The neighbourhood has always had its bars. In recent years, a new generation of cocktail bars has moved in: homemade syrups, fruit pressed the same day, menus that say something about the people who write them. We picked three, less than ten minutes’ walk from one another.
The rule is simple. Start at the bottom of cours Julien, finish near La Plaine, and walk between drinks. The three bars are listed in the order they opened, which is also the shortest route from one to the next.
Stop 1/3Verre à Cruise
Stop 1/3 · Bottom of cours Julien
Verre à Cruise
Jade and Sami el-Richani are Lebanese. Before Marseille came years of nightlife: bars and clubs while they were students, some of the big names of Lebanese nightlife, then Dubai. One day, the couple decided to open their own place in Europe. They travelled, compared, and chose Marseille. Verre à Cruise opened in 2021, at the bottom of cours Julien.
The name plays on three things: the glass (verre), of course; Veracruz, the Mexican city, a nod to the Lebanese diaspora found all over the world; and Tom Cruise, the bottle-juggling bartender of the 1988 film Cocktail.
Sami and Jade el-Richani · Tonight’s tray
The menu lists around thirty cocktails, about twenty of them house creations. Juices and syrups are made on site, and spices flow freely: coriander, thyme, smoked chilli, aniseed, even a dash of Picon. The Monte Pistachio combines pistachio, orange blossom water and rose. The mezcal cocktails are the most popular, including one served in a box that releases a cloud of smoke when opened.
Alongside the drinks comes Lebanese food on small plates, to share as the evening goes on: hummus, grilled cauliflower, falafel, za’atar buns, shawarma. That is the whole idea of the place: welcoming guests the way you would at home, the Lebanese way.
↓ 385 m · 5 min on foot
Walk the whole length of cours Julien, then a few metres of side streets lead to place Paul-Cézanne.
Stop 2/3 · Place Paul-Cézanne
La Soifferie
La Soifferie opened in summer 2021 on place Paul-Cézanne. Behind the bar: Antoine, César and Loïc, formerly of the Brasserie Communale.
Here, nostalgia is embraced. Retro wallpaper, furniture hunted down at flea markets, a decor that changes with the seasons: it feels like walking into the home of a grandmother with excellent taste in gin.
The team behind the bar · On the terrace, place Paul-Cézanne
Fittingly, the signature cocktails are named after the team’s grandmothers. Janine mixes gin and fresh basil, bought every day; Yvonne goes for fresh mint. The house motto is simple: no snobbery, a village feel.
And when the weather is good, everything happens outside: the terrace holds around a hundred people, with local beers for anyone who doesn’t drink cocktails.
↓ 329 m · 4 min on foot
Head east, towards La Plaine. A few minutes of side streets and you reach rue des Trois-Frères-Barthélémy.
Stop 3/3 · Rue des Trois-Frères-Barthélémy
Labo N°Heure
Last stop, and the youngest bar on the walk: Labo N°Heure opened in April 2024. Here Marine and Zak made a shared dream come true, opening their own bar, with Lison on the team.
The place is meant as a Mediterranean cocoon: rattan armchairs, natural materials, a little sunny square. A refuge, designed to feel like home.
Zak, Marine and the team · The Cosmic Girl
The name says it all. In this lab, they only work with fresh ingredients, no industrial syrups. The cocktails are numbered, like formulas, and the menu includes around fifteen house mocktails, so you can finish the walk going strong.
The house curiosity: a menu of aniseed spirits from around the world. Craft pastis, ouzo, raki… A way of remembering that this is Marseille, and that the Mediterranean has more than one shore.
End of the walk
Three bars, 710 metres, three ways of welcoming you
The neighbourhood has plenty of other bars. The site’s map lists them, and Le Mag will keep the walk going.
Where can I drink the best cocktails in Cours Julien?
Three bars less than ten minutes’ walk apart: Verre à Cruise (11, cours Julien), La Soifferie (8, place Paul-Cézanne) and Labo N°Heure (49A, rue des Trois-Frères-Barthélémy), in Marseille 6e.
Where can I get an alcohol-free cocktail in Cours Julien?
Labo N°Heure offers around fifteen house mocktails, made only with fresh ingredients.
Which cocktail bar in Cours Julien also serves food?
As well as its cocktails, Verre à Cruise serves Lebanese small plates to share: hummus, falafel, za’atar buns, shawarma.
How long does the walk take?
About 10 minutes’ walk in total: 385 m between Verre à Cruise and La Soifferie, then 329 m to Labo N°Heure.
Further reading
Verre à Cruise, deux Libanais à Marseille et un bar à cocktails
Joséphine Hobeika — L’Orient-Le Jour, 16 August 2024.
