10 Things to KNOW about ORDERING FOOD in a French Restaurant

Excellent tips! Thank you!

I really like your videos et pourtant je suis français 😀 mais comme vous me faites découvrir de bonnes adresses ... Many thanks to describe and ease French food discovery

First thing Americans need to understand in France is that they will look at you with utter contempt and will most likely spit on your food before serving it to you. France is not a place for Americans to feel welcome. The rest of Europe is a different story.

"The tip is included" is in fact wrong, but no surprise here since most French people themselves believe that it is.What is included is a "service fee", but this service fee doesn't necessarily go to the waiter, it depends on his contract. In most "cafes" it goes to the owner, while in most "brasseries" it goes to the waiter, for instance (basically, a waiter will accept one option or the other depending on how many customers he expects to serve, and brasseries have a lot of traffic, making more interesting a 20% fee on all meals than a fixed amount of money). Originally the "service fee" was just added to the bill for serving you at a table.When law made mandatory to display the full price of the meal, it was included and became a standard 20%.There are fiscal incentives for the owners to give it to the waiters, but you can't assume that. There's no social obligation to leave a tip in France, however, and no generally accepted rules about how much it should be or even how commonly it should be given. It varies vastly for one person to another.

How do I order if I’m a vegetarian?

Great video!

Bravo pour vos vidéos. En tant que Français, je pense qu'elles doivent être très utiles à vos compatriotes.
Je voulais juste ajouter quelques points.
Dans les bistrots, brasseries, petits restaurants, privilégiez le "plat du jour". Vous aurez plus de chance d'éviter des plats industriels. Si un restaurant a beaucoup trop de choix à la carte, c'est forcément qu'il va sortir votre repas du congélateur.
En ce qui concerne l'affichage des prix et les pourboires, c'est beaucoup plus facile en France qu'aux USA, où j'ai été (pour la première fois) cette année. Aux USA, avec les tips et le hors taxe, on ne sait jamais combien on va payer vraiment. Faire à chaque fois le calcul est vraiment pénible. En France, on paie ce qui est affiché, c'est beaucoup plus clair. MAIS dans les restaurants, cela n'empêche pas de laisser un pourboire. Il n'y a pas d'obligation comme aux Etats Unis, mais il est correct de laisser quelque chose, même si on paie en carte bancaire.
Bon séjour.

..what an American way of looking at France and the French. But, when it helps Americans to meet culture, it is okay.

Love you 2. Very informative and the food is delicious.

Silly question, when you tip a waiter in France, do you hand it to them or leave it on the table?

Excelente ❤vid!

Great channel ! Eating out in France in fact can feel a bit daunting in the beginning, but as you point out: a little trying, patience and friendliness will go a long way. And boy, does this nation take their culinary industry take serious! Never had a subpar dining experience even in run-of-the-mill restaurants...

Glace does not have a cedilla, as you showed "glaçe".

I have spent many years living in France, on and off, and think your tips for newbies traveling to France, would be quite helpful. Just one critique: Madame, please work on your pronunciation of "vin". I'm hearing "vent". For those who don't speak french that means "wind." A glass of "vent" would be extremely dry.

I've spoken French menu since I was a child. Who says children need a kid's menu? Children can have good taste too.

That waiter looks just like Gorden Kaye from " Allo Allo ".

Ref. THE COFFEE => YES. There's a HUGE difference between the "All-American-Coffee" (i.e. a muddy-tasteless-brownish-watery "liquid") that's (usually & historically) displayed in ALL American movies (whether westerns or the rest.) Coffee came to Venice in 1615. In the mid-1600's, coffee was brought to New Amsterdam, later called New York by the British. As we all know => Tea continued to be the favored drink in the New World until 1773, when the colonists revolted against a heavy tax on tea imposed by King George III. The revolt, known as the Boston Tea Party, would forever change the American drinking preference to coffee. However. To this day => the "All-American-Coffee" is nothing but a muddy-tasteless-brownish-watery version of a (British) TEA!!! On the other hand => Europeans knew how to deal with it => Just an Espresso. Grazzie.

Eat with fork and knife and not with your hands, even pizza.

Have a look at the "plat du jour" or "menu du jour" if there is. It means a special cook of the day and more likely to be made with fresh products of the season (no strawberries in winter 😄).

