Restaurants are one of the most common places all over the world. The restaurant business has grown rapidly in twenty first century because of the fact that almost every day there are thousands of people going to restaurant. There are many reasons for people dining in at a restaurant. People dine in at the restaurant because of the busy schedule, to socialize, to eat varieties of food, and many more. What is a restaurant? According to oxford dictionary, “Restaurant is a place where people pay to sit and utilize the service along with the food and drinks.” Looking at the current context of restaurant, the meaning of restaurant has changed widely. According to Prof. and author John R. Walker, “Delmonico’s, located in New York City, is thought to be the first restaurant in America and Delmonico’s opened its door to the public in 1827” (John, 2008 (fifth edition)).
There used to be times when people used to cook at homes which changed drastically and nine out of ten people would visit restaurant on a daily basis at least 2-3 times a day. Cooking have faded away in American because people are working more than what they used to work 10 years ago. This is one of the reasons that gave birth to restaurants and became a huge success in the twenty-first century. According to Lorri Mealey, “ By the seventeenth century, while full meals were typically eaten at home, moderately well-to-do people would hire a trattatorie(caterer) or take their meals in private salon, rather than in the main dining room of a public house”(Mealey). When did the ancient restaurant started? According to Prof. Nicholas M. Kiefer from Cornell University, “Revolutionary Paris is often cited as the birthplace of the modern-day restaurant, but restaurant existed long before the French Revolution in other locations when economics and social mores made them feasible”(KIEFER, August 2002).
According to author and professor, Rebecca L. Spang, “From eighteenth-century bouillon to nineteenth–century business form miniature soup-cup to Rabelaisian excess, from sensibility to politics: these are the transitions that defined the term ‘Restaurant’” (Rebecca, 2001). The growth of the restaurant has given people a choice of different types of food along with the service. Along with the growth of the restaurant there came a division of restaurant. Restaurants can be differentiated in terms of menu, price, and service. Modern day restaurants are more known as Café, Fine Dining restaurant, and Fast Food restaurants. Although people are busier in the twenty-first century than ever people would still think before going to a restaurant. Normally, people would dine in at a restaurant depending upon their budget, service, and healthier options found on the menu. There are varieties of restaurants in the world. Focusing on advantages and disadvantages of café, fine dining and fast food restaurant in terms of the budget, service, and healthier options found on the menu is the key factor.
According to oxford dictionary, “Café is a small restaurant selling light meal and drinks”. Cafés can also be a bar or a night club where one can enjoy light meal. The price varies from a high class café to a regular café. According to Lorri Mealey, “A café is a restaurant that does not offer table service” (Mealey). People visit café mostly to socialize. Bars, pubs, clubs are some examples of café.
Is café a healthier option for people? One might argue that café provides unhealthy food and drinks like sodas, fries, burgers, liquor, coffee, and many more but it can also be looked upon from a different perspective. Café provides salad, fruit juice, smoothies, yoghurt, and fresh herbal teas due to which one cannot argue that cafes are always an unhealthy place to eat.
Fine dining restaurants are more expensive in terms of budget compared to café and Fast Food restaurants. Hard Rock hotels have a Café that is named after the hotel. Hard Rock café is one of the different types of café. This café can be an example of what a café is all about. This café according to its website provides the information that it was started in 1971 and in today’s date they are opened in 175 location all not only in America but overseas (Hard Rock Cafe). One might argue that it is hard to differentiate between varieties of restaurant but Hard Rock Café might help people to understand about Café. Music, good food, and services are some of the important factors that have made the Hard Rock Café very popular among the customers. Different but not different than Café is Fine dining restaurants are another category of restaurant. Why are Fine dining restaurants more expensive? According to Prof. and author of the book John R. Walker, “Fine dining refers to the cuisine and service provided in restaurants where food, drink, and service are expensive and usually leisurely” (John, 2008 (fifth edition)). Fine dining restaurants are expensive because most of the Fine dining restaurants carry healthy salad, fruits and vegetables, and fresh food. Most of the Fast food restaurants carry one of the finest selections of wine, liquor, and non alcoholic beverages. The decorations in the Fine dining restaurants are eye appealing and the lights in the chandelier make the environment peaceful. It is because of those reasons Fine dining restaurants are expensive. Most of the Fine dining restaurants have a fixed menu for their food. Service is also one of the important factors of Fine dining restaurant.
