Information about Casual Dining

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There are various types of restaurants. Restaurants can be classified by whether they provide places to sit, whether they are served by wait-staff and the quality of the service, the formality of the atmosphere, and the price range.

Historically, restaurant referred only to places which provide tables where one sits down to eat the meal, typically served by wait-staff. Following the rise of fast food and take-out restaurants, a retronym for the older "standard" restaurant was created, sit-down restaurant. Most commonly, "sit-down restaurant" refers to a casual dining restaurant with table service rather than a fast-food restaurant where one orders food at a counter. Sit-down restaurants are often further categorized as "family-style" or "formal".

In British English, the term restaurant almost always means an eating establishment with table service, so the "sit-down" qualification is not usually necessary. Fast food and takeaway (takeout) outlets with counter service are not normally referred to as restaurants.

Fast-food restaurants

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Main article: Fast-food restaurant

Fast-food restaurants emphasize speed of service and low cost over all other considerations. A common feature of newer fast-food restaurants that distinguishes them from traditional cafeteria is a lack of cutlery or crockery; the customer is expected to eat the food directly from the disposable container it was served in using their fingers.

In the United States, fast-food restaurants have become so widespread that the traditional standard type is now sometimes referred to as a sit-down restaurant (a retronym). Despite this terminology, most fast-food restaurants offer some form of seating for diners to eat on-site, albeit in a utilitarian atmosphere.

There are various types of fast-food restaurant:

• one collects food from a counter and pays, then sits down and starts eating (as in a self-service restaurant or cafeteria); sub-varieties:
• one collects ready portions
• one serves oneself from containers
• one is served at the counter
• a special procedure is that one first pays at the cash desk, collects a ticket and then goes to the food counter, where one gets the food in exchange for the ticket
• one orders at the counter; after preparation the food is brought to one's table; paying may be on ordering or after eating.
• a drive-through is a type of fast-food restaurant without seating; diners receive their food in their cars and drive away to eat

Most fast-food restaurants offer take-out: read-to-eat hot food in disposable packaging for the customer to eat off-site.

Cafeterias

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Main article: cafeterias

A cafeteria is a restaurant serving mostly ready-cooked food arranged behind a food-serving counter. There little or no table service. Typically, a patron takes a tray and pushes it along a track in front of the counter. Depending on the establishment, servings may be ordered from attendants, selected as ready-made portions already on plates, or self-serve their own portions. In some establishments a few items, such as steaks, may be ordered specially prepared from the attendants. The patron waits for those items to be prepared or is given a number and they are brought to the table. Beverages may be filled from self-service dispensers or ordered from the attendants. At the end of the line a cashier rings up the purchases. At some self-service cafeterias, purchases are priced by weight, rather than by individual item.

The trays are taken to a table to eat. Institutional cafeterias may have common tables, but upscale cafeterias provide individual tables as in sit-down restaurants. Upscale cafeterias have traditional cutlery and crockery, and some have servers to carry the trays from the line to the patrons' tables, and/or bus the empty trays and used dishes.

A cafeteria differs from a "fast food" restaurant in that it will have a wider variety of prepared foods. For example, it may have a variety of roasts (beef, ham, turkey) ready for carving by a server, as well as other cooked entrées, rather than simply an offering of hamburgers or fried chicken.

Fast casual-dining restaurants

See List of fast casual dining restaurants.

A fast casual restaurant is similar to a fast-food restaurant in that it does not offer full table service, but promises a somewhat higher quality of food and atmosphere. Average prices charged are higher than fast-food prices and non-disposable plates and cutlery are usually offered. This category is a growing concept that fills the space between fast food and casual dining.

Counter service accompanied by handmade food (often visible via an open kitchen) is typical. Alcohol may be served. Dishes like steak, which require experience on the part of the cook to get right, may be offered. The menu is usually limited to an extended over-counter display, and options in the way the food is prepared are emphasized. Many fast casual-dining restaurants are marketed as health-conscious: healthful items may have a larger than normal portion of the menu and high-quality ingredients such as free-range chicken and freshly made salsas may be advertised. Overall, the quality of the food is presented as much higher than conventional factory-made fast food. An obvious ethnic theme may or may not be present in the menu.

The moderate volume music and nontraditional decor pioneered by Starbucks are fully embraced by fast casual restaurants—approximately half of the customers eat in the establishment, compared with a quarter of fast food customers.

