How to read a menu in France

How to order: formule, menu or à la carte

You have three ways to eat, often on the same card:

• Formule — a set price for two courses, typically entrée + plat or plat + dessert. The best value, especially at lunch.
• Menu — a fixed-price meal of three or more courses, sometimes with cheese. To ask for the menu card itself, say la carte.
• À la carte — individual dishes at individual prices.

See formule vs menu for supplements and what "boisson comprise" means. Say bonjour when you walk in — skipping it comes across as rude. Steak is cooked less than many visitors expect: à point is still pink, so order bien cuit if you want no pink at all.

Regional menus: what changes across France

• Paris bistros and brasseries: steak frites, onion soup, seafood platters, croque-monsieur; brasseries often serve all day.
• Lyon: bouchons serve hearty food such as quenelles, salade lyonnaise and andouillette.
• Burgundy: bœuf bourguignon, escargots, eggs poached in red wine (œufs en meurette).
• Provence and Nice: bouillabaisse in Marseille (sometimes ordered a day ahead and priced per person), salade niçoise, socca, aïoli.
• Brittany: crêperies — savoury galettes of buckwheat flour (galette complète = ham, egg, cheese), sweet crêpes, cider.
• Southwest: cassoulet, confit de canard, foie gras.
• Alsace: choucroute, tarte flambée (flammekueche).

When the French eat

Lunch (le déjeuner) is usually served from about 12:00 to 14:00 and dinner (le dîner) from about 19:00 to 22:00, a little later in Paris and the south. Outside those hours many kitchens are closed; look for service continu (all-day service), common in brasseries and cafés. Set lunch deals are often marked le midi or sauf week-end et jours fériés (not at weekends or on public holidays).

Water, bread and wine

Ask for une carafe d'eau and you'll get tap water for free with your meal; bread comes free too. Since 2022, restaurants and bars must also tell you, on the menu or on a sign, that free drinking water is available on request. Bottled water (eau plate, eau gazeuse) is charged. More in carafe d'eau.

House wine by the pichet (usually 25 or 50 cl) or au verre (by the glass) is far cheaper than a bottle. Coffee comes after dessert, as a small black espresso unless you ask otherwise.

Reading prices: service compris and supplements

French prices are final. A 1987 price-display rule requires displayed prices to include taxes and service, and menus to carry the words prix service compris with the service rate in brackets — see service compris. Restaurants must also display their menus outside at mealtimes.

Watch for three things: a supplément next to premium dishes in a set menu, boisson non comprise (drink not included), and seafood or lobster priced per 100 g or selon le marché (market price) — ask the price before ordering.

Reading a French menu with MenuGuide

Snap the menu — or the chalkboard — and MenuGuide translates every dish into your language, keeping the French name under each translation so you can point at it. Prices are converted to your currency, and each dish lists ingredients and allergen and diet flags. These are AI estimates, so with a serious allergy always confirm with the staff. Build your order in the app and show it in French, or let Speak My Order read it aloud.