Historically, restaurant referred only to places that provided tables where one ate while seated, typically served by a waiter. Following the rise of fast food and take-out restaurants, a retronym for the older “standard” restaurant was created, sit-down restaurant.
Eatery could mean any establishment that serves food. So you could refer to a ‘cheap eatery’, ‘pavement eatery’ or a ‘hole in the wall eatery’. Show activity on this post. In Puerto Rico they are called kiosks.
Food is served on trays around bars, from which customers with plates serve themselves. The selection can be modest or very extensive, with the more elaborate menus divided into categories such as salad, soup, appetizers, hot entrées, cold entrées, and dessert and fruit.
In Sweden, restaurants of many kinds are called “restauranger”, but restaurants attached to bars or cafes are sometimes called “kök”, literally “kitchens”, and sometimes a bar-restaurant combination is called a “krog”, in English a “tavern”.
What is a snack bar?
a place where light meals or snacks can be obtained, often with a self-service system. Wikipedia: an inexpensive food counter… [or sometimes] a small cafĂ© or cafeteria. Various small, casual dining establishments might be referred to as a “snack bar” …
In the UK (and apparently in the USA according to Wikipedia) we often use the term ‘greasy spoon cafe’ (or just ‘greasy spoon’) to refer to a small, grubby, generic eaterie of the not-salubrious kind. The name “greasy spoon” is a reference to the typically high-fat, high-calorie menu items such as eggs and bacon.
What is a fast food restaurant called?
Drive-through and take-out service may also be available. Fast food restaurants are known in the restaurant industry as QSRs or quick-service restaurants.
In Sweden, restaurants of many kinds are called “restauranger”, but restaurants attached to bars or cafes are sometimes called “kök”, literally “kitchens”, and sometimes a bar-restaurant combination is called a “krog”, in English a “tavern”.
Family style restaurants are a type of casual dining restaurants where food is often served on platters and the diners serve themselves. It can also be used to describe family-friendly diners or casual restaurants.
Casual dining comprises a market segment between fast food establishments and fine dining restaurants. Casual dining restaurants often have a full bar with separate bar staff, a full beer menu and a limited wine menu. They are frequently, but not necessarily, part of a wider chain, particularly in the US.
Most commonly, “sit-down restaurant” refers to a casual- dining restaurant with table service, rather than a fast food restaurant or a diner, where one orders food at a counter. Sit-down restaurants are often further categorized, in North America, as “family-style” or ” formal “.
Premium casual restaurants originate from Western Canada and include chains such as Cactus Club Cafe (Vancouver), Earl’s (Alberta), Moxie’s (Alberta) and JOEY (Vancouver). Premium casual restaurants are described as upscale casual. Similar to casual dining, they typically feature a dining room section and a lounge section with multiple televisions, and often feature a focus on drinks and “globally inspired” food. They are typically found in shopping districts and city centres. The concept is popular in Canada and brands Earls, JOEY, and Moxie’s have started expanding into the United States and the dining concept is becoming more widespread in the UK, with chains such as CafĂ© Rouge, Wildwood Kitchen, and others.
A brasserie in the United States has evolved from the original French idea of a type of restaurant serving moderately priced hearty meals—French-inspired “comfort foods”— in an unpretentious setting. In the United States, bistros usually have more refined decor, fewer tables, finer foods and higher prices. When used in English, the term bistro usually indicates a continental menu.