Talk:Bistro

Health
People keep adding things about how bistro food is healthy. The current section is called "bistro eating". Has any one heard of this term? Does it really belong I enjoy bistro food very much, but I don't think the fare finds in one could be considered "healthy eating" under current dietetic guidlines; look at the quintessential dish, steak frites--red meat and deep fried starch.

I have added citation tags to the health claims, but perhaps they should be removed? If there is a legitimate food trend called "bistro eating" that is sourceable and verifiable, this section should either be expanded or given its on article.


 * This section was completely POV, there are many many many non-healthy bistro dishes. This POV concept has mostly come from its usage in commercial product sales and chain menus, not in terms of traditional bistro fare.  In addition, if the information is added back, it needs citation from a reliable source, otherwise I will remove it again.  Steak frites btw, is a brasserie dish more than it is a bistro dish.--Christopher Tanner, CCC 01:56, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

NPOV
I removed all the bits about the restaurant (not so creatively named "Bistro") and merged the bits concerning the origin of the word "Bistro". I removed the NPOV tag as I believe that those bits have been purged. Please amend this entry if you feel otherwise. RobLinwood 00:48, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

I would like to offer that the Russian word, "bistro" and the French word, "bistro" have the same pronounciation. (The only difference being that Russians stress the last syllable as is common in Slavic idioms.) It would be truly remarkable if this word was not of Russian origin and I find the doubtful tone of its's etymology in this article weak. Does anyone doubt if the English word, "no" comes from the Latin/Norman word, "no?" It is the same word.

Could we amend this weak passage to reflect the more obvious conclusion of etymology? Thanks, Dynamisto —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.90.128.25 (talk) 09:20, 26 October 2007 (UTC)


 * Cannot post this because it is first-hand knowledge from my education in France. Bistrot came from Cossack mercenaries in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War. Now find the reference... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.29.237.12 (talk) 11:30, 17 July 2012 (UTC)


 * That should not be added to the article, as it is entirely false. The Russian vowel ы is quite different from the French i.184.75.103.172 (talk) 19:03, 29 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Also important to point out that English 'no' does not originate from Latin/Norman 'no', but rather from Old English 'na'. Antman -- chat 01:17, 24 April 2014 (UTC)

There are countless false cognates (word X in language A that resembles word Y in language B -- and the two words are etymologically unrelated to each other). See for example, this article:

Alonso de La Fuente, José Andrés. 2010. “Urban Legends: Turkish kayık ‘ boat’ and “Eskimo” qayaq‘ kayak’. Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis. No. 127. Pp. 7-27.

Here is the abstract:

The main goal of this paper is to show that the proposed relationship between Turkish kayık ‘boat’ and Eskimo qayaq ‘kayak’ is far-fetched. After a philological analysis of the available materials, it will be proven that the oldest attestation and recoverable stages of these words are kay-guk (11th c.) < Proto-Turkic */kad-/ in */kad-ï/ ‘fir tree’ and */qan-yaq/ (see Greenlandic pl. form kainet, from 18th c.) < Proto-Eskimo */qan(ə)-/ ‘to go/come (near)’ respectively. The explicitness of the linguistic evidence enables us to avoid the complex historical and cultural (archaeological) observations related to the hypothetical scenarios concerning encounters between the Turkic and Eskimo(-Aleut) populations, so typical in a discussion of this issue. In the process of this main elucidation, two marginal questions will be addressed too: the limited occasions on which “Eskimo” materials are dealt with in English (or other language) sources, and the etymology of (Atkan) Aleut iqya-x ‘single-hatch baidara’.

The entire article is available here free of charge: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Urban-legends-%3A-Turkish-kay%C4%B1k-%27boat%27-and-%22Eskimo%22-%2F-Fuente/96a43a9520bb3f4cd9d1e6d55148fd29a05b08df

See there (pp. 18-19) the author's list of eleven more pairs of false cognates in the world's languages.S. Valkemirer (talk) 02:34, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

Architect?
What does a Bistro have to do with an Architect? --Matejhowell 16:38, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

New subject?
The arg. band bistro should maybe be on it's own page?

