Unearthed at a crossroads near the city center, the small, windowless tavern dates to between 80 and 75 B.C., said Massimo Osanna, Pompeii’s director general, at a news conference on Thursday.
“It’s a really revolutionary discovery, because it shows us a completely new aspect of the city,” Osanna said.
“Pompeii offers a new surprise,” said Dario Franceschini, Italy’s culture minister. “Every time we dig, we pull something out of the ground that gives us insight into the past.”
The fast-food joint would have catered to the lower rungs of society and perhaps slaves who didn’t have the means or the facilities to prepare meals at home, said Osanna.
“It is the first archaeological evidence that demonstrates the existence of food prepared and sold on the street to a wide variety of customers,” he said.
Pompeii was once a thriving city with an estimated population of 20,000 people before it was buried under volcanic pumice and ash when the volcano Mount Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79.
At least 1,500 people were killed in the cataclysm, which preserved their remains and the city they lived in for centuries.
Pompeii is now a major archaeological complex and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Archaeologists said the tavern sold fish, soups and stews as well as hot drinks.
A fresco painting on a wall inside the shop shows different colored rectangles, which would have been used as a menu, indicating the various foods and beverages available and their price, Osanna said.
There is also a drawing of someone lifting up a wine skin that is attached to a sign, and in the background a person seems to be serving a client.
The remains were found intact, along with more than 20 large jugs. An open area just outside the tavern may have been used as seating, Osanna said.
The excavations took months to complete, and there are plans for the thermopolium, as the Romans called such eateries, to be opened to visitors from January.
“It’s a wonderful treasure that will offer new insight into the everyday life here,” said Franceschini.
