Paris wine bars for a first drink
A good first drink rests on a precise balance: somewhere alive, but where you can lower your voice without disappearing into the noise.
A first drink has an unusual constraint: it must work for forty minutes and for three hours. The addresses below carry both, without anyone having to decide too early.
Our first-drink rule
Pick somewhere you can sit at the counter. Side by side, conversation starts more easily than face to face, and a silence costs nothing.
Our picks
Cave Saint-Martin
Canal Saint-Martin
Buzzing counter, generous pours by the glass
Start at the counter, end at a table: the room allows both acts of a meeting.
€€
Chez Odette
Saint-Germain
Intimate room, low lighting, discreet service
Hushed enough to speak quietly without whispering, lively enough not to feel watched.
€€€
Le Perchoir des Vignes
Pigalle
A little livelier, local crowd
Best when the meeting is already relaxed and you want movement around you.
€€
Table de la Butte
Butte-aux-Cailles
Small tables, talkative owner, village feel
The best ease-to-budget ratio on the list, away from the tourist routes.
€