Bastille Day at Bistrot du Coin

Celebrating Bastille Day? For a flat-out party, you're not going to beat the scene at Bistrot du Coin. For most of the evening, it's business as usual at the lively French restaurant, if slightly more crowded. Then, around 11, tables and chairs are moved out of the way, a DJ cranks up pumping house music and, before you know it, women are dancing on the zinc-topped bar, expats are shouting to be heard over the din and friends are hoisting beers while singing French football songs.

This is quite the hot event -- especially as an after-party for those attending "official" Bastille Day soirees -- and lines stretch around the block by 9 or 10 p.m. Getting dinner reservations is near impossible, so your best option is to show up after the party starts (say, 11:30 or later) and diners begin leaving. There's no cover charge, and if you don't have reservations, the door staff enforces a "one-in, one-out" policy to manage the long lines.

-- Fritz Hahn (July 9, 2012)