly of Telescope), Thomas Lehoux (Ten Belles), Anselme Blayney (Ten Belles and Le Bal Cafe). The roastery and accompanying tasting space are geared towards production and professional trainings during the week, but will be open to the public for cuppings and coffee on Saturdays.
Café Lomi
One of the few professional roasters in Paris is also a warehouse-y coffee shop open to the eager public willing to trek to the 18th. It’s worth the journey for coffee geeks, or freelancers looking for a casual place to camp out. Coffee offerings change all the time based on what’s being freshly roasted on-site.
Café Craft
Serious coffee served in a library-like environment. Pleasantly, the back section of the cafe is a designated co-working space with a strong wireless signal and plenty of plugs for freelancers to camp out. Irritatingly, the staff change the pricing system for said space just about every week.
Café Pouchkine
Nineteenth century Russian nobles spoke French, but the French pastries at this salon de thé in the Printemps department store have a Russian accent.
KB Café Shop
Forget about café crème and go for a flat white at this Aussie-inspired shop, one of the new wave of serious coffee places popping up in Paris. Also on order are fresh juices, sandwiches, and house-made tea cakes and scones.
Maison Claudel Vin et Whisky
This wonderful place is both a shop and tasting space for the Claudel’s dual obsessions, wine and whisky. The shop sells 300 references for each, and those who want to sip on the spot can choose between 24 wines and 80 whiskeys by the glass. Leather club chairs and a selection of small bites make this a great stop before dinner nearby. Read More »Maison Claudel Vin et Whisky
Le Perchoir
The sunset over Sacré-Coeur is hard to beat from this perch. Queue early for drinks and bar snacks on the stellar roof deck with a stand-out 360° view of Paris (and packs of hipsters). Or, alternately, avoid the lines by booking a reservation for a prix-fixe dinner in the restaurant below.
Sherry Butt
Serious cocktails in an unpretentious lounge near the Bastille with good bar snacks to boot. The attention to detail, chill atmosphere and intriguing menu make this an industry darling.
Mariage Frères
A legendary tea seller and salon du thé.
Our Guide to Decent Coffee
If you’re looking for more than an average cup of joe, here is our guide to specialty coffee shops, espresso bars, and purveyors of quality beans.
Le Mary Celeste
The people behind Candelaria are back with a new place serving wild oysters by the piece, outstanding small plates, serious cocktails, natural wine, and craft beer.
Candelaria
With its bright, bare-bones kitchen, crowded counter, communal table, and addictive salsas — all mercifully un-Frenchified — this upper Marais spot has officially changed the game, and people are lining up for tacos and agua fresca. Go through the unmarked door next to the stove and you’ll find a serious bar, staffed by Experimental Cocktail Club grads.