How to Dine Like a Local in France, From un Café to Digestif

In France, food isn’t just fuel — it’s a pleasure and pastime, linked to deep cultural traditions. The importance of la table is only matched by the love of shopping for ingredients and preparing them. Sunday lunch with my extended French family is a multi-course affair stretching for hours, with merry-making gourmands breaking into song sometime between the main course and the cheese platter. Meal times are sacred, and dining out at restaurants is taken as seriously as a football final starring les bleus. Whether you’re feasting on bouillabaisse in Marseille or boeuf Bourguignon in vineyard-cloaked Burgundy, there’s a common code of culinary customs and etiquette across the country. Here’s a primer on what you need to know.

Breakfast in France

The first meal of the day isn’t really a meal but a caffeine-infused light bite to tide you over until lunch, the most important meal of the day. In fact petit déjeuner literally translates to “little lunch.” The typical breakfast at home consists of a tartine (toasted bread), slathered in butter, accompanied by coffee, tea, or hot chocolate served in a bowl. My food-infatuated French family — whose mantra is “butter is life” — opts for the raw-milk beurre made by Pamplie, a cooperative of dairy farmers in their Poitou-Charentes region. Needless to say, I sometimes wonder if a pad of Pamplie, studded with crystals of fleur de sel, isn’t the meal’s pièce de résistance…

Croissants aren’t part of the daily routine. When spending a weekend with family or friends, someone will inevitably make the run to a boulangerie (bakery) to stock up on buttery croissants and pains au chocolat, but these viennoiseries (sweet baked goods) are reserved for special occasions or le week-end.

Typically if you’re ordering at a café in the morning, you can find a basic breakfast (continental-style) to go along with your café crème (shot of espresso with steamed milk), café au lait (coffee with milk), café allongé (espresso lengthened with hot water), or café noisette (shot of espresso with a dash of milk). Do like the locals and order un café (single shot of espresso) at the bar counter — there are still spots in Paris where you can get it for a euro.

Never fear: If you’re craving a full-on breakfast extravaganza, cities like Paris and Marseille are bursting with anglo-inspired joints, and le brunch continues to be trendy.

Lunch

Reservations are de rigueur. Not only does it save time and hassle (some restaurants are small and not open everyday), but it’s also a means of avoiding disappointment. The normal lunch service is from noon to 2:30 p.m., with kitchens closing until dinner (except for urban spots that offer service continu, or continuous service). I still remember a road trip through rural France years ago, racing to make it to a village restaurant before the end of lunch service… to no avail.

A traditional lunch consists of an entrée (starter), plat (main), and dessert, paired with wine and followed by an espresso (sans milk). The lunchtime formule, or set menu with a plat du jour (dish of the day), is often a real bargain. If you want to skip the courses and just order a main (à la carte), that’s not a problem. Fresh bread is a mainstay (and free), though butter is usually only served as an accompaniment at gourmet restaurants.

A few words on etiquette: When you first arrive, greet staff with a Bonjour (Bonsoir in the evening). Order une carafe d’eau to have a jug of tap water delivered to your table free of charge. Servers won’t automatically bring you the check — technically you could while away the afternoon at your table — so be sure to ask for l’addition, s’il vous plaît (the check, please) when you’re ready to go.

What about tipping? Service is included in the bill, so the tipping culture isn’t ingrained like it is in the United States — some French diners don’t tip at all or leave a few coins on the table as a pourboire (tip, literally “to drink”). That being said, 5-10% is proper to acknowledge excellent service. Carry some euros since most credit card machines don’t allow you to select a tip amount. Oh and doggy bags are no longer considered taboo — so go ahead and ask to bag up your leftovers.

Goûter

The French don’t do snacks. The “emergency food” I’d carry in my handbag for my kids when they were toddlers? Not really a thing. The exception, of course, is the cherished custom of the goûter, or afternoon snack, served promptly at 4/4:30 p.m. to coincide with school pick-up. At her home, my kids’ mamie spoils them with a hunk of baguette topped with butter (do you see a pattern?) and a square of chocolate. You’ll also see lines forming outside of bakeries at this time of day for brioche and pain au chocolat.  

Apéritif

More than mere “happy hour,” the apéritif, or apéro, is a much-loved social ritual. The word is derived from the Latin “aperire,” meaning “to open,” and serves to whet the appetite before dinner. Classic drinks like kir (blackcurrant liqueur and white wine), Picon bière (beer mixed with orange-accented bitters), and Ricard pastis (in the south of France) are served with snacks such as olives, nuts, and slices of saucisson. Apéro hour at friends’ homes sometimes go late, morphing into an apéro-dinatoire, or a full meal.

Dinner

Restaurant opening hours for dinner are generally 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., and 8 p.m. is the most popular dining hour. A classic French meal follows a similar line-up to lunch, though ordering style is often dictated by the type of establishment: from a casual Paris bouillon (inexpensive classic fare) to a neighborhood neo-bistro (sometimes sharing plates) to a Michelin-starred destination restaurant serving a multi-course blowout.

A word on cheese: If your restaurant offers a cheese platter or trolley, don’t miss the chance to partake in France’s famous fromage. The country produces an estimated 1,500 types of cheese — at my wedding, the tontons subjected me to a cheese tasting test to prove my Frenchness — and trying them is a treat.

Last but not least: Cap off your meal with a digestif, a strong alcoholic drink like eau de vie, to help with digestion. Bon appétit!