Felix is the closest thing to Paris that King Street has to offer, and it's not even pretending to be anything else. It's a French bistro and cocktail bar on Cannonborough, owned by Félix Landrum - Parisian heritage, Southern home - and the room is all bistro and brasserie at once: bright, brass, brasserie plates, and a bar that does some of the best cocktails on the block. The food runs French-inspired from small plates up to a full plate, and the gnocchi à la grand-mère and the raclette burger are the two things people remember when they leave. There's a real brunch here too, which pulls in a different crowd on weekends than the nightcaps that fill it on a Friday.
The atmosphere is the thing: lively, happy, and local, with a crowd that's as likely to be on a lunch break as a date night. It's a King Street spot, so it skews a little more polished than the neighborhood bars, but it keeps a laissez-faire feel that keeps you from feeling like you're being dressed up. The cocktails are the reason a lot of people come back; the food is the reason they stay for a second round of the menu.