A café is not a bar with worse drinks. What you are buying is a table, a terrace and the right to stay at it — one order holds the seat for as long as you want it — so the pour is judged against what a café is for: a correct espresso, a cold demi, a glass of something drinkable at the price. Judge Le Bistrot du Peintre's 1902 room against a cocktail programme and you have misread it; it has the highest Room score on this list.
All ten are here because the tier deserves the page. Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots share the same crossroads and both are in because the terrace is the product and the entries say so. La Palette is last with the lowest Pour we recorded in Paris and the best street-corner terrace in Saint-Germain, which is the whole argument for scoring cafés as cafés.
Also in Paris: The 20 Best Cocktail Bars in Paris and The 7 Best Wine Bars in Paris.
