Aux Deux Amis
On a Friday night Aux Deux Amis is
fuller than a Line 13 carriage on a strike day,Time Out's critic wrote in November 2024 (plus rempli qu'un wagon de la 13 un jour de grève).1
Why go
David Vincent-Loyola was part of the team at Le Chateaubriand before he took on this old neighborhood bar on rue Oberkampf. By 2024, Time Out wrote, he had spent more than ten years making it the place for the coolest apéros at the bottom of the street.1 Le Fooding described the room as a giant zinc-topped bar, bright yellow Formica and mirrored walls.5 Sara Lieberman of The Infatuation found wine stains on the yellow formica tables
and overflowing ashtrays on the tables outside
in 2023, and summed it up: Loud, busy, and just the right amount of chaos, there are few frills, but lots of heart.
2
The kitchen has changed hands often. Paris by Mouth warned in 2018 that the small plates vary in quality depending on who've they've got working in the kitchen (it changes a lot).
4 Sue Dyson and Roger McShane of Foodtourist, regulars who posted in April 2025, credit the owner with a knack of finding the perfect chef for the style of food and the frenetic pace that it needs to be served at,
in possibly the tiniest kitchen in Paris.
3 Antoine Besse of Time Out found the plates dear in November 2024 and gave the bar three stars out of five.1
Come for the wine. Besse called the natural-wine list erudite and not cheap: a glass of Côtes Catalanes from Domaine Riberach cost 7 euros in 2024, and a bottle of Alice Bouvot's Arbois Corvées cost 66. He warned: Ask the price first; the staff stay coy as a gazelle on the subject
(Demandez bien le prix avant, le service reste d'une pudeur de gazelle sur le sujet
).1 Dan Yosha, the chef of Balagan, told Rosewood in 2019 why he goes: Aux Deux Amies is the old-fashioned that I love. The owner is serving you the wine and the food, and everyone is a friend.
6
Order this / avoid
The plates below belong to the cook of the day they were eaten.
- Order: the charcuterie. Antoine Besse, Time Out, 2024:
superb smoked tongue or Ardèche saucisson, €7
(superbe langue fumée ou saucisson d'Ardèche, 7 €
).1 - Order: the horse tartare if it's on. Sue Dyson and Roger McShane, Foodtourist, posted 2025:
cheval tartar with lovely tender meat mixed with a raw quail egg accompanied by excellent roast potatoes and a lively salad of watercress.
3 - Order: artichoke, anchovy and burrata. The same Foodtourist lunch:
relied entirely on the quality of the ingredients and the interplay of flavours. We loved it!
3 - Avoid: the beetroot on ricotta. Antoine Besse, Time Out, 2024:
some small plates cheerfully cross into scandal, like eight pieces of beetroot on a (very) thin layer of ricotta billed at €10
(certaines petites assiettes passent allègrement les limites du scandale comme ces huit morceaux de betterave sur une (très) fine couche de ricotta facturés 10€
).1 - Drink: ask the staff to choose. Foodtourist asked for a recommendation and got Alice and Olivier de Moor's Bel Air et Clardy Chablis,
a great wine.
3
Good to know
- Lunch: Sara Lieberman, 2023:
Aux Deux Amis is a bit more chill during the day when they're open for lunch and serve an inexpensive prix fixe meal.
2 - Booking: call 01 58 30 38 13 for a Friday night. Without a booking, Time Out said in 2024, hope for a bit of counter or a terrace chair.1
- Days: shut Monday. Call before a Sunday visit: Time Out's 2024 card has it shut that day, Foodtourist's 2025 post open from 4pm.13
- Price: small plates ran from 5 to 22 euros in November 2024.1
- Getting there: Métro Oberkampf, Parmentier or Filles du Calvaire.1
Verdict
could-visit — Go to Aux Deux Amis for natural wine and charcuterie in a loud old Oberkampf bar, and book for a Friday night. Ask the price of the wine before you order, and expect the small plates to vary with the cook.