Bistro

//ˈbiːstɹoʊ// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A small casual restaurant or pub, typically serving French-style cuisine.

    "Now, a coalition of bistro owners, unions and trade organizations is lobbying to get Unesco to grant Paris's sidewalk bistros and cafes official status as France's "intangible cultural heritage.""

  2. 2
    a small informal restaurant; serves wine wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To eat at a bistro. rare

Synonyms

All synonyms
alehousealehouseautomatbarbarrel housebarroom

Example

More examples

"Tom was invited to come and have a beer at the local bistro."

Etymology

Attested from c. 1920, from the French bistro(t) with the original meaning "proprietor of a tavern" (1880s), of unknown origin, presumably regional French dialect. See the French etymology for more.

Related phrases

fast food

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.