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• café
  café

  noun

  a small, unpretentious restaurant, often with exterior seating on a patio or extending onto the sidewalk.
• CAFE
  CAFE

  noun

  a U.S. federally mandated standard of average minimum miles-per-gallon fuel consumption for all the cars produced by an automobile manufacturer in a given year.

café

¹ American  

[ka-fay, kuh-, ka-fay] / kæˈfeɪ, kə-, kaˈfeɪ /

Or cafe

noun

• cafés
  plural

1. a small, unpretentious restaurant, often with exterior seating on a patio or extending onto the sidewalk.

   Synonyms:

   tearoom, lunchroom, bistro, coffeehouse

2. coffee.

   I pick up a café and a croissant on my commute in to work every morning.

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CAFE ² American  

[ka-fay, kuh-] / kæˈfeɪ, kə- /

noun

1. a U.S. federally mandated standard of average minimum miles-per-gallon fuel consumption for all the cars produced by an automobile manufacturer in a given year.

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café British  

/ ˈkæfeɪ, ˈkæfɪ /

noun

1. a small or inexpensive restaurant or coffee bar, serving light meals and refreshments

2. a corner shop or grocer

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Spelling

See resume ².

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cafés
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of café¹

First recorded in 1780–90; from French: literally, “coffee”; see origin at coffee

Origin of CAFE²

C(orporate) A(verage) F(uel) E(conomy)

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Compare meaning

How does cafe compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• bistro vs. CAFE
• CAFE vs. coffee shop

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Explanation

A cafe is a coffee shop, or a small restaurant where coffee is served. Your neighborhood cafe might be a good place to get a piece of pie and a cup of coffee. You could stop by a cafe for lunch, or just grab a coffee and a muffin to go. You can also call a cafe a "coffeehouse" or "coffee shop," and while the word is similar to cafeteria — and the two share a root word — a cafeteria tends to be a buffet-style restaurant or dining hall. Cafe comes from the French café, which means both "coffee" and "coffeehouse."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

café CAFE cafés

We meet Tuesday in the café of a Jerry’s Foods grocery store in this Minneapolis suburb, where nearby diners recognize her and eavesdrop.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

Rob used to own a café, but he now installs blinds and curtains for a living and uses his free time to channel his culinary creativity.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

A few weeks ago, I met an acquaintance for coffee at a Cuban café attached to a downtown hostel, where people with backpacks of varying dimensions passed steadily through the lobby.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

We arrived at Orikum and sat down for a caffè freddo at a café overlooking the sea.

From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026

“I will bring fresh café con leche in the morning con bocadillos de guava.”

From "Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish" by Pablo Cartaya

As long as we’re stuck with a version of CAFE, though, there is another change needed to eliminate a distortion: Stop averaging miles per gallon and start averaging gallons burned per thousand miles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025

That would be the main focus of the school’s proposed Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment, or CAFE.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 20, 2022

"CAFE is not a public health regulation," said Graham, who is a member of EPA's Science Advisory Board.

From Science Magazine ● Aug. 1, 2018

The corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, program is shared between two agencies: the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and EPA, which is the latecomer.

From Scientific American ● Aug. 1, 2018

You've only to step round the corner of Smith's Hotel on the side street and read the sign: LADIES' AND GENT'S CAFE, just as large and as imposing as ever.

From Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock

It’s set in Los Angeles but the cafés and shops are obviously not local and the worst, most dated stock L.A. traffic footage can’t cover that up.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

We would be sipping ice-cold spritzes at cafés overlooking the Mediterranean, frolicking down cobblestone streets lined with charming boutiques, and marveling at the frescoes and marble sculptures adorning grand cathedrals.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026

“The hype started in Japan. In Japan there are even cafés where you have contact with capybaras. And the internet helped, and the public is always curious. They want to know about the species.”

From Slate ● May 27, 2026

The contest’s co-host Victoria Swarovski, singer, model and crystal heiress, says the city is a true metropolis best experienced on foot—where imperial architecture and centuries-old cafés weave through contemporary restaurants and nightlife.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

Closer at hand were the light-bearing trees of the casino gardens, and the streets of the city, and the waterfront with its hotels and cafés and warm-lit shops, all silent, all empty.

From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman

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