A bouchon is a small, informal restaurant serving traditional Lyonnais food — the cooking of the working city before it became the gastronomic capital of France. The dishes are rich, pork-heavy, and unpretentious: salade lyonnaise (frisée lettuce with lardons, croutons, and a poached egg), tablier de sapeur (breaded tripe marinated in wine), andouillette (offal sausage, an acquired taste), quenelles de brochet in Nantua crayfish sauce, saucisson brioché (sausage baked inside brioche), and tarte aux pralines (flaky pastry filled with crushed pink pralines).
Look for the "Authentique Bouchon Lyonnais" certification sticker on the window — it means the restaurant has passed a review by a committee of Lyonnais chefs. The best concentration is in Vieux Lyon and around the Cordeliers area of the Presqu'île. A litre of red Beaujolais or a pot of rosé Côtes-du-Rhône is the standard accompaniment. Lunch is often the better-value option.