# Why isn’t French food more popular? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [October 12, 2025, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904 "2025-10-12T22:22:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904/81 "2025-10-16T21:18:27Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > That is quite an extensive menu for a small restaurant. 30 appetizers / soups / salads, and 47 entrees! Which to me is a little bit of a red flag. I’ve always followed the rule of thumb that a really long menu is a sign that the quality might be mediocre. Better to do a few thing really well than lots of things so-so. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904/82 "2025-10-16T21:41:46Z")
Agreed. And quite a number of the entrees are exotics. Suggesting they’d be rarely ordered. Suggesting in turn that, e.g., that case of elk steaks has been in the freezer for many months and one is hastily thawed on the rare occasions the elk steak dish is ordered. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904/83 "2025-10-16T22:07:25Z")
As George Costanza observed of greasy-spoon diners that have lobster on the menu: “You think they bring in a lobster every morning and say ‘Maybe today’s the day!’?” ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2025, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904/84 "2025-10-17T16:34:28Z")
I mean, putting a playing card size item on a large 12-inch plate and calling that an entree seems a bit like insulting diner ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2025, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904/85 "2025-10-17T16:47:29Z")
Aren’t those “playing card size items on a large 12-inch plate” only one of many courses in a multi-course meal? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2025, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904/86 "2025-10-17T16:57:28Z")
It’s already weird enough to call the main course the “entrée.” > **[Why Americans Say Entrée for Main Course - Chef Apprentice School of the Arts](https://www.casaschools.com/blog/why-americans-say-entree-for-main-course/)** > > Americans get made fun of a fair bit for using the word entrée. In the UK, Australia and New Zealand, the word entrée refers to a starter course or courses, coming after the appetizers but before the… ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2025, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904/87 "2025-10-18T21:57:09Z")
The times might be a-changing. > **[French food finds its cool again](https://www.salon.com/2025/10/18/french-food-finds-its-cool-again/)** > > Gen Z is saying oui to butter and béarnaise — and making French food feel easy, intimate and fun The article is mostly about home cooking, but also says more casual style French restaurants are making a comeback. > Bistro culture is also having a social resurgence. Long, chatty meals over wine and pâté fit perfectly into a post-pandemic craving for connection, especially among Gen-Z. The new French spots aren’t stuffy temples of gastronomy where you’re scared to tap the fork too hard on your plate — they’re loud, martini-soaked rooms full of French 75s and friends arguing over the last fry. Why the need for a comeback? > Ruhlman has seen this all before. “It was the cuisine of America in the ‘60s,” he says, “and it was considered very high-end and chic. Then it became too stuffy and sort of fell out of favor.” ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2025, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904/88 "2025-10-19T15:32:59Z")
I’ve always wanted to try _authentic_ Crêpes Suzette. None of the fancy French restaurants in my city open for breakfast. I’ve had them at a nice hotel. We were there for a business conference. I don’t know if my crepes were actually cooked by a French chef. It was probably some long-haired, sweaty, and tattooed biker. Monsieur, here are your crepes. Bon Appétit 😀 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2025, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904/89 "2025-10-19T17:38:01Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’ve always wanted to try _authentic_ Crêpes Suzette. > > None of the fancy French restaurants in my city open for breakfast. I think of that as a dessert, not a breakfast food. > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > French feel the need to use animal proteins that are not easily sourced in the US and are actually repulsive to some Americans (ie rabbit, snails, frog legs, entrails, and foie gras.) I find the tiny number of “acceptable animal proteins” in the US somewhat frustrating. I’ve eaten all those items, and only fous gras really stands out as excellent. But there are a lot of edible birds other than chicken and turkey, and a lot of edible mammals other than beef and pork. Fish is the only place where you might find some variety. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2025, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904/90 "2025-10-19T17:52:54Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I find the tiny number of “acceptable animal proteins” in the US somewhat frustrating. I’ve eaten all those items, and only fous gras really stands out as excellent. But there are a lot of edible birds other than chicken and turkey, and a lot of edible mammals other than beef and pork. Fish is the only place where you might find some variety. Rabbit and lamb (and duck and goose, for that matter) were apparently more common here in the past, but I suspect that they are harder to farm in large quantities, and meat production has really shifted to enormous factory farms in the last 40-50 years. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2025, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904/91 "2025-10-19T22:16:26Z")
I have had a meal in France with more courses than I could count; at some point it is absurd to just pile each plate up. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2025, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904/92 "2025-10-19T22:27:16Z")
Horse, guinea fowl, and steak tartare are a few things I have been served at people’s houses in France, as well as everything on @Elmer_J.Fudd 's “repulsive” list. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904/93 "2025-10-20T02:43:06Z")
Horse? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904/94 "2025-10-20T02:59:28Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I think of that as a dessert, not a breakfast food. Same here. Crepes suzette is more a dessert than a breakfast food. I recall _Trading Places_, where Winthorpe (Dan Aykroyd) is hosting his fiancée at dinner in his house. They’ve finished the main meal, and now Coleman, the butler/chef, is preparing dessert tableside: crepes suzette. A lot more preparation than pancakes (flambé-ing and various amounts of different boozes are involved), and likely tastier too. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904/95 "2025-10-20T03:15:02Z")
Yes, my husband and i had it at some fancy French place, and it was very good, but what really makes it great is that it’s so much fun watching the chef flambe or at your table. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904/96 "2025-10-20T03:18:28Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Crepes suzette is more a dessert than a breakfast food. I’ve made it for dinner parties. It’s actually pretty easy, because you can make the crepes ahead and finish the dish off with the flambé-ing in view of the guests. As is pointed out by @Spoons, it’s way too boozy for breakfast. Most of the time. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904/97 "2025-10-20T04:40:54Z")
I forgot crepes has booze. I mixed them up with fancy pancakes. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904/98 "2025-10-20T04:42:24Z")
Crepes by default and in other incarnations don’t have booze. But Crepes Suzette does. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904/99 "2025-10-20T07:09:38Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Horse? Yes, a faux-filet from the supermarket. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904/100 "2025-10-20T08:53:18Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Rabbit and lamb (and duck and goose, for that matter) were apparently more common here in the past, but I suspect that they are harder to farm in large quantities, and meat production has really shifted to enormous factory farms in the last 40-50 years. I still don’t understand the lack of lamb in the US - it’s as common as pork and beef in the UK. Sheep can be farmed in inhospitable places, and have the added benefit of providing wool and milk for cheese. Really an all round great animal to farm. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isn-t-french-food-more-popular/1023904.md?page=6)