Talk:Restaurant

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[edit] Famous restaurants

I think it would be almost impossible to create such a list while maintaining NPOV. Famous in whose opinion? Michelin's? Zagat's? I move to delete this section, which as it is, only has 2 entries. In fact, I'm gonna be bold and just do it, feel free to revert if you feel that this has been done in error Clemenjo 04:22, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Michelin food guide

Michelin links to a tire company here. has some more background on the Michelin food guide.

[edit] Restaurant workers

can we have a discussion on the people who work at a restaurant? for instance what is a sky cap??

[edit] Restaurant history

I think we should add some information of the history of restaurants from this site (based on the book "Drink: A Social History of America" by Andrew Barr) with the development of the restaurant in America from the colonial era where people were served cafeteria/buffet-style until hotels began serving food in courses and increased variety in menus.

The French revolution-era genesis is a lie. Pubs, taverns, and inns have served food since several centuries B.C., e.g. Greek caupona.

I've amended the reference to Ma Yu Chin's Bucket Chicken House (which I thought had to be a joke at first btw!) to say that it's claim to priority is not universally accepted. There is apparently no documentation of their claim to be found.

-- The restaurant genesis, as you call it, is not a lie. Restaurants, as we know them, have existed for millenia, but the term restaurant was first used to refer to an establishment in 1765. Also, the description in the history section is wrong. The restaurant was a restorative bouillon, so it was thin, lightly seasoned, and served as a digestive aid. The restaurant establishment was medical in nature, and less about the food. 131.247.152.4 19:07, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Expansion request: Trattoria

 Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (January 2007)

"Trattoria" was a requested article, but now redirects here. This type of restaurant should be explained here, if this is to be kept.

[edit] External links

I'd removed almost all external links except those few with general information on restaurants. I do not think this article should serve as web directory or promotional tool.

[edit] Reversion of edit

At the start of the History section the sentence used to say "In China, food catering establishments..." somene removed China (presumably as redundant since Hangzhou is mentioned a few words later). I removed "In,". Mikkalai reverted my edit. I'm not sure how "In, food catering establishments which may be described as restaurants were known since 13th Century in Hangzhou" makes any sense. Was this a mistaken reversion? Is there an objection to simply having "Food catering establishments..." -- Siobhan Hansa 13:56, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

In the earlier versions of this sentence the text was somehing like "first food catering...", therefore I added the words "in China", since "first" is too strong. Now I see there is no word "first", only time, so I agree "China" may be removed. Sorry, I reverted without looking carefully. `'mikka 16:34, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Australian pubs

A recent editor made this unreferenced claim The pubs of regional Australia are playing an increasingly important role as places to dine out as part of an edit that (looking at the editors contribution history, seemed to be mainly focused on a guide to dining in Australian pubs. I was wondering if other editors with a better knowledge of the Australian restaurant sector could confirm this, and if so, whether there was a reference we could quote. Thanks -- Siobhan Hansa 22:31, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Merge proposal

Hajhouse (Talk | Contribs) has suggested that the article Types of restaurants be merged into his article. Please discuss here.

comment I think the current Types of restaurant article is too long to be merged into this one. But it's also fairly low quality with no sourcing and a lot of filler in the writing. So it might be possible to merge in just the good stuff and have a reasonable article. -- SiobhanHansa 13:40, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
Yes, it is unsourced but it is a reasonable article to have. So leave it be. Vegaswikian (talk) 20:11, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Proposed new 'Types of Restauants' Section.

This is just the very beginningest of ideas, with the idea being that rather than define every different type of restaurant, we might instead describe the different axis of restaurant service. This came to mind yesterday when I was reading 'Heat' by Bill Buford, and it mentioned the 3-star review of Babbo that the New York Times gave it, specifically because the food was wonderful and the service was good, but the music was loud rock and roll; so, expensive, sit-down, casual dress code, informal table setting. On the current 'types', we don't provide for that, it's not Fine dining, but it's Mario Batali's restaurant, and certainly not a casual eatery. So I patched together this idea of instead discussing the different ways of classifying restaurants. It needs a lot of work, and may well be a blind alley, but I thought I'd present it. --Thespian 12:19, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

This seems awfully complex and, just as the categories themselves, very subjective and in almost all cases varies considerably across cultures. I don't see how you could reference these in any meaningful way. I'd suggest it's better to provide an overview albeit a brief one.Awotter 20:48, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Restaurants are divided into types along a number of parameters, though except in unusual cases, a restaurant will only possess one distinction in each type of service. Terminology can be complex, as some terms are used in several different contexts (family-style, for example, can be a type of service or a method of presentation; formal can refer to the service or to the dress code, though they often ).

