Restaurant in Paris, France
440-wine bistro, Bib Gourmand value, easy booking.
A wine-driven bistro in Paris's fifth arrondissement, Baca'v par Gilles Choukroun earns its Michelin Bib Gourmand (2024, 2025) with a 440-bottle wine list co-curated by Loire star Louis-Benjamin Dagueneau. At €€, it is the strongest value play for serious wine drinkers in the neighbourhood, with a Google rating of 4.7 across 652 reviews and easy booking.
If you're weighing Baca'v against the standard Paris bistro with a short, predictable wine list, there's no real contest: this is the better version of that meal. The €€ price range puts it in the same bracket as Allard and Anecdote, but what separates Baca'v is the wine program — 440 selections, co-curated by Louis-Benjamin Dagueneau, one of the Loire Valley's most respected Pouilly-Fumé producers. At this price tier, that depth of cellar is rare enough to be a deciding factor on its own. Two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmands (2024 and 2025) confirm the kitchen is operating at a consistent level. Book this if you want a serious wine-driven bistro meal without the three-figure cover charge.
Baca'v sits in the fifth arrondissement at 6 Rue des Fossés Saint-Marcel, a street-level address in one of Paris's denser, less-touristed residential pockets. The fifth is the kind of neighbourhood where restaurants earn their business from locals, not foot traffic — which tells you something about the room's register. It is a bistro in the functional French sense: the space is built for eating and drinking rather than spectacle. For diners who have already visited once, the question at a second visit becomes less about whether to come and more about where to sit and how to approach the wine list given what you already know.
The physical layout rewards the kind of unhurried evening the wine list implies. A 440-bottle selection, co-owned and presumably co-chosen by Dagueneau, is not a list you scan in two minutes while the waiter waits. It is the kind of list that shapes the meal's structure: you pick a bottle, then you order around it. That sequence , wine first, food second , is the natural architecture of an evening here, and it is different from the approach at most bistros in this price bracket, where the food does the leading. If you came on your first visit and let the menu drive, the second visit is the right moment to flip the order and let Dagueneau's Loire selections (or the broader 440-bottle range) set the agenda.
The Bib Gourmand designation, held for two consecutive years, tells you the kitchen delivers what Michelin defines as good cooking at moderate prices. That is a practical signal, not a decorative one. Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurants in Paris sit below the star tier but above the noise , they are places the guide's inspectors return to because the consistency holds. For the fifth arrondissement specifically, where the dining options range from student canteens to the occasional serious table, Baca'v occupies a gap that is genuinely useful: it is the kind of place you bring someone who wants to eat and drink well without a reservation made six weeks out at a destination address.
Gilles Choukroun's name on the door is a credential worth noting. He has been a recognised figure in Paris's chef community for long enough that the bistro format here reads as a deliberate choice rather than a fallback. The co-ownership structure with Dagueneau is the more unusual element: a star winemaker taking an active stake in a restaurant's cellar is the kind of arrangement that produces a wine list with actual conviction behind it, rather than a list assembled from distributor relationships. For wine-focused diners, that provenance matters. For diners exploring the broader French wine scene, Baca'v sits alongside destinations like Cave à Vin & à Manger - Maison Saint-Crescent in Narbonne and Auberge Grand'Maison in Mûr-de-Bretagne as examples of French restaurants where the cellar is as much the point as the plate.
If you are building a Paris itinerary around serious eating across multiple price points, Baca'v is the €€ anchor. The €€€€ tier , Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen, Kei, L'Ambroisie , is a different category of commitment, both financially and logistically. Baca'v does not ask you to choose between paying for the room and paying for the wine. At this price range, you can do both without rationing. For context on what else Paris offers across the full spectrum, see our full Paris restaurants guide, our full Paris hotels guide, our full Paris bars guide, our full Paris wineries guide, and our full Paris experiences guide.
For diners who want to map Baca'v against the wider French fine dining circuit, the relevant reference points are places like Flocons de Sel in Megève, Mirazur in Menton, Troisgros in Ouches, Auberge de l'Ill in Illhaeusern, Bras in Laguiole, and Paul Bocuse in Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or. Baca'v is not in that tier of formal destination dining , it is not trying to be. It is the address you want for the night when you want to drink something serious from the Loire and eat well without the ceremony.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy. The fifth arrondissement location and €€ price point mean this is not a table that requires months of planning. A week's notice is likely sufficient for most evenings; same-week booking is plausible for midweek slots. The address is 6 Rue des Fossés Saint-Marcel, 75005 Paris. Phone and website are not listed in our current data , confirm the booking channel directly.
For comparable fifth arrondissement and Left Bank options at a similar price point, also consider Le Violon d'Ingres, 19.20 by Norbert Tarayre, and 20 Eiffel.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Wine List Depth | Michelin Recognition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baca'v par Gilles Choukroun | €€ | Easy | 440 selections | Bib Gourmand 2024, 2025 |
| Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen | €€€€ | Hard | Extensive cellar | Multiple stars |
| Kei | €€€€ | Moderate | Strong | Starred |
| L'Ambroisie | €€€€ | Very Hard | Grand cellar | 3 stars |
| Le Cinq | €€€€ | Moderate | Hotel-scale cellar | 2 stars |
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baca'v par Gilles Choukroun | €€ | Easy | — |
| Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Kei | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| L'Ambroisie | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Le Cinq - Four Seasons Hôtel George V | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Pierre Gagnaire | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
The wine list is the headline reason to come: 440 selections co-curated with Pouilly-Fumé star winemaker Louis-Benjamin Dagueneau make this one of the more serious cellar propositions at the €€ price point in Paris. For food, Gilles Choukroun runs a traditional cuisine menu — order whatever is on the daily rotation rather than overthinking it. The Bib Gourmand recognition in both 2024 and 2025 signals that Michelin's inspectors found consistent value, which is your clearest guide to expectations.
A week out is usually enough. Baca'v carries an Easy booking difficulty rating, and the €€ price point combined with the fifth arrondissement location means this is not a high-competition table. That said, the Bib Gourmand status draws a steady crowd, so same-week booking midweek is more reliable than weekend last-minute.
Casual is fine. The venue is described as a friendly bistro in a residential part of the fifth arrondissement, and the €€ price range signals nothing formal is expected. Think clean, relaxed Paris street wear rather than a jacket-required dress code.
Yes — a friendly bistro format with a deep wine list is one of the better solo setups in Paris. The 440-bottle list gives you something to engage with at your own pace, and the €€ pricing means a solo meal with a glass or two stays well within a reasonable budget.
Bar seating is not confirmed in the available venue data. Given the friendly bistro format and the wine-focused concept co-owned by Louis-Benjamin Dagueneau, counter or bar access would fit the profile, but check the venue's official channels at 6 Rue des Fossés Saint-Marcel to confirm before planning around it.
No specific dietary policy is documented for Baca'v. As a traditional French bistro under Gilles Choukroun, the menu is likely protein-forward and classically structured, which can be limiting for vegetarian or vegan diners. Flag any restrictions when booking.
No private dining or large-group capacity data is available for Baca'v. Bistro formats in Paris's fifth arrondissement typically suit tables of two to six comfortably; larger parties should call ahead to confirm whether the space can be arranged accordingly.
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