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Definition: Bistrot (bistro)
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The word bistrot, whose origin is unclear according to Robert Giraud, grand master of Parisian bistrots (with a t), dates back to the arrival of the Cossacks in the Paris region during the war of 1814 – Napoleon abdicated on 6 April 1814 and went into exile on the island of Elba . The troops, who were absolutely forbidden from frequenting any tavern, evaded surveillance and rushed there at every opportunity, shouting "bistro, bistro!", which apparently means "quick, quick!" After consuming what was served to them, they disappeared as quickly as they had come.
It is said that it was during this period that Parisians, eager for novelty, began to refer to cafés as bistros.
But then why the "t at the end of the o in bistro"?
Giraud believes that this addition "simply comes from a series of alliterations and distortions of mastroquet. In louchebem (the language used by butchers), mastroquet becomes listroquet. The word was picked up by slang, which in turn mixed it up and reshaped it to become listroquet, listroque, troquet, bistroquet and finally the shortened bistrot with a t, because we mustn't forget that when talking about the owner, we say that he or she is a bistrotier or a bistrote. Our photo shows the bistro Le Royal in Brussels. The term is now used all over the world.