After-Hours Restaurants

After-Hours Restaurants

Craving steak au poivre after a post-midnight party? Most late-night brasseries and 'round-the-clock restaurants don't need reservations. Here are some of the best.

Le Bienvenu (42 rue d'Argout, 2e, Louvre/Tuileries. 01-42-33-31-08. Louvre) doesn't look like much (notice the kitsch mural on the back wall), but it serves simple French food and couscous in the wee hours of the morning until 6 AM. Au Chien Qui Fume (33 rue du Pont-Neuf, 1er, Louvre/Tuileries. 01-42-36-07-42. Les Halles), open until 2 AM, is a picturesque spot founded in 1740 and decorated with drôle, old master-style paintings of smoking dogs. Traditional French cuisine and seafood platters are served until 1 AM. Á la Cloche d'Or (3 rue Mansart, 9e, Montmartre. 01-48-74-48-88. Place de Clichy) is a Paris classic, whose traditional French dishes satisfied the likes of the late president François Mitterrand and Moulin Rouge dancers (though not together). It's open until 4 AM every day but Sunday, when it's closed. It also shuts down in August. Les Coulisses (1 rue St-Rustique, 18e, Montmartre. 01-42-62-89-99. Abbesses), near picturesque Place du Tertre, has more character than most late-night restaurants, with red banquettes and 18th-century Venetian mirrors that make it look like an Italian theater. The food—traditional French—is served until 2 AM. There's a club in the basement, open Thursday to Saturday, where dancers work up a late-night appetite. Grand Café Capucines (4 bd. des Capucines, 9e, Opéra/Grands Boulevards. 01-43-12-19-00. Opéra), has an exuberant pseudo-Belle Époque dining room that matches the bustling mood of the neighboring Opéra; they serve excellent oysters, fish, and meat dishes at hefty prices, and are open around the clock.

Le Lup (2-4 rue des Sabots, St-Germain-des-Prés. 01-45-48-86-47) offers a sultry boudoir-style ambience of red velvet and soft lights that lures thirtysomething clubbers, the postopera set, and hungry night owls, who duck in for a bite to eat from the upscale menu. The two-story rococo salon is perfect for drinks or dessert, and a spin along the small dance floor. It's open 10 PM to 5 AM Wednesday to Saturday.

Au Pied de Cochon (6 rue Coquillière, 1er, Beaubourg/Les Halles. 01-40-13-77-00. Les Halles) once catered to the all-night workers at the adjacent Les Halles food market. Its Second Empire carvings and gilt have been restored, and traditional dishes like pig's trotters and chitterling sausage still grace the menu. And you haven't tasted pig's trotters until you've tasted them at 6 AM. This place is nothing less than an institution, and it's open 24 hours daily.

Le Tambour (41 rue Montmartre, 2e, Beaubourg/Les Halles. 01-42-33-06-90. Etienne Marcel, Les Halles) wins hands-down for wackiness and flea-market charm. The eye-catching decor includes everything but the proverbial kitchen sink. (Come to think of it, there is a kitchen sink—in the kitchen.) The food's especially fine here—think onion soup, foie gras, steak tartare, and confit de canard. Open 6 pm-6 AM; last dinner service at 3:30 AM.