The best bars and cafés Rennes

The PDA is the kind of place that gives all its soul to the nightlife (and daytime) of Rennes. Named after the expression of connoisseurs, which refers to the volume of alcohol that evaporates when it is left to age in casks, it is the troquet in which one systematically feels good. In his offbeat, arty but not consensual universe, his character so typical that one never gets tired of it. The music is always in good taste, never too loud, between jazz and rock, depending on the time of day. We know him through a plural vision because he makes tea room, bistro at lunchtime, and wine bar at night. Everything is of great quality, and there are even biodynamic and natural wines! The owner of the house, Orane, is not the type to deal with low-level products, and knows at her fingertips what she serves and often has anecdotes to tell about it. The welcome is apple-packed and that's what we love about it: this strong character, this comical humour that tends towards the potache, this love of art and literature, this unequalled vision of the world and this unequalled openness of mind that allows us to have endless discussions about everything at any time and to learn more at the counter than in a library... Because the place is punctuated by ancient and artistic books, sown in the corners, between the opera red velvet armchairs and the old cinema seats of the same colour. There is no denying a Belle époque influence, with contemporary design touches that match perfectly. A feminist den that gives pride of place to the LGBTQ community, it is typically the place where taboos do not go out the door! The library and exhibitions of works on the walls set the tone, unequivocally! It is a kaleidoscopic place with many faces whose coherence flows under the meaning once you are seated there. Essential and simply magical!

It's with a great deal of heart and dignity that you're served in this café unlike any other, since most of the staff are mentally or cognitively handicapped. The first solidarity café of its kind in Rennes, the place lives up to its name. The team welcomes us with a smile, and serves up some particularly tasty classics. With its bright yellow decor, reminiscent of a Brooklyn concept café, and its lively playlist, the place warms you up. You'll be given a plastic cube before you reach your table, so that your waiter can identify you in the room. We salute this deeply human initiative that makes you see life differently!

Lovers of very drunk parties, don't limit yourself to the primary meaning of this bar. You will have understood to which common expression we are referring, but before we stick one on, this is a place to admire the work of the pencil... in front of a pint or a glass of rum of course! Here Thomas and Sylvain have completed one of the pieces of the puzzle already in place in the Saint Hélier district: the world of comics. There were already a few stalls dedicated to the genre, but not of this type! Here the independent comics and the fanzine are enjoyed with a slice of sausage and a beer, because there are things that are more beautiful when you live them together! Enter the den and you will understand when the walls lined with comic book boards reveal themselves before you. Your visit will be punctuated by the discovery of a universe between art, literature and street art: a counter surmounted by a mechanical shooter straight out of the steampunk universe, toilets and an inner courtyard lined with frescoes and graffiti, a fanzinothèque and comic book library corner like a boudoir for the most absorbed, and works exhibited all around you. A program of autographs and artistic performances will brighten up your evenings. A concept to water body, heart and mind!

The Black Bear is, as its name suggests, a manly place where serious spirits are offered (because we don't treat good whisky lightly!). Sophie, a trained cellar master, and Clément will welcome you with warmth and guide you towards a spiritual elevation because it is sometimes quite an art to know how to taste and appreciate the fruit of an ancestral know-how. A hundred references of whiskies are facing you behind the bar, like mystical books to be deciphered and a wide range of rums, some quality vodkas and 16 draught beers from Belgium and Czech Republic are on the menu. This is not the place for a Bailey or a Ricard, a matter of honor and quality! Come for an initiation and an invitation to travel with a glass of Welsh or Japanese whisky (the Ryo Ma or the Penderyn) which will take you to peaty and iodized lands. And if what the bar offers is not enough, you should know that the place is also a cellar and offers for sale 250 references of high quality spirits that you will have difficulty in finding elsewhere. We recommend you the detour!

La Lichouille is a bar for chocolate lovers, to eat in or take away, which offers us a consumption experience around the chocolate bar... So when it comes to making a totally original creation, combining it with the cookie flavor, and crushing it inside a hot milk, the pleasure is intense. The meeting place for those who love four o'clock! La Lichouille also offers lunch formulas with sandwiches, salads, toasts or wraps as well as smoothies prepared on the spot in a wide choice of flavors that goes from orange to black radish, muffins or gourmet waffles... A nice and charming address.

