 A café or coffee shop is an informal restaurant that offers a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches. And this is the main characteristic that varies café from a coffee house, which is a limited-menu establishment which focuses on coffee sales. Relying on the jurisdiction, a café may be licensed to serve alcohol. This term can also refer to bistro or a restaurant facility within a hotel. Nevertheless, in some countries a café is synonymous with a coffee house.
For small towns the local café is often the central gathering spot for conversation and meetings. Besides, such cafés are particularly popular for breakfasts. Cafés are often open only for lunch and breakfast in central business districts of larger cities. So, their customers leave the area after business hours.
Such establishments are very popular. "French cafés", especially those in Paris carry a full menu. As for American cafés, they may or may not serve alcoholic beverages, and the serving of coffee is incidental to the serving of food. But British cafés do not sell alcohol. In Europe, cafés often have an enclosed or outdoor section extending onto the sidewalk.
In the Netherlands, a café is an establishment selling liquor, as opposed to coffee shop, which sells soft drugs (cannabis and hashish) and is typically not allowed to sell liquor.
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