Eatery is defined on OALD as:
a restaurant or other place that serves food
In that case, can I call McDonalds an eatery? Or can I call any single one restaurant in the city I see an eatery?
Learn English – What’s the difference between a restaurant and an eatery
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Best Answer
Eatery is a much less formal term than restaurant. It isn't a put-down, precisely, but you wouldn't call Spago or The Four Seasons an "eatery" except as a joke. On the other hand, you can certainly call McDonald's an "eatery", but that isn't the sort of establishment that is usually called that, either.
For me, "eatery" brings to mind a small place with a limited menu, possibly poor lighting, dinky countertops, and a, um, "chef" with a greasy apron and some sort of thick accent. But I might also use it as a catch-all term for a place that serves food, if I want to be deliberately vague about whether said place is a fancy sit-down restaurant, a less-fancy "family" restaurant, a diner, a thinly-disguised bar, a fast-food joint, or a roach coach.
For example, if we're driving up to the relatives -- an 8 hour drive if we're lucky and don't hit traffic on the outskirts of New York City --, around 5:00 p.m. I might be heard to say, "If we don't find an eatery soon, I'm gonna keel over from hunger."