Editing Restaurant (section)

==History==
[[File:Ancient Bar, Pompeii.jpg|thumb|left|Remains of a [[thermopolium]] in Pompeii]]
[[File:GrandeTaberna.JPG|thumb|left|Service counter of a thermopolium in Pompeii]]
A public eating establishment similar to a restaurant is mentioned in a 512 BC record from [[Ancient Egypt]]. It served only one dish, a plate of [[cereal]], wildfowl, and onions.<ref>{{cite book|author = United States Congress. Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fOJnIHGs3PcC |date = 22 June 1977|title = Diet Related to Killer Diseases|publisher = U.S. Government Printing Office}}</ref>

A forerunner for the modern restaurant is the [[thermopolium]], an establishment in [[Ancient Greece]] and [[Ancient Rome]] that sold and served ready-to-eat [[food]] and [[Drink|beverages]]. These establishments were somewhat similar in function to modern [[fast food]] restaurants. They were most often frequented by people who lacked private kitchens. In the [[Roman Empire]], they were popular among residents of [[Insula (Roman city)|insulae]].<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/11/26/take-out-restaurants-in-ancient-rome-called-thermopolia/ |title = Take-out restaurants existed in ancient Rome and were called "thermopolia"|website = The Vintage News|date = 26 November 2017}}</ref>

In [[Pompeii]], 158 [[Thermopolium|thermopolia]] with service counters have been identified throughout the town. They were concentrated along the main axis of the town and the public spaces where they were frequented by the locals.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Ellis| first=Steven J. R.|author-link=Steven J. R. Ellis| title=The Distribution of Bars at Pompeii: Archaeological, Spatial and Viewshed Analyses| journal= [[Journal of Roman Archaeology]]| volume=17 | pages=371–384 (374f.)| year=2004| doi=10.1017/S104775940000831X| s2cid=159567723}}</ref> 

The Romans also had the [[popina]], a [[wine bar]] which in addition to a variety of wines offered a limited selection of simple foods such as olives, bread, cheese, stews, sausage, and porridge. The popinae were known as places for the [[plebeians]] of the [[Social class in ancient Rome|lower classes]] of [[Roman society]] to socialize. While some were confined to one standing room only, others had tables and stools and a few even had couches.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/lucius-romans/2016/07/15/visiting-a-bar-in-ancient-rome/ |title = Visiting a Bar in Ancient Rome|work = Lucius' Romans |date = 15 July 2016|publisher = University of Kent}}</ref><ref>Potter, David S. (2008). ''A Companion to the Roman Empire''. John Wiley & Sons. {{ISBN|978-1-4051-7826-6}}. p. 374</ref>

Another early forerunner of the restaurant was the [[inn]]. Throughout the ancient world, inns were set up alongside roads to cater to people travelling between cities, offering lodging and food. Meals were typically served at a common table to guests. However, there were no menus or options to choose from.<ref name=thebalancesmb>{{cite web|url = https://www.thebalancesmb.com/a-history-of-the-restaurant-2888319 |date = 13 December 2018|last = Mealey |first = Lorri |title = History of the Restaurant|website = The Balance Small Business}}</ref>

Early eating establishments recognizable as restaurants in the modern sense emerged in [[Song dynasty]] China during the 11th and 12th centuries. In large cities, such as [[Kaifeng]] and [[Hangzhou]], food [[catering]] establishments catered to merchants who travelled between cities. Probably growing out of [[tea house]]s and taverns which catered to travellers, Kaifeng's restaurants blossomed into an industry that catered to locals as well as people from other [[regions of China]]. As travelling merchants were not used to the local cuisine of other cities, these establishments were set up to serve dishes familiar to merchants from other parts of China. Such establishments were located in the entertainment districts of major cities, alongside hotels, bars, and brothels. The larger and more opulent of these establishments offered a dining experience similar to modern restaurant culture. According to a Chinese manuscript from 1126, patrons of one such establishment were greeted with a selection of pre-plated demonstration dishes which represented food options. Customers had their orders taken by a team of waiters who would then sing their orders to the kitchen and distribute the dishes in the exact order in which they had been ordered.<ref name=history>{{cite web|url = https://www.history.com/news/first-restaurants-china-france |title =When Did People Start Eating in Restaurants?|first = Dave|last = Roos|date = 18 May 2020|work = History.com}}</ref><ref name="Gernet133">{{harvcoltxt|Gernet|1962 |p= 133}}</ref>

