cafeteria

American  

[kaf-i-teer-ee-uh] / ˌkæf ɪˈtɪər i ə /

noun

• cafeterias
  plural

1. a restaurant in which patrons wait on themselves, carrying their food to tables from counters where it is displayed and served.

2. a lunchroom or dining hall, as in a factory, office, or school, where food is served from counters or dispensed from vending machines or where food brought from home may be eaten.

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cafeteria British  

/ ˌkæfɪˈtɪərɪə /

noun

1. a self-service restaurant

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cafeterias
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cafeteria

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40; from Latin American Spanish cafetería “café,” Spanish cafeter(a) “coffeemaker,” from French caf(f)etière (equivalent to café + etière feminine of -ier ); t apparently by analogy with words such as bouquetière “flower seller,” from bases ending in t ) + -ía; see origin at coffee, -ier ²

Explanation

A cafeteria is a restaurant where you serve yourself, then pay a cashier. Most schools have a cafeteria serving up sloppy joes and square pizza. "Let's go to the cafeteria!" usually means "Let's eat!" Most people think of school cafeterias, but they can exist elsewhere — a lot of Ikea stores actually have cafeterias for the customers. Cafeteria-style refers to any restaurant where you grab what you want and then pay for it before eating. Cafeterias usually aren't known for having the best food in the world, so if you have another option, go for it.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cafeteria cafeterias

Staff pushed furniture aside and crammed into the cafeteria inside the company’s sleek, open-air headquarters as executives took the stage.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

That cafeteria approach to fare pricing came out of post-pandemic air-travel lessons, at least in part.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

Mannequins on display with USC football uniforms outside of the on-site cafeteria at the Bloom Football Performance Center.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

“I make a motion to appoint myself,” Verdugo said last week from a folding chair in an elementary-school cafeteria, looking out at dozens of constituents perched awkwardly on low kid-size benches.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

He was at a cafeteria counter late one night, sipping coffee and glancing over at a young woman sitting at a table with a book.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

Yet schools have many fixed costs, such as maintaining, repairing, heating and cooling school buildings, operating cafeterias and managing many administrative functions that cannot easily be scaled down when enrollment declines inevitably reduce funding.

From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026

Post-primary pupils face price rises of 19% on food they buy from school cafeterias, while pre-school prices will also go up.

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2025

As someone who grew up with rock ’n’ roll, the hyper-amplified early Philip Glass Ensemble, and really noisy cafeterias, I was unbothered.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2025

And it’s happening more frequently, as an increasing number of schools have slowly started to serve brand-name fast foods in their cafeterias.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2025

The sit-ins to desegregate restaurants and cafeterias that were now taking place across the South had originated in Greensboro.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

Related Words

• lunchroom
• snack bar