Variation of service also differentiates the restaurants. In Fine dining restaurant the diners also pay for the service by paying good tips money. According to Prof. and Writer John R. Walker, “Flair and panache in service are part of the dining experience” (John, 2008 (fifth edition)). However, all the servers are also expected to know every detail regarding one’s work so that they can serve customer well with proper explanation about the food and drinks served in the premises.
Although all the restaurants are service providers but in Fine dining restaurants the service is expected to be outstanding. For example, In Fine dining restaurant, customers are greeted, their glass is filled with water and if customer ordered wine then servers would pour the wine in the dinner’s glass. Another example of better service is that the server knows which wine goes along what kind of food. This is important in the service sector for the server because if the server is just experiencing his/her talent then the guest is not satisfied, which is a huge loss for the company. According to Merriam Webster, “White globe service means something marked by special care or attention.” One of the examples of the Fine dining restaurant can be Dana Point restaurant located with The Ritz Carlton Hotels in Los Angeles. On the other hand, one can question about the difference in service provided in Fine dining restaurant and Family dining restaurant. However, not only the servers of the Fine dining restaurant are experienced but also the chefs are experienced to deliver quality and healthy food to the customers. Fine dining restaurant can be differentiated because of the healthier options on the menu compared to Café and Fast food restaurant.
Fine dining restaurants provide fresh fruits and salad along with vegetables which is healthier for people of twenty-first century. People in twenty first century have started being health conscious and started looking for good and healthy food in restaurants. Most of the people would find it difficult to find a difference between the fine dining restaurant and other varieties of restaurant but one of the factors that Fine dining restaurant provides is a white glove service.
Since Fine dining restaurants are expensive most of the people might not afford Fine dining restaurant.
Fast food restaurants are most popular restaurants in America and rest of the world. According to Oxford dictionary, “Fast food restaurants are those restaurants that prepare food quickly and easily”. As people in the world are getting busier in one’s life they started a trend of grab and go which implies to Fast food restaurants. Fast food restaurants are those kinds of restaurants where one would go to grab a lunch and be done by 30 minutes, which is an average lunch break in America. Fast food restaurants are growing these days. How are Fast food restaurants in terms of budget?
Fast food restaurants totally fit in budget and even students can afford fast food restaurants. Compared to Fine dining restaurant, Fast food restaurant is very much cheaper. Fast food restaurant is cheaper because of reasons stated below: 1) No service: There are none server in Fast food restaurant. Most of the fast food restaurants have servers over the counter but not serving at the table. 2) Grab and go: The grab and go concept is for those customers who are in a rush. Although people don’t agree but the Fast food restaurant sells more fries and food that has more fat. Comparing to Café and Fine dining restaurants the food in the fast food restaurant lacks nutritional value on the food which they serve. How are Fast food restaurants food compared to Café and Fine dining restaurants?
