I’m adding a number of places serving food in Vietnam and I’m constantly hesitating between amenity=restaurant and amenity=fast_food. The concept of “fast food” seems to make more sense in a Western context when thinking of American fast food chains or Döner stalls. Here’s what the wiki pages have to say:
amenity=restaurant:
- “generally formal eating places with sit-down facilities selling full meals served by waiters”
amenity=fast_food:
- “a place concentrating on very fast counter-only service and take-away food”
- “The food has a short preparation and serving time, usually because it is industrially prepared food and requires very few additional preparation steps. Food is typically served on disposable plates or in boxes, and often to be eaten with plastic cutlery. Food is typically paid for at the counter prior to consuming. There may be sit-down facilities ranging from one or two to many easy-to-clean chairs and tables.”
The two main differences seem to be about speed and counter vs table service.
About speed: the places I’m mapping almost systematically serve food very fast. This can be inherent to the dish: the preparation of a pho soup broth may take hours, but when ready, it’s only a matter of tossing noodles, meat and herbs in the bowl before serving. Does this make them all fast food? (Note that there’s nothing industrial about this process.)
About counter vs table service: virtually all the places I’m mapping, even tiny sidewalk stalls with tiny plastic chairs, have table service and aren’t using disposable bowls or plates. Food is paid at the end. Does this make them all restaurants?
Currently, the heuristic that makes the most intuitive sense to me is that fast food is when food is paid before eating. This seems to roughly match the wiki description of fast food concentrating on “counter-only service and take-away food”.
Are there any other heuristics you’re using to choose between restaurant and fast_food? Are those heuristics global, or could they vary by country?