How Bistro got it’s name?

“Bystro! Bystro!” That’s Russian for “Quick! Quick!” and according to a popular legend about the origins of the name bistro, it was the cry raised by Russian soldiers during the occupation of Paris in 1815 when they wanted food and drink from locals. A more credible etymology traces the name to bistrouille, a northern French term for a mixture of coffee and eau-de-vie—just the sort of thing one might have ordered in a bistro in the 19th century, when this type of small, neighborhood restaurant became a fixture in Paris.

Haru Mehra