Restaurant

Italian restaurants
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Vocabolario di ristorante

If you like eating out, you’ll love this Italian vocabulary related to restaurants.

Useful verbs

  bere   to drink
  ordinare   to order
  mangiare   to eat
  pagare   to pay
  prendere   to take, have
       

What the waiter might say…

  Si sieda.
Sedetevi.
  Have a seat.
     Ha deciso?
Avete deciso?
  Have you decided?
  È pronto per ordinare?
Siete pronti per ordinare?
  Are you ready to order?
  Cosa desidera?
Cosa desiderate?
  What would you like?
  La ascolto.
Vi ascolto.
  (Go ahead) I’m listening.
  Cosa prende?
Cosa prendete?
  What are you having?
  Che cosa le porto?
Che cosa vi porto?
  What can I get you?
  Per primo?   For the first course / appetizer?
  Per secondo?   For the second / main course?
  Per contorno?   Any side dishes?
  Qualcos’altro?   And after that? What else?
  Acqua frizzante o naturale?   Sparkling or still water?
  Torno subito.   I’ll be right back.
       

What you might respond…

     Vorrei…   I would like…
  Prendo…   I’ll have…
  Quanto costa… ?
Quanto costano… ?
  How much does (this) cost?
How much do (these) cost?
  Sono…   I am…
       allergico / allergica a…     allergic to…
    diabetico / diabetica     diabetic
    vegetariano / vegetariana     vegetarian
    vegano / vegana     vegan
  Non posso mangiare…   I can’t eat…
  Cosa raccomanda?   What do you recommend?
  Cosa ci consiglia?   What do you recommend for us?
 
If you order meat, the waiter might ask
  Come la vorrebbe cotta? How would you like it cooked?
 
And you can respond…  
  poco cotta very rare (red inside)
  al sangue rare (pink inside)
  un po’ più cotta dal sangue medium-rare
  cottura media medium
  ben cotta well done
 
What you might say to your table mates
  Salute! Cheers!
  Buon appetito! Enjoy your meal! (the waiter might say this too)
 
Later, the waiter might ask…
  Tutto bene? Do you like it? Is everything ok?
  Ha finito?
Avete finito?
Have you finished?
     
When you’re ready, ask for
  il conto check/bill
     
Restaurant people
  il cameriere waiter
  la cameriera waitress
  lo chef chef
  il cuoco cook
     
Other useful restaurant terms
  il menù menu
  il menù a prezzo fisso fixed-price meal
  il contorno side order
  la carta di credito credit card
  la mancia tip
  la mancia è inclusa tip included
  la mancia non è inclusa tip not included
  vietato fumare no smoking
  non sono ammessi animali domestici no pets allowed
  Da mangiare qui o da portare via? For here or to go?
Eat in or take away?

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Italian restaurant terms

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