Cafeteria - you serve yourself at a counter and carry the food to the table after paying. Diner - a small, inexpensive restaurant with a long counter, shaped like a railroad dining car Restaurant - any place of business where you sit to eat the food. Includes all others mentioned here except dining hall Fast food restaurant - serving hamburgers or other food that can be served fast. You pick it up at the counter and take it out or sit down. Canteen - cafeteria that is run by a school or the military; also, a small snack shop. A deli is a small, specialty restaurant that serves special types of sandwiches - a step above hamburgers. The sandwiches are prepared to order. Dining hall- a hall built to serve food. It is usually rented out to organizations to serve food on special occasions - a celebration or such. There may or may not be a permanent staff. Sometimes, it is used to describe a cafeteria.

It doesn't matter. They all have food.

I'll answer the question but not in writing because italki limits the size of the answers and to explain the differences would be too large for italki. Call me on Skype: brian.madden4