Serious Eats
Crap Economy May Kill 'Restaurants'
The term, that is, not the actual establishments. From Nicholas Lander of the Financial Times:
Over the past few weeks, as I have watched the most recent openings, read the latest press releases and talked to restaurateurs, I have been increasingly aware that 2008 may see the end of nothing other than the restaurant. By this, I hasten to add, I mean not the restaurant as an institution, but the name. Restaurateurs appear to be doing everything to avoid calling their new openings restaurants. [...]
Various reasons explain this. One is that the word "restaurant" is associated with expense. Another is the inexorable march towards the “café society” we all seem so comfortable in, where our working lives dictate that we want to eat perhaps from a less challenging menu than a restaurant normally offers.
I'm more comfortable in the "pizzeria society" and will remain firmly planted there.