Nowaday, dining out has literally become a source of comfort due to busy and irritating life schedules. In this hasty life, most of the people have no time to be at home for lunch and dinner. That’s why they regularly prefer to have their lunch or dinner in a fancy restaurant or cafe. Sometimes, people decide to celebrate any function like birthdays and anniversaries in the restaurants.
Cafe:
A Cafe refers to a kind of small eating place with an enclosed serving place. However, a cafe additionally has an outside phase in which the clients can experience their espresso and snacks withinside the open. A cafe is frequently described as an established order in which clients are served a number of espresso in addition to a few snacks which include sandwiches and burgers.
Restaurant:
A restaurant is usually a medium and large sized place where you find a variety of delicious food, dishes and cuisines. Complete meals with drinks, special cuisines and regular food are usually served in the restaurants. Most of the restaurants let the customer decide the food and serve the meals after a consumer orders from a menu. Once the meal is prepared, waiters and waitresses serve the meals.
Major differences between restaurant or cafe:
Origin:
The first cafe was opened in 1550 in the city of Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire at that time. The area has many cafes, where people – often intellectuals get together, meet & greet and play board games over a cup of coffee. The English word Coffee comes from the Turkish word “kahve”, which means coffee.
Coffee has always been related as a starter to kick start the morning of people. History tells that cafes were also once a famous meeting place for writers and artists in Britain. In France a cafe called “Cafe Procope” used to serve the greatest minds of the Enlightenment. And the big names in French history like Denis Diderot, Voltaire, Rousseau were the main contributor.
The first use of the term “restaurant” dates back to the 18th century in France. In 1765, French chef A. Boulanger opened a business selling soups and “restaurants” on his menu in Paris. Twenty years later, Antoine Beauvilliers established La Grande Taverne de Londres, the first restaurant in history with a fine combination of dining, cool interiors with outstanding waiter service.
While these restaurants may not be the first restaurants in history, they gave an idea and name. In the modern world this restaurant business is very confined and you can find thousands of restaurants based on the name of a particular dish or cuisine.
Menu:
The food menu of restaurants and cafes differ a lot. Let’s first discuss the menu of the restaurant.
A restaurant offers a wide range of food dishes and different types of drinks and beverages. Usually a restaurant offers coffee as a starter. This coffee is brewed traditionally in the restaurant and this coffee is the face of the restaurant. If you are stuck in the lunch rush and want a heavy meal to pass the entire day then you will certainly go ahead with a restaurant.The restaurants offer tons of choices to select from,and each dish has its own speciality , such as Indian, Italian, Japanese, continental and chinese.
While on the other hand a cafe has delicious breakfast, light meal lunch , snacks, beverages and coffees. Usually cookies, pastries and cupcakes are widely eaten by the young generation because they are set up perfectly with tea or coffee. Cafes are normally specialised in their drinks and beverages such as tea or coffee is the speciality of the cafes. Cafes do not provide proper meals but they are ready to serve light meals and snacks,burgers and sandwiches.
Service of restaurant or cafe:
A restaurant has a proper staff of services that includes waiters, waitresses, cooks and cleaning staff. In a restaurant you first have to order something that you want to consume to the service staff. Then it takes some time to prepare your meal and then the waiter or waitress serves the food to you. In most of the restaurants you will observe a great service of catering. Because great customer service is a key point to the success of the restaurant.
In cafes the waiter service is very limited. Most of the cafes do not offer any such service. In a cafe you have to order at the reception and when your food is prepared you need to collect it by yourself. Because in a cafe the food is prepared quickly and one can easily collect it after finding a table in the seating area.
Rates:
In cafes, the prices of the food items like coffee, tea cookies, cupcakes and pastries are usually very reasonable. So, if you are short on cash then you can easily eat something from the cafes. These rates are normal because they do not have a lot of liabilities, service staff, cleaning staff, electricity bills and other expenses.
But when we talk about the restaurants the rates are quite high. Food is expensive in the restaurants. The reasons for high rates are that they need to pay the service staff, cleaning staff that maintains the building. Moreover they have to pay the cooking staff and buy more food ingredients. Cafes do not have to face such expenses.
Ambiance:
Aside from the food and cuisines, ambiance is also a key factor to the success of a restaurant or cafe.
In a conventional sense, cafes commonly have a calm, quiet, intimate ambience. The heat lighting, WiFi, and charging ports commonly make cafes a favourite place for students, workaholics, and reclusive persons. Students mostly prefer such cafes for discussing their life goals, final year projects and daily life routine. The aroma of coffee or tea takes the atmosphere of a cafe to new heights. Some boys do their jamming practices in such cafes. Overall the ambiance of a cafe is perfect for the young generation.
On the other hand, a restaurant environment encourages the people interacting in larger groups. You wouldn’t see students or office workers in restaurants. The restaurants are for large gatherings where usually businessmen schedule their meetups to discuss their businesses. There is a noisy environment in the restaurants because of the large number of people chatting and talking in loud voices. The ambiance of a restaurant is like a busy world.
So the ambiance of a restaurant or cafe depends on the people spending their time at that place. cafes offer a calm and composed atmosphere. So if you are looking to spend some time alone to settle everything down you must visit a cafe near you. But if you are looking to arrange a reunion party to meet your old buddies and want a busy atmosphere then definitely go with the widely available variety of restaurants.
| Feature | Restaurant | Cafe |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | 1765 | 1550 |
| Building Size | Small and compact | Big and spacious |
| Seating Capacity | 30 to 40 | More than 100 |
| Per Head Expense | Depends on the demography, usually low | Quite high |
| Atmosphere | Calm, Quiet | Noisy because of large gatherings |
How to find the best Restaurant or cafe near you?
You can find restaurants or cafes near you by different methods.
Google Maps:
Google Maps is the easiest way to find a restaurant or cafe near you. Following are a few guides to find the cafes or restaurants.
- Open google maps application.
- Turn on your location and allow google to know your precise position.
- Open the search bar and write about a restaurant or cafe.
- Google will show you the restaurant or cafe near you.
- Google will also provide you the directions from your location to those cafes and stores.
- Moreover, you can find the contact details of those restaurants or cafes and can contact them for delivery of your desired variety of food and cuisines.
- Further Google will also show the current status, opening and closing times of those restaurants or cafes.
Online Food platforms:
Many online food delivery applications can guide you to the nearest restaurant or cafe. Like Uber Eats, foodpanda and many more like these.
Concluding Verdicts:
A Cafe is a restaurant but a restaurant is not a cafe. cafe is a vibe that takes you back to the times of your youth. One can visit cafes to find a peaceful seat with his closed one and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee with him. Restaurant gives a vibe of hustle and bustle of life going on. Both restaurant or cafe has their different positive and negative aspects but it totally depends on your mood and selection. For more information you may visit techkmarket