Sitting in the heart of Rennes, on Sainte Anne Square, the artist's workshop is an unfailing meeting of everything that the city has to offer. At the crossroads of bohemian influences, punk, rock and jazz, this is the place where you come to philosophize, discuss art, recreate the world or taste the market discoveries on Saturday morning by sipping a glass of good wine in a relaxed and isolated atmosphere of the world. The place is a mini labyrinth made up of alcoves made of mixed furniture and stained with old books, posters and postcards, faux chimneys, or works by local artists in exhibition (do not hesitate to offer your own works!). And at the heart of this labyrinth: a covered patio that recalls a dropout greenhouse in which you forgot old objects, paintings, and set tables for an improvised party. Heated in winter and always sheltered from rain, this area is highly appreciated by smokers who find the best of both worlds. The map offers many wines that regularly change, many Britons beers at the pressure, and everything necessary to spend a pleasant time at any time of the day. And every visit comes out as we come back from a weekend at Cézanne's, it's crazy what it's all about!

Café Albertine is a girly little canteen, perfect for lunchtime nibbles on vegetarian or vegan dishes or homemade sandwiches. But it's also a coffee shop! There's always a nice little corner where you can sit alone or with others, read a magazine or chat endlessly with friends. In the kitchen, Solenn fine-tunes the daily specials and pastries (oh, the babkas are to die for!). Here, you choose at the counter and then settle in. But what we really like is that the recipes are really delicious and full of freshness and pep! Ax detours from our various stops: vegetable and red cabbage tart, butternut soup, caramel brownie. Serve with ginger iced tea, chai latte or fresh juice.

This is a Small and Not Great Britain pub! His name echoes an ancient Breton legend anchored on our shores. The City of Ys was based on the legend of the world's most beautiful city, built by King Gradlon, for his daughter. A city in which it is said that all excesses were allowed, made up of women, sailors, alcohol and party parties to the point that it would have been swallowed up by the waves to punish its people. So, in Rennes, we recreated an overview of this missing city Vasselot Street, and this bar has become a myth in turn. An institution of urban rennes, the City of Ys offers local beers (and sometimes from organic farming) the Ker Ys to pressure made also reference to the famous city immersed. The frame evokes a mixture between an abandoned church and a xviiie pub^, on its floor populated with deciduous furniture, orange stained glass windows, carved stones and majestic staircases that swivel in the center of the room. Romantic pub but especially Rock 'n Roll, it is frequented by lovers of the genre, for Pop Rock music, relaxed atmosphere and events. The most: the saucers, the sunny terrace, Irish music sessions and happy hour every day from 7 p. m. to 8 p. m. A beautiful address that blurs Brittany.

There's one patisserie where snack time rings particularly true. 4:30 pm: we enter, attracted by the cookies, cakes and honey gingerbread from Rennes in the window. Inside, we can sit down to enjoy them with a tea from Tea & Ty and a coffee from Felix. Among the pastries that follow the seasons, Saint-Honoré, Zonka, Moulins and Duarn' are divinely structured and balanced (some gluten-free). Marion also offers cocktails with infused plants. Here, the question of the ecological footprint is inseparable from pastry-making. We also offer a reusable bento bag for transporting your cakes.

Cousins Catherine and Pascale have been running Thé au Fourneau - also known as TaF - since 1987. This charming address, with its cake moulds on the walls and colorful lanterns, is located in the old town of Rennes, in a nook that opens onto the Portes mordelaises, the last vestige of the city's medieval walls. Tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the city, Thé au Fourneau offers a break in a cozy, peaceful setting. So secluded, in fact, that the pace is quite different, and we recommend you be patient with the serving time... Then all you have to do is choose from a fine selection of teas and mouth-watering home-made pastries. We love that British touch: scones, carott cakes, tarts... Everything is delicious.From 12pm to 3pm, you can also enjoy savoury tarts, salads and tartines. Recipes change regularly.

