Paris Speakeasy Guide: Chic, Secret, Très Unique
Paris is the City of Lights, but what about the a dark, mysterious side? What is happening in the secret world of hidden bars? We had to find out.
I recently was lucky enough to be scheduled for a work trip to Belgium. And you do not go spend a weekend in Belgium without taking the train over to Paris for the weekend, I mean, as long as you have come that far. Naturally, Peggy was not going to pass up this opportunity.
First off, I want to give a fantastic nod to Eliza Dumais for her fantastic 2019 article on drinking culture on Thrillist: French Drinking Culture, Explained: Are the French Better at Drinking? – Thrillist
I found her humor amazing in researching the French drinking culture and experience. But don’t leave my story yet to go read her experience. We did our research, we loved the French way of wine with meals, and the societal views of bars and pubs. Drinking and the Parisian nightlife are cultural experiences.
In our research there were a couple of speakeasies that came up time and time again. So, we started off with just a short list, which grew once we arrived. We will start with the one of the most popular social media locations:
Lavomatic
The Entrance
Looking for a laundromat? Do not go to Lavomatic. Looking for a cute little hidden cocktail experience, absolutely seek this out. A man sitting out front looking a little sketchy, but no, really more like there to check an ID. Inside the door are some washer and dryers. One of the dryer fronts is fake, find that, push the start button, and open the door front to find the stairs.
The Experience
For our first stop, this was a great way to kick off Paris. Enter up a very dark stairway with neon paintings lead up the curved stairs (France loves their spiral staircases), to a two room second floor. Not a big space, not dark, definitely fun and inviting. Small tables with benches and laundry soap label-covered stools.
The service was friendly, they defaulted to English for us, which was appreciated. We were so happy there, it was a great, upbeat atmosphere. But this was stop number one, so off we had to go. 5 Shakers is a strong start in a new city. Creative entry/challenge and the great service. We were happy we chose well for our first stop in Paris.
Sister Side Note (ssn) – we clearly look like Americans because almost everyone, everywhere, spoke to us in English. We are not proficient in French, but we did study up on the basics. We just never really got the chance to use it.
L’Epicier
The Entrance
You are looking for small middle eastern spice shop. More like a quickie mart than a true spice shop but look for a small space with a shelf in the back full of non-perishable goods. Pulling one of those foods from the shelf is your key to the L’Epicier entrance.
The Experience
Through the hidden door and entry way and then a tall bar in a small-ish room with some booths and short stools, the tables were old stop signs in Arabic looking writing. Yes, these old ladies kept finding tiny stools to sit on, and our knees will thank us for it later. The room was pretty fantastic in a close, intimate way (we had to borrow the pic from their website, below). Lots of glass lanterns hanging from the ceiling gave it a back alley, middle eastern bar feel – which you know we are here for.
ssn – more tiny milk crate stools (see pic below)! What is up with this?
I opted for the tiki bar feel of the Rhum Erection. Yes, partly for the name, but also because it came in a ceramic skull. Having just visited the Paris Catacombs that day, I was feeling the day of the dead vibe. Peggy had the Basilic De Ma Teta, a basic gin and Saint Germain lovely and bright drink. It was Halloween, so the servers were feeling the festive vibe, and they were loving the night, which added to our love of them. This is getting a 5-shaker rating, as they checked every box that we like to see.
Candelaria
The Entrance
Look for the small taco shop on a side street, how American of the French Speakeasy scene. But it’s not quite that simple.
We walked up to a line out the door and thought our chances of getting in were slim. But the cute lady out in front and her Day of the Dead face paint asked us “tacos or cocktails”? We said “cocktails”, she walked us straight back along the taco counter to the plain door at the back, and in we went. Yes, the big line out front was people waiting on food. And that is impressive in a food city like Paris.
The Experience
The plain white door leads to a short hallway and into a dark, smokey feel bar (a lot like I felt at Trona in Austin, only darker). We scored two bar seats, sorted through the tequila and mezcal selections but settled on a gin cocktail with little peach oil float on top. I’d love to tell you all about it, except Peggy agreed that we needed some chips and guacamole. And that was the end of all reason. Who knew Paris could do guacamole. But I am telling you, it was among the best guac I have ever had! And now we figure out why there is a line outside for food.
Loved our bartender. We really started to discover the Paris server vibe. First off, English is their second language, and they try hard to accommodate us – but also, they are friendly and pleasant but not chit-chatty like in the USA. They seem to want to honor your experience and leave you alone to enjoy your evening. They were friendly when we engaged, but they never engaged on their own. So, our scoring on service is a little less strict than we judge our domestic bars. But still, Candelaria is yet another 5-shaker rating for Paris.
The Little Red Door
This was a fun last-minute find. While Peggy was touring the Palace of Versailles, I was lazing about a hotel room struggling to stay awake when I found The Little Red Door on a Google search and was instantly annoyed that we had been a mere two blocks away from this doorway when we hit up Candelaria. But do you know what that means? A chance to go get tacos after a cocktail!
ssn – Yes! We did go back to Candelaria for tacos and more guacamole. It was fantastic!
The Entrance
We walked right by it. We had to turn around and walk back. There is a little alcove painted with blue and white stripes set back with a (duh) red door. True to its name, stepping up to the red door, it is, in fact, little. As in barely even 5 foot tall (1.5 meters). There was no sign identifying what it was, which we love. There was a printed sign on the left wall that said there was limited space and someone would be with you shortly.
