Italian

Noun

1. small, or simple restaurant

A trattoria is an Italian style of restaurant, less formal than a ristorante. There are generally no printed menus, the service is casual, the prices low, and the emphasis is on a steady clientele rather than on haute cuisine. The food is modest but plentiful and is served family-style (i.e. at common tables).

Optionally, trattoria food may be bought in containers for taking home. The word is cognate with the French word traiteur — meaning a catering business whose (almost) sole raison d'être is take-out food.

automat, beanery, bistro, buffet, buvette, cafe, cafeteria, canteen, cantina, chophouse, chuck wagon, coffee shop, coffeehouse, coffeeroom, cookhouse, cookshack, cookshop, diner, dining hall, dining room, dog wagon, drive-in, drive-in restaurant, eatery, eating house, fast-food chain, grill, grillroom, hamburger stand, hash house, hashery, hot-dog stand, kitchen, lunch counter, lunch wagon, luncheonette, lunchroom, mess hall, pizzeria, quick-lunch counter, restaurant, smorgasbord, snack bar, tavern, tearoom