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Period: 800 BCE to 400 BCE
Ancient Greece
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776 BCE
Olympics
When the first Olympics were held, there were no restaurants--only private food clubs. -
600 BCE
The Arts
While Greeks ate, they liked to listen to music and poetry. -
500 BCE
Mealtime
Greeks considered meals as a time to nourish the soul. -
Period: 146 BCE to 1453
Ancient Rome
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200
Mealtime
In Ancient Rome, meals were primarily served at home. -
500
Food/Trade
Romans desired exotic food and spice, which led to their trade with the east and north. -
Period: 500 to 1500
The Middle Ages
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1000
Money
Romans spent their wealth on banquets for clients, friends and family, and the lower class (financial aid in exchange for political support). -
1000
Trade
During the Middle Ages, trade was little to none, so they didn't have many spices or exotic foods. -
1200
Lifestyle
During the Middle Ages, people mostly farmed. -
1300
Mealtime
In the Middle Ages, large banquets were held almost every night for one reason, to eat. -
Period: 1300 to
Renaissance through French Revolution
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1400
Spices
During the Renaissance, noblemen made their cooks use large amounts of exotic spices to cook their foods. -
Period: 1492 to
Colonial North America
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Trade
Mostly because their location on the Adriatic Sea, people during the Renaissance could easily get or obtain spices from India and sell them for very high prices to people or distributors heading north. Merchants in Venice controlled the spice trade. -
Preparation
In colonial North America, not much care was given to the preparation of meals. -
Preparation
Haute Cuisine was a system of food preparation used during the Renaissance. -
Mealtime
In colonial North America, if travelers arrived after dinner had been served, they would have to go without. -
Period: to
Industrial Revolution
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Mealtime
During the Industrial Revolution, people often ate at home. They lived close to factories so they could walk to work, go home for lunch, and leave again for dinner. -
Food Service
During the Industrial Revolution, the restaurant industry began to grow. In 1825, inns, taverns, and food service facilities located near railway stations began to grow. -
Period: to
The Gilded Age
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Restaurants
During the Gilded Age, high society people dined in fancy restaurants. They dined in places where they could be seen in elegant surroundings. -
Wealth
After the gold rush in California, some people were getting rich and some could not keep up with all the people, so they wouldn’t get to eat. -
Efficiency
In the Gilded Age, the smart restaurants developed a cafeteria that served food faster and cheaper without needing servers. -
Period: to
The Twentieth Century
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Employment
In the twentieth century, employment was a must, so many people got jobs, making them want to eat out more. -
Restaurants
Because of the people's desire to eat out, lots of restaurants opened, such as Child's, Schraffts, etc. These were among the first lunchtime restaurants.
