After the great powers established the Anglo-American Concession and the French Concession in Shanghai, British, French and American businessmen opened nightclubs (clubs) in the Concession, with bars, dance halls, restaurants, night gardens, bowling, billiards and other entertainment facilities, and western food, western food, foreign wine and drinks for guests to eat, drink and have fun. Consumers are mainly foreigners, China comprador and their families. In the tenth year of Xianfeng (1860), American businessmen opened Japanese Tea Hotel (now Pujiang Hotel) in the north of Waibaidu Bridge. In the thirty-second year of Guangxu (1906), the nine-story Zhonghui Hotel (now the South Building of Peace Hotel) was built and opened on the Bund of Nanjing East Road. At that time, it was the largest hotel in the city, operating hotels, western food, coffee tea rooms, bars and dance halls. The Bund is the concentration of foreign banks, and the number of offices of foreign companies has increased. In order to meet the dining needs of Chinese and foreign employees, western-style restaurants such as aquatic restaurants, Messer hotels, Sullivan Donghai hotels and German hotels have been set up around Nanjing Road, Sichuan Road, Jiangxi Road and hankou road near the Bund, serving European and American-style western food and fast food at noon. 19 17 after the victory of the October Revolution in the Soviet Union, a group of Belarusian aristocrats fled to Shanghai and successively opened more than 40 Russian-style restaurants in Joffrey Street (now Huaihai Road) in the French Concession, attracting customers with "Russian-style Song cuisine" and "one dish, one soup (Luo Songtang) with butter and bread" at 20 cents each, which was welcomed by consumers. In 1930s, China people tasted western food more and more, and the western food industry entered its heyday. There are nearly 30 restaurants in Fuzhou Road, hankou road Road, Tibet Road and Yan 'an Road, including Xinghualou, Tongxianglou, Yipin Xiang, Yijiachun and Shenyuan. It was called "four big dishes" at that time. Before the Anti-Japanese War, there were more than 200 western cafes in this city.
In 1930s and 1940s, eating western food almost became a fashion. Among all the western food varieties in old Shanghai, British and American western food is the main one, and others are French, German, Italian and Russian. At that time, there were more than 10 in major hotels, such as International Hotel, Golden Gate Hotel, Broadway (Shanghai Building) and Zhonghui Hotel (Peace Hotel), and more than 150 in small and medium-sized restaurants. At that time, the famous restaurants were Red House, Deda Western Restaurant, Kaisiling Western Restaurant, Laixi Hotel, Fuxing Western Restaurant and Swan Pavilion Western Restaurant.
During the period of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, coastal areas and neighboring provinces and counties came to Shanghai to make a living and take refuge in business, and the population was concentrated in the concession. With the great development of catering industry, restaurants, dim sum shops, teahouses and vendors have become markets, forming nine natural industries and their industry associations, such as dining tables, western coffee, kitchens, cakes, dough, porridge, oil cake people, teahouses and boiled water. The total number of network points is more than 1 1,000, which is about 1 times higher than that in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. The number of food and wine merchants has increased from more than 300 to more than 1000, and the competition is fierce, so as to help other specialties and local flavors win over consumers and expand their business. In order to meet the needs of consumers, the kitchen industry has also developed. In addition to contracting meals in shops, factories, foreign firms and money houses, we deliver meals to our doors on time every day, provide light meals and snacks for our shops, undertake weddings, funerals and festive banquets for residents or send kitchen workers, and deliver the preliminarily processed raw materials, seasonings, tableware and tools to our doors.
1945 after War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's victory, the market flourished, the catering industry prevailed, and the catering industry developed abnormally again. Many restaurants attract customers with famous brands and famous shops, and there are more than 120 restaurants in the name of "Lao Zhengxing" in the city. Some restaurants pay attention to facade decoration, and the "Top Ten Restaurants" such as Jinmen, Southland, Cotton Tree and Le Kang are richly decorated. Xinya Cantonese Restaurant 1927 was founded in Hongkou District, and later opened a branch in Nanjing Road, which is famous for its cooking technology and good business. At first, there was only one floor. With the continuous development of the business, it gradually expanded to the third floor and was equipped with heating and cooling equipment. Large and small restaurants can accommodate 700 people at the same time. With the disappearance of surplus materials such as coffee, milk powder and cream from the US military in the market, the western coffee industry has also opened a number of small cafes accordingly. From the Bund to Jing 'an Temple, there are more than 30 cafes on Nanjing Road. In order to meet the needs of consumption, a large number of small shops and stalls in the catering industry have also developed. 1948 since the second half of the year, the currency has depreciated, prices have soared and people have been living in poverty. Shanghai is about to be liberated. Bureaucrats, comprador, Chinese and foreign capitalists have left Shanghai to go to Hong Kong and Taiwan provinces, and the catering market has turned into a depression, with a sharp drop in business. Large companies in catering, catering and coffee industries closed down one after another, but there were still 15000 restaurants and stalls on the eve of liberation.