From classic steak frites at Bistrot Paul Bert to French onion soup at La Poule au Pot, these seven diehard favourites will never go out of fashion.
Along with the glittering Eiffel Tower and burlesque Moulin Rouge, the Parisian bistro is one of the French capital's most timeless icons. It is also the most down to earth. Born from a need to feed city workers in the 19th Century, the bistro, or bistrot, is a vital hub of neighbourhood life and bedrock of traditional French cuisine. It's little wonder that restauranteurs are seeking Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage status for Paris' bistros and cafe terraces, a prized safeguard already bestowed on the French gastronomic meal (since 2010) and the baguette (2022).
The SpeciaList
Author of several books on the French capital, including Lonely Planet's Paris city guide and PhotoCity Paris, Nicola Williams eats for a living. She loves sharing her picks for embracing bistro joie de vivre in the French capital, from old-fashioned boeuf bourguignon and devilled eggs to a boozy soufflé soaked in Grand Marnier.
Making up 18,000 dining addresses in Paris today (and 10% of all restaurants in France), the humble bistro is where Parisians invariably gravitate for an affordable lunch with colleagues or after-work drinks and dinner with friends. While contemporary bistros (generally known as neo-bistros) push culinary creativity, many authentic traditional bistros continue to offer smoked herrings, boeuf bourguignon, to-die-for chocolate mousse and other French classics – some fast-disappearing – in deliciously retro interiors evocative of a bygone Paris.
Not only do these diehard favourites never go out of fashion, each is known for their chef's exquisite execution of a specific iconic bistro dish, assuring an insightful bite into France’s gargantuan culinary heritage as well as endless epicurean pleasure.
1. Best for classic steak frites: Bistrot Paul Bert
There is absolutely nothing gentrified or contrived about Le Bistrot Paul Bert, possibly the city's most iconic bistro, where it’s sacrilege not to saucer – mop your plate clean with ripped chunks of crusty bread. Parisian bon vivant Bertrand Auboyneau opened the bistro in 1997 after years abroad working in finance. His mission: to recreate the heart-warming culinary smells, tastes and dishes of his childhood spent growing up in the French capital.
Sweeping through the red floor-to-ceiling door drapes raises the curtain on a minimalist vintage interior with zinc bar, sepia-toned walls and polished dark-wood tables. The ad hoc wall collection of prints, posters and advertising tin plaques featuring Beaujolais Nouveau, Byrrh and other old-timer French drinks is an ode to the arbitrary passing of time rather than any carefully executed styling.
Even if you're not an offal aficionado, consider the calf tripe laced with fiery Espelette pepper or carpaccio of tête de veau (boned, rolled and roasted calf head) in a punchy anchovy marinade – both exude a finesse you don’t find elsewhere. Otherwise, the bistro’s signature filet de bœuf (beef steak) in a Sarawak black pepper and cream sauce with skinny fries is sublime. Ask for it à point (medium) unless you like it royally blue.
Website: https://bistrotpaulbert.fr/
Address: 18 rue Paul Bert, 75011 Paris
Phone: 33 1 43 72 24 01
Instagram: @bistrotpaulbert
2. Best for seasonal specialties: À l’Épi d’Or
The seasonal – and daily – variation make À l’Épi d'Or (At the Ear of Gold) in Paris' historic market district an interesting choice.
Bistro tips:
• Many bistros only open Monday to Friday, some evenings only. Advance reservations are essential; many only accept telephone bookings.
• Some bistros offer good-value lunch menus comprising two or three courses at a fixed price. Evening dining is usually only à la carte.
• Cheese is served before dessert, with crusty bread – never butter. At the end of a meal, a digestif liqueur often accompanies coffee (always espresso).
• Ordering une carafe d’eau (jug of tap water) is always acceptable.
Paintings of namesake golden wheat sheaves on 19th-Century oak-panelled walls evoke the circular grain exchange opposite (today contemporary art gallery Bourse du Commerce) as well as the surrounding countryside from where farmers came to sell their produce at nearby Les Halles market (until the fresh food market was moved out of town to Rungis in 1971).
From 1880, hungry market workers filled up on terrine de campagne (a type of coarse pâté) with cornichons, bloody steaks and riz au lait (rice pudding) at the Épi d'Or. The short menu has changed little since. It also remains equally relaxed and exceedingly good value, despite having a double-starred Michelin chef (Jean-François Piège) as owner.
