Dining out has been a mainstay in American culture for centuries and it only seems to be increasing its popularity. Western culture can credit the abundance of restaurants throughout the country to the origin of dining out in China. What we refer to now as a restaurant was once called food catering establishments in the 11th century in Chinas northern capital. This originated somewhere during the first half of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and included over a million people.

Kaifeng, Chinas northern capital was the only area that could accommodate the development of restaurants at that time. Originally, Kaifeng was made up of tea houses and taverns which were used to welcome in and cater to travelers who were passing through. This gave them the idea to build upon this foundation and create restaurants that would not just cater to those passing through, but to the locals in the town as well. This industry expanded rather quickly and in the 18th century made the cross over to the Western World.

In the West, inns and taverns had already been around for some time, but still, they were only aimed at travelers. It was very seldom that a local every dined at one of these establishments. The development of restaurants changed economies in countries all across the world. The very first restaurant in the United States was opened in Boston, Massachusetts in the year 1794. At this time, it was unlikely to have your own individual dish, but rather diners were served a shared meal that everyone would eat from.

This practice is still used throughout much of modern day France and it is argued that it teaches people about the importance of portion control. Today, it is commonplace for a restaurant to serve individual meals to everyone at the table, but the notion of sharing is still coveted in certain parts of the country. The familiar pattern of service where each diner is served a plate of food where each item is already arranged for them on the plate is referred to as American Service, but ironically it did not originate in America.

Today, we have the luxury of choosing from thousands of restaurants all over the country. We have Los Angeles restaurants, San Francisco, New York City and Chicago. These cities are widely known for their culinary culture and people flock from all over the world to experience one of the wonderful meals at one of Los Angeles restaurants.