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In Britain, a cafe (), also known colloquially as a caff or
greasy spoon A greasy spoon is a small, cheap restaurant – either an American diner or coffee shop, or a British or Irish cafe – typically specializing in fried foods or home-cooked meals. The term ''greasy spoon'' has been used in the United States sinc ...
, is a small, cheap
eatery A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearance ...
typically specialising in fried foods or home-cooked meals. Though it uses the same word origin as the term "
café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-c ...
", it is distinct from the more European style of
coffeehouse A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...
or bar.Take the Kids England, 3rd. Fullman, Joseph. New Holland Publishers, 1 June 2007. p. 21 A British cafe does not usually serve alcohol. It is commonly an independently owned business; the only notable chain of roadside cafes is
OK Diner The OK Diner is a privately owned roadside restaurant chain in the United Kingdom. The restaurants have a retro, 1950s-style American diner theme with popular 1950s music, chequerboard flooring, booth seating, plenty of chrome details and 1950 ...
since the demise of Happy Eater in 1997 and Little Chef in 2018.


Menu

A British cafe typically offers fried or grilled food such as an all-day " full cooked breakfast", which may contain a combination of ingredients such as fried egg,
bacon Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central ingredient (e.g., the bacon, lettuce, and tomato sand ...
,
black pudding , type = , course = , place_of_origin = Great Britain and Ireland , region =England, Ireland, Scotland , associated_cuisine = United Kingdom and Ireland , creator = , year = , mintime = , maxtime = , served = Hot, occasionally ...
,
bubble and squeak Bubble and squeak is a British dish made from cooked potatoes and cabbage, mixed together and fried. The food writer Howard Hillman classes it as one of the "great peasant dishes of the world".Hillman, pp. 62–63 The dish has been known sin ...
,
hash browns Hash browns, also spelled hashed browns, are a popular American and British breakfast food, consisting of finely chopped potatoes that have been fried until browned. Hash browns first started appearing on breakfast menus in New York City in th ...
, baked beans, fried bread, toast, grilled tomato, burgers,
sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders. ...
s,
mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...
and
chips ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The seri ...
. Hot and cold sandwiches may be available, such as a bacon butty or sausage sandwich. A range of other cooked meals may be available, such as
steak and kidney pie Steak and kidney pie is a popular British dish. It is a savoury pie filled principally with a mixture of diced beef, diced kidney (which may be beef, lamb, veal or pork) and onion. Its contents are generally similar to those of steak and kidney p ...
, a full roast, or
liver and onions The liver is a major organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it i ...
, with a cooked dessert such as apple crumble and
custard Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency fr ...
. The main drink in a cafe or greasy spoon is usually tea, especially " builder's tea" (a nickname for a mug of strong black tea, such as English breakfast tea, usually served with milk and sugar and typically robust and flavourful with a brisk character and a dark red colour). Coffee, where available, is usually
instant In physics and the philosophy of science, instant refers to an infinitesimal interval in time, whose passage is instantaneous. In ordinary speech, an instant has been defined as "a point or very short space of time," a notion deriving from its ...
or sometimes
espresso Espresso (, ) is a coffee-brewing method of Italian origin, in which a small amount of nearly boiling water (about ) is forced under of pressure through finely-ground coffee beans. Espresso can be made with a wide variety of coffee beans a ...
but rarely brewed.


Transport cafe

The cafe was the mainstay of British
lorry A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructio ...
drivers who travelled the major trunk roads such as the A1 and the A6 prior to the opening of the motorways. These cafes were not only stops where the driver could eat, but also made convenient meeting places where the
trade unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
could talk to their members. A cafe that is beside a main road and serves passing motorists, particularly lorry drivers, is sometimes known as a transport cafe; this may or not be accompanied by a petrol station. A motorway service station will typically include one or more
fast food restaurant A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically ...
s such as
Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based restaurant ch ...
,
Greggs Greggs plc is a British bakery chain. It specialises in savoury products such as bakes, sausage rolls, sandwiches and sweet items including doughnuts and vanilla slices. It is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is listed on ...
, or
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...
, and possibly a transport cafe for the lorry drivers.


