餐館(restaurant)是近代社會常見的公共場域，它既是精緻飲食的消費空間，也是精英階層社交、娛樂的重要場所，甚至是城市中激盪思潮、散播資訊或展演時尚的主要地方之一。餐館在臺灣的起源甚晚，清末時臺灣臺南府城和臺北舺等地已有酒樓設立，惟數量屈指可數。但到了1895至1911年間，隨著統治政權的轉換，除了日人來臺後設立的日本與西洋料理屋外，一時之間各種酒樓，也在城市中蔚然興起。酒樓中聚會宴飲、吟詩唱和也開始成爲官、紳等精英階層的新興社會活動。無論就商業或社會文化發展的角度來看，日治初期酒樓的大量設立都是極其醒目的景象。本文主要目的，即論述臺灣酒樓出現並成爲特定階層人士之飲食消費空間，進而在日治初期大量發展，轉變成近代臺灣重要公共社交場域的政治因素和社會發展脈絡，並分析宴會活動從私人場域－花廳，移轉至公共空間－酒樓，對於剛剛進入殖民統治時期的臺灣，所展現出的特殊意涵。花廳原是臺灣精英階層主要的宴飲、社交空間，但具有強烈的閉鎖、私有性，由精英階層中極少數的富豪或士紳所支配。日本領有臺灣後，酒樓因具有開放性、展示性，逐漸取得其在城市生活中的重要地位。一方面，對臺灣精英階層而言，在酒樓中消費，不僅可以在殖民政權下重新建構身分與名望，也可在嚴厲政治氣氛下寄情於詩、酒、傳統中國料理與藝旦娛樂，重溫故國氣息、彼此慰藉，酒樓因此成爲其遁逃於日本殖民統治與文化霸權影響的重要堡壘。另方面，日人基於享受異國情調的料理與聲色娛樂、與被殖民者聯絡交誼等因素，也會參加酒樓的消費活動。其結果，酒樓不僅是臺人聚會宴飲、娛樂的地方，也是殖民統治者與被殖民階層相互溝通，具有軟性、非官方性格的公共空間。

The restaurant is an important form of public space that emerged in modern society. It is a venue for consumption of fine cuisine; itprovides a space for social activities and entertainment; it is also a field where new ideas and fashions can be displayed and disseminated. The formation of such public spaces in Taiwan started quite late. Only a few 'drinking parlors' appeared in Tainan and Taipei during the late Qing Dynasty; however, drinking parlors proliferated particularly in the period from 1895 to 1911, and served as an important form of public space, where Japanese and Taiwanese elites engaged in various communal activities. Before the establishment of drinking parlors, Taiwanese entrepreneurs and rich gentry held their banquets at 'private dining halls,' which refer to the closed and domestic spaces meant to host banquets and gatherings. This essay examines how the banquet venues were transferred from 'private dining halls' to 'drinking parlors,' a public space among social elites. By exploring the political factors and social context of this transformation, this essay analyzes the implications and significance of this transformation in Taiwanese society during the Japanese colonial period. While 'private dining halls' were a highly closed space which was dominated by the top circle of society, the newly-established drinking parlors were open spaces conducive to display, and catered to an expanded range of social elites. In this context, drinking parlors mushroomed and acquired their significance from the early colonial period onward. For the Taiwanese social elites, dining in drinking parlors was an effective way to build their social status and reputation; on the other hand, they could find comfort in poetry, wine, women and traditional Chinese cuisine. In this sense, drinking parlors served as a shelter for them to escape the reality of being colonized. For the Japanese people in Taiwan, drinking parlors served as a place to make social connections with Taiwanese elites and to enjoy the exotic entertainment at the same time. Consequently, drinking parlors were not only a communal space for the banquets and conventions of Taiwanese elites, but also a 'soft' public space where the colonized and the colonizers engaged in unofficial communication and interaction.