Café facts for kids

A cafe is a type of restaurant which usually serves coffee and snacks. The term "cafe" comes from French, and means "coffee".

You can read newspapers and magazines there, or chat with other customers about current topics. It is known as a place where information can be exchanged.

A cafe is sometimes called a coffeehouse or a coffee shop in English, a café in French, Spanish, and Portuguese and a caffè in Italian. It shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria, which is a type of restaurant where customers can choose from many dishes on a serving line. In some countries, cafes more closely resemble restaurants, offering a range of hot meals, and possibly being licensed to serve alcohol. British cafes however, do not sell alcohol.

A new type of cafe, known as the Internet cafe, was introduced in the 1990s. The spread of modern-style cafes to many places, urban and rural, went hand in hand with computers. Computers and Internet access in a contemporary atmosphere created a youthful, modern public space, compared to the traditional bars, or old-fashioned diners that they replaced. Nowadays, many cafes offer wireless Internet or have computers customers can use, just as they offer telephones and newspapers.

Images for kids

Coffeehouse in London, 17th century
A café in Istanbul, 19th century
The statue of the writer Gonzalo Torrente Ballester in Café Novelty (Salamanca-Spain), founded in 1905.
Coffeehouse in Greece
Cafe Terrace at Night, September 1888, by Vincent van Gogh.
Interior of an espresso bar from Baliuag, Bulacan, Philippines
Café de Flore, Paris.
"Discussing the War in a Paris Café", The Illustrated London News 17 September 1870
Storyteller (meddah) at a coffeehouse in the Ottoman Empire
Coffeehouses often sell pastries or other food items
Coffeehouse in Damascus
A coffee shop in Angeles City, Philippines
Café Mélange, Vienna
Coffee shop in Calicut
1921 Café Majestic, Porto