Paris bars are perfect places to imbibe, since they have beautiful designs and have great offers. In fact, Paris’s drinking scene is one of the best and most diverse in the world, with speciality wine bars, craft beer bars and cocktail clubs constantly cropping up across the city.
Bars in Paris serve cocktails all over the city, but if you’re after an authentic dry martini not straight out of a labeled bottle, a proper cocktail bar is best. Expect to pay €8 to €15 for a cocktail and enjoy the good environment. Cocktail bars generally open from 6pm or 7pm to 1am or 2am Tuesday to Saturday; some open until 5am at weekends.
Luckily, every cocktail bar has a menu and many bartenders speak English.
With such strengths, narrowing the best cocktail bars in Paris down to 5 is no easy task, but somehow, it’s here. If you’re planning a trip to Paris, see below the best places to drink in the City of Light.
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Experimental Cocktail Club
37 Rue Saint-Sauveur, 75002 Paris
After the Experimental Cocktail Club’s mixes, you’ll never go back to the boring drinks that are to cocktail bars what McDonald’s is to Michelin stars. Paris has been slow to host the type of venues that are so fashionable in New York – ‘mixology’ bars that re-invent cocktails with strange spirits, fresh fruit juices and subtle spices – but now we have, for example, the Tommy’s Margarita Especial, an insane 100% agave tequila Arette mix with lime juice and organic agave honey, infused with Bourbon vanilla and cloves.
Gravity Bar
44 Rue des Vinaigriers, 75010 Paris
This boldly designed cocktail bar serves inventive concoctions to a trendy clientele. The place has a very cool atmosphere and the staff is friendly. The décor is surf-inspired, but don’t be mislead into thinking you’ll be walking into a beach bar full of flip-flop clad servers. From behind the bar flowing along the ceiling is a cool and modern interpretation of a sculpted wave.
Le très Particulier
23 Avenue Junot, 75018 Paris
Tucked away behind the Montmartre hill, the luxurious Particulier Montmartre hotel bar is a favourite with in-the-know Parisians. Designed by Louis Benech (who also renovated the Tuileries), this lush enclave feels more like a forest thicket than a garden, with its towering trees, wild ferns and patches of creeping ivy. The service is discreet and attentive (as it should be in a hotel of this calibre), while the clientele is an unusual mix of well-heeled older guests and trendy youth.
Hero
289 Rue Saint-Denis, 75002 Paris
There’s a very subtle 1980s Miami flair at Hero, a Korean fried chicken and cocktail joint. Swedish designer Jeanette Dalrot imparted an element of quirky chic to the three-level space with pastel banquettes, gold sconces, and wall projections featuring snippets from Korean music videos.
L’Entrée des Artistes Pigalle
30 Rue Victor Masse, 75009 Paris
If you’re wondering about where to go in Paris, consider this: The relaxed hybrid venue offers sophisticated cocktails as well as a more straightforward wine list, and top-end snacks like foie gras, Italian cheese or a classy plat du jour. Warm and intimate, the small space has an old-world feel, both rough and refined, cluttered with beautiful vintage objects from soda siphons to an old metal cash register.
Cocktails in Paris have never been so hip. Cocktail bars are making a huge resurgence with glitzy spots and cool backstreet speakeasies mixing wildly inventive creations Parisians wouldn’t have dared to try a decade ago. So whether you’re after a traditional dry martini or an elaborate cocktail crafted from forgotten French spirits and local ingredients, Paris has you covered.
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