Au Pays is a restaurant-caviste tucked away on Rue de Charonne, blending a neighborhood wine bar with a proper dinner spot. Open only in the evenings (Tuesday through Saturday), it's the kind of place you go to settle in with a good bottle and let the night unfold. The team also runs Au Pays Tsingtao down the street and a cave next door, so the wine pedigree is serious.
An evening-only restaurant-caviste on Rue de Charonne where the wine list is the headline and the food is built to match — rated 9.7/10 on TheFork.
Book ahead for weekends — it's evenings only (Tue–Sat, 18h–23h) and closed Sundays and Saturday lunch, so plan your visit accordingly.
A caviste's dinner table on Rue de Charonne
Au Pays is one of those places that does exactly what it says on the tin — it's a restaurant and a caviste rolled into one, and it takes both roles seriously. Tucked onto Rue de Charonne in the 11th, it's an evening-only affair (Tuesday through Saturday, 18h to 23h), which tells you something about the vibe: this isn't a grab-and-go lunch spot, it's a place to sit down, order a bottle from their well-chosen selection, and let the meal build around it. The team behind it also operates Au Pays Tsingtao (a Chinese restaurant on Rue de Lappe) and a separate cave, so wine is very much in their DNA.
The ratings speak for themselves — a 9.7/10 on TheFork and 4.5/5 on Tripadvisor — and the local following on Instagram suggests this is a spot that's built its reputation the old-fashioned way, through word of mouth rather than hype. The menu leans into the caviste identity, meaning you can expect dishes designed to pair with whatever you're drinking rather than the other way around. It's the kind of place where the staff will steer you toward a bottle you didn't know you wanted.
If you're looking for a relaxed dinner in the Charonne/Nation area where the wine list is the real headline act, this is your spot. Just remember it's evenings only and they're closed Sundays and Saturday lunch — plan accordingly, and definitely book ahead, especially for weekends.