Burgers, tacos, kebabs, donuts – the gourmet country of France is increasingly relying on fast food. The consequences are not just culinary. But resistance is forming.
Feb 3, 2026, 10:13 p.mFeb 3, 2026, 10:13 p.m
Stefan Brändle, Paris / ch media
Which country holds the record for McDonald’s locations in Europe? No, not England, not even Germany, but France, which is so proud of its art of living. 1589 “McDo’s”, as they are called in good French, now sell their standard menus from the Champs-Elysées in Paris to small villages in the countryside.
Popular in France: McDonald’s instead of a bistro.image: getty
Tessancourt-sur-Aubette, for example, only has 970 inhabitants – but there has also been a yellow “M” there since 2024. There is no longer a brasserie or other traditional restaurant in this small town not far from Normandy, apart from a “pizza kiosk”.
McDo is just one of many chains expanding in France. Anti-Americanism in the Grande Nation was once upon a time – culinary speaking. The “Malbouffe” (lousy frass) French style is becoming more and more widespread – with chains like Big Fernand, Speed Burger, King Marcel, Burger Addict, Tasty Crousty and Chicken Street. The series could be continued as desired. Influencers and basketball stars like Victor Wembanyama are also starting their own chain today.
The number of fast food outlets in France has increased by 4,700 since 2021; today there are 51,600. The number of conventional restaurants, on the other hand, has shrunk by 3,100 to 69,500, according to the latest figures from the Urssaf employment insurance company. In 62 percent of all French communities today there is neither a bistro nor a boulangerie, but there is at least one stand-up restaurant for fast food.
The phenomenon is particularly pronounced in the suburbs of large cities, but also in the centers of small provincial towns. The Paris banlieue town of Argenteuil holds the record: 77 percent of all catering establishments in the community can be classified under the junk food category.
Greetings from the USA
The restaurants are trying to adapt to the trend: Hardly any menu in France can do without a burger, and no bakery without a sandwich or poké bowl offering. In the upscale Paris suburb of Montrouge, the long-established brasserie “Le Rouge Gorge” (Red Throat) has changed its name to “Poulet Braisé” (braised chicken); To do this, she drilled a takeaway counter into the wall. The menu for 10 euros is cheap and rich – especially in sugar, salt, fat and oil. But that doesn’t bother the young people in the queue. They lick their fingers at all the fried menus and the large selection of sauces.
“Crispy Deal” in the gourmet country of France. image: getty
Doctors in the country have noticed a rapid increase in obesity in France – almost a fifth of adults are now overweight. Greetings from the USA. “The calorie bombs of Malbouffe increase diabetes and heart disease,” says nutritionist Claire Dubois. «Wine or cheese are also high in calories, but the menu used to be much more balanced than today’s malbouffe. Obesity was therefore not previously a problem for France.”
The Malbouffe is accompanied by a general loss of food culture. Hardly anyone in France takes the sacrosanct lunch break from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. anymore. When pressed for time, young workers can have their sandwich delivered to work cheaply if they don’t get the burger in their car at the drive-thru.
This no longer has anything to do with hearty bistro culture or exquisite haute cuisine. National pride suffers accordingly when the first branch of the largest US confectionery chain, Dunkin’ Donuts, opens at the foot of the typically Parisian Montmartre hill. That’s what will happen in mid-2025. Or when young people know what an Indian naan flatbread is, but no longer know what a caramelized tarte tatin made from Boskoop apples tastes like.
But France is slowly reflecting on its talents and remembering its maxim: “I cook, therefore I am.” Cooking courses are offered in schools that show how it can be done without excess sugar, salt and oil. The French government is considering banning fast food advertising on TV. The gastronomic city of Lyon supports the rustic Lyonnais pubs, the Bouchons, and organizes a festival “A table!” with healthy, sustainable and local edibles. Innkeepers work with nearby farms and organize visits to the vegetable gardens, vines or stables for guests. Once a year, the President chooses the best baguette in the Elysée Palace.
Adieu Boulangerie: A pizza and bread machine in a village in the Normandy department of Seine-Maritime.image: imago
But the development is difficult to stop. When the southern French farmer leader José Bové declared war on Malbouffe and demolished a McDonald’s restaurant for the first time in 1999, there were 700 snack bars of this brand in France. Today they are more than twice as numerous.