In the United States, cafeterias began in 1885, with the opening of a self-service restaurant in New York, or in 1893, when a Chicago restaurateur named his business a cafeteria (literally, “coffee shop” in Spanish) (although the term is now used around the globe). Cafeterias began exploding in California in 1905, when a restaurant offering self-service marketed itself for its “food that can be seen” and “no tips.” The idea was so popular that by the 1920s, some called L.A. “Sunny Cafeteria.”
The Industrial Revolution also contributed to the cafeteria’s growth. Cafeterias provided free lunches, unlike saloons. A new class of workers had emerged who looked down on bringing steel lunch boxes to work.
McDonald’s and other fast-food restaurants made the stand-alone cafeterias virtually obsolete by the 1960s. Here is a set of vintage postcards showing the inside of American cafeterias in the 1950s and 1960s.