Bistro staples such as oeufs-mayo (eggs with mayonnaise), croque monsieur and steak à cheval – nothing to do with horsemeat, rather a bun-less beef burger topped with a fried egg – are unshakeable mainstays. In addition, Monday to Friday sees different daily specials cooked up: you may see confit de canard (duck confit) on Monday perhaps; blanquette de veau (creamy veal stew) on Wednesday; mousse au chocolat on Friday. Starters might star pumpkin, endives or kale depending on the month. From August to March, even the cheese is seasonal: this is when you'll find creamy raw-milk Mont d’Or, served warm and gooey with a spoon.
Website: https://xn--jeanfranoispiege-jpb.com/a-lepi-dor
Address: 9 rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 75001 Paris
Phone: 33 1 42 36 32 96
3. Best for fire-grilled meat: Robert et Louise
The line between bistro and restaurant can be blurred in Paris, as a meal at gingham-curtained Robert et Louise proves. Parisian Robert Georget and wife Louise opened this iconic "restaurant de feu" (specialising in wood-fire cooking) on rue Vielle-du-Temple in 1958, well before the gentrification of the now-fashionista Le Marais neighbourhood. Today, it's run by their daughter, Pascale.
The cornerstone bistro's principles of simplicity and tradition shine here. Unpretentious dining takes place around worn wooden tables in a rustic interior of exposed stone, painted flower-ceramic tiles from the 1950s and 17th-Century ceiling beams. To snag a seat at the top table – a shared table d’hôte for eight overlooking the chef grilling T-bone steaks and andouillette (tripe sausage) over an open fire – you'll need to reserve weeks in advance. Eating in the basement dining-room is definitely second-rate.
Kick off the feast with buttery garlic snails in their shells, boudin noir (blood sausage) or smoked herring perhaps. The beef rib, T-bone and lamb chops come to the table on a wooden platter, to share or devour single-handedly. Can’t squeeze in a morsel more? Skip the cheese and mousse au chocolat for a traditional Cognac, Armagnac or Vieille Prune de Souillac digestif, said to aid digestion.
Website: https://www.robertetlouise.com/
Address: 64 rue Vieille-du-Temple, 75003 Paris
Phone: 33 1 42 78 55 89
4. Best for fish and seafood: Le Chardonoux
The grace and elegance of Belle Époque Paris is keenly felt at this 11th-arrondissement bistro, a listed historic monument dating to 1908. The polished-wood facade with marble inlays and lavish interior belies its simple origins as a watering hole and eatery – with sawdust floor and zinc bar subsequently requisitioned by the Germans during World War Two to make ammunition – for local craftsmen and farmers in town to sell their wares at market.
Celebrity pâtisserie chef and French TV star Cyril Lignac took the bistro under his gilded wing in 2008, calling upon the design talents of Swedish interior architect Martin Brudnizki to refashion the space as a contemporary, sophisticated address frequented by the well-heeled. The flouncy lampshades and ceiling frescoed with pea-green and emerald leaves would be kitsch elsewhere, but amid the impeccably recast Art Nouveau ensemble of thick white tablecloths and mirrored boiserie, they simply evoke the beauty of yesteryear Paris.
Fish and seafood are specialities. Signature dishes, such as langoustine ravioli and salt-crusted sea bass, are impeccably presented. They are also extremely modest in size, making dessert unnegotiable – a sweet blessing given Lignac's unmatched reputation for patisserie and chocolate. His vanilla mille-feuille, filled with velvety vanilla cream and caramelised pecan nuts, will not disappoint.
Website: https://restaurantlechardenoux.com/
Address: 1 rue Jules Vallès, 75011 Paris
Phone: 33 1 43 71 49 52
5. Best for truffles and old-school soufflé: Joséphine Chez Dumonet
Tucked away at the southern end of shop-busy rue du Cherche-Midi in the 6th arrondissement, Joséphine Chez Dumonet is the Left Bank's quintessential old-school bistro. Originally named Joséphine when it opened in 1898 and was frequented by intellectuals and the literati, the bistro has been run by the Dumonet family for the last 30-odd years – hence the double-barrelled name emblazoned on its chocolate-brown awning crowning wood-and-glass facade.
