Charlie Birdy – Boétie

Time Out says

Mon Jul 9 2012

This is one of Time Out's 100 best bars in Paris. Click here to see the full list.

Not a reference to Charlie Parker, but to Winston Churchill’s parrot. A stone’s throw from the Champs-Elysées, this enormous pub is a cross between a New York loft and a colonial gentleman’s club, attracting many a tourist and ex-pat. There’s a regular programme of jazz, blues, folk and funk gigs with reasonable prices for the area, and it has the distinct advantage of staying open until 5am daily. For live concerts, or to follow football and rugby matches on giant screens, you hang out on comfortable Chesterfield sofas. On the menu, the unmatched burger is always good value – huge, impossibly tender and served with fantastic chips – but it’s best to give the fajitas and tapas a miss. For drinks, try something from the huge cocktail menu, preferably during happy hour – 4pm to 8pm Monday to Friday – though if you’re in a hurry come back another time, as the service can be slow.

Charlie Birdy is famous for its enormous if unrefined Gospel & Soul brunch at €19. With the menu ‘à l'américaine’, you’ll get a hot drink, fruit juice, pastries, bread, butter and jam, followed by a main course: hash browns, boiled eggs and bacon, a salmon and cream cheese bagel or a Caesar salad. Then a sterling dessert menu: cheesecake, pancake, chocolate cake or – more original – a fresh fruit minestrone.

There are two other branches of this bar in Paris: Charlie Birdy Montparnasse and Charlie Birdy Commerce, which only stays open until 5 on the weekends.

By CG/EH