Purchasing power: in restaurants, “anti-crisis menus” to reshuffle the cards

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In an effort to attract customers with increasingly limited purchasing power, restaurateurs from Gironde to Paris are starting to offer menus at bargain prices. Customers are turning up, even if the concept isn't necessarily unanimously accepted within the industry.

On Tuesday lunchtimes, the Poilvés serve up to 60 guests in their restaurant in Budos (Gironde), three times more than a normal lunchtime service. (Rodolphe Escher/Libération)

Over their kir, Josy and Jeanne are regulars. The two retirees, 78 and 85, were born in Budos. Jeanne ran the bakery in this village surrounded by vineyards in the south of Gironde. It has since closed. There are no more shops, apart from a small grocery store and this restaurant with blue shutters, L'O & Vin, a stone's throw from the church. The two neighbors have lunch there together at least once a month. Only on Tuesday lunchtimes. On that day, they serve a competitively priced menu: €8.90 starter, main course, and dessert . This Tuesday, it's a platter of charcuterie, grilled pork chop, and panna cotta. The menu is unique, the choice is imposed, but for the price, the two neighbors aren't fussy. And besides, they like just about everything— "apart from offal," Josy grimaces. "Before, we came less often; the prices didn't allow it," says the coquettish septuagenarian, her nails manicured and earrings matching her eyeshadow. The woman who scrutinizes menus and bills rarely spends more than 20 euros.