looking for a translation

[ratcreature]

I'm looking for the English word for "Kaffeeklappe", i.e. an establishment where workers can buy cheap meals (and as the name implies coffee) but which is not serving alcohol like pubs are. Traditionally they were located in or near the industrial areas, like in the harbor. These first opened in the 19th century as part of the anti-alcoholism movement. The official German term was "Volkskaffeehalle" (public coffee hall?) but the informal term is much more common. It comes from the food being served from the kitchen into the dining area through a serving hatch. They are not very common anymore, having been replaced by various fast food options, I guess. Is there an English equivalent? I thought maybe "greasy spoon" might fit, except that the dictionary tells me that term dates only to the 1920s, and I'm looking for the 19th century thing.

Comments

[melannen]

Wandering in from Network: For an establishment that mostly provides the mid-day meal to working-class people on their lunch break, the most common late-19th century equivalent would probably be "Lunch counter" or "free lunch counter". Free lunch counters did in fact serve alcohol - you got free lunch (usually a quite elaborate one) in exchange for buying overpriced drinks. But this was the stereotypical working man's lunch pretty much until Prohibition. Lunch counters, serving the same clientele but more likely to have respectable women in them and mostly non-alcoholic, also appeared in dimestores and low-end department stores around the same time.

"Diner", "Cafeteria" and "Cafe" also showed up in the late 19th century with pretty much the same meanings they currently have in English.

Earlier in the 19th century I'm not sure! There would have been pubs/saloons/taverns/pubs/bars that served meals; and also coffeehouses going back to the Colonial period, though they would have been more middle-class; higher-class restaurants in hotels; and street carts selling food.

In cities along the East Coast there would have been lots of oyster bars or raw bars, usually serving mostly cheap beer and fresh shellfish (and maybe a few other seafood-y dishes). That was also a very working-class thing. (Apparently "Oyster bar" only came in about 1870 and they were "oyster houses" before that.)

[laurajv]

"lunch counter" was going to be my suggestion, as well.

[ratcreature]

Thank you for the suggestions.

[melannen]

...eep, and I could have sworn your OP specified "America". Please add "in America" to all of that; sorry for letting out my tunnel vision!

[ratcreature]

Heh, no. Maybe it was me mentioning "greasy spoon" (which I think is a term that originated in America?) as too new in the post that created the impression? I'm really just looking for what best to call the German thing in English.

[maire]

I think 'lunch counter' is American. Ditto diner. Sorry.