The French Dip Is Experiencing a Major Nationwide Renaissance

Don’t let the name fool you: Much like French fries (Belgian) or French cuffs (British), the French dip is French in name only. Los Angeles’ Philippe the Original and Cole’s Pacific Electric Buffet both lay claim to the French dip’s early 20th century invention. While Philippe’s is still going strong, Cole’s served its last French dip this summer after more than 100 years in operation.

And yet, the time couldn’t be better for lovers of this beefy sando: French dips are suddenly everywhere, from Bartlett’s in Austin, Texas, to Bavette’s Steakhouse in Las Vegas. Nationwide chain Capriotti’s just launched a Wagyu French dip, and even Panera is serving a “French Ciabatta Dipper” alongside a portion of French onion soup. It seems the nation has gone gaga for what is, at its core, a relatively simple construction: roast beef on a soft roll paired with a side of au jus for dipping.

In the world of revitalized French dips, nowhere is going quite as hard as NYC. Minetta Tavern’s horseradish-spiked French dip is paired with an oniony jus, while at Maison Pickle, beef sirloin is layered on house-baked French bread and topped with fried onions, horseradish aioli and Gruyère fondue. This summer, the Big Apple even welcomed French dip concept spot Salt Hank’s, where the $28 Pat La Frieda prime rib French dip with seven-hour caramelized onions and roasted garlic aioli is the only thing on the menu.

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For Ken Albala, American food historian and a professor of history at University of the Pacific, this renewed interest in the old-school sandwich can be pegged, in large part, to the popularity of The Bear. “People have seen some kind of beef sandwich that is very local to Chicago, and they want something like it,” he says. “A French dip is really the only thing other cities have that’s pretty comparable.”

It’s also the perfect departure point for creative plays on tradition. Chicago’s DMK Burger Bar occasionally features a French dip burger topped with Gruyère cheese, grilled portabella mushrooms and caramelized onions, served alongside mushroom au jus. At New York’s Willow, chef Guy Vaknin’s vegan version tops house-made demi baguettes with Chunk Foods plant-based steak and house-made smoked provolone, all paired with a side of veggie red wine au jus enriched with nutritional yeast. And then there are the international spins, like the Vietnamese versions at Long Beach, California’s Sesame Dinette, Orlando, Florida’s Banh Mi Boys and Chicago’s Phodega.

The vegan French dip at Willow

Seth Ezel Pellum

Chef Phillip Foss recalls the eureka moment that inspired him to create his own banh mi French dip mashup. “I was staying at my sister’s house and came home and saw a bahn mi sandwich sitting on the table and a pho broth next to it,” he says. Dipping the sandwich into the broth seemed “obvious,” he recalls, so he launched his spin as a temporary menu item at his restaurant El Ideas in Chicago last year. “I believe experiencing familiar favorites in a new way excites people,” he adds.

These creative approaches are in line with the current evolution of fusion cuisine. “Fusion was a bad word, but it’s not anymore,” Albala says. “I think, if anything, restaurants are getting more inventive, mixing things up and breaking traditions radically, now more than ever.”

Michelin-starred chef Sungchul Shim agrees. “I’ve always been drawn to dishes that carry memory, but I like to reinterpret them through the lens of my Korean background and my approach to ingredients,” he says. “I think the French dip is the perfect canvas for that kind of creativity.”

He introduced a French dip to the menu of Gui Steakhouse in New York City when lunch service began in May. The sandwich’s star is the house special prime rib, which is wet-cured in koji for 24 hours it’s being coated with a five-pepper blend and shio kombu, cooked slow and low for 10 hours and finished with hot beef tallow for a crisp exterior. The French dip is “a more approachable” way of showcasing the prime rib for the lunch crowd, according to Shim, who smothers the beef with soy-spiked caramelized onions and a yuzu- and chili-infused horseradish cream. The sandwich is served on a crusty French baguette with a side of bourbon-spiked au jus for dipping.

“The French dip has a great foundation, but when you add something unexpected or take a new approach, it becomes even more exciting,” Shim adds.

For Albala, it’s important to consider whether such departures are actually an improvement on the original. “A hamburger on a really crusty baguette doesn’t work because by the time you’ve bitten through it, you’ve squeezed all of the ingredients out,” he says. For a real French dip, he contends, “it’s gotta be crappy bread.”

But there’s a reason so many spots are ratcheting up the quality of the bread — and beef — of this once-humble sando. At $29, Gui’s French dip is a steal for the quality. And because America’s love affair with beef is bottoming out, with the average per capita beef consumption falling from 117 pounds in 1974 to 59.1 pounds in 2025, the time is right for purveyors of steak to focus on sandwiches like the French dip, Chicago beef or cheesesteak, which feature cheaper cuts and smaller portions. “Eating a big hunk of steak is just not that interesting to most people anymore,” Albala says.

But there is authentic nostalgia at the heart of some plays on the classic, as chef Bob Broskey of Chicago’s Gus’ Sip & Dip explains. “The French dip has been the focal point on our food menu since we opened,” he says. His version is made with slow-roasted Wagyu beef, whipped horseradish and Spanish pan de cristal bread that he says “eats as light as air.” Paired with “an over the top au jus,” it’s definitely a luxe approach, but one that’s grounded in the chef’s childhood memories.

“We would always do prime rib for Christmas growing up, and my dad would make French dips the day after for lunch with the leftovers,” Broskey recalls. “My favorite part is the interactive experience of the sandwich. I love not having every bite be the same.”

While he has long championed elevated approaches to comfort fare and bar food, Broskey says it’s a particularly good time to be revisiting classics like the French dip. “People are craving comfort but are also craving quality,” he says. “It’s the perfect time to dial in the classics and elevate them to new heights.”