A Brief Introduction to Restaurants

A restaurant is a business which prepares and serves food and drinks to customers in exchange for money; a place where people pay to sit and eat meals. The modern culture of food was invented by Parisians in the 18th Century during the French Revolution when a new kind of eating establishment – with separate tables, a menu and specialized range of food – was opened near the Louvre. It was the first public place where people went to be private and to show a kind of aristocratic greed as it created and validated social and cultural distinctions.

'In a restaurant in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris', late 19th century

The 19th Century brought huge changes in travel and eating became and art as gourmet dining went global. While luxury tourism grew the French Restaurant went global: in Spain it was restaurante, in Italy ristorante and in Great Britain and the United States remained restaurant. It became part of the landscape for the wealthy aristocratic Europeans and upper class Americans. However, the United States would introduce to the world in the 20th Century the concept of franchise restaurants and chain restaurants.

Nowadays, the field has hugely evolved and there are millions of businesses worldwide involved in “food services” with many different types of offers. Some interesting facts and figures about the sector are:

- The United States, China and Japan generate the greatest investment of the sector with an expenditure value of 514.600€, 485.600€ and 234.500€ millions (respectively).

- The habitants of these countries are the ones who spend the most, over 1.100€.

- In Spain the value of the sector is estimated in 20.125€.

References:

Spang, Rebecca L. (2000). 'The Invention of the Restaurant'. Harvard University Press. Available from: https://goo.gl/xLeJM5

DBK (2015). 'El Sector de la Restauración Cerrará 2015 con un Crecimiento del 3%'. Hosteltur. Available from: https://goo.gl/Bwe5Yh

Mealy, L. (2016). 'The History of the Restaurant'. The Balance. Available from: https://goo.gl/Ji2sN7