Restaurants, Bistros (Bistrots), Brasseries, Cafes et al

I often have tried to figure out the difference beetween the variety of eating establishments and have read many definitions but have come to the conclusion that there is no clear cut distinction anymore.   A restaurant used to be open only for lunch & dinner and, outside of those hours, you were out of luck.  On this trip, we ran into several eating establishments that had the name restaurant on their awning or window but were open from morning to night & seemed more like my idea of a brasserie. The only difference between a brasserie and bistro seems to be size as most bistros are smaller & cozier than the sprawling brasseries, but basically they often offer the same types of food. Here are pictures of a few where we had meals, snacks or just a drink.