Restaurant / takeaway

I received an email today asking me if there is a difference between a restaurant and a takeaway, i.e. if someone writes "takeaway restaurant" or "restaurant/takeaway" on a site notice are they describing the same thing? Or should someone have to apply for one or the other?

The Collins Dictionary (2002) defines a "takeaway" as "a shop or restaurant that sells takeaway food".

"Takeaway" is "food sold for consumption away from the premises", i.e. it is the takeaway food which is the "takeaway". Takeaway as a place is actually a British, Irish, Australian, and New Zealand colloquialism for a restaurant.

Technically, the premises is a restaurant. It is, as my dictionary states: "a place where meals are sold to the public".

The point here is that if someone wants to write "takeaway restaurant" on a site notice I - personally - do not see a problem with this.

However, the reason why planners emphasise a difference is that most development plans and local area plans differentiate between a takeaway and a restaurant on the basis that one sells hot food off the premises and the other does not.

But even this is problematic as a many "restaurants" serve takeaway food and many high end restaurants sell food for consumption off the premises if requested to do so.

Some planners appear to use a rule of thumb such as whether a premises has seating or not. This has always seemed quite arbitrary to me as

Brendan Buck

www.buckplanning.ie