On 27 October 1880 (1880-10-27), Léonard Lipp and his wife Pétronille opened the brasserie on the Boulevard Saint-Germain.

Anti-German sentiment during the First World War led to a change of name to Brasserie des Bords for several years.

In July 1920, the bougnat (Paris immigrant) Marcellin Cazes redesigned the brasserie, which had become frequented by poets such as Paul Verlaine and Guillaume Apollinaire.

He decorated it with tiled murals by Léon Fargues, with painted ceilings by Charly Garrey, and purple moleskin seating.

On 29 October 1965, Mehdi Ben Barka, a Moroccan anti-monarchist politician opposed to King Hassan II, was abducted by the Morocco Secret Service in front of the brasserie, probably with the help of the French.