luncheonette

/ˌlʌnʧɪˈnɛt/

Other forms: luncheonettes

A luncheonette is a small restaurant inside a store. During the 20th century, most dime stores and department stores had luncheonettes so shoppers could take a convenient lunch break.

A luncheonette, or lunch counter, has a row of stools like a diner, but it serves a more limited menu — mainly sandwiches and salads. In their heyday, luncheonettes were found inside most five-and-dime stores, and some bigger department stores had them as well. The best-known dime store chain, Woolworth's, closed its last store in 1997, and while a few luncheonettes remain, the lunch counter tradition largely ended then. Luncheonette is from luncheon, "lunch," and -ette, "little."

Definitions of luncheonette

1. noun

   a small restaurant serving simple, light meals