See also

* Ace Cafe, a historic transport cafe *
AMT Coffee AMT Coffee was founded in 1993 by Alistair McCallum-Toppin and his two brothers Angus and Allan. AMT Coffee is a chain of coffeehouses that are located in airports, hospitals and railway stations. /sup> AMT Coffee was the first national coffee ...
*
The Armadillo Tea Rooms The Armadillo Tea Rooms was a café in Liverpool that were a significant part of the early '80s music scene. This was helped by their proximity to Mathew Street Mathew Street is a street in Liverpool, England, notable as the location ...
* Bar Italia * Boston Tea Party (café chain) * British Coffee House *
Button's Coffee House Button's Coffee House was an 18th-century coffeehouse in London, England. It was situated in Russell Street, Covent Garden, between the City and Westminster. History The earlier Will's Coffee House was badly reviewed by Richard Steele in '' ...
* Cadena Cafes Limited * Café Monico * Caffè Concerto *
Caffè Nero Caffè Nero is an Italian-influenced coffeehouse company headquartered in London, England. Founded in 1997 by Gerry Ford, currently the company runs more than 1,000 coffee houses in eleven countries: the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Cyprus, Croat ...
* Caffè Ritazza * Café Scientifique * Carpenter's Coffee House * The Cat's Whisker * Cave Austin and Company * Cereal Killer Cafe *
Coffee 1 Coffee #1 is a British coffee house chain that originated in Cardiff, Wales in 2001, and since 2019 has been majority owned by Caffè Nero. Coffee#1 has outlets along the M4 corridor, with others in Wales and southern England. History Cof ...
* Coffee Republic *
Costa Coffee Costa Coffee is a British coffeehouse chain with headquarters in Dunstable, England. Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by Sergio Costa as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops. I ...
*
Cyberia, London Cyberia, London was an internet cafe founded in London in September 1994, which provided desktop computers with full internet access in a café environment. Situated at 39 Whitfield Street in Fitzrovia, the cafe was founded by Eva Pascoe, David ...
*
Forest Café The Forest, also referred to as Forest Café, was an independent social centre and arts centre located in central Edinburgh, Scotland. It was notable for being run by volunteers as a charitable, self-sustaining not-for-profit. Forest café was ...
* Freeth's Coffee House *
Freud, Oxford Freud (aka Freud's) is a café-bar in a Victorian former church building at 119 Walton Street in Jericho, Oxford, England]. The Freud café is located opposite Great Clarendon Street and the Oxford University Press is also opposite to the sou ...
* Gail's *
Garraway's Coffee House Garraways Coffee House was a London coffee house in Exchange Alley from the period where such houses served as important places where other business was performed. Its original proprietor, Thomas Garway, was already said to be the first person ...
*
Grecian Coffee House The Grecian Coffee House was a coffee house, first established in about 1665 at Wapping Old Stairs in London, England, by a Greek former mariner called George Constantine. The enterprise proved a success and, by 1677, Constantine had been able ...
* Harris + Hoole * Hindoostane Coffee House * Hotel Café Royal * InSpiral Lounge * The Jazz Café *
Jonathan's Coffee-House Jonathan's Coffee House was a significant meeting place in London in the 17th and 18th centuries, famous as the original site of the London Stock Exchange. The coffee house was opened around 1680 by Jonathan Miles in Change (or Exchange) Al ...
* Kardomah Cafés * Labworth Café *
Lloyd's Coffee House A 19th-century drawing of Lloyd's Coffee House Lloyd's Coffee House was a significant meeting place in London in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was opened by Edward Lloyd (c. 1648 – 15 February 1713) on Tower Street in 1686. The establis ...
* Magpie Café *
Minerva Café The Minerva Café was a cafe at 144 High Holborn in London's Holborn district. It was founded by the Women's Freedom League in 1916. The British Socialist Party and the Communist Workers Party of Sylvia Pankhurst also met at the cafe. Constance ...
* Muffin Break *
Nando's Coffee House Nando's was a coffee house in Fleet Street in London. It was known to exist in 1696, being the subject of a conveyance, and was popular in the 18th century, especially with the legal profession in the nearby courts and chambers. The name ''Nan ...
*
Old Slaughter's Coffee House Old Slaughter's Coffee House was a coffee house in St Martin's Lane in London. Opened in 1692 by Thomas Slaughter, it was the haunt of many of the important personages of the period. The building was demolished in 1843 when Cranbourn Street was c ...
*
Ossington Coffee Tavern, Newark on Trent The Ossington Coffee Tavern is a Grade II* listed building in Newark on Trent, Nottinghamshire. History The foundation stone was laid on 10 November 1881 when Harold Peto representing his firm of architects placed a sealed bottle within a stone c ...
* Partisan Coffee House *
Patisserie Valerie Patisserie Valerie is a chain of cafés that operates in the United Kingdom. The chain specialises in cakes, and its menu included continental breakfasts, lunches and teas and coffees. The company went into administration in January 2019, prior t ...
* Pete's Eats Cafe *
Pink Peacock Pink Peacock (Yiddish: , ) is a café and infoshop in the Govanhill area of Glasgow. Described by its founders as "the only queer Yiddish anarchist vegan pay-what-you-can café in the world" and " anti-Zionist", it opened physically in 2021 af ...
* Pumpkin Café Shop *
Queen's Lane Coffee House Queen's Lane Coffee House is a historic coffee house established by Cirques Jobson, a Levantine Jew from Syria. Dating back to 1654, it claims to be the oldest continually serving coffee house in Europe although, it has only been on the presen ...
* Rainbow Coffee House *
Regency Cafe The Regency Cafe is an art deco style British cafe in Regency Street, London. It first opened in 1946, and has been used as a filming location on several occasions. In 2013, it was voted the fifth best restaurant in London by users of Yelp. Des ...
* The River Café * Sun Inn, Barnes * Taylor St Baristas * Tom King's Coffee House * Trew Era Cafe * The Troubadour, London * Turkey Cafe * Union Street Café * Vienna Café * Will's Coffee House


References

{{reflist


External links


Classic Cafes
– The Very Best of London's Twentieth Century vintage Formica caffs Restaurants by type