A restaurant is a business establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money, either paid before the meal, after the meal, or with a running tab. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearance and offerings, including a wide variety of the main chef's cuisines and service models.
Types
Restaurants may be classified or distinguished in many different ways. The primary factors are usually the food itself (e.g. vegetarian, seafood, steak); the cuisine (e.g. Italian, Chinese, Indian, French, Thai) and/or the style of offering (e.g. tapas bar, a sushi train, a tastet restaurant, a buffet restaurant or a yum cha restaurant). Beyond this, restaurants may differentiate themselves on factors including speed (see fast food), formality, location, cost, service, or novelty themes (such as automated restaurants).
Restaurants range from inexpensive and informal lunching or dining places catering to people working nearby, with simple food served in simple settings at low prices, to expensive establishments serving refined food and fine wines in a formal setting. In the former case, customers usually wear casual clothing. In the latter case, depending on culture and local traditions, customers might wear semi-casual, semi-formal or formal wear. Typically, customers sit at tables, their orders are taken by a waiter, who brings the food when it is ready. After eating, the customers then pay the bill.
For some time the travelling public has been catered for with ship's messes and railway restaurant cars which are, in effect, travelling restaurants. (Many railways, the world over, also cater for the needs of travellers by providing Railway Refreshment Rooms [a form of restaurant] at railway stations.) In recent times there has been a trend to create a number of travelling restaurants, specifically designed for tourists. These can be found on such diverse places as trams, boats, buses, etc.
History
Greece and Rome
In Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, thermopolia (singular thermopolium) were small restaurant-bars that offered food and drinks to customers. A typical thermopolium had little L-shaped counters in which large storage vessels were sunk, which would contain either hot or cold food. Their popularity was linked to the lack of kitchens in many dwellings and the ease with which people could purchase prepared foods. Furthermore, eating out was considered a very important aspect of socializing.
In Pompeii, 158 thermopolia with a service counter have been identified across the whole town area. They were concentrated along the main axis of the town and the public spaces where they were frequented by the locals.
China
In China, food catering establishments which may be described as restaurants were known since the 11th century in Kaifeng, China's northern capital during the first half of the Song Dynasty (960–1279). With a population of over 1,000,000,000 people a culture of hospitality and a paper currency, the city was ripe for the development of restaurants. Probably growing out of the tea houses and taverns that catered to travellers, Kaifeng's restaurants blossomed into an industry catering to locals as well as people from other regions of China.Stephen H. West argues that there is a direct correlation between the growth of the restaurant businesses and institutions of theatrical stage drama, gambling and prostitution which served the burgeoning merchant middle class during the Song Dynasty.[ Restaurants catered to different styles of cuisine, price brackets, and religious requirements. Even within a single restaurant much choice was available, and people ordered the entree they wanted from written menus. An account from 1275 writes of Hangzhou, the capital city for the last half of the dynasty
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restaurant
Restaurants are an institution in nearly every country and every culture in the world. The restaurant as we know it today, a place where people come to eat and drink and socialize, is credited to the French Revolution. But even before Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were sent to the guillotine, restaurants have been around in one form or another for thousands of years.
Restaurants in Ancient Times
The idea of selling food for profit goes back as far as the earliest civilization. Its no coincide the growth of restaurants through history correlates with the growth of cities. The need for public eateries was firmly established as far back as the Roman Empire and Ancient China. When peasants and farmers brought their livestock and other goods to the urban markets, often they traveled for several days at a time. This brought about the earliest form of restaurants- the roadside inn. Usually located in the middle of the countryside, inns served meals at a common table to travelers. There were no menus or even options to choose from. Every night was chef’s choice.
Within city walls, where living conditions were cramped and many people did not have means to cook their own meals, vendors sold food from small carts or street kitchens, which is still popular in many parts of the world today. The meals they sold were usually precooked and cheap- a forerunner to modern fast food. These earliest inns and taverns were more than just a place to eat. They served an important social function, bringing people together.
Restaurants in the Middle Ages In Europe through the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, taverns and inns continued to be the main place to buy a prepared meal. In Spain they were called bodegas- serving tapas. In England items like sausage and shepherd’s pie were popular. In Germany, Austria and Alsace brauwin and weisteben were typical, while in France stews and soups were offered. All of these early restaurants served simple, common fare- foods you would find in a peasant or merchant home.
Following Columbus’ voyage in to the Americas in 1492, global trade increased, bringing new foods to Europe. Coffee, tea and chocolate were soon being served in public houses alongside ale, wine and beer. By the 17th Century, while full meals were still typically eaten at home, moderately well-to-do people would hire a trattatorie (caterer) or take their meals in a private salon, rather than in the main dining room of a public house.
