Other forms: bistros
A bistro is a small unpretentious restaurant. A corner bistro, eat at the bistro, a bistro menu.
The word promises simple food, a short menu and no ceremony, and it has been borrowed by places that are none of those. The charming story that it comes from Russian soldiers shouting for quick service is almost certainly false — the dates do not fit.
1nounbistroA small unpretentious restaurant.
“We had a simple dinner of steak and chips at a little bistro near the river.”
bistro is a restaurant.
French bistro, attested from the 1880s, of unknown origin. The story about Russian soldiers shouting bystro is a later invention.
French
bistro
English, today
bistro
Attested from c. 1920, from the French bistro with the original meaning "proprietor of a tavern" (1880s), of unknown origin, presumably regional French dialect. See the French etymology for more.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA