cafeteria-style
Americanadjective
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set up to allow a variety of choices.
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arranged like a cafeteria.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“I’ve cried with my team a lot,” she said over the soft thrum of conversation in the airy cafeteria-style bistro.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 30, 2025
So, I’ll always have a soft spot for all kinds of crunchy tacos, whether they’re the puffy tacos popular in San Antonio or the Americanized high school cafeteria-style hard-shell tacos with orange cheese.
From Washington Post • Jun. 9, 2022
They’re sitting in classrooms, eating cafeteria-style, socializing and studying in the library.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 24, 2021
The pork shoulder, applewood-smoked and then made tender from a 14-hour braise with citrus and chiles, is four notches better than the cafeteria-style, hard-shell taco your kids eat.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 27, 2020
It operated cafeteria-style; Tarlac, unfamiliar with any of the food, copied Hovan's choices, and ended up with more than he could possibly eat.
From Fearful Symmetry A Terran Empire novel by Wilson, Ann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
