Is a brasserie the same thing as an osteria?

[Kent Wang]

Google define says:

Brasserie - A small restaurant serving beer and wine as well as food; usually cheap

(wordnet.princeton.edu).

Osteria - A tavern or humble restaurant where wine is served as the main attraction and tasty food is prepared to wash it down.

splendidtable.publicradio.org/whereweeat/travel_italian.html

Not that those are the most authoritative sources...

Also, in America I get the feeling that the definitions get corrupted.

[slkinsey]

There have been discussions around on both of these subjects.

I can't speak very authoritatively about brasseries, although I do know that they are "technically" large, bustling places that serve beer (the word brasserie technically means "brewery").

Osteria is a word that we might roughly translate to "tavern" or "inn" or "taproom." It's "technically" the lowest and least formal on the ristorante-trattoria-osteria totem pole. It does not have the (often only notional) associations with beer that a brasserie has.

However, both brasseries and trattorie can be found at all ends of the spectrum, much the same way that "Gotham Bar & Grill" has very little in common with a roadside bar & grill (and, as far as I know, features neither a bar nor a grill particularly prominently).

[sickchangeup]

"Gotham Bar & Grill" has very little in common with a roadside bar & grill (and, as far as I know, features neither a bar nor a grill particularly prominently).

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Off topic, but the Gotham Bar is excellent and has a really great solo dining setup taboot.

[markemorse]

I've never been to a brasserie or osteria that were anything like each other (my osteria experiences being generally quieter, smaller, and with a more limited menu and a greater focus on smaller dishes and "uncooked" food like cured meats and cheeses), but as you mention, I think that the definitions have been corrupted for marketing reasons over the past 20 years or so, just like "cafe", "diner", etc.

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