Europe
France
From at least the 14th century, taverns, along with inns and later cabarets, were the main places to dine out. Typically, a tavern offered various roast meats, as well as simple foods like bread, cheese, herring and bacon. Some offered a richer variety of foods, though it would be cabarets and later ''traiteurs'' which offered the finest meals before the restaurant appeared in the 18th century. Their stated purpose, however, was to serve wine (not beer or cider, which had other outlets) and they were so disreputable that women of any standing avoided them.Jim Chevallier, ''A History of the Food of Paris: From Roast Mammoth to Steak Frites'', 2018, , pp. 67-80 After 1500, taxes on wine and other alcoholic beverages grew increasingly more burdensome, not only because of the continual increase in the level of taxation, but also because of the bewildering variety and multiplicity of the taxes. This chaotic system was enforced by an army of tax collectors. The resultant opposition took many forms. Wine growers and tavern keepers concealed wine and falsified their methods of selling it to take advantage of lower tax rates. The retailers also refilled their casks secretly from hidden stocks. Wine merchants stealthily circumvented inspection stations to avoid local import duties. When apprehended, some defrauders reacted with passive resignation, while others resorted to violence. Situated at the heart of the country town or village, the tavern was one of the traditional centers of social and political life before 1789, a meeting place for both the local population and travelers passing through, and a refuge for rogues and scoundrels. Taverns symbolized opposition to the regime and to religion. Taverns sometimes served as restaurants. In 1765, in Paris was founded the first restaurant in the modern sense of the term. However, the first Parisian restaurant worthy of the name was the one founded by Beauvilliers in 1782 in the Rue de Richelieu, called the ''Grande Taverne de Londres''. Émile Zola's novel ''L'Assommoir'' ("The tavern") (1877) depicted the social conditions typical of alcoholism in Paris among the working classes. The drunk destroyed not only his own body, but also his employment, his family, and other interpersonal relationships. The characters Gervaise Macquart and her husband Coupeau exemplified with great realism the physical and moral degradation of alcoholics. Zola's correspondence with physicians reveals that he used authentic medical sources for his realistic depictions in the novel.Germany
A common German name for German taverns or pubs is ''Kneipe''. Drinking practices in 16th-century Augsburg, Germany, suggest that the use of alcohol in early modern Germany followed carefully structured cultural norms. Drinking was not a sign of insecurity and disorder. It helped define and enhance men's social status and was therefore tolerated among men as long as they lived up to both the rules and norms of tavern society and the demands of their role as householder. Tavern doors were closed to respectable women unaccompanied by their husbands, and society condemned drunkenness among women, but when alcohol abuse interfered with the household, women could deploy public power to impose limits on men's drinking behavior.United Kingdom
Taverns were popular places used for business as well as for eating and drinking – the London Tavern was a notable meeting place in the 18th and 19th centuries, for example. However, the word tavern is no longer in popular use in the UK as there is no distinction between a tavern and an inn. Both establishments serve wine and beer/ale. The term ' pub' (an abbreviation of 'public house') is now used to describe these houses. The legacy of taverns and inns is now only found in the pub names, e.g. Fitzroy Tavern, Silver Cross Tavern, Spaniards Inn, etc. The word also survives in songs such as " There is a Tavern in the Town". The range and quality of pubs varies wildly throughout the UK as does the range of beers, wines, spirits and foods available. Most quality pubs will still serve cask ales and food. In recent years there has been a move towards "gastro" pubs where the menu is more ambitious. Originally, taverns served as rest stops about every fifteen miles and their main focus was to provide shelter to anyone who was traveling. Such taverns would be divided into two major parts – the sleeping quarters and theScandinavia
Greece
A restaurant in Greece is commonly known as a taverna. Their history begins in Classical times, with the earliest evidence of a taverna discovered at theFormer Yugoslavia
In former Yugoslavia, the '' kafana'' serves food and alcoholic beverages.Czechia & Slovakia
The most frequent translation of tavern or pub is "hospoda". It comes out from ''hospodar'' (landlord) and is also close to ''hostitel'' (host), ''host'' (guest) and ''hostina'' (dinner, banquet). And also to Russian ''gospodin'' (master, lord, sir) and, not to forget, to ''hospitality''. "Hospoda" could be with meals served or without, typically with tapped beer. (This term is not used for wine bars.) As drinking beer is an important part of the Czech culture, inviting to "hospoda" generally means: "let's go and have a drink together, let's meet, chat, and socialize...". "Knajpa" (from German) and "taverna" (from English) would be also understood.Asia
Iraq
One of the earliest references to a tavern is found in the Code of Hammurabi.North America
See also
* Bar (establishment) *References
Bibliography
* Blocker, Jack S. (ed.) ''Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History: An International Encyclopedia'' (2 vol 2003) * Cherrington, Ernest, (ed.) ''Standard Encyclopaedia of the Alcohol Problem'' 6 volumes (1925–1930), comprehensive international coverage to late 1920s * Gately, Iain ''Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol'' (2008). . * Heath, Dwight BEurope
* Bennett, Judith M. ''Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women's Work in a Changing World, 1300-1600'' (Oxford University Press, 1996) * Brennan, Thomas. ''Public Drinking and Popular Culture in Eighteenth Century Paris'' (1988), * Clark, Peter. ''The English Alehouse: A Social History, 1200–1800'' (1983). * Unger, Richard W. ''Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance'' (U of Pennsylvania Press, 2004)Further reading
External links
{{Authority control Types of drinking establishment Restaurants by type