greasy spoon
6
5.1
- noun
- /ˈɡriːsi spuːn/
- Informal
:
café
- On the corner of Northwest Broadway and Everett in downtown Portland, Oregon, there is a greasy spoon of a restaurant called John's Cafe.
- greasy spoon diner
- greasy spoon restaurant
- greasy spoon food
So then just quickly, I'll give you my character is a waitress at a greasy spoon diner off route whatever in Texas.
- So then just quickly, I'll give you my character is a waitress at a greasy spoon diner off route whatever in Texas.
Examples
-
A typical small-town greasy spoon with one faded star prominent in the window.
Fiction book (2001) -
It had been a half an hour since Marty ate breakfast, so he went for a bite at Bud's, a greasy spoon where the locals gathered to chew the fat.
-
Leo: You think we can find us a greasy spoon here in Flat River?
-
The lunch crowd was leaving the greasy spoon.
Fiction book (2002) -
I don't want her working in some greasy spoon.
-
We were getting cheeseburgers one day at the greasy spoon.
Fiction book (2002) -
"For his last meal Williams is getting a 95-cent blue plate special from the greasy spoon across the street."
-
The next day, I went to meet my friend Sue Ellen for breakfast at the Hi-Ho Cafe, a greasy spoon at the edge of town.
Fiction book (2000) -
I was a regular at a greasy spoon in Bristol run by different generations of the same family, and it was a great eating-alone experience precisely because they treated their regulars as an extension of that family network.
Blog text (4) -
The Square Table was a greasy spoon that mostly fed folks visiting the county courthouse.
Synonyms
211
1.0
A small cheap restaurant with a counter that serves simple meals quickly
64
1.6
A restaurant that serves meat and fish cooked on a grill
5
5.7
A small simple restaurant that serves coffee and sandwiches at a counter
1
8.3
A small shop that sells hot meals to people
A small roadside stall that sells grilled and smoked food
Antonyms
A very fancy place that serves expensive, very good food and gives great service
How Fancy
Surface Forms
Morphology
greasy + spoon
The words 'greasy' (oily) and 'spoon' (eating utensil) provide clues about oily, fried food and eating, so a learner might infer something food-related. However, the leap to the conventional meaning 'a small inexpensive restaurant' is idiomatic and culturally specific rather than strictly compositional, so the expression is only partially predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
Greasy spoon likely comes from small diners where cooking with lots of oil left the metal spoons and plates covered in grease. That's why the name came to mean 'a small, inexpensive restaurant' that serves simple, often fried food.