Café, Pub, Coffeehouse, Bistro, Brasserie

Café
A café (also spelled cafe, pronounced ['kæfeɪ] or [kæ'feɪ]) or coffee shop is an informal restaurant offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches. This differs from a coffee house, which is a limited-menu establishment which focuses on coffee sales. 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. 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. In central business districts of larger cities cafés and coffee shops are often open only for breakfast and lunch, since their patrons leave the area after business hours.

"French cafes", especially those in Paris carry a full menu. American cafes may or may not serve alcoholic beverages, and the serving of coffee is incidental to the serving of food. British cafes, however, do not sell alcohol. In Europe, cafes often have an enclosed or outdoor section extending onto the sidewalk.

In the Netherlands, a café is an establishment selling liquor, as opposed a coffee shop, which sells soft drugs (cannibis and hashish) and is typically not allowed to sell liquor.

Public House (Pub)

A public house, usually known as a pub, is an establishment which serves alcoholic drinks — especially beer — for consumption on the premises, usually in a cozy setting. Pubs are commonly found in English-speaking countries, particularly in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

In North America, drinking establishments with a British or Irish name or theme are called pubs as well; the appellation "pub" itself is often a component of this theme. Although the terms may have different connotations, there is no definitive difference between pubs, bars, taverns and lounges where alcohol is served commercially.

Traditionally, a pub which offers lodging may be called an inn or (more recently) hotel in the UK. Today many pubs, in the UK and Australia in particular, with the word "inn" or "hotel" in their name no longer offer accommodation, or in some cases have never done so. Some pubs often bear the name of "hotel" because they are in countries where stringent anti-drinking laws were once in force. Until 1976 in Scotland only hotels could serve alcohol on Sundays; in Australia, this restriction operated all through the week.

Coffeehouse

A coffeehouse  (French/Spanish/Portuguese: café; Italian: caffè, German: Kaffeehaus) shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on providing coffee and tea as well as light snacks. This differs from a café, which is an informal restaurant, 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 establishments where it is tolerated - which may be found notably in the Netherlands, especially in Amsterdam - cannabis may be smoked as well.

From a cultural standpoint, coffeehouses largely serve as centers of social interaction: the coffeehouse provides social members with a place to congregate, talk, write, read, entertain one another, or pass the time, whether individually or in small groups.

Bistro

A bistro, or bistrot, is a familiar name for a type of small restaurant serving moderately priced simple meals in an unpretentious setting, especially in Paris, France. A bistro may not offer professional service or printed menus, and it will usually specialize in simple classic dishes such as steak au poivre, French onion soup, and coq au vin. The term is possibly derived from the Russian: бы́стро (IPA: [ˈbɨstrə]) which means 'quickly.' Russian soldiers occupying France after the Napoleonic Wars would frequently demand that French civilians serve their food quickly, shouting the word that evolved into the neologism 'bistro' at them. It is worth noting that in Russia restaurants were not traditionaly called "bistros".

This etymology is disputed: the most common version is that Cossack soldiers that occupied Paris in 1815 screamed the word in restaurants. However, the first recorded use of the word appears in 1884, almost seventy years later, and again in 1892 ("bistrot"). Nevertheless, many French scholars saw that version as a humiliating one and started looking for others.

One precursor suggested for the word could be "bistraud", a word in the Poitou dialect which means a "lesser servant." Another offered is bistouille or bistrouille, a colloquial term from northern area of France, which is a mixture of brandy and coffee; precisely the kind of beverage that could be served at a bistro.

 Brasserie

In France, a brasserie is a café doubling as a restaurant with a relaxed setting, which serves single dishes and other meals. It can be expected to have professional service and printed menus (unlike a bistro which may have neither), but more informal eating hours than a full-fledged restaurant. Typically, a brasserie is open every day of the week and the same menu is served all day.

The word 'brasserie' is also French for brewery and, by extension, "the brewing business".