Cafeteria item (4)
I believe the answer is:
tray
'cafeteria item' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
This is all the clue.
(Other definitions for tray that I've seen before include "Flattish carrying board" , "Correspondence container" , "Flat utensil for carrying food" , "Salver" , "platter" .)