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. Cafe Terrace at Night, also known as The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum, is an oil painting executed by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh on an A restaurant is a retail establishment that serves prepared Food to Customers. A sandwich is a food item made of two or more slices of Bread with one or more layers of a filling This differs from a coffee house, which is a limited-menu establishment which focuses on coffee sales. A coffeehouse ( French / Portuguese: café; Spanish: cafetería; Italian: caffè 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. A bistro, sometimes spelled bistrot, is a small Restaurant serving moderately priced simple meals in a modest setting A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging usually on a short-term basis 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. Breakfast is the first meal of the day The word derives from the idea of break ing the '''fast''' of sleep 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. A central business district ( CBD) is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city Luncheon, commonly abbreviated to lunch, is a midday Meal. In English-speaking countries during the eighteenth century what was originally called " Business hours are the hours during the day in which Business is commonly conducted

In France, a café also serves alcoholic beverages. French cafés often serve simple snacks such as sandwiches. They may have a restaurant section. A brasserie is a café that serves meals, generally single dishes, in a more relaxed setting than a restaurant. 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. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands A cannabis Coffeeshop is a place where the sale of cannabis and Hashish for personal consumption by the public is tolerated by the local Cannabis ( Cán-na-bis) is a Genus of Flowering plants that includes three putative species Cannabis sativa subsp Hashish (from Arabic: ar حشيش, lit "grass" also hash) is a preparation of cannabis composed of the compressed

A "café" can also refer to a small informal public discussion. Science cafés are an increasingly popular form, and involve a conversation between a scientist and the general public. These events take place in casual, open venues like coffeehouses and pubs. Find out more at sciencecafes.org, or Cafe Scientifique. Café Scientifique is a Grassroots public science initiative currently running in 42 cities across the United Kingdom and cities in other countries

Spelling and pronunciation

Konstantin Korovin, A Parisian Café in the late 1890s. Konstantin Alekseyevich Korovin ( Russian: Константин Алексеевич Коровин, the first name often spelled Constantin) ( Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city

The most common spelling café is the French spelling, and was adopted by English-speaking countries in the late 19th century ^[1]. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar 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 ^[2]. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive Greasy spoon is a Colloquial term used in Britain and North America for archetypal Working class eateries

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 also become common. An operating system (commonly abbreviated OS and O/S) is the software component of a Computer system that is responsible for the management and coordination English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States A diacritic ( also called a diacritic or diacritical mark, point, or sign, is a small sign added to a letter to alter pronunciation

See also

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

References

1. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition (1989), entry number 50031127 (café)
2. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition (1989), entry number 50031130 (caff)