From Boarding House to Bistro

This is an examination of the American restaurant as a mirror of the nation's changing way of life. Beginning with the earliest taverns and boarding houses, the discussion traces the evolution of American dining away from home. This retrospective analysis emphasizes how the restaurant's form, its fare, and its location have reflected the nation's changing economic and cultural life. It features a unique description of inns, plate houses, diners, White Castles, drive-ins, food courts, and theme restaurants and examines the development of a system of national restaurant regions and how these national regions shape the evolution of distinctive restaurant clusters in contemporary cities.