What to call a small restaurant which serves only a single type of food?

Question

In my location, there are many small restaurants that each serve only a single type of food, e.g., noodles, noodle soup,... mainly noodles but only 1 single type.

It's not a café, not a cafeteria, not a restaurant (many types of foods), not a stall because it's in a house,...

Should it be called a "noodle shop"?

"Noodle shop" is fine I'd say. Google ngrams shows usage since 1980. Other answers can give you synonym options for elegant variation. — Adam Burke, Dec 18 '20 at 05:04
I'm thinking I've heard a term similar to "bodega", but I can't recall it. — Hot Licks, Dec 18 '20 at 13:14
@HotLicks Do you mean "boutique"? Like "bodega", it can be traced back to a Latin word for “storehouse” (apotheca) — auspicious99, Dec 19 '20 at 05:15
If 'hole-in-the-wall [restaurant]' is accepted as an answer (no requirement of 'selling only one type of food'), then this is a duplicate. — Edwin Ashworth, Dec 19 '20 at 14:16

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 19 '20 at 05:13

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You could describe the place as a boutique restaurant.

Merriam-Webster's second definition of boutique is:

a small company that offers highly specialized services or products

boutique wineries

an independent investment boutique

This word has both the connotation of smallness, as well as the highly specialized product which the single type of food would represent.

answered Dec 19 '20 at 05:13

auspicious99

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Thus is a much better answer than the hole in the wall one. – Kris Dec 19 '20 at 14:13
Thanks @Kris ; I think I wrote my answer 1 day after the other answer, which meanwhile had gotten the votes. Anyway, hope my answer is helpful to someone in the future. – auspicious99 Dec 20 '20 at 14:16

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 18 '20 at 04:03

I don't think this precisely hits your definition, but a hole-in-the-wall restaurant refers to the size and inconspicuousness of a restaurant.

That's not the same as having a limited menu, but hole-in-the-wall restaurants are often exactly those that have a strong focus on their specialty menus.

What to call a small restaurant which serves only a single type of food?

2 Answers2