There has always been a debate that the Fast food restaurants don’t serve healthy food. Serving healthy food in Fast food restaurants have just started. Sodas, Fries, and burger are always pointed by people as one of the reason of obesity. The fast food restaurants with fear of losing customers decided to add some nutritional food in the restaurant to attract customers of new generation. There are lots of fast food restaurant all over the world and McDonalds is undoubtedly one of the example of Fast food restaurant. According to company’s website,”McDonalds was established in 1940’s by Dick and Mac McDonald.”. According to article published in Business Insider by Gus Lubin and Mamta Badkar “Today there are 33000 McDonalds in the world and it serves one percent of the world’s population every day”
.McDonald's is a restaurant that everybody knows. McDonald was created by sibling Dick and Mac McDonald. The Brothers started out with opening a hotdog stand in 1937 called Airdrome. So the brother decided to expand the business and come up with a different type of restaurant. McDonald opens in 1940 in San Bernardino, California. The menu consisted of 25 items and most of was barbecue products. McDonald became a popular place for teen to hang out at. So McDonald stays open for several years but they wanted to close down. The reason they closed down they want to do something different with there restaurant. So they closed down for several months. They brother wanted to be the first restaurant that implement "Speedee Services". They came up with this idea because they most there profit off of burgers, and since the burger did not take that long to make they could have fast services. In 1948 McDonald establish the principles of the modern fast-food restaurant. They also started selling French fries and milkshakes to go along with there burgers. So they became popular in San Bernardino, California, so the brother decided to franchise the restaurant. The second McDonald open in Phoenix, Arizona. The third open in Saginaw, Michigan and the forth open in Downey, California. In 1961 The McDonald sold the business to a man name Ray Kroc. Ray Kroc has been working with McDonald for about six years helping the franchise expand. So it was a smart move by McDonald brother to give there business to him. So McDonald really branch out in the 60's. In 1967 McDonald open there first restaurant outside America. They open one in Richmond, British Columbia. In 1970 McDonald opens in Costa Rica which is the third country that has a McDonalds. It was the first restaurant in Latin America.
.In 1955, at the age of 53, Raymond Kroc founded the McDonald’s Corporation and opened his first restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois. McDonald’s grew slowly for its first three years in 1958 there were 34 restaurants and opened 67 new restaurants in 1959 bringing the total to more than 100. In 1961, the McDonald brothers agreed to sell all the business right to Kroc for $2.7 million and the company went public in 1965. The first international franchise opened in 1967 in Canada and Puerto Rico. In December 1980, USA gave Golden Arches Restaurants Sdn. Bhd (GARSB) won the license to operate McDonald’s in Malaysia. McDonald’s Malaysia opened its first restaurant at Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur on 29 April 1982. Currently, McDonald’s Malaysia has more than 200 restaurants located nationwide and is expanding at about 20-25 restaurants annually. McDonald’s Malaysia employs almost 10,000 employees with 120 support staff at its headquarters manage the operations of the McDonald’s business. Overall, McDonald’s has more than 30,000 branches in 120 countries around the world which serve burgers, fries, drinks .
After knowing about three different restaurants one might be eager to find the advantages and disadvantage. Advantages of the three different restaurants in terms of budget, service and healthy options found in menu. What is the advantage of dining in a café?
Firstly, most of the Café’s have a wide selection of coffee than in Fine dining and Fast food restaurant. Café serves food, fruits, and drinks in a cheaper price compared to Fine dining restaurant. On the other hand, Fast food restaurants are very much cheaper compared to price of Fine dining restaurant and Café’s. Fine dining restaurant is known for its quick services due to which busy people can order, grab, and eat within 25-35 minutes. Finally, the Fine dining restaurants has both advantages and disadvantages for dining in at the restaurant. The ambience of the restaurant, peaceful environment, freshly prepared food, healthy food options along with varieties of drinks are some of the advantages of Fine dining restaurant.
The variety of restaurant are found in the world but focusing on Café, Fine dining restaurant and Fast food restaurant in terms of budget, service and healthy food options in menu is the key factor for most of the customers. Critics have criticized all the three types of restaurants beginning with Café’s. One of the disadvantage of Café’s are that it only provides light food. Most of the Café’s don’t serve the customer but the customers can sit and enjoy his/her meal which is known as self-service. Although, Café is a type of restaurant most popular to socialize sometimes the problems of waiting for the food and drinks might also be take into account as its disadvantage.
Focusing on the disadvantage of the Fine dining restaurant is very hard. Even though one might not know the inside story about the Fine dining restaurant but it still has got some disadvantages. Firstly, most of the Fine dining restaurants needs to have a reservation to dine in that might be time consuming for customers. Secondly, the price of the food and drinks served in the Fine dining restaurants are expensive than any other restaurants. Lastly, the psychology about service varies from person to person and although one might not agree that Fine dining restaurants sometimes provide sloppy service there have been some issues about service in the Fine dining restaurants.
