lunch counter

a counter, as in a store or restaurant, where light meals and snacks are served or are sold to be taken out.

a luncheonette.

Origin of lunch counter

First recorded in 1865–70

Shortly before the crusade, the teenager had been arrested for participating in a lunch-counter sit-in and jailed for five days.

How the Children of Birmingham Changed the Civil-Rights Movement |Lottie L. Joiner |May 2, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
The lunch-counter was deserted, and the deputies of the Centre themselves were not absorbed in their personal correspondence.

Ten Tales |Franois Coppe
This done, she went to the lunch-counter, climbed on a tall stool, and bought herself a cheap dinner.

We Can't Have Everything |Rupert Hughes
When we arrived at Toledo he said he believed he would eat his supper at the lunch-counter in the depot.

Twenty Years of Hus'ling |J. P. Johnston

"You better take him in a cup of hot coffee, Sinkers," suggested Andy to the lunch-counter boy.

The Nerve of Foley |Frank H. Spearman
There was a television screen over the combination bar and lunch-counter.

The Edge of the Knife |Henry Beam Piper