A Comprehensive Guide to the French Bistro, With Recipes

Bienvenue! Please make yourself comfortable—virtually of course. This may not be a brick-and-mortar bistro, but we hope you can feel the lamps’ warming glow, see the calligraphic swirl on the chalkboard menu, hear the conversation over the clinking of plates and glasses, and smell the garlic butter on the escargots that just landed on your marble-topped table. It’s all so familiar, so comforting, and it’s what we want to celebrate here, chez Serious Eats. With the recipes and guides below, you can recreate the classic French bistro experience at home any time you want.

There’s so much to love about a bistro—the menu of French dishes as reliable as standards from a jazz songbook; the affordable yet quality wine list; and the trademark decor, two parts Art Nouveau, one part Belle Époque, with a dash of vintage-industrial sprinkled in. It is so immediately recognizable and beloved that more than a few restaurateurs outside of France have made a small fortune creating carbon copies, like sets for a period piece where the diners are the stars. In this sense, the bistro is more than a type of restaurant, it’s true dinner theater.

At the same time, the bistro is not fated to live on as a mere museum piece. It is alive, in France and abroad. Not every “bistro” today matches the classic French template described above. In the States, there are bistros that are more of a burger-and–potato skins kind of place and less a moules marinières–and–steak tartare kind of place; what they have in common is space that’s comfortable and intimate and food that’s approachable and well prepared. And while you can still find plenty of old-school bistros in France, it’s perhaps there that one can find the most innovation—menus that modernize and reinterpret; decor that doesn’t feel like an interior designer spent hours faux-aging a brass-framed mirror.

So take a look at the menu, maybe read up on the wines and cheeses. Take your time, we’re here to help you make your table—preferably candlelit—the kind of place where everyone wants to linger. The joie de vivre, though, is on you.

A great bistro meal starts here. These appetizers are the the ideal beginning—whether you want to share or not.

Steak tartare is one of the easiest, most delicious “fancy” appetizers you can make at home. 

Lyon’s staple bistro salad features bitter greens tossed in a warm vinaigrette and is topped with chewy lardons and a gooey poached egg.

This easy-peasy egg dish is a French classic that will have you leaving deviled eggs behind.

A modern (and more accessible) take on the French classic called tête de veau.

These scallops in a creamy sauce are frequently found on the menus of bistros and brasseries. 

From delicate spring greens to woodsy mushrooms and hearty potato dishes, we’ve got you covered. Our collection of fresh, simple, and seasonal vegetable side dishes are perfect for sharing.

For savory, meaty-textured, deeply browned sautéed mushrooms, start with steam.

Follow the recipe for this rich and eggy sauce, then spoon it on tender poached asparagus.

Haricots verts are first blanched, then receive the full amandine treatment: topped with a browned butter sauce and crunchy almonds.

Ultra-creamy, butter-loaded mashed potatoes are really more of a French thing than an American one. Go ahead and call them pommes purée.

We’ve perfected the techniques for recreating your favorite bistro entrees at home.

Steak frites is classic French bistro fare at its finest, and it pulls at our American steak-and-potato-lovin’ heartstrings.

For impressive trout almondine (as we anglophones call it) don’t be shy with the butter.

The ultimate bistro burger, minus the bun.

The iconic quiche Lorraine is unapologetically rich and custardy, with a very tender, flaky crust.

The only thing better than steak frites is enjoying it with a perfect glass of wine. Seasoned wine writer Emily Saladino shows us how to identify really good, affordable French wines, plus what bistro dishes to pair with them.

Hear from a professional cheesemonger on the ins and outs of building a great French cheese plate or board.

A little cured-meat snack is always welcome, here are some of France’s most famed charcuterie specialties to seek out.

No bistro meal is complete without a sweet send-off. Don’t worry, there’s no need to tip your server.

Stack layers of crisp, delicate puff pastry with vanilla pastry cream for a pâtisserie-worthy dessert.

Crepes simmered in a sauce of orange juice, butter, and sugar, and a dash of liqueur. It’s fire. (Literally.)

For a more foolproof tarte Tatin, soak your apples in hot water and drop the acid(ity).

Crème brûlée is a magnificent dessert of silky, vanilla-scented custard beneath a shatteringly crisp topping of caramelized sugar