飯屋

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 飯屋 (めしや) is an everyday compound noun for an unpretentious eatery serving meals.
• Basic usage: 駅裏の飯屋は混み合う makes a worker-frequented eatery the topic, while 安い飯屋を教わる makes a local inexpensive restaurant the place recommended to a traveler.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Colloquial label and price modifier
  • 飯屋 is a colloquial label for an eatery, while cheapness in 安い飯屋 is a property of one place. It does not imply that every such restaurant is inexpensive.