Cafeterias

In its heyday, the American cafeteria was a sociological as well as a culinary phenomenon. Although it was christened with the Spanish word for “coffee shop,” it is rather a buffet—a self-service operation on a relatively large scale. Efficient and economical, it provided a solution to various logistical problems arising in the transition between a primarily agrarian and an essentially urban-industrial society: as fewer and fewer people worked on either their own land or their own time, and scheduled lunch breaks made midday commutes home impractical, the need for eateries that were conveniently located within commercial districts and streamlined for speed—as well as thrift—increased. This need was first met in the 1880s with the opening of the Exchange Buffet in New York City (met, that is, for men, to whom the place catered exclusively). It gained credence across the country in the next decade, boosted by an exhibition at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair—where the term “conscience joint” was coined in a nod to the honor system by which patrons settled the check—and by the efforts of such entrepreneurs as the brothers Samuel and William Childs, who are credited with introducing the system of lines and trays that defines the modern cafeteria.