Le Hibou Grand-Duc, or "Hibou" to its friends, is a neighborhood bar, a very fashionable estaminet, a real headliner of the nightlife in Rennes. Located in the Saint-Hélier district, in a very trendy "arty-vintage" setting, it is located in a street that is barely off the beaten track, but enough to make it a meeting place for connoisseurs. It is established in the former workshop of Odorico, the famous mosaicist from Rennes at the beginning of the 20th century, whose original house is next to the bar. This allows you to admire the traces of the artist's experiments that appear here and there in the decor. Hence the Belle Epoque atmosphere, the high molded ceilings, the Parisian café style furniture from the last century, the subdued light which gives it this very special atmosphere... But far from being dusty, the Hibou is a place overflowing with life (concerts, blind tests, exhibitions and other varied animations), in which you have to come early to get a table! Many lively and definitely epicurean evenings take place there. You can taste quality beers, organic wines and to satisfy your appetite, boards and snacks are proposed (codfish accras or Mont d'Or with potatoes). A temple erected in the honor of the Rennes art of living!

In the heart of the historic centre, it is a warm and lively pub, surrounded by old stones, facing the Saint Yves chapel. In a paved and pedestrian area, you can enjoy a vast sheltered terrace where you can pile up in numbers! The interior is reminiscent of an old tavern where you feel like you're finally coming back, even if it's your first time in. A warm decoration playing on a wooden bar, barrels around which to sit, bric-a-brac, the "emptying" space reflecting well the potash atmosphere of the place which consequently was elected for certain evenings of the collective "les Gérards". The walls are also occupied by copper pipes and old street name plates, baroque tapestries or decorated with old boxing engravings, and jars of home-made rum piled up on the shelves, which paints a picture. It is one of the meetings of the pop rock scene with many concerts and an active participation in the festivals of the city, which brings an eclectic clientele of students or executives bobo. A rich menu of mainly local beers (Ombre bleue, Sainte Colombe or the organic Skumenn), a pleasant selection of wines, and a Japanese whisky list! Very copious aperitif boards are proposed and you can also have lunch on weekends with delicious dishes prepared by local restaurant owners.

At the Fox, tradition meets modernity: as in its homeland, this international pub takes on different faces depending on the time of day you enter. On Saturday mornings, after the market, you can enjoy an English breakfast with live music, watch a match (soccer or rugby) over a beer from the Green Isle in the late afternoon, or party properly in the evening! The entertainment is always in full swing. A must on the Rennes nightlife scene, it has the added advantage of offering food and drink (the homemade burgers are delicious!) until 10:30 p.m., which is always good to know in case your afterwork extends into dinner.

This trendy bar is no longer present, which is an indispensable place for rennes youth. There are friends for students of all kinds. At the beginning of the evening, the large terrace welcomes a crowd of clients, after the office or at the exit of the school, as the largest of the clientele is young enough, like music and the garden, in the air of time. A DJ animates the evenings Wednesday to Saturday: guaranteed atmosphere. Please note that the bar has a smoking area for about people, in the cold winter evenings. Inside, trendy furniture, pretty original. We recommend one of the home-made specialities, the Margarita Frozen, archi, attention to abuse! Prices are increased 22 hours and once again spent midnight. So we need a budget to spend the evening, but we appreciate the welcome and excellent service of all staff.

The Café des Champs Libres is a place where students, local grandmothers and people who work nearby mingle. The place has been fitted out with second-hand objects and furniture, the bar has been built from pallets and the beer that flows here is above all Gallia, a beer committed to the climate. The eco-responsible and inclusive café promotes diversity in its cultural programming, with emerging hip-hop, electro and conservatory groups, as well as stand-up and café philo. In the kitchen, you can enjoy simple vegetarian dishes and Breton coffees. The 150-seat terrace is an excellent summer spot.

On the Place Saint-Germain, where it's so pleasant to lounge, the neighborhood is alive with emblematic bars and restaurants. The eponymous bar has almost doubled in size in the last year, but the atmosphere remains the same: a bar with an air of yesteryear, with a variety of mottled objects, bistro-style chairs, a large counter and a clientele that's a little bobo but terribly friendly. Beers, wines, nice dishes at lunchtime, prepared tapas (bun with pickled cabbage and pickles, smoked mackerel, hummus, cheese platters), shooters and good music in the evening are the recipes for this bar, which is always full. A little corner of paradise, perfect for a break on the terrace or for a bite to eat with friends.

In the heart of the city, Place Sainte-Anne, is the historic address of the Colombus family in Rennes (which has more than 3 shops in all in Ille-et-Vilaine). Fresh fruit juices, americanos, espressos, lattes, cappuccinos, macchiatos and flavoured coffees await you in addition to all the sweets usually served by the brand!