Cafe

"Cafe" redirects here. For other uses, see Cafe (disambiguation).

Cafe Terrace at Night, September 1888, by Vincent van Gogh

A café (also spelled cafe, pronounced /ˈkæfeɪ/ or /kæˈfeɪ/) or coffee shop is an informal restaurant offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches. This differs from a coffee house, which is a limited-menu establishment which focuses on coffee sales. Depending on the jurisdiction, a café may be licensed to serve alcohol. The term can also refer to bistro or a restaurant facility within a hotel. In some countries, however, a café is synonymous with a coffee house.

In small towns the local café is often the central gathering spot for conversation and meetings. Such cafés are especially popular for breakfasts. In central business districts (CBD) of larger cities cafés and coffee shops are often open only for breakfast and lunch, since their patrons leave the area after business hours.

"French cafés", especially those in Paris carry a full menu. American cafés may or may not serve alcoholic beverages, and the serving of coffee is incidental to the serving of food. British cafés, however, do not sell alcohol. In Europe, cafés often have an enclosed or outdoor section extending onto the sidewalk.

In the Netherlands, a café is an establishment selling liquor, as opposed to coffeeshop, which sells soft drugs (cannabis and hashish) and is typically not allowed to sell liquor.

Spelling and pronunciation

Look up café in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Konstantin Korovin, A Parisian Café in the late 1890s.

The most common spelling café is the French spelling, and was adopted by English-speaking countries in the late 19th century Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition (1989), entry number 50031127 (café). Café can also be spelled caffè (the Italian spelling), In southern England, especially around London in the 1950s, the French pronunciation was often shortened to [kæf] and informally spelt caff Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition (1989), entry number 50031130 (caff).

A long history of lack of support for accented characters in (first) typewriters and (later) computer OSs (which can be explained principally by the fact that these technologies were largely pioneered by people whose native language, English, generally did not require diacritical marks) has guaranteed that the spelling cafe has become very common.

See also

• Cafeteria
• Coffeehouse
• Greasy spoon
• Internet café
• Sidewalk cafe

References

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