I was having a discussion with a co-worker about eating out and pondered what was the first restaraunt.  After some Google searching, it appears nobody really knows although there seems to be speculation.

So what do you think?  Did restaraunts exist during the Roman empire?  Before that?  Way later?  And if so, what do you guess they served?  I'm not talking a market where you go buy deep fried grasshoppers  from some greasy vendor either, I mean an honest to God sit down establishment.

Anyone else ever wonder this?

Olive Garden

A little history:

When upperclass Romans gathered for a feast, undesirable leftovers, such as olives, were casually tossed from upper-level balconies to the gardens below, where peasants would gather them for resale to the lower classes seated at tables just beyond the gates.  Olive Garden.

I imagine it was similar to Ryan's Steak House.

Probably at a tavern, and probably served something like this

So what youre saying is: Theyve always served trash?

There were no restaurants until the Jews invented money.

Street food, at an open market I would guess.

And they poisoned the wells, forcing you to go to their restaurants.

Okay smart guy. Then where did Adam and Eve go on their first date?



 

Things were simple back then.  No competition, so no need to wine and dine them.

The first restaurant was Ugg's and it served dinosaur burgers

Not too far off the mark.

I would think that the first "restaurant" would have been an inn where travelers would stop for shelter and food. It was probably someone's home that they opened up to travelers. After a while, locals would decide that "Hey, old Moog's wife serves a  pretty good Bronto Burger & Brew, let's stop there!" After awhile, the inevitable happened: taxes, inspectors, cockroaches and sports team enthusiasts showed up to screw things up. Moog got busted copping a feel with one of the waitresses, and in the divorce he lost the tavern to a red-nosed clown.

Nice replies.  Its amazing the things we take for advantage, like someone preparing food for us.  

Thanks for the boo yah link.  Fascinating and I bet you're correct, they had to make something they could feed a lot of people with and it needed to keep.  A soup or stew makes sense.

Back in the day, you ate whatever the owner had prepared. If a patron or household member had gotten lucky and snagged some game that day, you'd eat rabbit, grouse, deer, hart, whatever. If not, you ate stew. And what was the stew made of? Why, it was made of the rabbit, grouse, etc. that had been caught/snared/arrowed the day before, or 3 days... whatever... plus whatever greens had been foraged or grown in the garden. The lady of the house would bring it up to serving temperature twice a day (by experiment, that was about 150 degrees F). Ever heard the nursery rhyme "Peas porridge in the pot, nine days old?" That's a reference to this soup, which was kept at the back of the stove, warm, simmering, close to the "magic number*." This kept germs down. A stew or soup may be many days old, with the ingredients well-simmered. Probably was quite tasty, actually.



*A restauranteur friend of mine told me that the magic numbers the health inspectors look for are 140 degrees (for the hot line) and 40 degrees (for the cold line).

great customer service

McDonald's in what is now Scotland. Originally a Jute operation, the sold the Big Haggis (with cheese).

History Lesson
Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.

The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:

1. Liberals; and
2. Conservatives.

Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to B-B-Q at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement.

Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly B-B-Q's and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.  And the origin of the first restaurant.

Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. The rest became known as girliemen.

Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided.

Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.

Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare.

Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't fair to make the pitcher also bat.

Conservatives drink domestic beer. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, athletes, Marines, and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.

Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America. They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.

Here ends today's lesson in world history.  The origin of the BBQ Restaurant 10,000 years ago.

There were beer halls in ancient Egypt. It's pretty sure food was served there too.

Actually, the restaurant business is almost as old as the prostitution business. That means it goes waay back.

I've eaten at McDonald's in Scotland.

 

Extra credit for my name being McDonald too

It was a quaint little place with outdoor seating underneath a lovely tree.  The only oddity was the owner (who was the sole employee) only served apples.

Golden Corral...

'Was actually a corral in the beginning

Ugg's Cave.

Served rancid mastodon bone.

When I watched, The Flintstones," there was a restaurant in Bedrock that served brontosaurus burgers.  Had to be the first restaurant, it was the Stone Age after all.  Fred couldn't even finish his bronto burger it was so big.  I think Barney had to run his wife Betty, Fred, and Wilma, home in their foot powered vehicle Fred was so full.