The bar that arguably started Paris's cocktail revolution back in 2007, when three friends turned an empty storefront on rue Saint-Sauveur into a speakeasy-style hideaway — at a time when cocktail bars basically didn't exist in the city. You walk through a discreet unmarked door into a tiny, dimly lit room with exposed stone walls and a low-ceiling cellar vibe, and the bartenders take their craft seriously without the attitude you might expect. It's small, it gets packed, and that's part of the charm.
The original 2007 speakeasy that sparked Paris's cocktail revolution — tiny stone-walled hideaway on rue Saint-Sauveur with creative drinks and zero attitude.
Go before 9 PM on a weeknight if you want a seat — the space is tiny and fills up fast, especially on weekends when it's standing room only.
The bar that taught Paris to love cocktails
When Experimental Cocktail Club opened on rue Saint-Sauveur in 2007, Paris barely had a cocktail culture to speak of. This is the bar that changed that — three friends who saw an empty storefront and turned it into the kind of underground hideaway you'd expect to find in New York or London, not the 2nd arrondissement. The entrance is deliberately discreet, a plain door you could walk past a hundred times without noticing, and inside it's a tight, low-ceiled space with exposed stone walls that feels like a prohibition-era cellar. That intimacy is the whole point — it's small, it gets crowded, and somehow that's exactly the atmosphere people come for.
The cocktails are the real draw. The menu leans creative without being pretentious, and the bartenders know what they're doing — quality ingredients, balanced combinations, and prices that remain surprisingly accessible for what you're getting. Try the Experience 1, their signature creation, or let the bartender guide you. They also run regular DJ nights, which adds to the energy when the room fills up.
Here's the thing though: it's genuinely tiny, and by 10 or 11 PM on a weekend you'll be shoulder to shoulder with everyone else who had the same idea. Go early on a weeknight if you actually want to sit and savor your drink, or embrace the crowd and treat it as a standing-room party. Either way, it's a piece of Paris cocktail history that still holds up.
Quand l'Experimental Cocktail Club a ouvert sur la rue Saint-Sauveur en 2007, Paris n'avait quasiment aucune culture cocktail. C'est ce bar qui a tout changé — trois amis qui ont transformé une boutique vide en un repaire souterrain dans le style des speakeasies new-yorkais, chose inconcevable à l'époque dans le 2e arrondissement. L'entrée est volontairement discrète, une porte sans enseigne que tu pourrais croiser cent fois sans la remarquer. À l'intérieur, c'est un espace exigu aux murs en pierre apparente et au plafond bas, qui rappelle une cave de la prohibition. L'intimité fait tout le charme du lieu — c'est petit, ça se remplit vite, et c'est précisément cette ambiance compacte que les gens viennent chercher.
Les cocktails sont la vraie raison de venir. La carte est créative sans être prétentieuse, et les barmen maîtrisent leur sujet — ingrédients de qualité, combinaisons équilibrées, et des prix qui restent étonnamment accessibles pour le niveau. Goûte l'Experience 1, leur signature, ou laisse-toi guider par le barman. Ils organisent aussi des soirées DJ régulièrement, ce qui monte l'énergie quand le bar se remplit.
Le truc à savoir : c'est vraiment minuscule, et passé 22h le week-end, tu seras collé à tout le monde qui a eu la même idée. Viens tôt en semaine si tu veux t'asseoir et profiter tranquillement, ou accepte la foule et fais-en une soirée debout. Dans tous les cas, c'est un morceau d'histoire du cocktail parisien qui reste pertinent.