a small restaurant where drinks and snacks are sold
"I stopped at the corner cafe to grab a quick coffee and a pastry before heading to work."
Alternative form of café
"Before finalizing the fleet purchase, the director asked for a detailed breakdown of our current CAFE compliance status to ensure we meet federal fuel economy standards."
Initialism of Corporate Average Fuel Economy.
In plain English: A cafe is a small place where people go to sit, eat light meals, and drink coffee or tea.
"We stopped at a small cafe to enjoy fresh coffee and pastries."
Usage: When referring to a casual place serving coffee and light meals, use the singular form "cafe." Do not confuse this with the automotive initialism CAFe, which stands for Corporate Average Fuel Economy.
Derived from French, the word cafe originally referred to coffee itself before evolving to mean an establishment where it is served. It entered English in the 19th century as a shortened form of the French café.