A cafeteria is a type of restaurant in which there is no table service. Instead, patrons select items that they want, placing them on a tray, and then report to a cashier to pay.

As cafeterias require few employees, they are often found within a larger institution, catering to the clientele of that institution. For example, schools, colleges and their halls of residence, department stores, museums, and office buildings often have cafeterias.

At one time, cafeteria-style restaurants dominated the dining-out culture of the Southern United States, and there were several prominent chains of them: Morrison's, Blue Boar, and S & W among them. These institutions went into a decline in the 1960s with the rise of fast food and were largely finished off in the 1980s by the rise of "casual dining". However, newer chains, notably Luby's and Picadilly Cafeteria, have arisen to fill some of the gap left by the decline of the older chains.

Other names

A cafeteria in a military institution is known as a mess hall.

Some monasteries and boarding schools refer to their cafeteria as a refectory.