What is the difference between a restaurant and a cafe?
What are the essential elements you should know!
Restaurant or Cafe Overview
Have you ever wondered what is the difference between a restaurant and a cafe?
Is a cafe a restaurant?
In this post, I will break it down for you so you will immediately know how to tell a restaurant from a cafe.
In essence, you can eat and drink in both a coffee shop and a restaurant.
However, what you can eat or drink will not be the same and your experience will be very different when in a restaurant compared to a cafe.
Before we look at what’s the difference between a cafe and a restaurant, let’s look at what are cafes and restaurants in the first place.
What Is A Restaurant
What does a restaurant mean?
The term “restaurant” appears to originate from the 18th century in France when a chef by the name of A. Boulanger opened a business selling soups and other types of foods on its menu.
He used the word “restaurant” to refer to the different items on his menu.
Shortly after, others started opening stores where they offered clients a nice place to eat along with different items on their menu thereby combining good cooking and the service of bringing the food to the clients.
Then, more and more businesses opened doors calling themselves restaurants where they provided a certain type of food along with waiting services.
What Is A Cafe
So, what does a cafe mean?
The history of cafes goes much further in time than restaurants.
In fact, it goes back to the City of Mecca and the Arabian peninsula where people would meet over a cup of coffee to discuss different topics.
The Ottoman Empire was also known to have cafes.
The word cafe is derived from the Turkish word “kahve” which means coffee.
People would meet at a cafe to talk about different topics, gather for the fun of it, or play games such as cards, board games, or other types of games you play at a table.
This type of cafe setting is essentially what we know of our cafes today where people get together to chat, have fun, meet, discuss topics of interest, resolve problems among them, or anything else that goes on in a cafe over a cup of coffee.
Now that you know the origin of a cafe vs restaurant, let’s dig deeper into their differences.
Difference Between Restaurant vs Cafe
What are the main differences between restaurants and cafes?
To better understand what makes a restaurant a “restaurant” and a cafe a “cafe”, be sure to keep reading as I will give it to you crisp and clear!
Let’s first start with their menus.
Restaurant vs Cafe Menu
One important difference between restaurants and cafes relates to their menu and what they offer their clients.
In a restaurant, you will typically find different types of specialty cuisine or meals to satisfy your hunger for lunch or supper.
You will go to a restaurant because you are hungry, want to eat something substantial, and have time to spare.
On other hand, you will go to a cafe to have fun, get a light snack, or quickly get something in your system.
In a cafe, you’ll find a large variety of drinks, snacks, and perhaps desserts.
Restaurant vs Cafe Ambience
Another important difference between a cafe and restaurant is the ambience.
When you go to a restaurant, you’ll typically see people interacting with one another in a fun and enjoyable manner.
You’ll have friends, colleagues, family, couples, or others taking their time to eat and have a good time.
A restaurant gives you a personal experience when you’re going out with someone.
On the other hand, a cafe is a place where people go when they want to have a more intimate ambience, work on a project, read a book, deal with certain issues or challenges, think creatively, and so on.
You’ll see students studying in a coffee shop, business people meeting quickly for a business discussion, entrepreneurs finding inspiration to make money, and others working on their laptop computers.
Restaurant vs Cafe Service
You can distinguish a cafe from a restaurant by comparing the manner they serve their clients.
Many restaurants offer their clients waiting services via waiting staff.
In other words, a client will enter a restaurant, will have a seat, and a waiter or waitress will provide the client with information about the menu, help the client choose the right meal, and bring the meal to the client.
In a cafe, clients will not get the services of a waiter or waitress.
Instead, clients will go up to the cash, order their drink, get served immediately or within a few minutes, and they’ll choose to leave or sit around for a short period of time.
Restaurant vs Cafe Size
In a typical restaurant, you will have comfortable seating and a large eating area where many customers can sit and have their meal.
The restaurant tables are larger so they can accommodate larger eating plates, drinking glasses, and various other things you’ll need to have on a table to make your eating experience a great one.
In a cafe, you typically have a smaller eating area, stools, and smaller tables where you can comfortably place your drinks or snack.
The idea is to sit for a short period of time, have a drink or coffee, and go back to your day-to-day business.
Restaurant vs Cafe Cost
When you go to a restaurant, you should be ready to pay a higher price than when you go to a cafe.
The reason for that is at a restaurant, your primary objective is to eat a good meal to satisfy your hunger.
Restaurants can range in prices where you have fast-food places all the way to five-star restaurants where each menu item is highly expensive.
On the other hand, your total bill at a cafe will be generally much lower than at a restaurant.
Although you can have specialty coffee shops where you can pay a much higher price for each coffee or beverage, the average coffee shop will cost less than the average restaurant.
Cafe or Restaurant Takeaways
So there you have it folks!
What is the difference between a cafe and restaurant?
How do you choose between the two?
Is a coffee shop considered a restaurant?
Although you can eat and drink coffee in both a restaurant and a cafe, they are two different types of businesses.
The main difference between cafes and restaurants is that you will go to a restaurant primarily to eat a solid meal and have a good time with others whereas you’ll go to a cafe to drink and either spend time by yourself or socialize with others.
Cafes typically offer smaller eating and drinking spaces than restaurants.
The primary purpose of a restaurant is to offer its clients food to eat whereas beverages such as coffee are complementary to the food.
On the other hand, the main purpose of a cafe is for clients to drink whereas snaking or eating something small is to complement the drink.
Now that you know what is a cafe and restaurant, how to distinguish them, and their main differences, good luck with your research!
Which will you choose next, restaurant or cafe!
If you are interested in starting a coffee shop or restaurant, you are on the right track.
Starting a business can be very rewarding when you plan it properly, prepare a solid business plan, get the right small business financing, and work with the right professionals to get your company started!
We have tons of material and information on how to start a business, be sure to check them out or reach out to us if you have any questions.