🗼 🥐 ☕️ Latin Quarter Libations in Paris 🗼 🥐 ☕️

Let’s just say our first trip to Paris won’t be our last. How can it be, with so many great spots left to discover?  OK, we admit, we might have underestimated how large this city is. So rather than trying to scramble all over to hit the “top” bars and speakeasies, we’ll focus on one of the amazing neighborhoods where we spent most of our time on this trip.

The 5th Arrondisment is also known as the Latin Quarter. It’s home to the Sorbonne, the Pantheon, and some wonderful shops as well as local bars and restaurants. In some of these places, we were the only non-locals – truly #offthetipsypath.

First, the true craft cocktail bar that we think should be part of any visit to the Latin Quarter. At Solera, the drinks are tasty and the presentation (including the glassware) is over the top! Hint: lots of dry ice! The Artist comes with a genie lamp … the Scorpi On Fire is what it sounds like, with three shots included. This was a fun experience – so much so that we visited more than once. 

It’s not often you go to a foreign country and find a bar dedicated to your home state. Imagine our surprise walking into Le Tennessee Bar! We actually got a heads up from friends, but it was still a surprise to walk in to this space on a side street and be welcomed with shots of Jack Daniel’s. Apparently, this started out as a jazz bar named for Tennessee Williams, but new owners decided to embrace the southern American charm. The bartender also made a fantastic Old Fashioned, both with Jack Daniel’s and one with Scotch, which we will definitely try at home.

The Latin Quarter is also home to a number of jazz clubs, but they fill up fast, so we had to look elsewhere for live music during our visit. That led us to Le Piano Vache. This is very much a locals bar for fantastic live music. It looks like a club we’d find in Greenwich Village in NYC. It’s the kind of place where the owner will seat you with strangers and you get to know them over drinks and music! We had people ask us how we (tourists) found it!

Another one of our favorite “locals” stops is The Confessional. Tucked away off a side street, it’s the kind of place we favor at home, where you can trade jokes with the bartender and get a solid cocktail and glass of wine at the same time. We visited twice and both times had a solid Old Fashioned among other things, including the “dia del spritz”… a tequila spritz! It’s a great stop to unwind after a day seeing the sights!

Have you ever judged a book by its cover and been wrong? In this case… we judged The OakenShield Tavern from the outside as a typical British pub. We are glad we were wrong! This is actually a spot for fans of role-playing games and other activities to come and hang out and play. They have dozens of games lining shelves all around the place. But make no mistake, it’s a bar! They made a fantastic espresso martini and had a large menu of surprisingly tasty shots that were named after the signs of the zodiac. It’s our sign that we’ll come back!

If you’re a fan of the John Wick movies (John Wick 4 was filmed in Paris, BTW), you’ll recognize the name of this locals bar - Baba Yaga Paris. This intimate spot doesn’t lean in too far to the movie theme. It’s just a great little stop with solid cocktails very close to Notre Dame Cathedral! Definitely a place to relax for a while away from the tourist crowds. The square outside is also worth slowing down for.

Now there’s no way we can end a rundown of our first trip to Paris without mentioning wine. Notably, like in most of Europe, wine in Paris is high-quality, inexpensive, and plentiful. In particular, we wanted the experience of wine and caviar service, and champagne and oysters, paired. We found both in the Latin Quarter!

We are big fans of natural and biodynamic wines, so the selection at Les Flacons was perfect! We paired a great natural white wine from the menu with a caviar service that was fantastic. They also have bottles for sale and we recognized a few of them from our adventures. This is a wonderful locally-owned wine bar and shop perfect for date night!

And finally, our first experience with oysters and champagne couldn’t have been better than Ostra. Definitely check them out if that’s the Parisian experience you crave!

Now as we mentioned at the start, this was our first trip to Paris and it won’t be our last. There are so many great places left to explore! What are some of your favorite spots?