Technomic Information Services has created the term fast casual restaurants to describe restaurants with the following classifications:

• Limited-service or self-service format
• Average check between $6 and $9
• Made-to-order food with more complex flavors than fast food restaurants
• Upscale or highly developed decor....

Café, pub, coffeehouse, bistro, brasserie

Most of these establishments can be considered subtypes of fast casual-dining restaurants or casual-dining restaurants.

Main article: café

Cafés and coffee shops are informal restaurants offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches. Cafés offer table service. Many cafés are open for breakfast and serve full hot breakfasts. In some areas cafés offer outdoor seating.

Main article: coffeehouse

Coffeehouses are casual restaurants without table service that emphasize coffee and other beverages; typically a limited selection of cold foods such as pastries and perhaps sandwiches are offered as well. Their distinguishing feature is that they allow patrons to relax and socialize on their premises for long periods of time without pressure to leave promptly after eating.

Main article: pub

Mainly in the UK and other countries influenced by British culture, a pub (short for public house) is a bar that serves simple food fare. Traditionally, pubs were primarily drinking establishments with food in a decidedly secondary position, whereas the modern pub business relies on food as well, to the point where gastropubs are known for their high-quality pub food. A typical pub has a large selection of beers and ales on tap.

Main article: bistro

Main article: brasserie

In France, a brasserie is a café doubling as a restaurant and serving single dishes and other meals in a relaxed setting. A bistro is a familiar name for a café serving moderately priced simple meals in an unpretentious setting, especially in Paris; bistros have become increasingly popular with tourists. When used in English, the term bistro usually indicates either a fast casual-dining restaurant with a European-influenced menu or a cafés with a larger menu of food.

Family style

"Family style", or sometimes called table d'hôte ("host's table") in France, are restaurants that have a fixed menu and fixed price, usually with diners seated at a communal table such as on bench seats. More common in the 19th and early 20th century, they can still be found in rural communities, or as theme restaurants, or in vacation lodges. There is no menu to choose from, rather food is brought out in courses, usually with communal serving dishes, like at a family meal. Typical examples can include crabhouses, German-style beer halls, BBQ restaurants, hunting lodges. Some normal restaurants will mix elements of family style, such as a table salad or bread bowl that is included as part of the meal.

A more modern execution of this is big plates of food being delivered to the table and as above everyone helps themselves to as much or as little as they want. This is common of Chinese food in North America.

In American usage, family-style restaurant is usually a synonym for a casual-dining restaurant.

Casual dining

See List of casual dining restaurant chains.

A casual dining restaurant is a restaurant that serves moderately-priced food in a casual atmosphere. Except for buffet-style restaurants, casual dining restaurants typically provide table service. Casual dining comprises a market segment between fast food establishments and fine dining restaurants (see also Fast casual restaurant). In the United States, the bill per diner at a casual dining restaurant usually averages $10 - $30 for an evening meal and slightly less for lunch, as of 2004.

Family-style restaurant is often a synonym for a casual-dining restaurant, particularly used for chains such as Denny's and IHOP that serve mild breakfast-style foods around the clock. A diner is a specific casual-dining restaurant in the United States that emphasize traditional plebian food such as hamburgers and sandwiches.

Fine dining

Fine dining is a phrase used to describe restaurants that create a serious dining experience. The experience can start with the location and the view. The interior of such restaurants is often purported to be quite elegant and designed in accordance with the restaurant's concept. Service attempts to be impeccable, with chefs and service crew typically hailing from the best culinary schools. The menu will generally include seasonal specialties and all the ingredients will be of the highest quality. The orders are individually prepared with attention to detail and presented on the plate with artistry. Fine wines are available on the extensive wine list.

Restaurants fitting the fine dining label are normally highly rated; in the four star range and will provide more nuanced service and more expensive food than a standard sit-down restaurant.

Dining car

Main article: Dining car

A dining car (British English: restaurant car) or diner (but not "diner car," except in uninformed parlance) is a railroad passenger car that serves meals on a train in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant. It is distinct from other types of railroad food-service cars that do not duplicate the full-service restaurant experience, principally cars of various types in which one purchases food from a walk-up counter to be consumed either within the car or elsewhere in the train. While dining cars are less common today than they were in the past, they still play a significant role in passenger railroading, especially on medium- and long-distance trains.

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