Bar entertainment in Paris
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Le Piano Vache
Down the hill from the Panthéon, this bar is covered in old posters above old couches and is drenched in 1970s and ’80s rock ambience. Effortlessly underground and a real student fave, here bands and DJs play mainly rock, plus some goth, reggae and pop.
reviewed
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Le Crocodile
This green-shuttered bar has been dispensing cocktails (more than 200 on the list) since 1966. The ’70s were ‘epic’ in this bar, and the dream kicks on well into the new millennium. Arrive late for a truly eclectic crowd, including lots of students, and an atmosphere that can go from quiet tippling to raucous revelry. Hours can vary.
reviewed
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Cannibale Café
In fact ‘Cannibal Café’ couldn’t be more welcoming, with its grand rococo-style bar topped with worn zinc, decrepit mirrors, peeling mouldings, wood panelling, Formica tables and red leatherette bench seats. It’s a laid-back, almost frayed alternative to the groovy pubs and bars of rue Oberkampf and the perfect place to linger over a coffee or grab a quick beer at the bar. There’s an extensive menu with popular breakfasts (€9 to €12), and brunch (served between noon and 4pm on the weekend) is €18. Oh, and the name of this place isn’t suggesting that you bring condiments if you miss the mealtimes; it comes from a Dada manifesto and a painting by Goya.
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Le Zéro De Conduite
In the house where Richard Wagner lived briefly in the 1840s, Le Zéro De Conduite goes all out to rekindle your infancy, serving cocktails in biberons (baby bottles) and throwing concours de grimaces (face-pulling competitions), with cards, dice and board games. Advance table reservations are strongly recommended.
reviewed
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Le Baron
When it reopened in 2004, the Baron shot to fame as the place where everyone wanted to be but no one could get into. Intimately located in a former brothel with smouldering, luxury-cabaret ambience, it's graced by a continuous trail of St-Germain artists, hip writers and A-list celebrity drop-ins (Bjork, Sophia Coppola).
It does what it does very well; this is what Parisians mean when they say a place is hype. You usually need to know a member or be a famous actor (or a brilliant liar) to get in.
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Le Troisème Lieu
Billing itself as la cantine des ginettes armées (canteen of armed gals), this kooky place for chic young lesbians is part bar, part club, part restaurant. There’s a large, colourful bar and big wooden tables at street level, with good-value meals available. The vaulted cellar below leaves space for dancing to DJs (house, electro) and rock/alternative music concerts.
reviewed
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Kong Bar
This Philippe Starck–designed bar is carefully perched upon the Kenzo building. The concept is kind of postmodern Japanese, a cradle for new-generation wannabes who trail their Vuitton handbags along the bar and snap their fingers for more bottles of champagne. The cocktails are around €13, not bad for a place this pretentious, and DJs playing hip-hop Thursday to Saturday somehow get everyone dancing on the tables. Happy hour is 6pm to 8pm. Dress up: no running shoes.
reviewed
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Les Funambules
Like so many small cafes in Paris, Les Funambules turns into a fashionable bar as evening approaches. While the original architecture provides character (check out the frescoes), nowadays the terrace is crammed with beautiful people on warm summer evenings.
The rest of the year customers take shelter inside under the bird cages and stunning coffered ceiling with chandelier and enjoy a cocktail at the bar or a snack of tapas in the back room.
reviewed
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Eagle Paris
The Eagle (from London) has landed (in Paris). And it’s brought something for everyone: covered terrace, a couple of bars on two levels, a decent-sized dance floor (techno and house), a chill-out zone, a fumoir (smoking room) and, natch, a back room. Various themed nights are scheduled, including a ‘tea dance’ of the London-based Long Yang Club for Asians and ‘rice queens’ from 8.30pm Tuesday. Generous happy hour on beer till 11pm. Wear something leather.
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Motown Bar
This almost 24-hour place – it’s open continuously except for two early-morning gaps at the start of the week – is the venue of choice in the wee hours when you have a thirst and a few bob but, alas, no friends. You can drink at almost any time of day, and eat (mains €7.50 to €11.50) until 11pm; live singers croon on certain nights. There’s a warm and festive feel, and the staff and the patrons are friendly.
reviewed
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La Champmeslé
The grande dame of Parisian dyke bars, around since 1979, is a cosy, relaxed spot that attracts an older crowd (about 75% are lesbians, the rest mostly gay men). Cabaret nights, tarot-card reading and fortune-telling sessions, and art exhibitions.