There is a direct correlation between the growth of the restaurant businesses and institutions of [[Culture of the Song dynasty#Performing arts|theatrical stage drama]], [[gambling]] and [[prostitution]] which served the burgeoning [[Four occupations|merchant middle class]] during the Song dynasty.<ref>{{harvcoltxt|West|1997|pp=69–76}}</ref> Restaurants catered to different styles of cuisine, price brackets, and religious requirements. Even within a single restaurant choices were available, and people ordered the entrée from written menus.<ref name="Gernet133" /> An account from 1275 writes of Hangzhou, the capital city for the last half of the dynasty:
{{blockquote|The people of Hangzhou are very difficult to please. Hundreds of orders are given on all sides: this person wants something hot, another something cold, a third something tepid, a fourth something chilled. one wants cooked food, another raw, another chooses roast, another grill.<ref>{{harvcoltxt|Kiefer|2002|pp=5–7}}</ref>}}

The restaurants in Hangzhou also catered to many northern Chinese who had fled south from Kaifeng during the [[Jurchens|Jurchen]] [[Jin campaign against the Song Dynasty|invasion of the 1120s]], while it is also known that many restaurants were run by families formerly from Kaifeng.<ref>{{harvcoltxt|Gernet|1962|pp=133–134}}</ref>

In [[Japan]], a restaurant culture emerged in the 16th century out of [[Chashitsu|local tea houses]]. Tea house owner [[Sen no Rikyū]] created the ''[[kaiseki]]'' multi-course meal tradition, and his grandsons expanded the tradition to include speciality dishes and cutlery which matched the aesthetic of the food.<ref name=history/>

In Europe, inns which offered food and lodgings and [[tavern]]s where food was served alongside alcoholic beverages were common into the [[Middle Ages]] and [[Renaissance]]. They typically served common fare of the type normally available to peasants. In [[Spain]], such establishments were called ''bodegas'' and served [[tapas]]. In England, they typically served foods such as [[sausage]] and [[shepherd's pie]].<ref name=thebalancesmb/> Cookshops were also common in European cities during the Middle Ages. These were establishments which served dishes such as pies, puddings, sauces, fish, and baked meats. Customers could either buy a ready-made meal or bring their own meat to be cooked. As only large private homes had the means for cooking, the inhabitants of European cities were significantly reliant on them.<ref>Symons, Michael: ''A History of Cooks and Cooking'', p. 312.</ref>

[[France]] in particular has a rich history with the development of various forms of inns and eateries, eventually to form many of the now-ubiquitous elements of the modern restaurant. As far back as the thirteenth century, French inns served a variety of food — bread, cheese, bacon, roasts, soups, and stews - usually eaten at a common table. Parisians could buy what was essentially take-out food from ''rôtisseurs'', who prepared [[Rotisserie|roasted meat dishes]], and [[Pastry chef|pastry-cooks]], who could prepare meat pies and often more elaborate dishes. Municipal statutes stated that the official prices per item were to be posted at the entrance; this was the first official mention of menus.{{Sfn|Chevallier|2018|pages=67-80}}

Taverns also served food, as did [[cabarets]]. A cabaret, however, unlike a tavern, served food at tables with tablecloths, provided drinks with the meal, and charged by the customers' choice of dish, rather than by the pot.{{sfn|Fierro|1996|page=737}} Cabarets were reputed to serve better food than taverns and a few, such as the Petit Maure, became well known. A few cabarets had musicians or singing, but most, until the late 19th century, were simply convivial eating places.{{Sfn|Chevallier|2018|pages=67-80}}{{sfn|Fierro|1996|page=737}}  The first [[café]] opened in [[Paris]] in 1672 at the Saint-Germain fair. By 1723 there were nearly four hundred cafés in Paris, but their menu was limited to simpler dishes or confectionaries, such as coffee, tea, chocolate (the drink; chocolate in solid state was invented only in the 19th century), ice creams, pastries, and liqueurs.{{sfn|Fierro|1996|page=737}}

At the end of the 16th century, the guild of cook-caterers (later known as "traiteurs") was given its own legal status. The ''traiteurs'' dominated sophisticated food service, delivering or preparing meals for the wealthy at their residences. Taverns and cabarets were limited to serving little more than roast or grilled meats. Towards the end of the seventeenth century, both inns and then traiteurs began to offer "host's tables" (''tables d'hôte''), where one paid a set price to sit at a large table with other guests and eat a fixed menu meal.{{Sfn|Chevallier|2018|pages=67-80}}