The Experience
There had been a group of three men lingering when we arrived, but they seemed a little confused and walked away moments later. But we waited to see what would happen. The red door has a decorative window that you really couldn’t see through. We assumed someone was keeping an eye out to see when someone showed up. And then! AND THEN, the panel wall to the left of the little red door opened and we were welcomed in.
Surprise! We entered a dimly lit room – romantic mood lighting more than dark and gloomy. We scored a table on the second-floor balcony overlooking the speakeasy. Great place for people watching, including the snooty couple next to us, unattached couple at the end table, and the fun-loving French couple across the aisle from us.
It’s a little too dark to read the cool menu at the table center – but it’s super cute. Almost like a floral arrangement where each leaf is a drink with descriptors. The server was super friendly. I had to ask why Little Red Door had suddenly dropped off the 50 Best Bars list two years ago. He was so nice about it and said they had changed directions and were rebuilding, and that it was his first day, so I was overly impressed he handled my question so well.
Each drink comes with a well-conceived accoutrement. My drink came with an amazing, sharp slice of parmesan; Peggy’s came with a confit shitake mushroom (which honestly looked like snot on her glass, but she loved it). Everyone’s drinks looked fantastic.
And Little Red Door is not only getting our 5-shaker rating, but also making our Top 10 Best Speakeasies list, and our vote to return to the 50 Best Bars list!
ssn – I more than loved my drink. It is a strong contender for Sip of the Year. That confit shitake looks gross but it was delicious! Completely unexpected.
Moonshiner
This is a hard one for us. I’ll explain below. But we keep forgetting “what that other bar was”, which is ridiculous, because it was very memorable. I think we are thrown by a very Parisian place having such a low-brow American name, lol.
The Entrance
Find Vito’s pizzeria (Pizza da Vito, en Francais), a working, open pizza restaurant, which smelled absolutely amazing. Enter, give nod to the man making the dough, and continue back to the walk-in refrigerator door at the back. The door opens into what looks like a storage room, but keep going, there is a second door that opens up to Moonshiner.
The Experience
Peggy and I disagree about the décor. I got a very 1920’s Art Deco Vibe, she felt very 1970’s about it. Could the 1970’s be emulating the Art Deco 1920s? Possibly. The staff was in pinstriped dress shirts, ties, and arm garters, very upscale 1920’s garb.
The cocktails were very, what we had discovered, Parisian speakeasy – a prohibition era cocktail menu with some weird ingredients thrown in that we had to ask what they were. They were good, they were strong, we were happy at that bar.
The staff were the real winners. One was from the US, one was Australian, so English was freely spoken, which made us feel more at home in the middle of Paris. And they all seemed to genuinely love their job and each other. The background music was all funky, alternative but pop American hits, and a couple of servers danced and sang along. It felt good in there (hence my earlier comment about not knowing quite why we keep forgetting this place happened, we loved it).
Again, Paris, coming in with another 5-Shaker winner. There are some great speakeasies to be found in this city!
No Entry
No Entry came with great pre-reviews, but it almost didn’t happen due to opening time and location farther away from our other plans. But we pushed through and made it happen. Once again, we showed up and there was a line out the door, one for reservations and one for walk-ins. Luckily, Peggy thought to ask the hostess for entry, and much like Candelaria, the line was for food. If you have not heard of it, Pink Mamma is a pretty well-known must-try spot in Paris.
The Entrance
No Entry is hidden in the basement of Pink Mamma. So, find the curved stairs to the left just as you enter the restaurant. Down the stairs, and down the hall to the freezer door marked with a “No Entry” sign – not like a bar sign, but like a warning sign.
The Experience
Ok, great feel immediately upon walking in. A little bigger than other speakeasies we visited in Paris. Pink lighting, a lighted, mirrored bar to the right and an L-shaped room to your left. Low bench seating with little stools surrounding low tables. They also had these great giant orbs of glass filled with liquid and plant life lit up around the area. Then a server walks by us with a glowing fishbowl. Now, we are ready for No Entry.
We end up at the bar, which we love. Our server is cute, and nice, and there is the hustle and bustle behind the bar. But everyone is nice and greets us. And lots of glowing fishbowls are being made. I love the almost comic book/magazine feel of the drink menu.
The Napolicious was a solid version of the espresso martini with amaretto and limoncello. I loved that it was served with a side of brioche soaked in limoncello that came with it. Peggy, luckily, got the glowing fishbowl and loved it. We did score this only 4.5 Shakers, simply because of a lack of well-developed theme; however, it could also be that we simply could not justify giving yet another 5-shaker in this city and thought maybe we were being too easy on Paris.
Overall
We knew Paris was going to be impressive. It has a great reputation, and we were excited to work our way through the city (yes, work. Drinking is work, lol). Our one hiccup was the traffic, so planning and staying within certain areas will help your adventure. Cabs and Bolts are plentiful, but you will spend way too much time in a car if you try to get across town too often.
But the drinking scene is strong. The speakeasy game is competitive. And we were extremely impressed. We have a few more spots that we weren’t able to hit, I guess that means we have to go back for more, and soon!!!
Other Paris Speakeasies
Here is a list of other speakeasies on our radar that we did not have time to get to. If you have been or have other recommendations, drop them in the comments.
- Gentlemen 1919 – we stopped by this one but they were closed for a holiday. The exterior is beautiful and we would love to go back.
- Rehab
- Mobster Bar
Other Speakeasy Guides
