Food services jobs operations primarily serve food to their customers, but they may also provide entertainment, group accommodations, and other services. They range in size from modest neighborhood establishments to luxurious restaurants and nightclubs. Whatever their size, they must pay careful attention to food purchasing, preparation, and serving, and a host of other activities to ensure that they meet the expectations of their clientele.
Inns with cook jobs, food service and dining halls are traced back to the Roman Empire. These establishments offered meals to travelers who stayed at the inn, and may have provided meals to outside guests as well. With the development of roads and the increase in travelers abroad, such as pilgrims to the Holy Land, the number of dining halls and inns began to increase throughout Europe and Asia. Places where one could stop to have a meal were founded in England in the 1500s. For instance, taverns sprang up to provide travelers with food and drink. Sometimes during the 17th century, coffee was introduced in Europe from Turkey. The beverage became quite popular, and public establishments that specialized in coffee began to develop. The first coffeehouse was believed to have been opened in Vienna in 1645. They became regular meeting places for local residents.
Meanwhile, the origin of the concept of a restaurant and the history of the modern eating establishment which offers catering jobs can be traced to France. In 1765, a Paris soup vendor, A. Boulanger, advertised restaurants which had been known before as “restoratives” and offered choices from a menu of dishes at his modest establishment. Previously, inns and other public rooms had served paying guests, but Boulanger, the soup entrepreneur, was credited with making the restaurant the first public place where any person might choose from a menu from a variety of food dishes. When the French Revolution brought down the aristocratic houses, the kitchen staff from fine dining halls began to open their own restaurants. From then on, fine dining halls and restaurants began to flourish during the late 1700s, and by the early 1800s Paris had more than 500 restaurants.
Furthermore, during the 1849 gold rush in San Francisco, California, a cafeteria style restaurant with food service employment opened for gold miners. The cafeteria offered the miners an opportunity to pick out the food from the counter and then pay for what they had chosen before sitting down to eat. By the beginning of the 1900s, the United States had also developed diners and the beginning of fast-food restaurants. Fast foods offered quick service but only with a limited menu. On the other hand, the first true fast-food restaurants really began in the 1920s. In 1955 in Des Plaines, Illinois, the first McDonald’s had opened and would become the most extensive fast-food franchise in the world. McDonald’s expanded from one restaurant in1955 to more than 6,000 by 1990. Now almost every town in the United States has at least one McDonald’s and a host of other fast-food restaurants that cater to those people who want to eat cheaply and quickly. Globally, McDonald’s is almost everywhere. It can be recalled that in the late 1980s, the food industry had sprouted to more than 625,000 restaurants and lunchrooms in the United States. Sales totaled more than $200 billion, excluding alcoholic beverages. Almost one million chefs and cooks were employed. Restaurants employed nearly 80 percent of the approximately two million waiters and waitresses while 10 percent of them worked in hotels, clubs, and other establishments.
Indeed, jobs in catering have become one of the hottest worldwide business ventures. The tasks look simple and easy as restaurant food service job operations only involve food preparation and services. However, business organizations are also rapidly increasing where restaurants, coffee shops, fast-food chains, and food outlets in hotels, catering firms, and a host of other establishments are emerging everywhere. The majority of restaurants have specific methods of preparing and serving food and each fulfills a vital role in providing alternatives to hungry customers. Meanwhile, for patrons who want a nice leisurely meal, for example, a traditional, sit down restaurant is often the best bet. For those who need to eat in a hurry, a fast-food eatery provides a good option. Other food service establishments provide dining accommodations in a variety of settings. A caterer, for example, can provide food services jobs in a large hall or in the privacy of a client’s home. In addition, hotels can serve food in a banquet hall or in a cozier setting while hospitals and other institutions often provide food in a cafeteria setting.
