Types of Foodservice

What is Foodservice?
• A food and beverage business prepares,
packages, serves, and sells or provides food
for people to eat.
• These are also referred to as foodservice.
• Foodservice can be large or small.
• They can be found in hotels, cruise ships,
schools, hospitals, airlines, trains, and even
employee cafeterias.
 Ways to Categorize Foodservice
• Customers often categorize foodservice by:
– Price
– Self Service versus Sit Down
• The industry categorizes foodservice by:
– Commercial
– Institutional
– Foodservice within a consumer business
 Commercial Foodservice
• Consists of food and beverage businesses that
compete for customers
– Olive Garden, McDonalds, Dunkin’ Donuts, Chilis,
On the Border, etc.
• Can be categorized by:
– Quick Service
– Full Service
– Catering
– Hotel and Club
 Quick Service
• Quick service restaurants provide customers
with convenience, speed, and basic services at
lower prices.
• Customers usually help themselves and carry
their own food to their tables.
• They have fewer employees than other
restaurants.
 Quick Service
• Fast food restaurants generally have a counter
where you place your order, pay for it, wait for it,
pick it up, and either take it with you or carry it
back to your table. Many have drive through
service as well. Menu items can be prepared in
3-5 minutes and most have smaller dining rooms.
• Cafeterias are food services where food is
displayed along a counter or serving line.
Customers walk along the line and ask the server
to serve them and then they carry their tray to
the table.
 Quick Service
• Buffets consist of food displayed on tables.
Servers keep displays stocked with food and
customers walk around and serve themselves,
then take their food to the table.
• Carryout restaurants specialize in preparing
food for customers to take with them to eat
home or elsewhere. They may provide very
little seating. These include delicatessens,
grocery stores, and pizza places.
 Full Service

• A full service restaurant is a restaurant in

which customers are seated at a table, give
their order to a server, and are served food at
a table.
 Full Service
• Fine dining restaurants emphasize the highest
quality of service, ingredients, and atmosphere.
There are many more employees per customer.
These restaurants are usually smaller and have
seatings at certain times. Most have professional
chefs on staff.
 Full Service
• Casual dining restaurants include all full
service restaurants that are not in included in
fine dining.
– Single Item Restaurants
– Family Restaurants
– Ethnic Restaurants
 Full Service
• Single Item restaurants choose to specialize in
a single item of food such as pizza, steak,
pancakes, or seafood. They may serve other
foods as well, but their focus is on a single
food.
• Family restaurants cater to families and
emphasize variety and comfort. They have
extensive menus and usually offer comfort
foods and traditional American dishes. Some
have developed into chains.
 Full Service
• Ethnic restaurants specialize in an ethnic
cuisine. Examples include Italian, Chinese,
Ethiopian, Indian, Japanese, Mexican, Spanish,
and Thai.
 Catering
• Catering is a provision of food and service for
a special event that usually involves feeding a
large number of people at one time.
• Catering is often done for business events and
social events.
• Catering can be divided into 2 types:
– On premise
– Off premise
 Catering
• On premise catering takes place at the
caterer’s place of business, such as a banquet
hall with a kitchen, hotel, or restaurant.
• Off premise catering occurs when the event is
help away from the caterer’s place of
business, such as at churches, country clubs,
picnics, businesses, and private homes.
 Hotel and Club Foodservice
• Hotels provide a variety of food and beverage
services such as:
– Bar in the lobby
– Family style restaurant
– Elegant fine dining restaurant
– Sandwich service by the pool
– Room service
– Catering
 Hotel and Club Foodservice
• Private clubs were developed to meet the
social and leisure needs of their members.
• Examples of clubs:
– Country, City, Yacht, Military, Health, Beach, etc.
• Membership is often invitation only and one
must pay annual fees.
• Most clubs operate at least one dining room
and have extensive catering facilities.
 Institutional Foodservice
• Institutional foodservice consists of
foodservice provided to customers in an
institution, such as a school, hospital, military,
or prison.
 School Foodservice
• Consists of meals that are served to students
who attend school. It contributes to students
health and well being to help students learn
better.
 Health Care Foodservice
• Foodservice that takes place in hospitals,
nursing facilities, and assisted care residences.
• Some are served in a customer’s room and
some are served in a dining hall.
• It is important that the food served meets all
the calories and nutrients that a patient needs
to restore and maintain health.
 Business Foodservice
• Foodservice provided in a business for the
convenience of people who work at the
business, such as an employee cafeteria in an
office building or factory.
 Foodservice Within a Business
• A food and beverage business located in a
consumer business.
• It is often offered as a convenience to the
customer.
• Categorized by:
– Recreation
– Retail
– Transportation
 Recreation Foodservice
• Includes all foodservice offered as a part of a
recreation business, such as sports arenas,
zoos, movie theaters, and museums.
• Can range from fast food, to quick service, full
service, and even fine dining.
 Retail Foodservice
• Includes all foodservice offered as a part of a
retail store or shopping center.
• Can be found in malls, individual retail stores,
bookstores, grocery stores, gas stations, and
convenience stores.
• Are mainly fast food restaurants, but some full
service restaurants can be found in malls and
shopping centers.
• Example: Food Courts and Rainforest Café in
Grapevine Mills Mall
 Transportation
• Transportation foodservice can be divided in 2
categories:
– Foodservice During Travel
• Airplane food, dining on long distance trains and
foodservice on cruise ships
– Foodservice in the Station
• Restaurants in airports and railroad stations. Usually
are quick serve, but some are not.