Paris lost three good bars this year. Sherry Butt, Lulu White and Le Forvm all closed before we finished this list, and two of them were canon — which is the first thing to say about a city whose cocktail scene reads, from outside, as permanent. What's left is stronger than the losses suggest. Bar Nouveau is seventeenth in the world out of a room the size of a front parlour in the Marais. Le Syndicat pours nothing that isn't French and is the best value in the top five. Le Bar Hemingway leads, as it has since long before any list existed.
The palace bars are ranked here rather than on their own list: Paris has eight worth the walk and one of them is world-class, which is a different shape from London's eleven. Most of the numbers on this page are ours alone — Yelp barely covers this city, and where fewer than two platforms clear our review floor we show the editorial score rather than a blend we can't stand behind.
Also in Paris: The 7 Best Wine Bars in Paris and The 10 Best Cafés in Paris.
