"store" 'restaurant'

[Arnold Zwicky]

yesterday i overheard staff of the local Gordon Biersch restaurant
consulting about managing their website and referring to the three Bay
Area restaurants (S.F., Palo Alto, San Jose) as "stores" throughout.
later i asked the manager about this, and he said that was the way
they referred to the locations in-house -- because, after all, they
sold things.  i noted that people generally didn't refer to
restaurants that way, and that there were other places that sold
things but were not referred to as stores (in general, places that
sell services are not referred to as stores).

NOAD2 says "a retail establishment selling items to the public".  that
excludes places that sell services, and also wholesalers, but there's
still a fairly big gray area, turning on what counts as an "item".
what about art galleries, sandwich shops, ... and restaurants?  (i see
that NOAD2 treats delicatessens as a type of store.)

has anyone experienced "store" referring to a restaurant?

arnold

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