Bistros in touristic places in Paris are definitively expensive and are not used by low pay worker for their daily meal. They obviously target tourists and adju

Bistros in touristic places in Paris are definitively expensive and are not used by low pay worker for their daily meal. They obviously target tourists and adjust their prices accordingly. I live in the very touristic neighborhood of Montmartre and the bistros here are about as expensive as the nice restaurants we have in the quartier. If you go in the suburbs or less exposed locations you can find something closer to the bistro culture described in TFA, with meals for about ~12 euros not being rare. I agree with you though, in my generation when we want to eat "fast and cheap" we don't think of bistros, instead we go to fast foods like McDonald's and kebab places or Asian restaurants which are usually pretty cheap. The problem with bistros is that they are somewhat in between: not cheap enough to compete with fast food outlets and (usually) not fancy enough to compete with actual restaurants.