The term is also used in the UK, along with the informal term "caff" for café, to refer to a small, privately owned eatery that traditionally serves fry-ups and other quick meals.[2]
Term
The term greasy spoon—used to describe small and inexpensive diners and coffee shops—became popular in the United States as early as the 1920s.[3][4]
Nicknaming cheap restaurants after an unwashed spoon dates back at least to 1848:[5]
The Gabbione [in Rome] ... has withal an appearance so murky and so very far removed from cleanliness, that the Germans have bestowed upon it the appellation of the 'Dirty Spoon'.
The earliest appearance in print of the specific term "greasy spoon" was in 1906, in a story in Macmillan's Magazine, referring to an eatery in Paris frequented for a time by Robert Louis Stevenson:[6]
A tradition exists in the studios of Montparnasse, where Stevenson has already become almost a legendary figure, that "cousin Bob" (R.A.M. Stevenson, the well-known art-critic) one day found his relative moping in the darkest corner of the Cremerie in the Rue Delambre, – an eating-house much frequented by artists, and familiarly known as The Greasy Spoon...
Although there are now far fewer establishments due to the dominance of corporate fast food restaurant chains, a certain nostalgia exists surrounding a greasy spoon. Evocative characteristics include "counter service", jukeboxes, and hearty comfort cuisine. The greasy spoon as a setting is a common trope in movies and TV shows.[9]
Comic strips and humorous magazines have often lampooned the greasy spoon diner. The Better Half had Bert's Beanery, and Dagwood Bumstead continues to eat at Lou's Diner in Blondie. The kitchen and mess hall in Beetle Bailey provide the military equivalent of a greasy spoon. The cartoon series Bob's Burgers takes place in a modern-day greasy spoon. Cooks featured in these tropes tend to be unkempt in some way – hirsute, unshaven, tattooed, wearing a stain-covered apron, or smoking a cigarette while working.[citation needed]
