Plekken in Paris

Greg Marchand's 2e bistro that rewrote the neo-bistro template in 2009.

Mazouz brothers' Marais cocktail bar — North African-Pop Art mash-up, since 2001, with a hidden courtyard.

Belle Époque salon de thé since 1903 — Mont-Blanc and chocolat l'Africain under the rue de Rivoli arcades

Tiny zinc-bar bistro near Châtelet — GaultMillau toque, charcuterie from named Auvergne producers.

1890 Lyon-bouchon-style bistro — under the Dumant family from 2025, after Ducasse

Haut-Marais no-menu cocktail bar — bartender asks your mood, builds the drink around French organic seasonal produce.

1864 Belle Époque brasserie under a stained-glass dome — choucroute, plateaux de fruits de mer, full theatre.

Taqueria up front, hidden cocktail bar through the back door — one of Paris's first speakeasies, still in form.

The trompe-l'oeil fruit pastries you've seen on Instagram — boutique and salon

Italian trattoria in a former Jean-Paul Gaultier boutique — Le Fooding 'Best Decor' 2017, still buzzing.

The Goncourt Prize restaurant since 1914 — Place Gaillon institution under chef Romain Van Thienen

The 2007 Sentier speakeasy that built modern Paris cocktail culture — still no reservations

Mahogany expat bar from 1911 — birthplace of the Bloody Mary, between Opéra and the Place Vendôme

Boutique design hotel inside a former metals factory — concrete, courtyard, cocktail bar at the centre.

Laurent Taïeb's reborn 1888 central post office with rooftop ROOF and Eiffel-facing terraces.

Marais chocolatier with a tea room — millefeuille made à la minute, possibly Paris's finest caramels.

Manoj Sharma's modern Indian on rue de Choiseul — the 2e room that finally read Indian cooking as a chef's cuisine.

Mourad Mazouz's Marais Maghreb institution since 1990 — tagines and pastilla under 17th-century beams.

Southwest French institution since 1894 — Art-Nouveau dining room beside the Halles épicerie.

Châtelet jazz club since 1984 — 300+ concerts a year, free Friday-Saturday midnight jam.

The Marais corner where natural wine, oysters and serious cocktails collapse into one room.

World's 50 Best Bars veteran — eleven consecutive years on the list, peak rank #6 in 2023.

Contemporary Lebanese on rue de la Banque — Liza Asseily's Beirut-Paris dialogue

Mediterranean cooking with a Tuileries terrace at the foot of the Louvre

France's oldest tea house since 1854 — the Bourg-Tibourg flagship with the colonial-era painted casks

Jean-Louis Deniot-designed Evok hotel facing Comédie-Française, with Brasserie Réjane and a marble pool.

Modern French bistronomic on a quiet Les Halles side street — chef-driven, value-strong tasting

Italian bistrattoria in the 19th-century Passage des Panoramas — Simone Tondo's Michelin-starred room

Open-fire Marais bistro where côte de bœuf is grilled in front of you on a wood hearth.

Whisky-led cocktail den behind a discreet 4e façade — Vogue called it one of the world's 20 best.

Marais Korean BBQ — chef Sunghak Han's table-top grill, halal option, Michelin guide listing.

Anglophone-led tasting menu in a triplex above the Palais-Royal — Paris's quiet neo-bistro standard

Adeline Grattard's bistro reincarnation — Franco-Cantonese cooking after Yam'Tcha proper closes