Etymology
I just moved the etymology to Wiktionary, which is the appropriate place. Further, the Russian origin hypothesis is rejected by linguists (see discussion and links there).

Nbarth (email) (talk) 04:31, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

What about this book from 1818, where this word appears? 23:52, 18 December 2019 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A02:587:808B:E100:F6BC:C912:6BBC:E59F (talk) I suggest that you call the book of 1818 to the attention of Dr. Gold (davidlgold.com), who published the 39-page article debunking the alleged Russian etymology of the word. Let us see what he says.S. Valkemirer (talk) 02:19, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

Description
I don't what it's like in other places, but where I live bistro means really small portions of food. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Blaylockjam10 (talk • contribs) 05:08, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure how accurate this article is; "Bistro" around here (Australia) is usually a synonym for "Trendy and a bit on the expensive side". I certainly wouldn't associate the term with small, quick, moderately priced meals. Commander Zulu (talk) 11:57, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

American understanding of Bistro
It seems to me that in American English, there is a very different understanding of what bistro means. While the French consider bistro to me a moderately priced restaurant, in American English, bistro seems to suggest a somewhat fancy and small restaurant that is usually French or if not usually European. Americans wouldn't consider a moderately priced Chinese restaurant to be a bistro. Can someone help clarify this or add to this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.146.30.255 (talk) 22:41, 9 June 2009 (UTC)


 * As one of the editors of this article, I totally agree that a Chinese restaurant is not a bistro on either side of the Atlantic. However, thinking of a few places in San Francisco in particular, I don't see that there's a specifically American interpretation of the term. To me, the essence of it is that the menu is very restricted and the waiters are not in uniform. The chalk-board menu as opposed to the printed version is also a common feature but not a sine qua non. --El Ingles (talk) 01:34, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Im North American, and all the Bistros I've seen, Look more like small compact med-high priced restaurants. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.244.226.58 (talk) 19:54, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Bistro prices are typically 50% higher than a diner or pub. In Seattle there are may restaurants large and small with most entrees under $9, but one rarely sees a bistro under $13. The difference is the chef. A bistro chef often buys the ingredients and oversees the kitchen personally, and adds unique touches or unusual side dishes to impress the guests, and may change the menu daily or frequently. In a diner, the cooks have less training and the menu is simpler and more standardized. Are there really other places nowadays where bistros are inexpensive, or is that just a historical anachronism? Sluggoster (talk) 03:53, 3 August 2010 (UTC)
 * 50% higher than a diner or a pub *is* moderately priced. That means they are not the cheapest places, but cheaper than a restaurant. So it seems the view of what is a Bistro is the same on both sides of the pond. --OpenFuture (talk) 05:24, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

In Montreal, my experience is that French bistros generally offer more generous plates than other French Fine-Cuisine restaurants, with often a similar quality, sometimes at a slightly lower price and in a less impressive atmosphere/setting. Perhaps this is where "cheaper" may still make sense... but of course, any French specialty restaurant (bistro or not) is more expensive than Deli-type or fast-food ones. 66.11.179.30 (talk) 20:54, 29 September 2011 (UTC)

Chinese Bistro???
What is the picture of that chinese dump of a "bistro" doing in this article???--24.85.68.231 (talk) 06:43, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

The photograph of the plaque in Paris and its caption
An English translation should be added in the caption to the photograph. I suggest:

ON 30 MARCH 1814 THE COSSACKS UTTERED THEIR FAMOUS WORD “BISTRO” HERE FOR THE FIRST TIME AND ON THIS KNOLL WAS THUS BORN THE WORTHY ANCESTOR OF OUR BISTROTS / 180th ANNIVERSARY / OLD MONTMARTRE TOURIST OFFICE

The caption should be modified in another way too: mention should be made there that the plaque perpetuates the unsubstantiated story about the origin of the word.S. Valkemirer (talk) 06:40, 5 November 2020 (UTC)