Traditional bistro dishes with a notable gourmet edge are the star turn. A complimentary amuse-bouche opens any meal, and bread unusually comes with a slab of unsalted Normandy butter so creamy it can be eaten like cheese. Boeuf bourguignon connoisseurs claim that chef Jean-Christian Dumonet's rich and earthy beef stew, slow-cooked in red wine and served at the table in a copper pot with homemade tagliatelle, as Paris' best. Seasonal black truffles served a myriad of ways – in an omelette, dressed in puff pastry, with artichoke hearts or beef and foie gras – lure gourmets in winter.
The lighter-than-air Grand Marnier soufflé – ordered at the start of the meal – is a Paris highlight. Requiring time, skill and oven space, the famously precocious egg dessert dating to the mid-19th Century is served here with a shot of Grand Marnier. Pierce a hole in the golden crust to pour in, or sip between mouthfuls. Either way, prep yourself to enter epicurean nirvana.
Website: https://chezdumonet.com/
Address: 117 rue du Cherche-Midi, 75006 Paris
Phone: 33 1 45 48 52 40
6. Best for boutique wine pairings: Bistrot des Tournelles
This new and authentic bistro, only opened by savvy restauranteur Édouard Vermynck in late 2022, is proof that bistro nostalgia is alive, well and enjoying a renaissance in Gen Z Paris. The location alone, footsteps from the Bastille’s modern opera house and famous Belle Époque Bofinger brasserie in the lively-after-dark 12th arrondissement, ensures a packed house.
More like this:
• Is the iconic Parisian bistro dying?
• The new croissant taking Paris by storm
• An expert's guide to finding the best cheese in Paris
But it is the ingenious cocktail of die-hard French childhood favourites crafted from the finest French ingredients that is the chief calling card: croque monsieur with the only Prince de Paris ham still salt-cured in the city; chicken cordon bleu oozing tangy Comté cheese; skinny fries dunked in rich homemade mayonnaise. As the son of a butcher, chef Geoffrey Langella's meaty andouillette and aromatic daube de boœf à la Provençal (thyme- and tomato-laced beef stew) are exceptional.
There are no more than a dozen cheek-to-jowl tables with vintage bentwood chairs in the simple-but-graceful interior, intimately lit with candles come dusk. Clever use of wall mirrors deflect its pocket size. Solo diners can squat on a stool at the tiny marble-topped bar and watch Vermynck pop corks on exceptional small-production Bourgogne and Côtes du Rhône reds (many organic or natural) or pour vintage snifters of pea-green Chartreuse, Menthe-Pastille and other old-timer French liqueurs.
Website: https://www.bistrotdestournelles.com/
Address: 6 rue des Tournelles, 75004 Paris
Phone: 33 1 57 40 99 96
Instagram: @bistrotdestournelles/
7. Best for frog legs and French onion soup: La Poule au Pot
Gawdy baby-pink tablecloths, glittering Art Deco mosaics and tassel lampshades aside, this upmarket address in the historic market neighbourhood of Les Halles is the epitome of French bourgeois cooking. Originally a butcher's shop, it has been a bistro since 1935 – today a glamorous celebrity favourite, deftly overseen since 2018 by celebrity Michelin-starred chef Jean-François Piège and his wife Elodie. Brass plaques above Bordeaux-red banquette seating celebrate 363 artists, actors and rock stars who've dined here.
So popular is La Poule's signature gratinée à l’oignon (French onion soup) that the filling, piping-hot dish combining caramelised onions with broth-soaked bread and cheese is served year-round, summer heatwaves included. Classic starters include os à moelle (bone marrow), frog legs and snails oozing garlic-parsley butter. Poule au pot (a whole chicken simmered in broth with vegetables) has been on the menu since 1935 thanks to prosperity-seeking French King Henri IV (r 1589–1610) who famously declared that all his subjects should be able to afford a poule au pot on Sunday. Steaks in pepper sauce are spectacularly flambéed and side dishes unchanged for centuries – mashed potato, buttery spinach, macaroni – are served in rustic Le Creuset pots or silverware platters to share. End on a sweet high with a classic île flottante marbled with shocking pink pralines or a boozy crêpes suzette.
Website: https://xn--jeanfranoispiege-jpb.com/la-poule-au-pot
Address: 9 rue des Vauvilliers, 75001 Paris
Phone: 33 1 42 36 32 96
Instagram: @lapouleaupotparis/
BBC Travel's The SpeciaList is a series of guides to popular and emerging destinations around the world, as seen through the eyes of local experts and tastemakers.
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