Nightspotting...Bastille basics
by Julie Baker

With its diverse mixture of workers, immigrants, students, artists and fashion folk, the Bastille boasts a multiplicity of bars and clubs. The following itinerary takes you on a tour of the area’s Golden Triangle of popular hangouts.


Café Le Bastille 8 pl de la Bastille, 11e, M° Bastille, tel: 01 43 07 79 95, open daily. With its nurturing rust and plum decor and the unbeatable vista from the terrace, which laps up the afternoon rays and takes in the evening hi-jinx, La Bastille has established itself as the pre-eminent meeting place and hangout for the whole neighborhood. Where else would you find someone feverishly scoring music sitting next to a chain-smoking model and a grumpy clochard barking orders at passers-by? The black-suited waiters are coolly efficient, and the standup bar on the rue de la Roquette is a nice reminder of the more traditional, down-at-heel side of the Bastille.

Le Sanz Sans 49 rue du faubourg St-Antoine, 11e, M° Bastille, tel: 01 44 75 78 78, open daily. The post-industrial facade with peeling walls and graffiti stains may be in homage to the East Village, but the chocolate awnings with gold trim, red velvet walls and faux-impressionist paintings are a sly wink at the Belle Epoch. This love it or hate it hangout still draws the crowds from Jean Paul Gaultier to Isabel Marant and the Nova people in the daytime, but at nights the clientele is definitely a shade rowdier, and service slows to a crawl just when the customers start bopping to the DJs.

La Fabrique 53 rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, 11e, M° Bastille, tel: 01 43 07 67 07, open daily. A few doors down from Le Sanz Sans is its newer rival, its wholesomeness announced by the milk-white awning and 150F vegetarian menu, its seriousness by the huge bronze brewing vat in the front and its irresistible happy hour, one of the best bargains in the area: 10F for a beer, kir or pastis. The large open entrance with terrace tables leads into a spacious and friendly, if somewhat functional, bar. Grab one of the comfy black leather sofas and lounge away the evening to an eclectic mix of music.

Bar de La Fontaine 1 rue de Charonne, 11e, M° Bastille, tel: 01 47 00 58 36, open daily. Just around the corner from the fountain that gives it its name, this is one of the last authentic low-key neighborhood hangouts in the area, although afternoons seem to be given over to 40-something fashion folk. The retro interior with its barked banquettes and faded pictures is particularly appealing. Locals congregate around a small bar that is so well stocked it seems to threaten to collapse at any moment. When the weather’s fine the sliding panels are thrown open to the street, opening up the somewhat clubby feel inside. If it’s too crowded, try the Bar Zinc a few doors down at number 9, which has a similar atmosphere but draws a decidedly younger crowd.

Bistrot du Peintre 116 av Ledru-Rollin, 11e, M° Ledru-Rollin, tel: 01 47 00 34 39, open daily. The original fin-de-siècle decor of this bustling bistrot is one of the loveliest in Paris, with sumptuously curved wooden art nouveau doors and windows and authentic turn-of-the-century fittings. In the evenings it radiates a lovely rose light and while the terrace is always crowded in fine weather for lunch and dinner, it is often surprisingly deserted in between, making it an ideal place for a pleasant aperitif.

Pause Café 41 rue de Charonne, 11e, M° Ledru-Rollin, tel: 01 48 06 80 33, closed Mon. Bigger is not necessarily better at this corner hangout. While the extensions were handled with care, the stone and glass exterior being airy and the terrace much more spacious, there is a coldness in the interior that wasn’t there before, and which can’t be offset by the trademark cubed fairy lights and graffiti-inspired artwork. The chilliness seemed to have extended to the serving staff on our last visit, and overall it had the same tired feel as Barfly and Café Beaubourg. Unfortunately, the Pause Café feels more and more like yet another institution that has outlived its use-by date.

