restaurant (rest a rant)

[F. restaurant, a restaurant, formerly also a restorative, = Sp. restaurante, a restorer, The substitution of the Restaurant for the Tavern is of recent origin. In the year 1837 there were restaurants , it is true, but they were humble places, and confined to the parts of London frequented by the French; for English of every degree there was the Tavern. W. Besant , Fifty Years Ago, p. 160. restaurant-car (res'tậ-rant-kär), n . A railway car in which meals are cooked and served to pa engers; a dining-car or hotel-car.