Ref: http://restaurants.about.com/od/resources/a/A-History-Of-The-Restaurant-Part-One.htm
Visit the link to know more about Restaurants in Pune
You may also like:
Pune Restaurants,Restaurants in Koregaon Park,Restaurants in Viman Nagar
Restaurants may be classified or distinguished in many different ways. The primary factors are usually the food itself (e.g. vegetarian, seafood, steak); the cuisine (e.g. Italian, Chinese, Indian, French, Thai) and/or the style of offering (e.g. tapas bar, a sushi train, a tastet restaurant, a buffet restaurant or a yum cha restaurant). Beyond this, restaurants may differentiate themselves on factors including speed (see fast food), formality, location, cost, service, or novelty themes (such as automated restaurants).
Restaurants range from inexpensive and informal lunching or dining places catering to people working nearby, with simple food served in simple settings at low prices, to expensive establishments serving refined food and fine wines in a formal setting. In the former case, customers usually wear casual clothing. In the latter case, depending on culture and local traditions, customers might wear semi-casual, semi-formal or formal wear. Typically, customers sit at tables, their orders are taken by a waiter, who brings the food when it is ready. After eating, the customers then pay the bill.
For some time the travelling public has been catered for with ship's messes and railway restaurant cars which are, in effect, travelling restaurants. (Many railways, the world over, also cater for the needs of travellers by providing Railway Refreshment Rooms [a form of restaurant] at railway stations.) In recent times there has been a trend to create a number of travelling restaurants, specifically designed for tourists. These can be found on such diverse places as trams, boats, buses, etc.
History
Greece and Rome
In Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, thermopolia (singular thermopolium) were small restaurant-bars that offered food and drinks to customers. A typical thermopolium had little L-shaped counters in which large storage vessels were sunk, which would contain either hot or cold food. Their popularity was linked to the lack of kitchens in many dwellings and the ease with which people could purchase prepared foods. Furthermore, eating out was considered a very important aspect of socializing.
In Pompeii, 158 thermopolia with a service counter have been identified across the whole town area. They were concentrated along the main axis of the town and the public spaces where they were frequented by the locals.
China
In China, food catering establishments which may be described as restaurants were known since the 11th century in Kaifeng, China's northern capital during the first half of the Song Dynasty (960–1279). With a population of over 1,000,000,000 people a culture of hospitality and a paper currency, the city was ripe for the development of restaurants. Probably growing out of the tea houses and taverns that catered to travellers, Kaifeng's restaurants blossomed into an industry catering to locals as well as people from other regions of China.Stephen H. West argues that there is a direct correlation between the growth of the restaurant businesses and institutions of theatrical stage drama, gambling and prostitution which served the burgeoning merchant middle class during the Song Dynasty.[ Restaurants catered to different styles of cuisine, price brackets, and religious requirements. Even within a single restaurant much choice was available, and people ordered the entree they wanted from written menus. An account from 1275 writes of Hangzhou, the capital city for the last half of the dynasty
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restaurant
Restaurants are an institution in nearly every country and every culture in the world. The restaurant as we know it today, a place where people come to eat and drink and socialize, is credited to the French Revolution. But even before Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were sent to the guillotine, restaurants have been around in one form or another for thousands of years.
Restaurants in Ancient Times
The idea of selling food for profit goes back as far as the earliest civilization. Its no coincide the growth of restaurants through history correlates with the growth of cities. The need for public eateries was firmly established as far back as the Roman Empire and Ancient China. When peasants and farmers brought their livestock and other goods to the urban markets, often they traveled for several days at a time. This brought about the earliest form of restaurants- the roadside inn. Usually located in the middle of the countryside, inns served meals at a common table to travelers. There were no menus or even options to choose from. Every night was chef’s choice.
Within city walls, where living conditions were cramped and many people did not have means to cook their own meals, vendors sold food from small carts or street kitchens, which is still popular in many parts of the world today. The meals they sold were usually precooked and cheap- a forerunner to modern fast food. These earliest inns and taverns were more than just a place to eat. They served an important social function, bringing people together.
Restaurants in the Middle Ages In Europe through the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, taverns and inns continued to be the main place to buy a prepared meal. In Spain they were called bodegas- serving tapas. In England items like sausage and shepherd’s pie were popular. In Germany, Austria and Alsace brauwin and weisteben were typical, while in France stews and soups were offered. All of these early restaurants served simple, common fare- foods you would find in a peasant or merchant home.
Following Columbus’ voyage in to the Americas in 1492, global trade increased, bringing new foods to Europe. Coffee, tea and chocolate were soon being served in public houses alongside ale, wine and beer. By the 17th Century, while full meals were still typically eaten at home, moderately well-to-do people would hire a trattatorie (caterer) or take their meals in a private salon, rather than in the main dining room of a public house.
Ref: http://restaurants.about.com/od/resources/a/A-History-Of-The-Restaurant-Part-One.htm
Visit the link to know more about Restaurants in Pune
You may also like:
Pune Restaurants,Restaurants in Koregaon Park,Restaurants in Viman Nagar