Perhaps the first self-service restaurant (not necessarily a cafeteria) in the U.S. was the Exchange Buffet in
New York City, which opened September 4, 1885, and catered to an exclusively male clientele. Food was purchased at a counter, and patrons ate standing up. This represents the predecessor of two formats: the cafeteria, described below, and the
automat. ,
PA During the 1893
World's Columbian Exposition in
Chicago, entrepreneur John Kruger built an American version of the
smörgåsbord he had seen while traveling in
Sweden. Emphasizing the simplicity and light fare, he called it the 'Cafeteria' - Spanish for "coffee shop". The exposition attracted over 27 million visitors (half the U.S. population at the time) in six months, and it was because of Kruger's operation that the United States first heard the term and experienced the self-service dining format. Meanwhile, the chain of
Childs Restaurants quickly grew from about 10 locations in
New York City in 1890 to hundreds across the U.S. and
Canada by 1920. Childs is credited with the innovation of adding trays and a "tray line" to the self-service format, which was introduced in 1898 at its 130 Broadway location. California has a long history in the cafeteria format - notably the Boos Brothers Cafeterias, and the
Clifton's Cafeteria and Schaber's. The earliest cafeterias in California were opened at least 12 years after Kruger's Cafeteria, and Childs already had many locations around the country.
Horn & Hardart, an
automat format chain (different from cafeterias), was well established in the mid-Atlantic region before 1900. By the 1960s, cafeteria-style restaurant chains dominated the culture of the
Southern United States, and to a lesser extent, the
Southwest and
Midwest. There were numerous prominent chains, many of which (such as
S&W Cafeteria,
Furr's, and Wyatt's Cafeteria) closed in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s due to competition from
fast food chains,
all-you-can-eat buffets and other
casual dining establishments. At the peak of the American cafeteria industry, many smaller chains likewise existed, sometimes located in and around a single city. The majority of these, such as
Britling Cafeterias and
Blue Boar Cafeterias, closed in the late 20th century. Southern California-based
Clifton's Cafeteria closed its penultimate location in 2003 and its final location in 2018. After entering restructuring in 2021,
K&W Cafeterias closed all of its locations in December 2025. Two major American cafeteria chains continue to operate on a smaller scale:
Piccadilly in the southeast and
Luby's in Texas. Another,
Morrison's Cafeteria, survives as a single, Piccadilly-owned location in
Mobile, Alabama, and a fourth,
Bickford's in New England, converted to a non-cafeteria chain and closed all but one restaurant. Existing examples of smaller chains include
MCL Restaurant & Bakery, with locations in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio; S&S Cafeterias, in Georgia and South Carolina; Niki's in
Birmingham, Alabama (one location remains); and the Jewish deli-style cafeteria
Manny's in
Chicago, Illinois (one location remains). Outside the United States, the development of cafeterias can be observed in
France as early as 1881 with the passing of the
Ferry Law. This law mandated that public school education be available to all children. Accordingly, the government also encouraged schools to provide meals for students in need, leading to the establishment of cafeterias or canteens (in French). According to Abramson, before the creation of cafeterias, only some students could bring home-cooked meals and be properly fed in schools. As cafeterias in France became more popular, their use spread beyond schools and into the workforce. Thus, due to pressure from workers and eventually new labor laws, sizable businesses had to, at a minimum, provide established eating areas for their workers. Support for this practice was also reinforced by the effects of
World War II, when the importance of national health and nutrition came under scrutiny. ==Other names==