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In the Western world, while inns and taverns were well-known from antiquity, these
were establishments aimed primarily at travellers. These would serve as a breakfast restaurant or dinner restaurant, serving just one particular meal as necessary to someone on a journey. The term restaurant however (from the French restaurer, to restore) first appeared in the 16th century and referred specifically to a rich soup. It was first applied to an eating establishment in around 1765. Restaurants, as businesses dedicated to the serving of food, and where specific dishes are ordered by the diner and generally prepared according to this order, emerged only in the 18th century.
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The Sobrino de Botin in Madrid, Spain, is the oldest restaurant in existence today. It opened in 1725. The first restaurant in the form that we know today, with customers sitting down to individual portions at individual tables and selecting food from restaurant menus was the Great Tavern of London, founded in Paris in 1782. After the French Revolution, restaurants became commonplace when the the aristocracy had to flee, leaving behind their chefs; numerous provincials arrived in Paris with no family to cook for them. Restaurants were the the solution. This was the beginning of the fine dining restaurant we know today.
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Restaurants then spread rapidly across the world, with the first in the United States opening in Boston in 1794. Many restaurants continued the standard approach of providing each diner with a shared meal on the table. This was called service à la française, commonly called "family style" restaurants, and encouraged them to eat rather quickly. The familiar pattern of service where customers are given a plate with the food already arranged on it is called "American Service." A more formal style of dining, where waiters carry platters of food around the table and diners serve themselves, is known as service à la russe. This was perhaps the first form of restaurant “delivery.”
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Today, people are accustomed to true restaurant delivery to their homes or offices, or as some restaurants now offer, driving up and taking their phoned-in orders to go. For those not interested in preparing their own food, a myriad of options are available. Found over the Internet or in a phone book, a restaurant guide can help narrow down choices by type of cuisine, such as Thai restaurant or Mexican restaurant . If a Mexican restaurant is desired, then the restaurant guide can probably locate one, or another ethnic cuisine such as an Italian restaurant or Chinese restaurant, within a reasonable geographic distance, particularly in any significant metropolitan area.
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You can certainly find a seafood restaurant as well, but would be wise to check a the restaurant menu and reviews ahead of time. Fresh ingredients make an enormous difference in the quality of the food served . General listings as “Italian restaurant” don't tell the whole story either. Italian restaurants may serve anything from Mediterranean cuisine or robust meat and tomato dishes or even be essentially a seafood restaurant. The customer needs to make an entire litany of decisions when selecting a restaurant in the modern age, keeping in mind that even now some still are only breakfast restaurants and some only dinner restaurants.
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