I'm sorry I don't know anything in relation to the Orient, but in Pompeii, and certainly other cities of Rome, the thermopoliae were the shops where food was steamed in large dolii, large earthenware jars, and served to street customers. The capuona, too, was a similar establishment for the serving of hot meals, but a thermopolium was more open to customers coming and going.

The lack of a kitchen in often wooden houses would necessitate going out to eat. Richer owners of villas would have had the means to be cooked for at home, and so eating at a thermopolium may have led one to be the subject of discreet derision from citizens of a higher social class.

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