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France

Steakhouses in Paris

In Paris, steak is above all a bistro dish: steak frites, entrecôte with a house sauce, steak au poivre and côte de bœuf for two, cut mostly from French grass-fed beef and increasingly served dry-aged by butcher-led restaurants.

Paris
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Steak frites is the reference plate of the Parisian bistro and brasserie. Roland Barthes treated it as a sign of "Frenchness" in his essay on steak and chips in Mythologies (1957), although Belgium also claims the dish. The common cuts are onglet (hanger), entrecôte (rib-eye), faux-filet or contre-filet (sirloin), filet (tenderloin) and the côte de bœuf, a bone-in rib shared by two or more. Diners usually order saignant (rare) or à point (medium-rare).

In 1959 Paul Gineste de Saurs opened Le Relais de Venise at Porte Maillot with a single menu: salad, sliced contre-filet with a butter-based secret sauce, and fries. His daughters later ran the Porte Maillot house and the Relais de l'Entrecôte group, and the one-menu formula is still served at both. Steak au poivre is the other bistro classic, with Bistrot Paul Bert (1997) and La Bourse et la Vie among the addresses most cited for it.

Most beef sold in France is grass-fed and comes from French breeds; around 2016 the Charolaise made up about 37% of the country's suckler cows, the Limousine 26% and the Blonde d'Aquitaine 12%, with Aubrac and Salers among the regional breeds. In recent decades butchers have shaped the city's steak: butcher-restaurants such as Le Severo, Les Provinces, Bidoche and The Butcher of Paris, and suppliers such as Hugo Desnoyer, Alexandre Polmard and Metzger. Dry aging (maturation) of several weeks is now common on menus.

Fire cooking arrived with Argentine and South American grills (Unico, Anahi, Biondi, Paris – Buenos Aires) and with ember-grill restaurants such as Clover Grill. Anahi and Clover Grill appeared in the World's 101 Best Steak Restaurants list in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

Listed by name, never by payment or score. Facts last verified: 20 Oct 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What is steak frites?

A pan-fried or grilled steak, usually entrecôte, faux-filet or onglet, served with French fries and often a sauce such as pepper (au poivre), béarnaise or shallot. It is the standard steak dish of Parisian bistros and brasseries.

What is the sauce at L'Entrecôte?

A butter-based sauce kept secret by the Gineste de Saurs family's restaurants since 1959. Published descriptions mention butter, mustard and herbs; the family has disputed the recipes printed in the press.

Where does the beef in Paris steakhouses come from?

Mostly from France: grass-fed beef from breeds such as Charolaise, Limousine, Blonde d'Aquitaine, Aubrac and Salers, often through named butchers. Argentine grills import beef from Argentina, and some restaurants serve Galician (Spain), Baltic, Irish, American or Australian beef.

How do Parisians order their steak?

Usually saignant (rare, about 50 °C / 122 °F at the centre) or à point (medium-rare, about 55 °C / 131 °F). Bleu is seared outside and almost raw inside; bien cuit is well done.

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