- published: 14 Jul 2012
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A café (/ˈkæfeɪ/ or /kæˈfeɪ/), also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee. The name derives from the French, Portuguese and Spanish word for the drink and is often pronounced "kaff" (/ˈkæff/) in the British English.
In the United States, "cafe" may refer to an informal restaurant offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches, also known as a "coffee shop", while what is regarded as a café elsewhere is termed a coffeehouse.
In most European countries, such as Austria, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, etc., the term café implies primarily serving coffee, typically accompanied by a slice of cake/tart/pie, a "Danish pastry", a bun, or similar sweet pastry. Many (or most) cafés also serve light meals such as sandwiches. European cafés often have tables on the pavement as well as indoors. Some cafés also serve alcoholic beverages, particularly in Southern European countries.
In the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland a café (with the acute accent) is similar to those in other European countries, while a cafe (without acute accent, and often pronounced "caff") is more likely to be a greasy spoon style eating place, serving mainly fried food, in particular breakfast dishes. In the Netherlands and Belgium, a café is the equivalent of a bar, and also sells alcoholic beverages. In the Netherlands a koffiehuis serves coffee, while a coffee shop (using the English term) sells soft drugs (cannabis and hashish) and is generally not allowed to sell alcoholic beverages.