The restaurant industry is the industry of professional restaurants, bars, and other food service providers that allow customers to enter, order food, and eat on the premises. This term can be used in a number of different settings and can refer to just about any type of eatery, from the most expensive restaurants to fast-food locations. These can be standalone restaurants located as part of a plaza or as a remote location, or restaurants that can be attached to hotels or casinos. The restaurant industry is typically considered part of the hospitality industry and employs a number of different types of employees, from chefs and waiters to managers and bartenders.
Often associated with or used synonymously with the food service industry, the industry is a professional industry composed of countless locations and employees throughout the world. Just about any location that serves food could conceivably be considered part of the restaurant industry, though it is typically associated with locations in which a person can sit at a table and eat. For this reason, there is some distinction between the restaurant and food service industries; “food service industry” is often used to indicate any facility that prepares and serves food, without consideration for eating at the location.
This distinction is not always important, but the restaurant business is not necessarily considered to include locations such as kitchens that prepare and deliver food but do not serve it at the location. Beyond this stipulation, however, there is not any real standard by which different members of this industry are judged, and just about any type of restaurant, bar, or other eatery is typically a part of the industry. Even fast-food locations that are often associated with drive-through windows and “to go” orders typically provide seating and tables for eating, making them part of the industry.
The restaurant business is typically associated with or considered a part of the hospitality industry in general, and so those interested in working in this industry often learn about hospitality in general. Hospitality workplaces are locations such as hotels, restaurants, resorts, casinos and other locations where people tend to go for enjoyment and vacations. Hotels, casinos, and resorts have increasingly set themselves apart by the types of food or restaurants located on their premises, and so the importance of restaurants at these locations has increased over the years. This is why someone interested in management in the restaurant industry will typically learn about the hospitality industry in general to better understand how different forms of hospitality can be connected.