Tour · 6 stops · ~one long evening
Cocktail Bars
From the Hemingway era to the speakeasy era.
Six bars: two from the 1910s when Paris invented modern cocktail culture (Harry's, the Ritz Hemingway), one Art Deco classic from the 1930s, and three contemporary bars that have made the city's cocktail revival actually stick.
Through the2e · Bourse & Sentier8e · Champs-Élysées & Madeleine3e · Haut Marais
1Harry's New York Bar
5 Rue Daunou, opened 1911 by an American jockey turned bartender. The Bloody Mary, the Side Car, the White Lady, and the French 75 were all invented here. Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Sartre, Coco Chanel, Humphrey Bogart, all regulars. The interior — mahogany bar, stained glass, college pennants — is unchanged.
The downstairs piano bar (Le Piano Bar du Sous-Sol) opens around 22:00 — Gershwin played here in the 1920s, supposedly composing An American in Paris in his head. Order a Bloody Mary and ask for the original 1921 recipe — they'll humour you.
From Wikipedia›
Harry's New York Bar is a bar in Paris, France located at 5, Rue Daunou, between the Avenue de l'Opéra and the Rue de la Paix. It was converted from a bistro by jockey Tod Sloan in 1911 and became a popular expatriate spot during World War I. It has been frequented by a number of international celebrities and is said to be the birthplace of several classic cocktails.
Read more on Wikipedia →Verified nearby ·Kimpton St Honoré Paris2 minMusée du Parfum Fragonard3 min
→Walk west to Place Vendôme, ~5 min. The Ritz entrance is on Place Vendôme; Bar Hemingway is in the back of the hotel, accessed through the rear lobby off Rue Cambon.
48.87040, 2.33180
- 2
Bar Hemingway, Hôtel Ritz
15 Place Vendôme. Named for Hemingway, who claimed (probably fictionally) to have personally liberated the bar at the Ritz from German occupation in August 1944. Small, wood-panelled room with framed photographs and signed ephemera, presided over for 25 years by celebrity bartender Colin Field.
Tiny — about 25 seats. No reservations; arrive at 18:30 (opening) and queue. Drinks are €40+ but each is a performance. The Ritz Sidecar is the move; the Bloody Mary is the second. Walk through the Ritz lobby to find it — entrance off Rue Cambon, not Place Vendôme.
Verified nearby ·Le Petit Vendôme2 min
→Walk east through Place Vendôme, then north on Rue de la Paix → Boulevard de la Madeleine → Boulevard Malesherbes. ~15 min. Le Forum is at no. 4, on the eastern corner.
48.86780, 2.32890
- 3
Le Forum
4 Boulevard Malesherbes, opened 1931 — Art Deco interior virtually unchanged since opening: wood-panelled walls, brass railings, a chandelier in the back room. Considered Paris's most consistent classic-cocktail bar; the bartenders are old-school and the menu is 200+ classics.
The back room is the secret — quieter, with a small library of cocktail-history books on the shelves you can read while you drink. The Negroni is the consensus best in central Paris. Tweed jacket weather; this is not a tank-tops place.
→Long hop east. Métro Madeleine (lines 8/12/14) → Filles du Calvaire (line 8, ~12 stops). Walk east 5 min to Rue Commines for Mary Celeste. ~25 min.
48.87420, 2.32250
- 4
Le Mary Celeste
1 Rue Commines, opened 2013 by the team behind Candelaria (the Marais speakeasy that started Paris's cocktail revival). Octopus-themed (look up at the chandelier), tight space, focus on small plates and short, idiosyncratic cocktail menus. Reservations now mandatory weekends.
Get the oysters with mignonette. The cocktail menu rotates every few months; ask the bartender to make the bartender's-choice if you can't decide. Standing-room at the bar is sometimes available without reservation if you arrive at 18:00 opening.
Verified nearby ·Breizh Café (Le Marais)1 minThe Cambridge Public House4 min
→Walk south on Rue de Bretagne, then east on Rue de Charlot. Little Red Door is at no. 60. ~5 min on foot.
48.86030, 2.36220
- 5
Little Red Door
60 Rue Charlot, opened 2012 — one of the first wave of Paris speakeasies, now one of the world's most-awarded cocktail bars (top 10 globally most years). Drinks are conceptual and themed annually; the menu is a picture-book that changes every year.
There's no actual little red door — the entrance is the regular wooden door at no. 60. Reservations recommended weekends. Order from the printed picture-book; the bartenders will explain each drink. Cash or card.
Verified nearby ·Candelaria1 minThe Cambridge Public House2 min
→Walk south to Métro Filles du Calvaire (line 8) → Bréguet-Sabin or Saint-Sébastien-Froissart (line 8). Bisou is at 15 Boulevard du Temple, walking distance from either. ~5 min on foot from Little Red Door.
48.86240, 2.36400
- 6
Bisou
15 Boulevard du Temple, opened 2018 by ex-Mary Celeste bartender Nicolas Munoz. No menu — you tell the bartender what spirits and flavours you like, and they make you a drink. The deliberate inverse of the cocktail-book ritual: every drink is bespoke.
No menu means you have to talk. Try "something with mezcal, smoky, not too sweet" or "surprise me with a gin drink" — both will be taken seriously. The bar is small, around 20 seats; arrive early or expect to wait. End of the cocktail tour, or the start of a longer night.
From Wikipedia›
Bisou was a German girl group founded by rapper Bushido in 2007.
Read more on Wikipedia →Verified nearby ·Le Barav1 minOfr.3 min
48.86570, 2.36350