Dirty Dick, Paris, France
10 rue Frochot 75009 Paris
+33 1 48 78 74 58
dirtydickparis@gmail.com
Hours: 6:00PM – 2:00AM daily
On a recent trip to France, I landed in the City of Lights. Paris is mostly known for great wine, fantastic cuisine, fashion and unbelievable works of art. I figured while I was passing through, I’d search for a tiki bar. Low and behold I found one that had been established only a few years earlier.
Okay, lets talk about the elephant in the room. I studied French and I’m pretty sure that’s not the way Dirty Dick is spelled in the French language!
Dirty Dick is fairly new to the tiki scene but the name has been around for awhile. Dirty Dick originally opened in the red light adult district of Paris in 1936. Being located in the adult district, Dirty Dick originally started out as a sex club owned by the Corsican mafia. Today the neighborhood has changed. The hotel that I stayed at was a few blocks away, walking distance. The neighboring streets were filled with restaurants packed with young hip professionals having dinner, drinking and just plain ol socializing. There are now luxury hotels located near Dirty Dick.
Paris isn’t exactly one of the locations one would think of when they think of tiki bars. So not knowing what to expect when I walked in left me somewhat surprised.
The vibe immediately leaves the streets of Paris outside and transforms your train of thought to a classic tiki bar from the 60’s. Low lighting and classic 60’s tunes fill the room welcoming guests to tiki escapism. One begins to wonder how a tiki bar this far away from the states could have been done up this authentically.
As it turns out the owner Scott Schuder hails from the Republic of California. Scott has a background in bartending and got his first taste of a tiki bar and the escapism from Frankies Tiki Room in Las Vegas.
Dirty Dick doesn’t have a food menu. Betta grab a bite from one of the many eateries in the neighborhood before hitting this place.
I was impressed that Dirty Dick paid homage to three of the best cocktail mixologists that helped start the tiki movement.
This is a menu that’ll help you forget where you’re at and help you get to the state of mind of where you wanna be. Everything from well known favorites like Zombies and Mai Tai’s to signature creations such as Hat’s off to Berry as in Beachbum Berry and yes they had Punch bowls.
They also serve bottled beer and beer on tap.
There was plenty of rum choices available to create all kinds of concoctions. What impressed me the most was that there were no premixed bottled syrups behind the bar. That’s because the Dirty Dick staff makes there own fruit juices, mixers and garnishes from fresh fruits that are delivered daily. BOOYAH!!! Or should I have said VIOLA!!!
We kicked the party off with a Hats off to Berry and a Calavera Climax.
Hats off to Berry was tribute to Beachbum Berry, one of the greats pictured above. It had a mixture of 5 rums, laced with red fruits and sour botanicals. According to the menu it would have you dreaming of days of old. All the drinks on the menu had skulls at the bottom after each to signify it’s potency. This one had 3 skulls.
The description for the Calavera Climax was as such. Before Trump finishes his wall, this fizzy Mezcal beverage comes crossing the border of your tongue with the help from his friends from Europe. “Make America Great Again”.
Instead of using rum it was only appropriate to go with tequila from South of the border in this concoction. Sorry folks, no little worms to swallow. There’s a joke in there somewhere. And if ya didn’t already know, calavera is a representation of a human skull. The term is most often applied to decorative or edible skulls made from either sugar or clay which are used in the Mexican celebration Day of the Dead and Catholic holiday All Souls Day. I seem to be rambling already so it must be strong. By the way, it was rated 4 skulls or is that calavera’s?
Next up was the Scorpion Bowl. The bowl is brought to your table, 151 rum is poured into the bowl and then set on fire.
Cinnamon is sprinkled into the burning flames to erupt this volcano of a drink.
A blended mixture of cognac, gin, rum and exotic juices diminishes the flames and the tiki gods invite you to indulge in an island celebration.
One of the busy bartenders just finished creating a ” She Sales Sea Shells” for group of patrons in the bar.
It was HUGE and served about 8. As you can also tell by the pics the bar staff don’t scrimp on the garnishes. It was rated 4 skulls. Maori sea god Tangora would’ve been proud.
The bar filled up pretty quick and as patrons eventually departed for the rest of their evening on the town more patrons quickly filled their spots. The place stayed full all night.
We had no plans to hit the town because we had searched for this tiki bar to find out what it was about. With that being said we continued our obis with Pain Killer and Monkey Seed Monkey Screwed.
Anyone familiar with Pain Killers knows these tropical tasting creations are delicious. It was made with rum, coconut, pineapple and orange. If just the thought of tasting this won’t rid what ever ails ya then I don’t know what will. The voodoo doctor rated this one at 3 skulls.
Ah, the Monkey Seed Monkey Screwed. Those little rascals swinging from the trees must’ve created this one. It’s created with banana, salted caramel, pineapple and whiskey. Replacing the rum with whiskey will have you swinging from the tree too! It’s even recommended on the menu that drinking this one fast can be quite risky. Rated 3 monkey skulls.
For the collectors in the crowd, Dirty Dick does have their own tiki mug and different spin offs of it for various promotions that they do. They were sold out though when I made my way into the bar.
All in all Dirty Dick is a fantastic part of the resurgence of escapism taking place all over the globe. The owner Scott Schuder has done a fantastic job of bringing his influences to life in creating this tiki bar. The bar staff were truly amazing. As busy as they were they welcomed everyone and greeted regulars as if they were close family. The drinks were flavorful. Pardon the pun but the buzz throughout the bar was great to be apart of.
If you’re ever in the City of Lights be sure to give Dirty Dick a try.
Tiki Republic 