[edit] Cost of service

Restaurants can range from very low cost to quite expensive. Terms to describe this can be, 'low-cost', 'mid-range', and 'expensive', though other indicators can be used. Additionally, terms such as 'mid-range' will often be relative to the area, and will require knowledge of what constitutes the extremes of the area's prices.

[edit] Types of service

Service in restaurants can range from self service to elaborate table side service. The most basic services are fast food, deli counter-style, and cafeteria. In these styles, customers are required to approach the food preparation areas, request food, and subsequently seat themselves (if seating is provided).

Less basic services are provided at buffets, where a customer is usually seated at a table, and provided some services by a waiter, such as beverages being brought to the table. Another low-service food is called family-style, where customers are sat together (sometimes in groups with strangers). Food is brought to the table by a server on shared plates. Similar are cart-style service, where servers wheel carts around the seating area and the customer chooses as at a buffet (Chinese dim sum frequently uses this service method).

More elaborate, but more common are sit-down restaurants, with each customer selecting an item from a menu for delivery to the table by service staff. Sit-down service can range from casual to quite formal. Buffets and cart-style restaurants often provide two types of service; buffet style for brunch or lunch, and sit-down during dinner hours.

[edit] Dress code

The dress code of a restaurant often correlates to the cost of service, however, it is not uncommon to find mid-range cost restaurants that require a jacket, or have a 'no jeans' rule, or to find expensive restaurants that allow less formal attire. In North America, dress codes are short, and typically expressed as such:

  • No dress code (customers have no restrictions)
  • No jeans
  • Jacket required
  • Casual (tidy appearance but often no restrictions)
  • Business casual (office wear)
  • Semi-formal (suits, jackets, dresses)
  • Formal

[edit] Table settings

Additionally, in sit-down restaurants, the environment can be created by the use of formal or informal table settings.

[edit] Ethnicity of food

Restaurants also divide themselves along the region of the world where their food comes from, such as being a French restaurant or a Chinese restaurant. Restaurants can blend styles, or express refinements of the food in this fashion (for example, a restaurant might be 'Italian', meaning traditional Italian foods, or 'Italian-American', meaning Italian foods as interpreted in the United States for the past few decades).

Sorry ThespianI find this to be a little vague. Do you have a text that you are taking this information from? We need to get some information into the article that is properly sourced, not original research. I might have a couple hours tonight to come on and help out with th article.--Chef Christopher Allen Tanner, CCC (talk) 17:07, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Article summary

The lead sentence A restaurant is a retail establishment that serves prepared food to customers. [1] just doesn't seem right to me. That definition could include some qiki-marts where the clerk pumps the "cheese" onto your nachos and almost all pubs and bars which are different, and doesn't include non-retail (in the traditional sense of the word) establishments like club restaurants (private, invitation only or in some way restricted i.e. US Military Officer's clubs and the US Senate restaurant).

I'd like to suggest an opening sentence something along the lines of:

A restaurant is an establishment that generally prepares and serves food to order, which is eaten on the premises, though the term has been used to describe establishments that also provide take-out, food delivery services and non-institutional cafeterias or buffets... Awotter 21:33, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

What do you call a take out restaurant? Your change would eliminate them. Also the 'to order' is interesting for fast food where everything is frequently pre made and slapped together for you. Not really 'cooked to order'. So Fatburger would be a restaurant and McD's would not be. Vegaswikian (talk) 20:16, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Oldest Restaurant

"According to the Guinness Book of Records, the Sobrino de Botin in Madrid, Spain is the oldest restaurant in existence today. It opened in 1725."

However, the Griechenbeisl of Vienna, Austria, was established in 1447. (70.156.58.29 (talk) 02:46, 21 March 2008 (UTC))