We had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.
This is a tale of two bars (if you can name the book without looking it up, then we can be friends). Like Parisian dive bars? Fan of the novo-Brooklyn themed Paris? Lizard lounge is place worth checking out even if you like neither. I honestly had no clue this place would be so unique among the bars in the area; walking in I expected a cool spot (based on rating), but what we ended up finding was so much more.
Bar one; the basement dive.
Our first visit to the lizard had us skip the chic upper bar, and head to my traditional digs; the dive downstairs. I was not disappointed. as soon as you head through the door of no return, you descend into an ancient, poorly lit, low headroom basement. the music was good, the bar was small and the staff was chill. we pulled up a few stools at the little bar and ordered up, I shit you not, a beer and shot combo (I've never seen this done in Paris before). At 8 euro, I found this to be a particularly good deal, even if the tequila felt like it was lighting me on fire from the inside out. we laughed the night away down there, drinking more and more with our hosts who were cool as could be. For the guys reading this (or the ladies, no judgment here), check out the urinal in the back room; its through very small cowboy doors, basically in the main space...hope you're not pee shy...after a few beer/shot combos your fear will quickly disappear, trust me*.
Bar two; the Brooklyn cocktail burger bar.
This is where you bring your friends who don't like getting disturbingly drunk while on vacation (though I'm not sure why you hang out with people like that**). The upstairs bar is open every night, as opposed to its subterranean wild cousin. I have to admit when I found out that the downstairs was closed the second night we swung by, I was a bit bummed out. Turns out the upstairs is awesome in it's own right. first of all, they have a cocktail of the week that is reasonably prices. this week it was a gin martini that was so strong I was one and done. As you may know, Paris is turning into a burger city, which is strange to me (I don't think burger when I think city of lights, but hey that's just me). That said, if you know me, you know I cant turn one down, and so I did what I do best; got fatter. The burger was....SO good. imagine how much a hunk of real aged blue cheese would run you on a burger in Manhattan. not the case here. when they say "blu cheese Cajun" they mean it. hard. The last thing I'll mention about the upstairs is the magician who actually cooks these burgers up. his kitchen is the size of your closet (parents closet if you live in the city, we are cursed with shoe-box size places to hang our shirts). The quality of food that came out of that little space was remarkable, but in my experience that's usually the case - I've had some of my best meal in the most unexpected, unpretentious of places.
If you're in Paris come here, I don't care what kind of person you are you will more than likely have a great time here.
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*seriously though, I have pee shy, bad, and had no issues as the night went full steam ahead.
**I DON'T have a drinking problem OK?! read more