Bar mleczny
A bar mleczny—literally "milk bar" in Polish (though not to be confused with the Australian milk bar)—is a Polish form of cafeteria. Their same in existence more than 100 years ago (first typical milk bar "Mleczarnia Nadświdrzańska" was established in 1896 in Warsaw by Stanisław Dłużewski, a mamber of Polish landed gentry). Milk bars offered not only milk-based food, but also traditiona cuisine meals (however, milk product formed base of the menu).
The commercial success of first bars encouraged other businessmen to copy this type of restaurant. In years following Great War (as well as regaining of independence), milk bars appeared in most of the country. They offered relatively cheap, but nourising food. Their significance even raised during the economic depression in 30's.
The role of cheap restaurants carried through the WW2. After the fall of German Nazi regime, Poland become a communist state, and a satellite to Soviet Union. Despite oficial propaganda, the majority of population was poor and expensive and even mid-class restaurants were claimed to be "capitalist". During the post-war years, most restaurants were nationalized and then closed down by the communist authorities. In the mid-1960s milk bars were common as a means of offering cheap meals to people working in companies that had no official canteen. They still served mostly dairy-based and vegetarian (especially during the period of martial law at the beginning of the 1980s, when meat was rationed).
The prevalent idea at that time was to provide all people with cheap meals at the place of their work. At times the price of the meals served in these canteens was included in a worker's salary. However, there was also a large number of people working in smaller firms that had no canteen at their disposal. Because of this, during the tenure of Władysław Gomułka, the authorities created a network of self-service small eateries. The meals, subsidized by the state, were cheap and readily available to anyone.
Apart from raw or processed dairy products, the milk bars also served egg (omelet or egg cutlets), cereal (kasza) or flour-based meals such as pierogi. After the communist system was dismantled and the shortage economy ended, the majority of milk bars went bankrupt as they were superseded by normal restaurants. However, some of them were preserved as part of the relics of the welfare state so as to support the poorer parts of Polish society.
In early 2010 milk bars experienced a second youth. They become small, cheap restaurants, taking advantage of welfare state nostalgia, but utilizing far better quality in food and customer services. Most people value milk bars over fast-foods, because they food is not junk-type and prices are low (typical three course lunch can be as cheap as 3-5 euro). Currently every major Polish city has at least one "milk bar" somewhere in the city centre.
They are no longer subsidized by the state, but sometimes local governments credit meals for schools or elderly people. They are popular among the elderly, students and sometimes even university professors.
