Why do we call a place where you eat out, a "restaurant"? My five-year old needs to know how come it is called "restaurant". She adds: "Maybe it is because you are not allowed to burp in there?" Any serious replies will be thankfully forwarded.
SaintMike
Favorite Answer
The term restaurant (from the French restaurer, to restore) first appeared in the 16th century, meaning "a food which restores", and referred specifically to a rich, highly flavoured soup.
It was first applied to an eating establishment in around 1765 founded by a Parisian soup-seller named Boulanger.
Restaurants became common after the French Revolution broke up catering guilds that began forcing the aristocrats to flee. Thus, leaving a retinue of servants with the skills to cook excellent food.
Restaurants then spread rapidly across the world, with the first in the United States (Jullien's Restarator) opening in Boston in 1794.
Most however continued on the standard approach (Service à la française) of providing a shared meal on the table to which customers would then help themselves, something which encouraged them to eat rather quickly.
The modern formal style of dining, where customers are given a plate with the food already arranged on it, is known as Service à la russe, as it is said to have been introduced to France by the Russian Prince Kurakin in the 1810s, from where it spread rapidly to England and beyond.
capenafuerte
A restaurant is an establishment that serves prepared food and beverages to order, to be consumed on the premises. The term covers a multiplicity of venues and a diversity of styles of cuisine.
Restaurants are sometimes a feature of a larger complex, typically a hotel, where the dining amenities are provided for the convenience of the residents and, of course, for the hotel to maximise their potential revenue. Such restaurants are often also open to non-residents.
A restaurant operator is called a restaurateur; both words derive from the French verb restaurer.
MOM KNOWS EVERYTHING
The term restaurant (from the French restaurer, to restore) first appeared in the 16th century, meaning "a food which restores", and referred specifically to a rich, highly flavoured soup. It was first applied to an eating establishment in around 1765 founded by a Parisian soup-seller named Boulanger. The first restaurant in the form that became standard (customers sitting down with individual portions at individual tables, selecting food from menus, during fixed opening hours) was the Grand Taverne de Londres, founded in 1782 by a man named Beauvilliers. The concept eventually spread around the world, and the name "restaurant" went with it.
Anonymous
I usually don't answer if I don't know but thought your five year old was on to something. She should ask if that is the reason at a 5 star fancy place.
love2travel
Merriam Webster says:
Etymology: French, from present participle of restaurer to restore, from Latin restaurare.