Crossword Genius

Street food after meticulous starter (12)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

thoroughfare

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'street' is the definition.
(I know that thoroughfare is a type of street)

'food after meticulous starter' is the wordplay.
'food' becomes 'fare' (fare is a kind of food).
'after' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'meticulous starter' becomes 'thorough' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'fare' after 'thorough' is 'THOROUGHFARE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for thoroughfare that I've seen before include "Public way or street" , "Road or path" , "highway" , "Main road" , "Access - road" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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