Restaurant, Coffee Shoppe, Coffee Shop or Cafe?
Asked by
LornaLove (
10037
)
September 20th, 2016
I’d love to hear the difference between the UK and the USA regards the following:
by the way I’ve also added in South Africa too, feel free to add another country if you wish.
A coffee shop here serves packet sandwiches and teas and coffees. No cooked food. Meaning not cooked on the premises and not anything other than a sandwich or packaged cake.
A Restaurant here is a little more fancy dining, which means cooked food of various types. Like Italian for e.g.
A Cafe, sells tea and coffee with a few simple cooked meals, like soup and hot food nothing too fancy.
I’m not sure what the difference is between shoppe and shop?
In South Africa, a coffee shop/shoppe sells all foods, the menu has both simple and more complex dishes which compare to ‘fancy’ here.
A restaurant in South Africa can be very fancy or not, but all serving a huge menu of cooked foods. With variety such as seafood, meat dishes, curry and toasted sandwiches.
A cafe in South Africa means a small shop selling cigarettes, milk and bread!
Could you share the meaning of the same words in your country?
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11 Answers
In Australia the following would apply.
A coffee shop will serve coffee, cake, light snacks, but some do serve meals. If they serve meals, they aren’t fancy, al-a-carte restaurants. The food will be fairly simple and the main focus is on coffee/tea and cake.
A cafe (which might be called a snack bar here) would serve meals, but again i’m talking burgers, sandwiches, chips, fish and chips and the like.
A restaurant serves meals. It may be a fine dining experience and may have a set or al-a-carte menu. However, the food might be simple or very fancy. A restaurant would be serving meals rather than the focus being on coffee. Maccas (Macdonalds), Hungry Jacks etc. call their outlets restaurants, but to me those are fast food outlets and while they serve fast-food meals, I don’t call them restaurants.
A shoppe would be someone trying to be arty and different. It would mean nothing. You might see it in an area with faux tudor buildings (type thing!).
In Ontario, a coffee shop will have coffee, tea, hot chocolate, milk, juice, cookies, biscuits, muffins, croissants, donuts – other hand-held baked goods. They are unlikely to have table service.
A cafe will have hot beverages and more cake-like desserts. Desserts than need cutlery. Some cafes have table service.
Restaurants serve full meals and about 95% of them have table service. Most restaurants here also offer desserts though not all do. They’re more likely to have cold as well as hot beverages than a cafe.
We’ve also got a spin on bakeries that I find interesting. Bakeries often offer soup, hot breakfasts and simple hot meals – cabbage rolls, that type of thing – in addition to their baked goods.
Then there is the whole world of diners.
Restaurant is sit down for food. May have coffee but they may be disappointed if you only order that.
Coffee Shoppe means sillily-spelled Coffee Shop.
Cafe is another word for Coffee Shop. I never think about it, but maybe a Coffee Shop sells beans but a Cafe might not.
(USA)
@BellaB So interesting, I find it a bit weird that you have only 95% table service in a restaurant? and some desert some not?
The characterization of the eatery in the states is nuanced and varies greatly with the experiences of individuals. You won’t find “shoppe” on any sign that is not striving for deliberate pretentiousness. To me the word cafe affixed to a place means you can expect “standard” fare that everybody takes for granted: bacon & eggs, pancakes, omelettes etc. in the mornings. The food is prepared on the premises & prepared to the customer’s specifications. The word “cafe” is interchangeable with “diner” and both imply that you can get in, order, dine & leave within 30–40 minutes. The 2 words also announce that it won’t cost an arm or a leg to eat there. Coffee shop is more nebulous and can mean anything from stale pre packaged sandwiches and wilted salads to no food at all aside from overpriced desserts of dubious origin. “Coffee shop” is therefore the riskiest choice you can make if you are looking for something worthwhile in a place with which you are unfamiliar. The trouble is that the monicker is so often misapplied on everything ranging between“restaurant” and “coffee house”. The one given is that you should feel entitled to sit in a place bearing the designation for as long as you please, hunched over a laptop or whatever, as long as there’s a cup, mug, etc. containing the slightest bit of liquid in front of you.
The terms are so interchangeable i the US, and varies by region and age of the individual.
We have lots of coffee shops that serve only breakfast and lunch, usually to tradesmen during the week. But they have table service and many times have counter service, where one sits on a stool and the server stands and serves from behind a counter.
There are also cafes that serve coffee and espresso and pastries at a counter, but may or may not have tables to sit and enjoy your purchase.
But then again, we have full top end restaurants such as the Zuni Cafe in San Francisco, which pretty much requires a reservation.
About the only truly clear meaning term on the list as far as the US is concerned is Restaurant, which is for a host or hostess seating you and a server taking your order and bringing your food that has been made to order.
@stanleybmanly mentions a new term which seems to be popular with the under 35 crowd in hipster places like Oakland; the term eatery. All I can tell is you can get food there, but I don’t know what to expect.
@zenvelo gives a good description of what these places are like in the U.S.
I would expect a “Coffee Shoppe” to have an American Colonial or Georgian decor with service and food much like a cafe.
One not mentioned is the Coffee House, my favorites of which have books, over-stuffed couches and wingbacks, art on the walls, intimate lighting, and sell a variety of specialty coffees, teas, pastries and sometimes the owner’s latest recipes on a very small menu. They are designed for quiet conversations, reading, or solitude while one is on their laptop.
@zenvelo I’ve been spoilt clearly. In SA, all coffee shops have service and tables. Where you are waited upon. (There might be a few that don’t can’t recall).
Restaurants are plentiful and not many require reservations.
Our tradition there is also to be offered a glass of iced cold water with ice and lemon, before you order and many do sit for hours hunched over a laptop with a coffee.
I must say that I miss the social aspect of the coffee shop scene as I know it. I find packed sandwiches and getting my own coffee has made me rather forego the experience, as at least at home I can enjoy a cuppa and relax.
USA
Coffee shop serves various iterations of coffee and tea often with breakfast biscuits, muffins, scones, fresh fruits and parfaits.
Cafe’s are a coffee shop that will serve coffee with various breakfast fares.
Bistro’s are upscale cafe’s serving coffee with fancy lighter breakfast fare and exotic fruit smoothies.
Restaurants serve coffee all day long with breakfast, lunch and dinner and you have unlimited cuisine choices there.
We have all sorts of fast food restaurants that serve coffee and breakfast sandwiches and of course the American mainstay is doughnut shops that serve their trademark sugar bombs along side of their signature coffees.
I usually avoid them all and have my oatmeal and coffee I grind and brew myself.
Demonstration of how the meanings evolve:
*_There was music in the café at night
And revolution in the air*_ – Bob Dylan, Tangled Up In Blue
Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop
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