family style

adverb

1. (of a meal) with the serving platters on the table so that all present can serve themselves.

Word History and Origins

Origin of family style¹

An Americanism dating back to 1930–35

Example Sentences

In between bites of ginger scallion noodles and cucumber peanut salad, served family style, comedian Kate Berlant took to a microphone and revealed that the models would be none other than us — well, not all of us, but enough names that could be called in 10ish minutes.

From Los Angeles Times

In addition to the seasons in which she competed, Chung also appeared on "Top Chef: Amateurs" and "Top Chef: Family Style."

From Salon

“They like to take in more kids than they have room for because the state pays them by the kid. More kids mean more money, whether they spend it on us or not. No one really checks that. We were crammed into bedrooms that were too small. Rather than give everyone a meal, they put food in the middle of the table, so it looked like there was more than there was. They called it ‘family style,’ which is a joke because they treated us like anything but a family.

From Literature

I think the Family Style thing was definitely a game changer.

From Los Angeles Times

Miles Canares, co-founder of Family Style Fest: I was handling food for ComplexCon and Ben and Bobby were openly praising it.

From Los Angeles Times