The romans had several types of eateries, including what was then “Fast food” (likely a lot healthier than todays, altho maybe the germ count….),
And we have found some in Pompeii . But did any of them have anything like a menu? Of course not a printed one, one on the wall I guess, mostly with prices with wine, etc.
I thought there was one in Pompeii that did have pictures of what was available?
The thermopolium:
Though as they were aimed at the urban poor (who didn’t have kitchens) their customers were not assumed to be literate, I assume?
Except for not being deep fried, probably not much healthier even not accounting for the practice of sweetening wine with powdered lead.
The ‘menu’ as such would likely have been depicted in wall art but probably varied depending on what was available. Fish and seafood was a common ‘fast food’ source and so would depend upon the catch.
Stranger
Most of whom could read a little, at least shown by all the graffitti- much of which is obviously done by the lower classes. But yeah, pictures would be better.
Nice cite, and it does say-
In Ostia Antica, frescoes served as ancient menus. Visitors could see paintings showing the food available, like olives, eggs, and cheese.
That led me- indirectly to Atlas Obscura, and this-
which looks both tasty and healful.
Did they have something like chalk boards? Signs that used sand?
I mean they wouldn’t have as much fat, sugar or salt (all of which would be too expensive for the urban poor, at least remotely near the quantities in modern fast food)
Though of course the Roman urban poor would have been lacking in calories, so arguably not having loads of excess calories in the food would be unhealthy
Romans wouldn’t have refined sugar from cane or beets, of course, and salt was a precious (but not rare) commodity, but the Roman diet had both plenty of fats of various kinds as well as sugars and starches in the form of honey and emmer (wheat). Most meats were in the form of sausage, offal, and bony parts of the pig (feet, hocks); for the more wealthy, pork belly, loins, sweetbreads, maybe brains, as well as fish and seafood. A lot of cheese and fermented dairy products, various fruits and nuts, et cetera; no whole grains or most of the modern whole grains, nightshades, and vegetables we associate with Italian and Mediterranean cuisines. So, not as processed and refined as the modern ‘fast food’ diet, but also not the ‘Mediterranean Diet’ of mostly vegetables and fruit with lean proteins.
Stranger
Worth pointing out that these weren’t, strictly speaking, “eateries”, as mentioned in the OP. You bought cooked food and took it home to eat; you didn’t eat there.
This would have affected what they sold. For example, they probably didn’t sell wine or beer — you would have those at home, and there would be no particular advantage to buying the wine or beer for each meal along with the cooked food, and carrying them home together.
The thread title mentions “restaurants”. So far as I know, the restaurant as we know it — a place that serves cooked food for you to eat on the premises, for the pleasure of eating — is an entirely modern phenomenon.
What the Romans would have had, in addition to cookhouses, would be
Wax tablets.
The poor ate bread that was whole grain and often barley or emmer. Only the rich are a sort of white bread.
Some of the roman ones did have seating.
Do you know how garum was made back then? Or what sapa is? “Healthy” is not quite how I’d put it.
Not so sure about that - several recipes in Roman cookbooks indicate frying like these parsnips (I have made them, they are delicious).
Presumably the customers would in some cases have to bring their own vessels for some of the food - mass-produced disposable containers can be made from natural materials (or edible materials like flatbreads), but if you’re buying something that’s a stew, you’re going to need a jug or bowl.
I was in Rome this past spring, and visited the ruins at Ostia Antica. It’s a fascinating site because it’s one of the rare Roman cities that was essentially abandoned (due to a change in geography) rather than being destroyed or built over, so much of the original city is viewable in its ancient (if weather-beaten) state.
One of the buildings in the old city center is, indeed, a restaurant, in the sense the Romans would have understood it. This doesn’t mean fancy sit-down table service, it means a small selection of dishes prepared in large quantities for quick and convenient consumption. The better word in English is probably “tavern.”
There is a collection of images here, showing the interior, and the “menu” frescoes.
As you stand in the middle of that room, it’s impossible to resist the pull of the historical connection. There’s a back patio where they had covered seating, like any restaurant with an outdoor terrace. The service counter is up front, so passers-by would have seen and smelled what was on offer. You stand in the room and you look around, and the distance of two thousand years fades away. You can feel the everyday functionality of the space. A remarkable experience.
(Edit to add: Within a couple of minutes of our entry, my younger daughter enthusiastically set herself up behind the front counter and wanted to “play restaurant,” taking orders and serving food. That’s how powerfully immediate the space feels. It’s irresistible.)
Disposable or nearly-disposable mass-produced unglazed clay bowls were totally a thing in Rome as they were in other parts of the Med.(They still are a thing in India). It was probably a mix of bring-your-own and store-supplied (possibly even with a nominal deposit, like a German Christmas market glühwein pfand?) as we have written evidence of vendors selling things in clay cups and large deposits of broken pottery at vending sites.
We have an ancient Roman cookbook, de Re Culinaria (“On the Subject of Cooking”) by Caelius Apicius. I have a copy placed among the cookbooks in my kitchen. It’s surprisingly long and detailed, but most of the items in it are bout as appetizing to me as garum is.
I used Apicius, along with description of the dishes given in the Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter (which were admittedly showy, expensive productions not typical of Roman everyday cookery) as my guide when I wrote my mystery Murder with Trimalchio, in which I assume that Trimalchio, the gourmand from the Satyricon, is a Roman-era Nero Wolfe, who loves exotic cooking and solves mysteries.
Sorry for double post, can never remember how to enter a video link and text. Max Miller makes some Roman fast food.
Speaking of Pompeii, this series is currently running on PBS:
It’s mostly about the excavation of wealthy houses. To link it to this thread, they do briefly cover some of the hot food shops that were setup along the city streets. The series is really fascinating for anyone interested in Pompeii or Roman History. Worth checking out.
IIRC, there were a few “restaurants” in Pompeii you could look around. The pattern seemed to be a row of 3 or 4 holes in the counter where cook-pots were inserted over a fire to keep contents cooked. I would imagine a lack of variety (particularly in the days before refrigeration was common) and the food being front and center meant it was unnnecessary to have a long printed menu - more like “today’s specials are…” as a simple explanation for anyone who can’t see and smell the choices for themselves.
You get this in very traditional and small family-run restaurants in Greece (and other places), even now. If you go into a village taverna, it’s entirely possible the “menu” will be “come up here so we can show you what’s in our half-dozen stew pots today, and then tell us what you want.”
Yes, I can confirm this, I had that experience several times when I was travelling in Northern Greece in 1997. It was always great food, too, in these little places.