At the restaurant and ordering food in French

You walk into a restaurant in Lausanne or Paris. The waiter greets you, hands you the menu and comes back a few minutes later: Avez-vous fait votre choix ? Have you decided? To answer without stress, all you need is to know a few words and how to build a simple sentence.

Let’s follow the meal step by step: asking for a table, reading the menu, ordering, then paying the bill.

Basic restaurant vocabulary in French

Before you sit down, look out for the words you are going to see or hear:

La carte is the list of dishes; in Switzerland, you will also see la carte des mets. Le menu refers rather to a set menu or a fixed-price formula. As for the verb commander, it means “to order”.

At the entrance, you can say “Une table pour deux personnes, s’il vous plaît.” (“A table for two, please”). If you have booked: “J’ai réservé une table au nom de Smith.” (“I booked a table under the name Smith”).

Questions the waiter may ask you

From arrival to the bill, certain questions come up often. Recognising them will help you answer, even if you don’t understand every word.

To the question “Est-ce que c’était bon ?”, you can reply “Oui, c’était très bon, merci !” (“Yes, it was very good, thank you!”).

Reading the menu in French

The waiter brings you la carte. Some words may be unfamiliar, but the sections look like those on a menu in English.

Starters, main courses and desserts in French

• l’entrée → the starter
• le plat principal / le plat → the main course
• l’accompagnement / la garniture → the side dish
• le dessert → the dessert
• la soupe du jour → the soup of the day
• le plat du jour → the dish of the day
• la formule de midi / le menu du jour → the set lunch

If the menu hasn’t arrived yet, ask “Puis-je avoir la carte, s’il vous plaît ?” (“Could I have the menu, please?”). After the meal, la carte des desserts is the dessert menu.

Common types of dishes in French

Looking for something light, or trying to work out what comes with the dish of the day? These words will help:

• la soupe → soup
• les pâtes → pasta
• la viande → meat
• le poisson → fish
• les légumes → vegetables
• la salade → salad
• le pain → bread
• le fromage → cheese
• végétarien / végan → vegetarian / vegan

On the menu, grillé means “grilled”, poêlé “pan-fried”, rôti “roasted”, and fait maison “homemade”.

In French-speaking Switzerland, people often say dîner for the midday meal and souper for the evening meal. In France, le déjeuner is the midday meal and le dîner the evening meal.

Choosing a drink

The waiter comes back: “Que puis-je vous apporter à boire ?” (“What can I get you to drink?”)

• la boisson → the drink
• l’eau → water
• l’eau du robinet / une carafe d’eau → tap water / a jug of tap water (une carafe d’eau is the usual way to ask for it in a restaurant)
• l’eau minérale → mineral water
• l’eau plate → still water
• l’eau gazeuse → sparkling water
• le vin → wine

To ask for tap water: “Un verre d’eau du robinet, s’il vous plaît.” For mineral water, specify “gazeuse” (sparkling) or “plate” (still).

Can you make sense of the menu and choose your drink? Before you order, it’s a good moment to check how much you already understand.

Test your level online for free >

Ordering at the table in French

You’ve made your choice. All that’s left is to catch the waiter’s attention and give your order.

Catching the waiter’s attention

A simple “Excusez-moi !” (“Excuse me!”) is enough. If you need help, say “Pourriez-vous m’aider, s’il vous plaît ?” (“Could you help me, please?”).

You might hear “Garçon !” in a film or an old textbook. This way of calling the waiter sounds dated; use “Excusez-moi” instead.

Placing your order

To order at a restaurant in French, choose a structure and add the name of the dish:

• J’aimerais… → I’d like…
• Je prendrais… → I’ll have…
• Pour moi, s’il vous plaît… → For me, please…

So you can say:

• Pouvons-nous commander, s’il vous plaît ? → Could we order, please?
• Je voudrais commander quelque chose à manger. → I’d like to order something to eat.
• J’aimerais la soupe du jour. → I’d like the soup of the day.
• Je prendrais les fettuccine Alfredo, s’il vous plaît. → I’ll have the fettuccine Alfredo, please.
• En entrée, je prendrais la salade du chef. → As a starter, I’ll have the chef’s salad.
• Pour moi, les röstis avec un œuf au plat, s’il vous plaît. → For me, the rösti with a fried egg, please.
• Que recommandez-vous ? → What do you recommend?
• Ce sera tout, merci. → That’s all, thank you.

Still hesitating between two dishes? “Il nous faut encore un instant, s’il vous plaît.” will give you a little time. After je prends, le pain becomes du pain when you don’t specify a quantity, while la soupe du jour stays la soupe du jour.

Asking about the dishes

An ingredient isn’t listed on the menu? Before choosing, you can ask:

• Que contient ce plat ? → What’s in this dish?
• Est-ce végétarien ? → Is it vegetarian?
• Cela contient-il du gluten ? → Does it contain gluten?
• Avez-vous des plats végétariens ou sans gluten ? → Do you have any vegetarian or gluten-free dishes?
• Sans oignons, s’il vous plaît. → Without onions, please.
• Puis-je avoir une salade à la place des frites ? → Can I have a salad instead of fries?

To mention an allergy, say clearly “Je suis allergique aux fruits à coque.” (“I’m allergic to nuts”) or “Je suis allergique au poisson.” (“I’m allergic to fish”), then have the staff confirm what the dish contains.

Eating in or taking away in French

Another day, you stop at a bakery. At the till, you are asked “Sur place ou à emporter ?” (“Eat in or take away?”).

You can say so right from the start: “Un croissant et une renversée à emporter, s’il vous plaît.” (“A croissant and a milky coffee to take away, please”). Renversée is the Swiss French word for a coffee with plenty of milk.

Paying the bill in French

The meal is over. To ask for the bill, there’s no need to look for a long phrase.

Asking for the bill

The bill is l’addition in French. You can say:

• L’addition, s’il vous plaît ! → The bill, please!
• On voudrait payer, s’il vous plaît ! → We’d like to pay, please!
• Nous aimerions payer, s’il vous plaît. → We would like to pay, please.

Paying and leaving a tip

The waiter asks Vous payez ensemble ou séparément ?: are you paying together or separately?

• Ensemble, s’il vous plaît. → Together, please.
• Séparément, s’il vous plaît. → Separately, please.
• Puis-je payer par carte ? → Can I pay by card?
• Puis-je payer avec TWINT ? → Can I pay with TWINT?
• C’est pour moi. → It’s on me.
• Gardez la monnaie ! → Keep the change!

In Switzerland, service is included in the displayed prices. If you are satisfied, you can round up the amount or leave a few francs. In France, service is also included, and leaving a few euros is a common but optional gesture.

Useful phrases for the whole meal

Before your next meal out, keep this sequence in mind:

1. Une table pour deux personnes, s’il vous plaît. → A table for two, please.
2. Pourriez-vous m’apporter la carte ? → Could you bring me the menu?
3. Il nous faut encore un instant, s’il vous plaît. → We need a little more time, please.
4. Pouvons-nous commander, s’il vous plaît ? → Could we order, please?
5. Que recommandez-vous ? → What do you recommend?
6. Est-ce végétarien ? → Is it vegetarian?
7. Bon appétit ! → Enjoy your meal!
8. C’était très bon ! → That was delicious!
9. L’addition, s’il vous plaît. → The bill, please.
10. Séparément, s’il vous plaît. → Separately, please.

You now know the words to follow the meal. To feel more at ease, the next step is to use them in a real conversation and understand the replies, even when they surprise you. The verb commander isn’t only for restaurants, either: see how it works in other shopping situations in our article How to place an order in French.