The origin of restaurants

How do we define a restaurant?

We are going to define it, initially, as an establishment where food and drinks are served. Restaurants specialize in serving lunch and dinner, while those that specialize in serving breakfast and snacks are classified as cafeterias.
Food prices vary according to the category of the establishment, which in turn varies according to where it is located, the comfort of its facilities and the quality of its service.

There is a wide range of restaurants of different categories: from the most modest inn that serves a menu (a series of unique foods) for a fixed price at communal tables to the most luxurious à la carte restaurant, where the customer chooses what he wants to eat and you pay according to the service and the quality of the dishes you consume. There are many other types and categories of restaurants, which we will see later.

A team of waiters or waiters operate the classic restaurant, under the orders of a maître, who is the officer or head of the establishment. The maître d welcomes customers, is attentive to everything that happens at the tables, directs the service and, on special occasions, serves the dishes himself.

Origin of restaurants

In ancient times, churches and monasteries used to house travelers and feed them, accepting some donations in return. This situation was taken advantage of by merchants of the time to create establishments specializing in the sale of food and drinks.

At the beginning of modern times, in the year 1658, carriages were introduced in England, thus promoting the development of transport and promoting the rise of inns and taverns.

The French term ‘restaurante’, as we have already mentioned, was used for the first time in Paris to designate an establishment in which drinks and meals were served, founded around 1765. The success of this place was immediate, and from that moment on, a large number of restaurants were opened. Especially after the French Revolution in 1789, when the aristocracy could not maintain its numerous servants and many unemployed servants founded their own restaurant or joined this new industry, which multiplied constantly.

In the rest of the world, the restaurant as we know it today dates back to the last decades of the 19th century, when small establishments began to compete with hotels by offering hearty food, elegantly served at reasonable prices.

In London, for example, the first restaurant opened in 1873. In Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries, the term ‘restaurante’ also began to spread to refer to a type of establishment especially dedicated to serving food. The word ‘fonda’ was falling into disuse and, nowadays, we use it to refer to a very modest restaurant.

In the United States, the first restaurant was named Delmonico’s and was in New York City. This establishment served food and drinks and also had a cashier (quite a novelty for the time!).

In order to respond to the growing demand of the numerous restaurants, the need arises to create professional education to instruct people in the different gastronomic sectors.

How are restaurants classified?

Like hotels, restaurants are also classified according to numerous variables (facilities, furniture, customer service, quality and quantity of dishes offered) in different categories: luxury restaurants (five forks), first class restaurants (four forks), second class restaurants (three forks), third class restaurants (two forks) and fourth class restaurants (one fork).

Next, we will point out a summary of the basic requirements used as a parameter to classify restaurants internationally.

What are the types of restaurants?

This classification is made based on the type of food they serve in addition to their service methodology.

Grill:
Type of restaurant oriented to American cuisine where grilled and grilled meats, fish and seafood are served. The service must be fast and efficient in these establishments, and the decoration is often oriented to the American West style.
Buffet restaurant:
In the mid-1970s, the trend of exclusive buffet restaurants appeared in hotels. This modality has been of immense help to be able to feed large groups of tourists in hotels with “All Inclusive” services. These dining rooms, in beach hotels, are large and to place the trays with the different types of food they consist of several special displays with integrated heaters and refrigerators to keep the food at the right temperature.

Specialty (themed) restaurants:
They are restaurants that specialize in one type of food such as Seafood, Vegetarians, Steak Houses, whose specialty is meat. These also include those of nationalities, which specialize in the cuisine of a certain country or region.