俗话说，“民以食为天”，北京人对于吃喝向来极其重视，以至于熟人见面，打招呼第一句都说“吃了吗您呐？”北京在饮食方面，容四方荟萃，集南北技法，既有本地特色，又博采众长。
As a proverb said "Food is the paramount necessity for people", people in Beijing attached great importance to food, when they greeted their friends, the first sentence would be "Have you had a meal already?" Beijing food absorbed and integrated the essence of cooking skills with Southern and Northern China. It not only demonstrates local characteristic, but also took various advantages from food in another regions.
北京的酒楼，高档的要属堂字号，建筑宏伟、宽敞，内有戏楼，平日基本不营业，不接待零散客人，只承办大型宴会。比堂字号规模略小的是饭庄，以菜品质量、风味、品种见长，多以楼、居、庄、斋命名。从纯粹的品尝角度出发，饭庄才是品尝风味饮食享受的首选。
In Beijing, the high class restaurants belonged to those named with surname Tang. The building of these restaurants were magnificent and spacious, and equipped with opera stages, These high class restaurants were not open to the general public and did not receive individual customers. They were only open to large banquets. Some restaurants, with surnames of Lou, Ju, Zhuang and Zhai, were smaller in size than the high class restaurants with surname Tang and well known for quality dishes, special flavor and abundant varieties. In terms of tasting the flavor of food, the above restaurants would be the better choice for specialized local dishes.
