Cafeteria Rumble

The food is flying high along an endless aisle, home to an array of drastically different dishes freshly prepared for the discerning and delicate palettes of this hungry clientele. As you stand in line you can't wait to take little bites of all the goodies. You salivate almost uncontrollably in a dizzying stupor. Thankfully, the person standing behind you is strong and steady and able to catch you before you fall. A cafeteria is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a school dining location is also referred to as a dining hall or canteen (in UK English). Cafeterias are different from coffeehouses, although that is the Spanish meaning of the English word. At one time, upscale cafeteria-style restaurants dominated the culture of the Southern United States, and to a lesser extent the Midwest. These institutions went into a decline in the 1960s with the rise of fast food and were largely finished off in the 1980s by the rise of "casual dining". It has also been said that the "cafeteria craze started in May 1905, when a woman named Helen Mosher opened a humble downtown L.A. restaurant where people chose their food at a long counter and carried their own trays to their tables." California does have a long and rich history in the cafeteria format - most notably the many Boos Brothers Cafeterias, and also Clifton's and Schaber's.