関東のおもだった（注1）デパートの「大食堂」は、とっくに姿を消した。ある年齢以下の人にはなんのことかもわからないだろう。子どもと高齢者のいる家族づれが、和洋中（注2）のなかから好きなものをえらんで、ひとつのテーブルで一度に食事ができた場所のことだ。ファミリーレストランとのちがいは、サービスの質だろう（後者のほうがよい）。
大食堂では、注文するものや、その日の混雑具合によって、料理がはこばれてくる時間にばらつきがあり、ひと家族の注文したものが一度に出てくることはまずない。①それもサービスのうちにふくまれる今日では、まともな飲食店であれば連れの注文したものがきわだって遅いということはまれだが、昭和も四十年代には、あたりはずれの差が大きく、ひとりが食べおわっても、ほかの人の料理がまだこない、ということがありえた。
大食堂のシステムは、見本をみて食べたいものを選んだら食券を買い、自分で席をさがしてテ一ブルにつく。ウェイトレスかウェイターを呼びとめ、半券を手渡せば注文したことになる。
やがて料理をはこんできた人が、のこった半券を回収してゆく。これで完了だが、混雑時には注文したものとちがう料理がはこばれてきたり、あきらかにあとから席についたとなりのテーブルへ、自分が注文したのとおなじ料理が先にはこばれたり、などというサービスの基本にかかわる、混乱がたびたび生じた。
席の案内係というのも機能しておらず、もうじき席を立ちそうな人の後ろで待ちかまえる（注3）、というふうだった（行列のマナーが今ほど浸透していない）。
大食堂が消えた要因として、「食のニーズ（注4）の多様化」などと云われもしたが、わたしはそれよりも、消費者が質のよいサービスをもとめるようになったからだと思う。大食堂という乱雑な形式では、それにこたえることは不可能だったのだ。（中略）
こんな具合の日曜日の大食堂で、だれが楽しめるものか。まともなサービスが追いつかず、消えるべくして消えた大食堂というシステムを、郷愁（注5）だけでなつかしむ人がいるようだが、わたしはごめんこうむる（注6）。
あんなざわざわがやがやしたところで（しかもお安くない）食べるくらいなら、セルフサービスのカフェのほうがよい、というのが現代だと思う。
AI translation, cross-checked between two models.
The “large dining halls” of the major department stores in the Kantō region disappeared long ago.（注1） People below a certain age probably do not even know what they were. They were places where families including both children and elderly members could each choose what they liked from Japanese, Western, or Chinese dishes and eat together at one table.（注2） The difference from family restaurants was probably the quality of service—the latter was better.
In a large dining hall, the time it took for dishes to arrive varied according to what was ordered and how crowded the place was that day, and a family’s entire order was almost never served at once. ① Nowadays, that too is considered part of good service, so at any decent restaurant it is rare for one person’s order to arrive dramatically later than their companions’; but in the Shōwa 40s, the difference between good and bad luck was considerable, and it was quite possible for one person to finish eating before the others’ food had even arrived.
The system at a large dining hall was that, after looking at the display models and choosing what you wanted to eat, you bought a meal ticket, found your own seat, and sat down at a table. You stopped a waitress or waiter and handed over one half of the ticket, and that counted as placing your order.
Eventually, the person who brought the food would collect the remaining half of the ticket. That completed the process, but when the place was crowded, confusion over the basics of service occurred frequently—for example, the wrong dish might be brought, or a neighboring table that had clearly sat down later might receive the same dish you had ordered before you did.
The staff assigned to guide people to seats did not function properly either, so people would stand waiting behind diners who looked as if they were about to leave—the etiquette of lining up was not as widespread as it is today.（注3）
It has been said that one factor in the disappearance of large dining halls was “the diversification of food-related needs,” but I think it was more because consumers began demanding higher-quality service.（注4） The disorderly format of the large dining hall made it impossible to meet that demand. (Omitted)
Who could possibly enjoy a large dining hall like that on a Sunday? Some people seem to look back nostalgically on the large-dining-hall system, which could not keep up with decent service and disappeared because it was bound to disappear, but I want no part of that nostalgia.（注5）（注6）
I think the modern view is that, rather than eat in such a noisy, bustling place—which was not cheap either—one would be better off at a self-service café.
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