Nonstaurant (non-traditional restaurant)
The word “nonstaurant” was popularized in San Francisco in 2009. Lessley Anderson’s article on the blog CHOW on May 12, 2009, “A New San Francisco Nonstaurant at Bruno’s” described “restaurants-that-aren’t-really-restaurants (a.k.a. nonstaurants).” A related article on the blog SFist on May 14, 2009, explained “nonstaurant” as “food ventures operating out of trucks, carts, other people’s restaurants, shops, etc.”
John T. Edge, a well-known food writer, explained in his book The Truck Food Cookbook: 150 Recipes and Ramblings from America’s Best Restaurants on Wheels (2012) that nonstaurant “refers to a nontraditional restaurant in a nontraditional setting.”
CHOW
Steak and Stripper Poles: A New San Francisco Nonstaurant at Bruno’s
By Lessley Anderson, published on Tuesday, May 12, 2009
In the continuing vein of restaurants-that-aren’t-really-restaurants (a.k.a. “nonstaurants”) popping up in odd places with low overhead, now comes “Good Evening Thursday.” The concept: a Rat Pack–style steakhouse that appears one night a week in the private room at Bruno’s in San Francisco’s Mission District.
SFist
San Francisco’s Nonstaurant Trend, Where to Find One Near You
By Brock Keeling in Food on May 14, 2009 12:29 PM
Lessley Anderson (senior editor at CHOW and our former colleague back in the day) sent us this map denoting the sports where you can find the current “nonstaurant” trend in the Bay Area. It’s pretty damn handy for those of you who prefer to get your gastronomic fix from a taco truck.
What’s a nonstaurant? Well, according to CHOW, they are “food ventures operating out of trucks, carts, other people’s restaurants, shops, etc.” These include but are not limited to pop-up restaurants, nouveau street food, and takeout windows in places you wouldn’t expect.”
blip
7x7.com - Insider’s Guide to San Francisco
Trend Watch: Nonstaurant’s in San Francisco
About this episode
It’s expensive to open a restaurant in San Francisco… as a result, chefs throughout the city are taking to the streets. Some, like Laurent Kagely, are doing upscale versions of the taco truck. This is not your typical roach coach.
May 27, 2009
SF Weekly (San Francisco, CA)
Seeking Chefs to Carry On Nonstaurant Tradition: Bruno’s
By John Birdsall, SFoodie Editor Tue., Jun. 29 2010 at 1:06 PM Write Comment
(...)
Before Ostler and Zacher’s tenure, Bruno’s hosted a Thursday night pop-up marshaled by current Bar Tartine chef Chris Kronner. Gaebe said Bruno’s had found a niche in what she called the pop-up “nonstaurant,” and was seeking a chef-partner able to carry on the tradition. She said she hopes to have food service back at Bruno’s in a month.
Google Books
The Truck Food Cookbook:
150 Recipes and Ramblings from America’s Best Restaurants on Wheels
By John T. Edge
New York, NY: Workman Publishing
2012
Pg. 68:
Take a word like nonstaurant, which refers to a nontraditional restaurant in a nontraditional setting. When a cook subleases a dinner space from a restaurant that’s only open for breakfast and lunch, he’s operating a nonstaurant.
NPR—The Salt
Food Truck Lingo Might Be Just Around The Corner
by DEBBIE ELLIOTT
June 11, 2012 3:36 PM
(...)
Nonstaurant – a non-traditional restaurant in a non-traditional setting.
Stitches ‘n Dishes
Do You Speak Food Truck?
by chris | Posted on June 12, 2012
NPR reports that a new slang language is emerging among food truck and food stand owners, as well as the foodies who adore them. It predicts a time in the not-so-distant future when we may find a new food truck lingo making its way in the American Slang Dictionary. The article defines new words, such as Hotdogeuros, which describes purveyors of Sonoran hot dogs, and Ventrification, or “the gentrification of the street food vending game.” Our favorite, Nonstaurant, a non-traditional restaurant in a non-traditional setting.
Food Republic
Word Of The Day: Nonstaurant
Oct 5, 2012 12:31 pm
(...)
A nonstaurant is a non-traditional restaurant in a non-traditional setting. You don’t have to use the word, just get used to going to them, whether stationary or rolling.