Can you also enjoy a potato with a tasty snack from the snack bar? Or is a cafeteria closer to you for a greasy bite? You can get fried snacks in many places in Zoetermeer, but what is the difference between a snack bar and a cafeteria?
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To answer that question, you have to delve into history. Frans van Rooij, of the Association of Professional Fryers, does this with love and can explain it in great detail.
First World War
What does the First World War have to do with a snack bar in Zoetermeer? Frans explains: “At the end of the twentieth century, the French fries culture moved from France via Wallonia and Flanders to the south of the Netherlands. The two world wars had a major impact on the further spread of fries and deep-fat fry across the country. During the First World War, a million Belgian refugees came to our country. Many host families were introduced to fries as a result. We also know that there were chip shops, small wooden chip shops, in some refugee camps. After the First World War, chip shops opened not only in Brabant, Zeeland and Limburg, but also in a number of large cities in the Randstad.”
WWII
The Second World War ensured a further advance of fries. After that war there was a great scarcity of food and a great need for cheap dishes. Frans continues: “Many hundreds of chip shops, chip trucks, chip shops, chip shops and chip shops have opened throughout the country. Such counters were sometimes even just in living rooms. A hole in the facade and off you go. These chip shops grew into what we call snack bars.” Because frying was done from living rooms, snack bars can still be found so often in residential areas.
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cafeteria vs. snack bar
Aha, now we know how the fries ended up in our country and the origin of today’s snack bar and cafeteria, but what is the difference?
Come on: snack bars still often have limited seating options. We started calling the chip shops that did create seats as cafeterias. While snack bars mainly focus on picking up the chips meal, you can also continue to eat at a cafeteria.
Extensive range
But there is another difference, a cafeteria has a more extensive range. Frank: “Nowadays you can not only get fries, croquettes and other fried delicacies, but also fries with toppings, hamburgers, chicken from the spit and spare ribs.”
Look, you know that again when you get some fries from your favorite chip shop next time! Do you want to get a snack somewhere else? No problem, because the Netherlands has about 5,700 chip shops. So plenty of choice! According to you, the best snack bars in Zoetermeer are these.