In France, you have the option of eating out in different establishment types and that includes the Bistro, Brasserie, Café, and the Restaurant.
Just like the Italian Ristorante, Osteria and Trattoria, the French have established their unique eatery versions over the ages.
I explain how they differ from each other!
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What's a Bistro?
A Bistro, also spelled Bistrot, is a casual food hangout, a modest small restaurant in France.
The menu is smaller and the choices of dishes are limited. Here you will find only French food.
Common people would frequent bistros for a budget meal and a drink. In rural France, Bistros are often the heart of a village, where locals congregate.
There is a historical claim, that the Russians, who helped defeat Napoleon in Paris in 1814, influenced the emergence of Bistros in Paris.
The Russian word for fast is bystryy and the story goes that the Russian troops wanted a faster way to get meals. This is how Bistros ultimately came to be.
Today, most Bistros have set opening hours around lunch and dinner time and serve quick, quality bites.
What's a Brasserie?
The Brasserie is a type of Restaurant in France. The word Brasserie comes from Brassé, which means to brew in French.
Initially, brasseries were attached to a brewery and the house beer would be served along with eloquent, suitable meals.
It is believed that the first brasseries were established by Alsatians, who fled to Paris and other French regions after the annexation of the Alsace-Lorraine region by Prussia in 1870.
Back then, the Brasseries were still referred to as Brasserie-Alsacienne. Most traditional Brasserie are still decorated in the old Alsatian style with mirrors and ceramic tiles.
You can expect a full service in a Brasserie all day long, that means from morning to late at night.
Brasseries in the French capital offer typical Parisian food favorites such as Steak Frite, Escargot, boeuf bourguignon and steak tartare.
What's a Café?
Generally speaking, a café is mainly a place where you consume a drink. For example, mainly coffee, but also cold drinks such as soft drinks.
In Paris, people frequent a café to drink a coffee while smoking a cigarette and sitting at one of these small tables that come with the iconic cane rattan chairs from Maison Louis Drucker.
Light food fairs, such as a Croque Monsieur (toasted ham and cheese sandwich) and desserts, as in cakes, are sometimes also offered on the menu.
Across the country in France, Cafés are pretty much equal to coffee places in neighboring countries, such as Germany and Austria.
Cafés open their doors in the morning hours and remain open all day long.
What's a Restaurant?
At the end of the 18th century, many grand chefs found themselves jobless as the revolution chopped off the heads of their employers.
The gastronomic palate of the French aristocracy had produced top-notch creative cooks who cooked the most elaborated meals for the elite.
Fortunately, the skilled chefs channeled their expertise and a many came up with a, for the period, new concept which came to be called “the restaurant”.
The term is derived from the verb “to restore” and the idea was to give people a place to sit and dine so that they walk out of the establishment feeling recharged and full of energy.
I highly recommend the French movie “Delicious,” that beautifully tells the tale of the inception of French restaurants.
Throughout the previous ages, travelers, and locals would hang out in auberge (inns) for the meal of the day and a drink.
Therefore, the restaurant concept, where normal people were welcomed and served, was mind-blowing.
Soon, restaurants opened up across the continent, and today you will find from budget-friendly to fine dining restaurant options in France.
They can specialize in a specific type of food or cuisine of a region or country.
Most restaurants open at specific times. For example, when you go out in the evening for food in Alsace, you won't be able to get a table before 6 pm.
The rule is, in a restaurant you enjoy a meal and if you want to just drink something, you are better off sitting in a Brasserie.
In Conclusion
Each establishment type came to be because they each filled a different market, clientele, and they were often a result of current historical events.
The vivid French capital made food establishments famous, and they truly shaped the city.
Yet, today, these terms have a tendency to be interchanged constantly. Even the French confuse them at times!
Occasionally, you will spot an establishment with the name “Café” that is a Brasserie.
This is because, just like in Italy, each evolved without any specific rules and there are no regulations that dictate rigid naming terms.
Besides, France is not just Paris and each region developed a trend of their own.
Note that outside of France, the terms Bistro and Café may have other meanings. For example, a Café in neighboring Germany is a place where you drink only coffee, tea and cold beverages, and they don't serve food.
More Related Terms
The following terms are still used today in France and describe a special establishment.
They give you the missing information link that will help you understand further the evolution of French Food establishments.
| French Word | English Translation and Meaning |
| Taverne | A place where alcoholic drinks are served. The equivalent in English is a tavern or, on the American continent, a salon. They were also called taverniers and originally, they would only serve wine in clay pots in a tavern in France. |
| Crêperie | A place that specializes in French Crêpes. Crêpes are thin pancakes, which can be served sweet or savory. |
| Cabarets | In a cabaret, you are entertained with a performance while you dine in a fine environment. The most famous is the Moulin Rouge in Paris. |
| Bouchon | A basic, down to earth, food establishment type in Lyon, France. |
| Estaminet | A warm and welcoming rustic establishment type where they serve drinks, traditionally also tobacco, and simple local meals. Estaminet can only be found in Northern France and Belgium, for example in the city of Lille. |
| Auberge | Historical inns that offer board and food. These were, or often still are, located at intersections or village and city centers. Originally, they would serve only one meal and the tables were large communal tables. The Couronne in Rouen, northern France, is the oldest Auberge in France. |
| Boulangerie | A French bakery. You will get pain and baguette de Paris here. |
| Pâtisserie | A pastry where they sell Viennoiserie and French pastries. Viennoiserie are Vienna pastries. |
| Salon de thé | A place where they serve only tea. |
| Friterie | A take-away place located on roadsides selling fries. These are most common in Belgium and northern France. |
| Bouillon | Traditional large spacious food establishments that gained on popularity during the Art-Nouveau movement. They typically served bouillon (clear soup) and a meat dish of the day to workers. |
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