Archaeologists excavating Pompeii have found a thermopolium — an ancient Roman street-food counter — with its serving vessels still embedded in the stone counter, some still containing traces of the food that was sold there on the day of the eruption in 79 AD, including duck, pig, fish, and snail.
✓ checked
What we found
Did ancient Rome have fast food? Yes, and at Pompeii the menu survived.
The receipts
Transcript
What if the world's oldest fast-food restaurant was buried under a volcano for two thousand years, and we could still see what was on the menu? Archaeologists excavating Pompeii uncovered a remarkably preserved street-food counter called a thermopolium, with large ceramic serving vessels built directly into its stone surface. Inside those vessels, food residue survived the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Chemical analysis of the remains identified duck, pig, fish, snail, and wine. A full Roman menu, frozen in time. These counters lined busy Pompeii streets the way food stalls line a modern city block, serving hot meals to people who had no kitchen at home. Dozens of these counters have been found across Pompeii. But one excavated in the fifth district is the most complete ever recorded. Its frescoed front panel still shows painted images of the very animals being sold inside. The real shock isn't that the Romans had takeaway. It's that we can still read the menu.
Watch on
YouTubeWatch on YouTube
A new strange-but-true Short every day — with the source in the description.
Subscribe for a fact every dayOr get it by email
One weird, checked fact in your inbox — daily, weekly, or monthly.
Pick your cadence · manage anytime