Actually, in a good restaurant with a good waiter (maybe not in Paris haha 😂) you don't necessary have to read the menu. Just simply trust the waiter and ask for advise. "Qu'est-ce que vous me conseillez ?". More unformal: "Qu'est-ce que vous avez de bon aujourd'hui ? ". A real professional waiter will be very please to help you, maybe simply asking you what kind of meal you would enjoy (based on fish or meat for example).
Especialy for wine, a good waiter must be able to say what wine is better with your meal

The shorter the menu is, the better the restaurant is. Except in very big restaurants too long menu could mean intensive use of the microwave 😉
I mean the lenght of the menu should be in proportion with the size of the place.

Americans discover Europe. So us Europeans don't have to. FFS.

You're doing good work, people.

I'm french myself but I really enjoy your videos I agree with most of your tips and etiquette tricks, you're both really sympathetic and the format is really catchy and informative at the same time! Keep up the good work, I'm sure a lot of people are greatful for your help 🎉

Hi, may I have your advice. I don't drink wine / beer / liquor/ champaign (dont really appreciate them). How do I tell them I don't drink? I don't like Sparkling water. Mineral / distilled water / soft drinks / fruit juices are ok. What should I say when they ask me what drink I want. Thanks in advance for your advice.

The first thing to know is that French food is terribly overrated and if you want to have good food and/or good coffee you need to leave France and go to Italy!

Is there decaf coffee as an option? Also, I see the gentleman here is French and fluent, is the lady fluent? I’m sorry, I do not know your names ♥

waooow , you speak to stupid people !!
it's generous !

No the tip is NOT included ! The salary is, not the tip. So leaving between 5 and 10 percent of the addition is the correct thing to do.
I am french and parisian.

Bistro slang term was co-opted by the French from Russian occupation force after Napoleon was defeated during 1814 occupation of Paris. The term bistro was a mispronunciation of a similar Russian word that meant “hurry” something that Russian soldiers would often shout at cafe and restaurant owners during this occupation because they had 10 minutes breaks during which they were allowed to consume food.

Perhaps asking for glaçons for your water will not get you the reaction you would expect, as an American. A cultural difference to maybe get used to when you are out of the U.S. might be to accept your drinks the way the locals take them?

Don't also forger that water is ALWAYS free (this is the law) ans bread ans bread refiill are usually free,
In northern France the lunch out is more like 06/08 PM but in southern France espicially near spain the lunch time is more like 08/09 PM
Sorry for my broken english and enjoy the France and don't forget that Paris isn't the France 😉

Google translate app has the ability to use the camera and translate real time. It's amazing for helping to figure out what's on the menu (I used this when I didn't know a word or two)

Not russian immigrants, but troops who occupied Paris in 1814 following the Napoleonic Wars

Hello! Can French restaurants split the bill between multiple people? Like if there’s 5 of us in a restaurant, can we each pay separately or is it best to have one person pay with their card?

I have only just discovered your videos, this is the second one I have watched. Your videos are just wonderful!

Service is included, but it's still a common thing to tip the waiters, even if there is no obligation for that.

I love your videos. Even though I have frequented Paris several times in the last 20 years, tips like these are always helpful.
I was in Paris on business one time with a colleague and they didn't know about saying Bonjour upon entering the business or restaurant, the proprietor stood there waiting and I reminded my colleague about protocols and the proprietor was very happy she said Bonjour.

Thanks dear for sharing your beautiful experiences in Paris. Very helpful. Beautifully presented.

Excellent video, helped me a lot! Merci!

Thank you! Fantastic insight.

You are so right when you advise to make an effort to speak French. I always hear from others about their poor experiences in Paris and how unfriendly Parisians were. I always try to start a conversation in French and it is obvious that people appreciate the effort. We have never been treated poorly or rudely in Paris by service or retail personnel. On one trip to Paris my wife, daughter and I were on the subway to our stop in Le Marais. The train stopped and all passengers had to get off. Luckily, I understood enough French to understand that the train would go no further. General strike! Amid the chaos I entered a store and approached a young man explaining in French as best I could that I was lost and needed to get to Le Marais. He was so nice that he switched to English and accompanied us outside the store explaining where we had to go and what train to catch. I just discovered your channel and it's great. This video is so helpful. Merci!

Or bon soir.

Pardon me if you have already and I missed it, but you should include in a video the tourist trap restaurants that charge more (in some cases MUCH more) on the English menu compared to the French menu (which still has English on it). I was just charged 3 euros more on a beer and it was infuriating, even after I tried to explain that I would like to pay this price and showed the waiter the French menu from the next table.

That waiter looks like Rene Artois from allo allo

Thank you so much for the cheat sheet. This helped me so much!!