Roadhouse (facility)

A roadhouse (US), stopping house (Canada) or coaching inn (GB) is a commercial establishment typically built on or near a major road or highway that services passing travellers. The word's meaning varies slightly by country.

In Western Canada the equivalent facility was historically called a stopping house.

A local inn or restaurant, the "roadhouse" or "road house" commonly serves meals, especially in the evenings; has a bar serving beer or hard liquor and features music, dancing, and sometimes gambling. Most roadhouses are located along highways or roads in rural areas or on the outskirts of towns. Early roadhouses provided lodging for travelers but, with the advent of faster means of transport than walking, horseback riding, or horse-drawn carriages, few now offer rooms to let. Roadhouses have a slightly disreputable image, similar to honky tonks.

This type of roadhouse has been portrayed in movies such as The Wild One, Easy Rider, and Road House.

From the 1890s in Alaska and the Yukon, beginning with the gold rush, roadhouses were checkpoints where dog drivers (mushers, or dog sledders); horse-driven sleds; and people on snowshoes, skis, or walking would stop overnight for shelter and a hot meal. Remains of a roadhouse can be seen today south of Carmacks, Yukon along the Klondike Highway.

In Australia a roadhouse is a full-service station in a rural area but located on a major intercity route. A roadhouse sells fuel and provides maintenance and repairs for cars, but it also has an attached "restaurant" (more like a café or diner) to sell and serve hot food to travellers. Roadhouses usually also serve as truck stops, providing space for parking of semi-trailer trucks and buses, as well as catering to travellers in private cars. In remote areas such as the Nullarbor Plain, a roadhouse also offers motel-style accommodation and camping facilities.

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