Delicatessen means “delicious things (to eat)”
Delicatessens may also provide specialist food from other countries and cultures which is not readily available in local food stores.
In Europe, it has a rather different meaning; it designates top-quality (and top-price) foodstuffs. Luxury food shops in Europe include Fauchon in Paris, Dallmayr in Munich, Germany and Harrods and Fortnum & Mason in London.
In the USA, most delicatessens, or Deli, is a type of business that could be described as a synthesis of a grocery store and a fast-food restaurant.
In Canada, both uses of the term delicatessen are found. First-generation immigrants from Europe often use the term in a manner consistent with its original German meaning. As well, even Jewish delis (as in Montreal, for example) can be either strictly take-out, or mixed take-out and sit-down restaurants.
In Australia, large grocery supermarket chains often incorporate a specific deli department, and there is an abundance of stand-alone independent delicatessens across all parts of the country.