Le Bar Sans Nom 49 rue de Lappe, 11e, M° Bastille, tel: 01 48 05 59 36, closed Sun. Enter the ominously titled “bar without a name” in the evening and you will be instantly transported to the Barrio Gótico of Barcelona: the dim lighting, huge flickering candles, exposed stone and rusting, wrought iron twisted into fanciful shapes all suggest the City of Cool’s understated medieval intimacy. Less rowdy than most bars in the neighborhood, the place attracts an urbane, urban-chic crowd who speak in whispers and glances against a soulful background vibe of world music.

Bistrot Les Sans Culottes 27 rue de Lappe, 11e, M° Bastille, tel: 01 48 05 42 92, closed Sun. In a street that has everything from urban trash art galleries to bars named “Titty Twister,” this bistrot is a soothing reminder of the glorious past, when Parisians would eat here before dancing the night away at the Balajo. Old locals on canes still sit on the sheltered terrace in the afternoons enjoying the low bar prices and each other’s company, while the students tend to stay indoors. The interior, with frosted glass, zinc bar, nicotine walls and ornate molded ceilings has a rich amber glow at night and will entice all seekers of things past. Food is homey, uneven but inexpensive.

Bar Bat 23 rue de Lappe, 11e, M° Bastille, tel: 01 43 14 26 06, open daily. While not in the same league as Bruce Wayne’s hangout, this bat pad does have a cozy cave feel to it, with plush, warm colors along the walls and delicate lamps dropping like fashion-conscious stalactites above the extremely long and impressively-stocked wooden bar. The regular crowd, which includes lupine lounge lizards and stylishly decadent types, all make a beeline for the comfortable armchairs during happy hour, from 5-8pm, when all draft beer, cocktails, aperitifs and champagne are half price.

Café Iguana 15 rue de la Roquette, 11e, M° Bastille, tel: 01 40 21 39 99, open daily. The interior of this bustling bar is dominated by a circular bar revolving round a huge, faux-Corinthian column, decorated with tiny lights that descend from the upstairs dining room and end with the glamorous glitter of bottles of alcohol in every conceivable color and potency. The bar attracts a youngish, often exuberant crowd and the brick-lined open kitchen provides entertainment even on a quiet night.

Café Divan 60 rue de la Roquette, 11e, M° Voltaire, tel: 01 48 05 72 36, open daily. This corner establishment guarding the entrance to the charming little square, the cité de la Roquette, has very high windows stretching up to the purple awnings, and an interior with sleek metal pillars, pendulant lamps, and giant clock motifs hanging from walls and reflected from distressed metallic mirrors. Couples linger over drinks in the back room, regulars crowd the copper bar. The Sunday brunch is popular, especially when the exterior tables go out in good weather.

Café des Anges 66 rue de la Roquette, 11e, M° Voltaire, tel: 01 47 00 00 63, closed Sun. Long a favorite haunt of the neighborhood’s gay and branchés-destroy types, the café des Anges was one of the first establishments in the neighborhood to set the right tone of urban cool. We don’t know if it is our imagination or if the yellow exterior with red trimming has been freshened up recently, but it sure felt a lot grungier the last time we were here. There seemed to be more fallen angels then too. Perhaps the modern church opposite has sent them packing up the hill to the Bar des Folies in Belleville. While the terrace and bar are always crowded, the retro back room is often overlooked.

Resto Zinc 73 rue de la Roquette, 11e, M° Voltaire, tel: 01 43 48 90 98, closed Sun. A brown wooden exterior leads into a mellow interior with exposed stone walls, roof beams, a long wooden bar and a grill-clad hole in the floor that plunges into an ancient cellar. Original paintings line the walls and, like the mounted jewelry on display, they are for sale. Regulars include musicians and film people, who sit at the back, playing chess, leafing through newspapers or chatting with the friendly, laid-back staff. The plates on offer consist of various combinations of charcuterie, cheese and salads, and there is an excellent and well-priced selection of regional wines.