This bar, as its name implies, is dedicated to the elixir of the Gods from Oaxaca known to us mortals as Mezcal. Sure, the Meixican eau de vie made from agave is all the rage right now in the trendiest of cocktail bars from Lima to Lisbon, and here in Paris it's no different. What's particularly attractive about this bar is that it's hidden behind Inka Restaurant, all abuzz these days for its fresh take on Peruvian cuisine. You literally have to walk through the restaurant's hot kitchens (wave hello to Chef Recamier on your way if you will!) in order to get to this clandestine bar in the back. Cocktail specials change here seasonally but you can be sure that each is religiously mixed with reverence for the main ingredient, Mezcal. Tunes are a mix of Latin beats and old school R&B with a décor heavily peppered by oversized Christian crosses.
Recommended for Bars because: Paris has a penchant for hidden bars: People seem to feel if it's hidden, it must be a gem. Here, they wouldn't be wrong.
Paige's expert tip: Every other Monday they host open comedy night here. It attracts a loyal crowd of locals who have now become something of Mezcal experts. This bar is the property's second bar and the one hidden behind the kitchen. So, when you walk in, by all means, stop at the front room Pisco Bar, where Pisco Sours are worth tasting, and then head back through the kitchens until you find this den of Mezcal delish.
Set decorated like a vintage gas station, this new-ish bar just around the cornder from Odéon has become a quick hit with beer lovers and wine aficionados. Part of the appeal is that you can self-serve your own beers, from taps that have been fashioned to dispense beer straight from the old gas station pump dispensing guzzles. How it works is that you put some cash on a little magnetic-strip card when you arrive and with that you can pretty much serve yourself beer all night, or until you use up the cash on your beer card. The wine menu will also keep most wine lovers satisfied, too. And, by the end of the evening you're sure to have mastered how to pour yourself a beer with the least amount of foam on top.
Recommended for Bars because: New and fun and on the Left Bank in an area where there's lots of students, this self-serve beer/wine bar is a novel concept.
Paige's expert tip: This is one of those fun left-bank hangouts and the concept is both unique and entertaining. It's not just a self-serve beer bar, but a beer and wine bar where vintage 1950's gas pumps have been turned into beer-dispensing machines.
You can't really tell when you walk by it, but this little bar actually has a downstairs basement where they hold regular jam sessions, mostly jazz. They also host art openings and other things that go well with natural wines, beer and cocktails. The address is like hitting a Bull's Eye in Paris. The Quai de Bourbon is named after, of course, the Bourbon lineage of French aristocracy. It's this family line of which King Louis XIV, the famous Sun King, was a descendant. This little island in the center of Paris, Ile St.-Louis, is named after the first King Louis (the 14th's great great great ancestor), later beatified by the Holy Roman Church, hence Saint Louis. In any case, if it's a bit of centuries-old-history or just a good cocktail you're looking for, you'll find it here. They also serve chef-inspired small verrines of chicken morsels, worthy of a gourmet. Most nights attract a pretty nice crowd, so best to stop in early otherwise it's likely standing room only.
Recommended for Bars because: You'd never guess that this small space serves as an Ile St.-Louis' defacto cultural gathering point.
Paige's expert tip: For most people, an ice cream cone is the best excuse to come to Ile St.-Louis, the little island in the center of the city. But a cocktail at this bar, which recently changed ownership, qualifies as another good one. One thing is certain, this little cocktail bar that also serves natural wines is full of local color.
This is the Parisian rooftop bar to beat all rooftop bars. Seriously. And I'll be honest, I am not one for hotel bars. But the rooftop bar of the Hotel Raphael, just a stone's throw from the Arc de Triomphe, is one of those gems you wish were open all year long. Alas, it's only open during the summer months. Here the seating is arranged in discreet manner so you get both the sense of a rooftop lounge with panoramic views of the Sacre-Cur, Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower, while maintaining that sense of a private rendez-vous. For this season, I've heard murmurings that Bbq is the theme so any sunny afternoon or early evening that you stop by, you may just be able to get some hot skewers of steak, chicken and shrimp to go with your glasses of champagne and fresh strawberry cocktails.
Recommended for Bars because: The panoramic views and private seating arrangements of this Parisian rooftop bar make it a jewel.
Paige's expert tip: Make reservations for a table or stop by early in the evening as this becomes a very popular spot on a warm summer evening. Unfortunately, for the colder months you'll have to head to the English Bar downstairs as this rooftop is not open in winter.
The famed Buddha Bar needn't re-invent itself as a hipster speakeasy. It simply added a Secret Bar behind a hidden wall in a place you'd never suspect. So the big Buddha remains but if you're looking for a more intimate kind of evening, ask the hostess to show you the way to the hidden bar, the Secret 8. Cocktails here get pretty inventive, too: One is made with mushroom flavors and bits of the fungus, presented on a bed of green moss. Vodka seems to be the spirit of choice for the mixologists here. Seating can accommodate up to about 25 people maximum, so if you're a large group, best come early. Check their FB page for the month's riddle. When you solve it, the answer acts as your password for entry. For example, to have the privilege of sipping a Walk On The Wild Side or Snowy Venezia cocktail in November you would have had to figure this one out: I am leaving, sailing away, From heat of the flame that I used to accompany. On the water I am now as deep purple would say, And here I dance, hypnotizing and tasty, without leading to danger. In 5 words I am
Recommended for Bars because: Try to solve this month's puzzle and figure out the passcode numbers for entry into this highly exclusive bar. Or call ahead and make reservations.
