Types of Restaurants

Restaurants range from places catering to people working nearby with simple food served in simple settings at low prices to expensive establishments serving refined food and wine in formal settings.

Fast Food restaurant

A fast food restaurant, also known as Quick Service Restaurant or QSR, is a specific type of restaurant characterized both by its fast food cuisine and by minimal table service. Food served in fast food restaurants is offered from limited menu, is cooked in bulk in advance and kept hot, finished and packaged to order and is usually available ready to take away, though seating may be provided.

Fast food restaurants are usually part of a restaurant chain or franchise operation with standardized ingredients and/or partially prepared foods and supplies to each restaurant through controlled supply channels.

Fine Dining Restaurants

Fine dining restaurants are full service restaurants with specific dedicated meal courses. Décor of such restaurants feature higher quality materials with an eye towards the “atmosphere” desired by the restaurateur. The service staff is usually highly trained and often wears more formal attire. Fine-dining restaurants are almost always small businesses and are generally either single-location operations or have just a few locations.

Casual Dining Restaurants

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 of a market segment between fast food establishments and fine dining restaurants.

Cafeteria

A cafeteria is a restaurant serving ready-cooked food arranged behind a food-serving counter. There is 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. Cafeterias are common in hospitals, corporations and educational institutions.

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, and are thus frequently chosen as sites for meetings.