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, bands and DJs play mainly rock, plus some goth, reggae and pop.
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.
reviewed
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Le Zéro de Conduite
Originality, if nothing else, ensures that this bijou drinking hole, in the house where Richard Wagner lived briefly in the 1840s, gets a mention. Serving cocktails in biberons (baby bottles) and throwing concours de grimaces (face-pulling competitions), it goes all out to rekindle your infancy. Bizarre, yes, but obviously some enjoy sucking vodka and banana liqueur shaken with grenadine and orange juice through a teat. Board games, dice, cards and Trivial Pursuit complete the playful scene. Advance table reservations are strongly recommended.
reviewed
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Olympic Café
This community bar in the Goutte d’Or neighbourhood is full of surprises. From plays and film screenings to concerts of Guinean griot, Balkan folk, Cameroon hip-hop and so on in the basement (tickets €1 to €5), this is a breeding ground for creative young people bursting with original ideas. The monthly program available at the bar also includes events (tickets adult/concession €15/10) at the Lavoir Moderne Parisien ([tel] 01 42 52 09 14; 35 rue Léon, 18e), another springboard for young talent down the road.
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.
reviewed
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Le Troisième Lieu
Billing itself as la cantine des ginettes armées (canteen of armed gals), this kooky place for chic young lesbians – and, at times, for everyone else – 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. On the last Saturday of the month it opens at 2pm. Happy hour is from 6pm to 8pm.
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 cafés in east Paris, the ‘Tightrope Walkers’ has been transformed into a fashionable bar. 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 stunning coffered ceiling with chandelier and bird cages and enjoy a cocktail at the bar or a snack of tapas (€4.20 to €5.30) 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.
reviewed
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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, in situ since 1979, this is a cosy and very relaxed spot that tends to attract an older crowd – about 75% of whom are lesbians (the rest are mostly gay men). It’s an active place, with a cabaret (often of chansons françaises ) starting at 10pm on Thursday and Saturday, tarot-card reading and fortune-telling on Tuesday and exhibitions of works by female artists each month.
reviewed
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L’Urgence Bar
Just south of the École de Médecine is located this medical-themed ‘emergency room’. Here are the future doctors of France, busy imbibing luridly coloured liquor from babies’ bottles and test tubes, loosening their stethoscopes and pointing to the ‘X-ray art’ – making comments like ‘Mais non! Clarisse, that’s so not the tibia!’ Even if you don’t understand French, its website gives a good sense of the vibe here.
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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Le Quetzal
This perennial favourite gay bar – one of the first in the Marais – is opposite rue des Mauvais Garçons (Bad Boys’ Street), a road named after the brigands who congregated here in 1540. It’s always busy, with house and dance music playing at night, and cruisy at all hours; plate-glass windows allow you to check out the talent before it arrives. During happy hour (5pm to 11pm) a pint costs just under €4.
reviewed
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Taverne Henri IV
One of the very few places to drink on the Île de la Cité, this is a serious wine bar dating back to 1885 and a decent place for a nibble, with a choice of inexpensive tartines (€4.40 to €8.80), charcuterie (cold cooked meats; €9 to €13), cheese and quiche. This place attracts lots of legal types from the nearby Palais de Justice and has become something of an institution.
reviewed
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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. Great music.
reviewed
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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. The kitchen was into a rather odd hybrid cuisine – Thai noodles, Indian korma, Provençal dishes – the last time we looked.
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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Sanz Sans
A little cheesy, a little sleazy, this lively bar clad in red velvet and zebra stripes continues to hold out as a busy drinking venue on the Bastille beat. DJs play a very mixed bag of music, mostly electronic or funk and soul, and the crowd is similarly unpredictable. It’s always good fun. There’s a €5 cover charge at the weekend. Happy hour is from 5pm to 8pm.
reviewed
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Le Crocodile
This bar with racing-green wooden shutters has been dispensing cocktails (more than 200 on the list) since 1966. Apparently the ‘70s were ‘epic’ in this bar, and the dream kicks on well into the wee hours of the new century. Arrive late for a truly eclectic crowd, including lots of students, and an atmosphere that can go from quiet tippling to raucous revelry.
reviewed
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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; they’ve had a lot of problems with noise-sensitive neighbours.
reviewed
