Paris
Forty-seven Paris bars, grouped by what you actually want tonight — the drink, the list, the terrace or the room.
Palace bars
Seven hotel rooms, one of them the best bar in the city.
The best small cocktail room in Paris, at Ritz prices, if you can get a seat.
A Palace cocktail room that runs two evenings under one roof — pick the shift before you arrive.
Palace bar doing serious cocktail work. Order off the seasonal side of the menu.
Book a Thursday-to-Saturday piano night, order one signature and one aftershow pour, and leave after two rounds.
The palace hotel bar you book by phone and sit at the curve of.
A palace hotel bar for the room, the jazz and the waiter — not the cocktail programme.
A Starck room in a Raffles address, best on a Thursday.
The wine rooms
The list Paris wins: small rooms, honest prices, the bottle as the product.
Arrive at five, order the beans, drink what Camille pours.
Shop the wall, not the by-the-glass card. That is the whole review.
The Oberkampf natural wine reference. Call first, or stand at the bar.
The standing bar is the whole product. Walk in, do not book.
One of the original Paris natural wine bars, still one of the best. Book the cellar midweek.
A small 10th-arrondissement cocktail bar with a proper tapas kitchen and late hours Thursday to Saturday. Book ahead.
Cocktail-first
Where the drink is the argument.
Go early. Order Watch the Throne. Ask the bartender a question.
Paris's best-kept cocktail room, walk-in only.
The best small cocktail room in the Marais. Go at 3 PM or after 11.
The original Paris hidden bar, still one of the best agave programmes in the city.
Book the tasting at the bar midweek. Skip the Saturday walk-in.
Order the Sidecar or the Bloody Mary. Sit at the bar. Walk downstairs to see if the piano is on.
The paired-cocktail counter to book in Paris right now — as long as you book the right door.
Go for the wild oysters, the stirred cocktails, and the natural wine list.
Go for the Panais Colada at the counter at 5 PM. Skip Saturday at 10.
A whisky bar dressed as a speakeasy, and both halves deliver.
Book Bar 3, order the Tunnel, skip the Royals.
A bespoke cocktail bar where €14 gets you a drink built to your mood — best for the first round of the evening.
Out of the centre
Belleville to Montparnasse: worth the métro, and cheaper when you arrive.
A cocktail bistro on rue de Belleville run by three ex-Experimental Cocktail Club bartenders, priced like the neighbourhood and built like the Marais.
The 12th's old-school wine bar, still pouring from the barrel next to Aligre — go on a weekend morning in oyster season.
Go for the Bloody Mary at the downstairs bar on a Wednesday. Skip if you need wine, beer, or a Saturday-night scene.
A serious cocktail programme in a small palace room. Go at 6pm or after 10pm.
Go for a correctly-made classic at the bar. Skip if you're chasing modern signatures.
Late and loud
Records, rum and a room that gets louder after ten.
The 11th's best vinyl-and-natural-wine room. Walk in early or wait at the door.
Paris's serious tiki bar, priced fairly and run on its own terms.
Order the Chica chica blues, get there before midnight, sit near the decks.
The deepest rum list on the canal, hidden behind a courtyard door most of the 10th walks past.
Paris's serious punch bar, and the only cocktail room in the city where the format is the point.
The Latin Quarter dive worth walking past the Panthéon for, but only on the right night.
By the canal
Three rooms on the Saint-Martin, for the hour before the light goes.
Bright, walk-in cocktails in the 10th, priced fairly and poured with real skill.
A speakeasy where the gimmick clears the door and the drinks carry the rest of the night.
Come early, take the terrace, order the plate-and-a-glass.
Cafés and terraces
The table is what you are buying, and one order holds it.
Come for the 1902 room. Order simply and stay long.
Book upstairs, order the onion soup, drink Beaujolais.
Go for the hot chocolate on the terrace. Skip the food.
Sit at the counter inside, order the kir, skip the royal upsell.
A €22 seat on the best terrace in Saint-Germain. The drink comes with it.
Go for the terrace and the pint. Skip if you want a cocktail programme.
Come for the corner and a demi, not the cocktail list.
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