Traditional Lyonnais restaurants are known as bouchons and their menus tend to include a lot of meat dishes, particularly pork, and other rich offerings. They are usually modest restaurants, often family run.

You'll find many restaurants that call themselves bouchons, though not all meet the criteria of the Association for the Preservation of Lyonnais Bouchons. Whether they're authentic or not, the many small bouchons/bistros of Lyon offer a lot of dining choice.

Menus often include salade lyonnaise, a salad made with frisée or other greens, topped with a poached egg and lardons, or bacon; quenelles, poached fish dumplings served with a sauce; boudin, or blood sausage; and most originally, cervelle de canut, which translates as "silk worker's brains," but is actually a cheese dish made with fromage blanc and herbs. Many desserts include Lyon praline rose, almonds coated in red sugar.

You'll find many restaurants clustered around the narrow streets of Vieux Lyon, particularly the streets leading away from the Cathédral de St-Jean (map); simply stroll along and read the menus until you find one that appeals. In season, you can sit outside and enjoy the passing scene.

Another good restaurant cluster is around the Place du Change, facing the Église Réformée (or Temple du Change, a historic Protestant church).

There are many restaurants in the general area of the Place Bellecour, on the Presqu'île. In particular, look for the Rue des Marronniers (map), a small street that seems to be nothing but restaurants, both traditional bouchons and other types.

The shopping street Rue de la République also offers many eating options.

For the chance to admire (and buy) beautiful French produce, pastries, and all kinds of foods, visit the Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse, at 102 Cours Lafayette. In addition to selling food, the Halles is home to about a dozen restaurants, offering everything from gourmet meals to beer and pizza. There is also a wide selection of prepared foods. And it's a wonderful place to just wander and appreciate the quality and diversity of food in France.

A bit out of the center, near the Gare de Lyon-Perrache, is the famous Brasserie Georges, founded in 1836 (map). Lyon's oldest and largest brasserie, it is a bustling restaurant with a traditional menu and a hurdy-gurdy that helps celebrates birthdays.

If you want fine dining and an unforgettable experience, you may want to consider going to L'Auberge du Pont du Collanges-Paul Bocuse, a Michelin two-star restaurant. Although Paul Bocuse died in 2018, the restaurant has continued to offer fine dining. Be prepared: menus run from 225 to 370 euros (plus wine). L'Auberge is located in Collonges au Mont d'Or, about 8 kilometers (5 miles) north of Lyon (map).

Fortunately, the Paul Bocuse Group also operates several less expensive bistros in Lyon and the area. Le Nord features traditional cuisine, while Le Sud offers the "cuisine of the sun," or Provence and the Mediterranean.

L'Est is the "cuisine des voyages," with some Asian inspiration, and L'Ouest offers the "cuisine des iles." These bistros—and a few others operated by the Bocuse Group—all offer excellent food at reasonable prices.

Lyon has established its reputation for fine food in part due to its location, with the wine area of Burgundy to the north, along with Charolais cattle, said to produce the best beef; the Rhône Valley also produces wines and fruits and other crops, so Lyon is well supplied.

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