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Fast-food restaurant

Type of restaurant / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically part of a "meat-sweet diet", offered from a limited menu, cooked in bulk in advance and kept hot, finished and packaged to order, and usually available for take away, though seating may be provided. Fast-food restaurants are typically part of a restaurant chain or franchise operation that provides standardized ingredients and/or partially prepared foods and supplies to each restaurant through controlled supply channels. The term "fast food" was recognized in a dictionary by Merriam–Webster in 1951.[1]

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A fast-food restaurant in the port of Malinska, Croatia
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A Hesburger fast-food restaurant in Tapiola, Espoo, Finland
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A McDonald's restaurant in New York City
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A Café de Coral restaurant in Hong Kong
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A fish and chip shop in Broadstairs, Kent, England

Arguably, fast-food restaurants originated in the United States with White Castle in 1921.[2][unreliable source?] Today, American-founded fast-food chains such as McDonald's (est. 1940) and KFC (est. 1952)[3][4][5][6] are multinational corporations with outlets across the globe.

Variations on the fast-food restaurant concept include fast-casual restaurants and catering trucks. Fast-casual restaurants have higher sit-in ratios, offering a hybrid between counter-service typical at fast-food restaurants and a traditional table service restaurant. Catering trucks (also called food trucks) often park just outside worksites and are popular with factory workers.[citation needed]