Paige's expert tip: With cocktails that include things like the exotic Snowy Venezia, it is well worthwhile to solve the month's puzzle and figure out the passcode numbers for entry into this highly exclusive bar. Or you can just call ahead and make reservations.
In its handful of years since opening, this place has become the cocktail institution. The founders, a group of badboy buddies, has since gone on to open several more clubs and even one in NYC. They are often credited (accurately or inaccurately) with bringing the modern day craft cocktail movement to Paris. Nonetheless, the cocktails here are creative and easily downable. The ambiance is more a rocker vibe and it's the kind of place where the music is so loud you can't hear what the person next to you is saying. Sometimes that can be a good thing. Of course, though, that's for you to decide.
Recommended for Bars because: The Parisian mecca for the recent cocktail craze in the city. Even if they do have a NYC outpost now, too.
Paige's expert tip: The cocktail club that (re)launched the modern cocktail craze here in Paris, the ECC is worth a visit because it's still serving up crazy delicious cocktails.
Ever fantasized about having a drink with Emile Zola, Apollinaire and Paul Cézanne, or even Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Miller ? Les Lilas is the place. Or at least, in the 20's/30's it was, and especially on Tuesday nights when international thinkers and artists gathered, talked and drank. But this storied venue dates back even farther, to the mid-19th c. when it was a station on the road to Fontainebleu. Its (former) garden of lilac trees helped create its Thousand-and-One-Nights reputation and anchored Montparnasse's café culture. Today its piano bar is still beloved like a well-worn, leather-bound book. Many an expat swear it's the place to find yourself a good stiff drink on a cold winter night or warm summer evening. But, Hemingway said it best, "The only decent café in our neighborhood was La Closerie des Lilas, and it was one of the best cafés in Paris."
Recommended for Bars because: A good place to enjoy a drink while wondering what Hemingway was sipping while he wrote his pages here of The Sun Also Rises.
Paige's expert tip: The piano bar offers live music and the commemorative plaques make you feel like you can almost touch the ghosts of Paris's literary past.
This is that classic little Paris wine bar that you dream of whenever you think of a perfect evening in Paris. This location of the Ecluse wine bars is especially iconic since it's in the March Saint-Honore, that enclosed square just a stone's throw from Opera and Place Vendome. The wines here cover the vast terroirs of France, from Burgundy to Bordeaux, from the Loire to the Rhone. Here you will find the wine of the month, a special selection by the wine bars' chief sommelier, paired with an appetizer plate of specially selected cheeses, cold cuts, paté and other small nibbles. Of course, you can also order off the menu. Wines come by the glass and by the bottle. Wine enthusiasts can order a glass, then if they like what they taste, they can order the full bottle. Here you'll find Petrus as well as Cristal Rose by Roederer.
Recommended for Bars because: Paris and wine bar are practically synonyms. Still, you want to choose one with both atmosphere and excellent wines. This has that, plus music nights.
Local Expert tip: There are several Ecluse wine bars around the city. What makes this one special is that several times a week, there is live music playing inside the bar. French chansons, light jazz and piano bar tunes liven up the wine selection that much more. Also the enclosed open square of the March St.-Honore makes you feel you are a privileged insider.
Legend has it that Gershwin composed « An American in Paris » in the downstairs piano bar here. I don't doubt it as the other legend, that Fitzgerald drank himself unconscious at Harry's, seems to have held up through the ages. But most people who come here to enjoy a whiskey-sour, bloody Mary or rum-and-coke in the wood-paneled bar, probably don't come her for those reasons, even if they do know who Gershwin and Fitzgerald are. Harry's is just one of those Paris bars that has always been and forever will be. It was established in 1911. And its location, just by Opéra and Place Vendome, make it so very convenient. It's also a good spot to hang out in if you're looking for some expat comraderie.
Recommended for Bars because: My grandfather had a drink at Harry's Bar when he was stationed in Paris as one of the liberating American troops after WWII.
Paige's expert tip: See if you can find your college pennant tacked up behind the bar. They're nearly all there, from US universities. This still is one of the best meeting points when you're new to the city or meeting up with people who are.
Itching for a truly authentic tropical fruity cocktail? This Tiki Bar in the grand tradition of Tiki Bars is the only true Tiki Bar in Paris. Its owner is a devotee of the haloed pedigree that tiki bars have evolved from and it was with this reverence for hand pressed fresh juices and daily made small batch mixes that he runs his shop here in SoPi. SoPi, South Pigalle, refers to a very trendy nightlife area in Paris that is seeing rapid gentrification. It is the Moulin Rouge district of Paris and this district, Pigall, was once known for its seedier sides. Not so anymore. It has fast become the area where fashionable restaurants and trendy bars have popped up. So much so that if you want to spend a night bar-hopping without the hassle of catching taxis all over the city, this is a good place for it. However, mind you, if you start out here at Dirty Dick's, the cocktails are so good you might never leave!
Recommended for Bars because: The Spicy Jack. Difficult to describe this sweet and spicy cocktail so you will just have to stop by and try for yourself.
Paige's expert tip: The owner of this bar is a regular on the international cocktail mixologist circuit. He worked himself up from barback over the decades to now being the owner of this successful first-ever Tiki Bar in Paris.