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

“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

All 400 seats in the sweltering auditorium were filled, with an additional 300 people in the cafeteria.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 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

For one thing, the end of the school year results in some school employees such as bus drivers and cafeteria workers applying for unemployment benefits.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 2026

Entering the cafeteria, I turn my neck side to side, displaying my fur fluff as Inkling taught me.

From "Invisible Inkling" by Emily Jenkins

An insidious bullying tactic is creeping into school cafeterias across the country: Kids are snapping and sharing photos of other students eating lunch.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026

School cafeterias are a common place for bullying to occur, she says, because the student-to-staff ratio is much higher than in a classroom.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026

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

Restaurants and cafeterias have also been locked up as owners take precautionary measures.

From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2025

I slept with blacks in the same dormitory, ate meals with them in the same cafeterias.

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane

Related Words

• lunchroom
• snack bar