fast food restaurant

Meaning

1. 1nouncountable

   a place that serves quickly prepared, inexpensive meals such as burgers or fried chicken, usually ordered at a counter or drive-through.

   Grammar: Countable: a fast food restaurant, many fast food restaurants.

   Patterns

   • eat at a fast food restaurant
   • a fast food restaurant chain

   We stopped at a fast food restaurant on the highway.

   The fast food restaurant down the street is open all night.

   He got his first job at a fast food restaurant when he was sixteen.

Word forms

Common combinations

fast food restaurant chain

The fast food restaurant chain opened ten new branches.

work at a fast food restaurant

She works at a fast food restaurant on weekends.

local fast food restaurant

The local fast food restaurant offers cheap lunches.

eat at a fast food restaurant

They rarely eat at a fast food restaurant.

drive-through fast food restaurant

A drive-through fast food restaurant opened beside the gas station.

Synonyms and how they differ

takeaway

Takeaway is the British term for a shop selling food to carry out, but it need not be a chain.

diner

A diner is a casual sit-down restaurant, usually American, serving cooked meals rather than prepackaged ones.

snack bar

A snack bar sells light items, not full meals.

burger joint

Burger joint is informal and names one type of fast food place.

Opposites

Word family

fast food noun

meals prepared and served quickly

restaurant noun

a place where meals are served

restaurateur noun

a person who owns a restaurant

drive-through noun

a service you use from your car

Commonly confused: fast food restaurant or fine-dining restaurant?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “fast food restaurant”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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