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

SpaceX’s compensation philosophy historically favored equity over cash salaries, so this windfall extends well beyond executives and engineers to include nontechnical staff, entry-level workers and even cafeteria employees.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

Vegetarian food is served cafeteria style and in practice if not by decree, eaten slowly, putting down the fork between bites.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026

Army would set up a table inside the cafeteria of our high school where they would recruit these kids—not even young men and women—into the service.

From Slate ● Jun. 17, 2026

A noisy cafeteria may be where ideas start.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026

“It’s obvious that Gladys Herdman got that poor little boy to knock himself silly and cause a big commotion, and then she went to the cafeteria and walked off with every last cookie!”

From "The Best School Year Ever" by Barbara Robinson

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

Some of the cafeterias and coffee carts that are usually open to staffers are closed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 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

Not the kind that you see at construction sites, or in school cafeterias whenever there was a spill.

From "Patina" by Jason Reynolds

Related Words

• lunchroom
• snack bar