greasy spoon

American  

noun

Slang.

1. a cheap and rather unsanitary restaurant.

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greasy spoon British  

noun

1. slang a small, cheap, and often unsanitary restaurant, usually specializing in fried foods

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greasy spoon Idioms  

1. A cheap restaurant, especially one serving short-order fried foods. For example, College students short of cash tend to eat a lot in that greasy spoon. This expression also implies that the restaurant is not very clean. [c. 1900]

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Etymology

Origin of greasy spoon

An Americanism dating back to 1920–25

Example Sentences

The Wagners relocated to Houston, and in 1928 Mary Kay’s mother opened a greasy spoon, where she worked seven days a week, leaving her 10-year-old daughter in charge at home.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

But even if that wasn’t true, the etiquette is the same at a high-end restaurant as it is at your local greasy spoon.

From Slate • Oct. 13, 2023

Casual diners ordered meatloaf and burgers at the local greasy spoon.

From Los Angeles Times • May 3, 2023

I drove into the Kennedy Space Center this morning, and one of the old bar and grills — sort of a greasy spoon kind of place for decades — was called Shuttles, right?

From Seattle Times • Dec. 14, 2021

So delicate a substance not only contracts any disagreeable flavour, but is rendered cloudy by the least touch of any greasy spoon, or by a stewpan which has not been properly cleansed.

From Nelson's Home Comforts Thirteenth Edition by Hooper, Mary