cafeteria
noun /ˌkæfəˈtɪəriə/
/ˌkæfəˈtɪriə/
- a restaurant where you choose and pay for your meal before you carry it to a table. Cafeterias are often found in factories, colleges, hospitals, etc.
- Consumer groups were urging school cafeterias to serve healthier food.
Oxford Collocations DictionaryCafeteria is used before these nouns:- menu
- table
- tray
- …
Word Originmid 19th cent. (originally US): from Latin American Spanish cafetería ‘coffee shop’.