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L’Urgence Bar
At this medical-themed ‘emergency room’ just south of the École de Médecine, the future doctors of France imbibe luridly coloured liquor from babies’ bottles and test tubes, loosen their stethoscopes and point to the ‘X-ray art’ – making comments like ‘Mais non! Clarisse, that’s so not the tibia!’
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Le Café Divan
Although a touch sombre, the Divan bar-restaurant scores a mention for three reasons. First, its long copper bar with stools: highly suitable for that moody apéritif or Le Monde –scrutinising coffee break. Second, a local clientele that’s older and considerably less hysterical than the usual rue de Lappe lot. And, finally, it opens onto a little passage – great on a warm evening.
reviewed
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Footsie
In this place – otherwise known as the FTSE (the London Stock Exchange) – drink prices are floated like stocks, with prices changing according to demand; when certain drinks are purchased they then cost more, while others drop in price. It’s a successful gimmick and the gorgeous wood-panelled bar attracts besuited brokers and way-too-young girls batting their eyelashes throughout the night.
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La Liberté
A delightfully messy local institution infused with the spirit of the ‘68 revolution, the ‘Liberty’ does simple meals and wine by day, and is a heaving mix of regulars and drop-ins, raspy-voiced arguments and glasses going clink by night. It’s the kind of place where bobos, artists and old rockers find their common point: a passionate love of drink and talk.
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La Caravane
This funky, animated bar is a little jewel tucked away between République and Oberkampf; look for the tiny campervan above the pavement. The bar is surrounded by colourful kitsch furnishings, and the people around it and behind it are amiable and relaxed.
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Charlie Birdy
Love it or hate it, this lounge bar – one of three Parisian Charlie Birdies – is the place to sit back, relax and savour a well-earned apéritif after a hard day’s work. Décor is modern; the place splits into part bar, part red-brick-walled restaurant; and live gospel ’n’ soul makes weekend brunch (€17.50) an upbeat affair.
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Iguana Café
A contemporary, two-level, backlit café-pub whose clientele is slipping progressively from 30-somethings to early-20s punters. It’s the best of a mediocre bunch and we love the red, black and silver décor on two levels. It has the advantage of closing late – or would that be early? – every night, and there’s a DJ on the weekend, with themed nights. Happy hour is 6pm to 9pm.
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Boca Chica
This enormous, colourfully decorated place attracts a salsa-lovin’ crowd that isn’t shy about getting up to dance. When the multilevel bar areas and terrace are not hosting salsa soirees you’ll find DJs, flamenco artists and ’80s theme nights. The extensive tapas selection is unsatisfying; stick to the sangria. Happy hour is 4pm to 8pm.
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Café Panis
This rather elegant-looking café might seem an unlikely spot for the dishevelled studenty-types you see scribbling in notebooks here, but it's close to Shakespeare & Co, and waiters benevolently let impoverished writers - who might just be future Hemingways - sit on a coffee for an hour or two. It's also a good spot for a salad or warming soup.
reviewed
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Pop In
All skinny jeans and cultivated pop-rock nonchalance, the Pop In somehow got itself on the in-crowd map but maintains a relaxed regulars’ vibe. It’s popular with expats and Parisian students starting out the evening, and the drinks are reasonably priced. Whisper sweet nothings as you leave; it's had a lot of problems with noise-sensitive neighbours.
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Pause Café
With an established pedigree that dates back to the 1990s, this happening cafe does it all: drinks, meals, coffee and brunch. Well situated away from the fray of Bastille, its generous terrace, covered in winter, fills up with fashionable locals and the almost famous. French film buffs may recognize it from the Gen-X hit Chacun cherche son chat (When the Cat’s Away; 1996).
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Havanita Café
Flashy Cuban style every inch of the way, from the mojitos (Cuban cocktails created with rum, mint and limes) to the main courses to the murals on the walls. This attractive but commercial bar-restaurant has stood the test of time on the increasingly lurid rue de Lappe, thanks to its always reliably festive atmosphere.
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Lush Bar
This Clichy post has made a name for itself with a relaxed-but-hip local following and Anglo expats. It has excellent cocktails including killer white Russians, as well as wines and, in true English (or Irish – there are photos of the Emerald Isle on the walls) style, affordable beers. DJs often play at weekends.
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L’Objectif Lune
This perennial favourite (the name comes from a Tintin story) in Bastille attracts punters with its ‘Maxi Happy Hours’ – 6pm to 9pm and 9pm to 1.30am, when pints are €3 and €4 respectively – and its Cuban-themed and DJ nights, when it works itself up to a fever pitch.
reviewed