Coffeehouse

A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or cafe (also spelt café) shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on providing coffee and tea as well as light snacks. Other food may range from baked goods to soups and sandwiches, other casual meals, and light desserts. In some countries, cafes may more closely resemble restaurants, offering a range of hot meals, and possibly being licensed to serve alcohol. Many coffee houses in the Muslim world, and in Muslim districts in the West, offer shisha, powdered tobacco smoked through a hookah. In places where it is tolerated, notably the Netherlands, Christiania in Copenhagen, and certain parts of Canada, cannabis is enjoyed as well.

Contemporary Cafés

In the United States, café (from the French word for coffee) is a small restaurant. Styles of cafés vary; some concentrate upon many styles of coffee, tea, and hot chocolate, with possibly a selection of baked goods and sandwiches, while others offer full menus. American cafés may or may not serve alcoholic beverages, and the serving of coffee may be incidental to the serving of food.

Related Topics:
French - Coffee - Restaurant - Tea - Chocolate - Baked - Sandwich

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In France, a "café" certainly serves alcoholic beverages. French cafés also often serve simple snacks (sandwiches etc...). They may or may not have a restaurant section. A brasserie is a café that serves meals, generally single dishes, in a more relaxed setting than a restaurant. A "bistro" is a café / restaurant, especially in Paris. Bistro food is supposed to be cheap, but in recent years bistros, especially in Paris, have become increasingly expensive.

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Cafés developed from the coffeehouses that became popular in Europe upon the introduction of coffee. Those also spawned another, completely different type of restaurant, the cafeteria.

Related Topics:
Coffeehouse - Cafeteria

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There are two types of cafés: those that specialize in coffee and hot beverages, and those with a full menu, the most famous examples of which are the "French cafés," especially those in Paris.

Related Topics:
Beverage - Paris

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Cafés, in warmer days, may have an outdoor part (terrace, pavement or sidewalk café) with seats, tables and parasols. This is especially the case with European cafés. See also public space.

Related Topics:
Sidewalk - Public space

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Cafés offer a more open public space to many of the traditional pubs they have replaced, which were more male dominated, with a focus on drinking alcohol. Many people complain that traditional, local venues are being pushed out by cloned, characterless cafes controlled by big business. This is often due to the business practices of chains such as Starbucks, which will oversaturate an area so as to drive overall profits up while lowering the profits of individual establishments.

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The original uses of the cafe, as a place for information exchange and communication was reintroduced in the 1990s with the Internet cafe. The spread of modern style cafes to many places, urban and rural, went hand in hand with computers. Computers and Internet access in contemporary-styled venue is a youthful, modern, outward-looking place, compared to the traditional pubs, or old-fashioned diners that they replaced. In the mid 2000s, of course, many mainstream cafes offer Internet access, just as they offer telephones and newspapers.

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