Le Bistro Autrement: "Near Villa Lumière" Top 5 Page for this destination Lyon Restaurant Tip by Nemorino

As the name implies, this is sort of an alternative bistro (autrement means other or otherwise) which is quite informal and unpretentious. I sat at one of the seven or so little tables on the sidewalk, but they also have dozens of tables on the square across the street. The interior is decorated with old film posters and such, because the Lumière Villa and Museum is just half a block away.

This time I decided that I was going to try a regional specialty of Lyon and, believe it or not, that I was going to remember what I ate so I could write a proper restaurant tip for a change.

Well, I didn’t exactly remember, but I wrote it down. What I ate was an “Andouillette lyonnaise sauce moutarde à l’ancienne”, which is a sort of boiled sausage made of pork innards and served with a mustard sauce. It had a chalky texture and was rather bland, not as sharp or distinctive as I had expected, but it tasted quite pleasant and down-to-earth, just the sort of thing you would expect from a regional “resto” (restaurant).

My meal at Le Bistro Autrement was on a Sunday afternoon (Easter Sunday, in fact) and there were numerous customers especially at the many tables across the street on the square, served by a dozen or so enthusiastic young waiters and waitresses who had to keep dashing across the street carrying big salads and such. Fortunately there wasn’t much traffic on a Sunday, but enough that they had to pay attention.

Since I was very satisfied with Le Bistro Autrement, I was surprised to find later that the comments in French on the local websites were predominantly negative. People complained about the service and the food, about the alleged rudeness of the staff, about the tables being too close together and especially –- oh horrors -– about the fact that they don’t accept bank cards or credit cards, which for France is highly unusual, I must admit.

But a few others objected to these negative comments and suggested that the complainers would be better off going to “McDo” –- as the French now say since they have developed the habit of leaving off the last one or two syllables of commonly used words. (Especially the “ados” do this, the kind of folks we used to call adolescents.)

Second photo: Villa Lumière from Place Ambroise Courtois, across from Le Bistro Autrement.

Third photo: Inline skaters at Le Bistro Autrement.

Address: 12, Place Ambroise Courtois , 69008 Lyon
Comparison: less expensive than average
Directions: Vélo'v 8002 - Place Ambroise Courtois
Métro D Monplaisir-Lumière
GPS 45°44'40.02" North; 4°52'13.91" East
Phone: 04 78 01 00 11
Price: US$31-40
Rating: 3
Theme: Local
Website: http://www.lyonresto.com/restaurant-Lyon/restaurant-Le-Bistro-Autrement-Lyon/restaurant-Le-Bistro-Autrement-Lyon-1424.html