La Buvette — Restaurant in Paris

My suggestion if you are planning to visit this wine bar is do not. The owner was incredibly rude and charged us EU34 on a bottle of wine, (we drank 2), that was marked EU24. When we queried this she rudely told us that it was because we drank the wine in the bar as opposed to taking it home. She then suggested that she had told us that when we entered which was not true, when we entered she told us if we drank the wine there we would have to buy food as she had only a restaurant license and not a bar license, which we agreed to. There was no mention of the additional 10 Euros we would be required to pay on the bottle and I am not sure why a restaurant would charge you a penalty for drinking their wine in their establishment. The wine arrived slightly warm, an ice bucket was provided which we appreciated, however, we enjoy our wine very cold, we asked if we could have a glass of ice to pop a cube into our glass, to which she vehemently said no as the producers who worked very hard to produce the wine would not like that. This is possibly true but it seemed very unimportant to her how we would like to enjoy our wine. We ordered the Andouille and Saucisson, both were unpalatably salty and the ambiance is deathly silent. To be honest I really believe the hype around this wine bar, due I'm sure to Action Bronson visiting, is totally overrated, it is pretentious and there are so many other amazing natural wine bars around Paris where you will receive great wine with great, informative and friendly service. And lastly, all this interaction with her happened in front of other customers with no concern as to how awkward they may feel, a terrible and...

I hardly write reviews but doing this one in the hope that the owner/manager will take some time to reflect. Firstly amazing wines and delicious snacks - really you won’t be disappointed.

Unfortunately the service and general approach was sadly disappointing. We were told the red wines and white wines available. I stupidly thought one of the reds was a Sancerre - yes wine buffs it’s a white grape how dumb of me. She actually said cinsault - when I mistakenly said Sancerre I was treated like I was utterly stupid in a loud voice I was told they don’t serve a Sancerre, I then apologised and said the light red to which a tut and eye roll was given. Quite embarrassing anf uncomfortable - it is this type of experience that makes people feel intimidated to get to know more about wine, where it comes from and why they should choose natural.

When we came to pay - both mine and my husbands cards wouldn’t work - this was very odd as we had been shopping all day and have European banking. Again the sarcasm and loud comments came - soemthing in French was exchanged with another customer who laughed, clearly at our expense. Then a loud it was so kind of you when I then decided to pay in cash. By the way the next bar there were no issues with our cards so clearly it was the machine that was having an issue. What I initially considered as a great find was severely let down by just unkind and resentful service. On that basis we won’t be back when...

We recently visited La Buvette and, unfortunately, left feeling quite disappointed. As fans of Action Bronson, we were excited to check out this well-known Paris wine bar after seeing it featured on his show, where he spoke very highly of it.

However, the experience didn’t live up to expectations. From the start, we felt unwelcome. The owner seemed disinterested in engaging with us or offering any guidance on the wine selection. As we prefer a more conversational approach over reading menus—especially in a specialty wine bar—we had hoped for a more interactive and welcoming experience.

We tried to connect by mentioning the Action Bronson episode, thinking it might be a shared point of interest. Unfortunately, the owner dismissed it, saying the show’s feature was one of the worst things to happen to her bar, as it brought in more tourists and drove away her regulars.

It was disheartening to hear, especially since we were simply excited to enjoy good wine in a place with such a great reputation. Regardless of people’s backgrounds, interests, or reasons for visiting, the feedback I’d offer is this: don’t discriminate against who comes to your bar or why they’ve chosen to visit. Instead, take pride in the fact that your wine bar is so well-known and...