Out of all the three types of restaurants described above Fast food restaurants are the most targeted ones. Fast food restaurants are targeted as being one of the main sources for obesity in America. According to Fiona Bayly writer from Livestrong.com, “Extra calories cause weight gain, and the simplest way to overindulge in calories is to eat fast food every day” (Fiona, 2011). Is it the Fast food restaurant that is really causing obesity in America is a huge question?
Although, the owners of the Fast food restaurants and its chain may not agree on it but one cannot change the fact that Fast food restaurant provides lots of fat, calories, and sugar in the products they sale. For example, the varieties off soda are served in the Fast food restaurant along with the food that contains huge amount of fat and calories. However, there are other issues in Fast food restaurants as well. Service is another factor that is sloppy in Fast food restaurant. Not every Fast food restaurants has the quick enough service as in McDonald’s. Although there are some McDonald’s that provide sloppy service but not all the Fast food restaurants are the same. The only disadvantage that a Fast food restaurant does not have is that the fast food restaurants are very cheap compared to other restaurants.
Comparing all three types of restaurant in terms of budget, service style, and healthy food options found in menu one might debate that one is better than the other. There is no certain answer to the questions. The reason for not having a certain answer is that the thinking of guest at various types of restaurants varies. For example, one might say that the Fine dining restaurant is better than any other restaurant. One might argue that the Fine dining restaurant is not affordable by most of the people. Does this mean that eating healthy food with good quality service in America has gone very expensive that most of people cannot even afford it? Price hike and recession are those reasons that have left the people in America with no options than going for Fast food restaurants.
If he/she looks at the Café which is also a type of restaurant one might argue that café has light food but heavy on liquor and people may not like it. On the contrary one can counter argue that he/she can enjoy music in Café which is the key to socialize and relax after the work done throughout the day.
One can look at the Fast food restaurant and argue that it provides varieties of food quickly and saves the time. He/she cannot forget that health is the greatest factor in one’s life. If eating at fast food restaurant challenges the health then it’s up to one either to stick to it or to leave it. Does this mean that always cooking and eating at home healthy? There are various factors that can be taken into account that if cooked at home using can food may not be a healthy option but one can argue that eating food cooked at home is far healthier option than eating at restaurant. Eating at home is healthier, cheaper, and one doesn’t have to think about where to eat and what to eat.
Overall, comparing all three types of restaurant in terms of budget, service style, and healthy food options found in menu and dealing with arguments and counter arguments might confuse one either to dine in at a restaurant or to cook at home. Sadly one can say that cooking at home in America has faded away and people would dine in at a restaurant to save his/her time. The main concern here would be the health because eating at a restaurant every day may not be healthy.

Works Cited

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Hard Rock Cafe. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2013, from Hard Rock History: http://www.hardrock.com/corporate/history.aspx
John, W. R. (2008 (fifth edition)). The Restaurant. South Florida: John Wiley and Son's,Inc. , Hoboken, New Jersey.
KIEFER, N. M. (August 2002). Restaurant History. Economics and the origin of the restaurant , 5-7.
Lubin Gus and Badkar Mamta. (2012). 17 Facts about McDonald's that Will Blow Your Mind. New York: Business Insider.
McDonalds History. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2013, from McDonalds company website: http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/mcdonalds_history_timeline.html
Mealey, L. (n.d.). A History Of Restaurant -Part one. Retrieved April 28, 2013, from About.com: http://restaurants.about.com/od/resources/a/A-History-Of-The-Restaurant-Part-One.htm
Mealey, L. (n.d.). Defination and example of restaurant concept. Retrieved April 28, 2013, from About.com: http://restaurants.about.com/od/glossaryofterms/a/Concepts.htm
Rebecca, S. L. (2001). The Invention of the Restaurant. Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England: Harvard University press.