In this post we’ll look at English vocabulary and expressions that you can use to talk about food and restaurants.
Let’s Grab a Bite
If you want to invite someone to lunch or dinner, you can say let’s grab a bite. That’s a casual way to say let’s have dinner/lunch together at a restaurant. If you want to eat somewhere other than at your home, you can say let’s eat out tonight. (You can guess that you eat at your home if you eat in.) Here are some typical places where people eat out.
- a nice/fancy/elegant/simple/casual/family-style/Italian/Thai/French/Mexican restaurant
We’re eating in a nice/fancy/elegant restaurant, so you can’t wear jeans and a tee shirt!
We usually go to casual restaurants unless it’s a special occasion.
This is a simple family-style restaurant, with good but inexpensive food, perfect for families. They serve food on large dishes, and the family shares.
There’s a new French restaurant in town. The chef is excellent.
Let’s go to the Mexican restaurant tonight. I feel like having a burrito.
- a fast-food place/a diner/a pizzeria/a sandwich shop/a deli
Let’s just get burgers at the fast-food place.
I love eating in diners because they have a really wide range of simple, inexpensive food.
The pizzeria in town makes excellent pizza.
Let’s grab some subs/heroes/hoagies at the sandwich shop.
The deli makes the best sandwiches, but they’re always crowded. - a food truck/hotdog cart/concession stand
Food trucks are really popular, and they’re a great place to eat if you don’t mind sitting outside.
I was hungry when I walked past a hotdog cart, so I grabbed a hotdog and ate it on the street.
We’re going to see a baseball game tonight, and we’ll get some food at the concession stand. - take-out/delivery
The little Chinese place in town only does take-out. There are no tables there, you just pick up the food.
I think I’m going to call the pizzeria and order a pizza for delivery. - coffee shop/café
Let’s get some breakfast at the coffee shop before we go to the office.
There’s a café near the theater where we can get coffee and pastries. - pastry shop/donut shop/bagel shop/ice cream shop/parlor
Let’s stop by the pastry shop and get some pastries and cookies.
This donut shop is always crowded, because their donuts are really good.
There’s a bagel shop that makes real New York bagels.
Whenever we’re at the beach we go to the ice cream shop/parlor. - pub/bar
We can get fries and chicken wings at the pub.
Let’s go to a bar and grab a drink tonight.
A Table for Two, Please
Here’s some vocabulary that will be helpful at restaurants.
- a table for two/four/six, please
Do you have a table for two? - to have/make/take reservations
Do you have reservations/a reservation?
I’m sorry, I didn’t make reservations/a reservation.
Does this restaurant take reservations, or is it first come, first served? - (fully) booked/full
I’m sorry, we don’t have any available tables. We’re (fully) booked.
The restaurant is full, so we’ll have to wait. We can have a drink at the bar. - host/server/waiter/waitress
Please wait here and the host will bring you to your table.
People usually say server these days instead of waiter or waitress. - menu/kid’s menu/wine list/specials
Could we have a menu please?
Do you have a kid’s menu for our children?
Could we see a wine list, please?
What are your specials today? - starters/appetizers/main dishes/mains/entrées/side dishes/sides/dessert
Are you hungry enough to order a starter/appetizer?
I’m not going to order an appetizer, I’ll just order a main/*entrée.
Would you like potatoes or coleslaw as a side/side dish?
Save some room for dessert!
*In the US, an entrée is the same as a main dish. In most other places, an entrée is the same as an appetizer.
Broiled or Fried?
Here are some important expressions that describe how food is cooked. You’ll probably see these words on a menu.
- baked (to bake): cooked in the oven with dry heat. Typical baked foods are bread, cookies, cake, fish, and some meat
Are you baking cookies? Your house smells wonderful!
This is freshly baked bread. - roast/roasted (to roast): cooked with high dry heat in the over. Typically meat is roasted at higher temperatures than baking.
This deli has fantastic roast beef sandwiches.
We’re having roast pork tonight. - broiled (to broil): cooked under very high heat, usually directly below a heat source.
I need to broil the steaks, and then dinner will be ready.
Don’t leave fish under the broiler for too long, it will overcook and dry out! - boiled (to boil): cooked in boiling (212F/100C) water.
I’m boiling potatoes.
How long do I have to boil these noodles before they’re ready? - steamed (to steam): cooked in water vapor (steam) instead of in boiled water.
Steamed vegetables are very healthy.
Bao are Chinese steamed buns. - grilled (to grill): cooked on metal bars, usually over heat or flames
We grill a lot of food outside in the summer time.
Are you going to bake or grill the fish? - barbecued (to barbecue): cooked over an open fire, often with a special sweet or tangy sauce
We’re having hamburgers and barbecued chicken at the picnic.
Someone in the neighborhood is barbecuing. It smells great! - sautéed (to sauté): to cook in a pan with high heat and a little bit of oil
You have to sauté the onions before you add them to the meat.
Would you like sautéed mushrooms on your burger? - fried (to fry): cooked on the top of the stove, in a pan with some oil
We always have fried eggs for breakfast on Sundays.
Fried foods have more calories than steamed foods. - deep fried (to deep fry): cooked in a large amount of very hot oil, completely covered by the oil
Deep fried potatoes are called French fries in the US and chips in the UK.
Deep fried foods are delicious, but not very healthy! - stir fried (to stir fry): to cook in a wok, to cook by frying while moving or stirring the food, as in Chinese and other East Asian cooking
I’m stir frying some vegetables and tofu for dinner.
We stir fry a lot, so we’re always using our wok.
Carafes, Cutlery, and Condiments
Here is some other vocabulary that you may come across at a restaurant or when talking about food.
- à la carte: ordered as a separate item, not part of a fixed menu
Would you like to order from a set menu or à la carte? - beverage: a drink
Can I get you any beverages? - carafe: a glass container used to serve water or wine
Would you like a carafe of sparkling or still water? - condiments: things that you add to food, for example salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise
Here is your burger, and if you’d like any condiments they’re over by the napkins. - course: part of a meal (first course = appetizer, main course, dessert course, etc.)
How many courses are you cooking tonight? - cutlery: things you eat with – usually forks, knives, spoons
Could we have some cutlery, please? There isn’t any on table. - doggie bag: leftover food from a restaurant that you take home to eat later
Have you finished eating? Can I put that in a doggie bag for you? - fine dining: higher quality or more elegant dining, usually a more expensive restaurant
We usually go to casual restaurants, but we like fine dining for special occasions. - gluten-free: a special diet that restricts gluten, which is found in wheat and other grains
Do you offer any gluten-free options? - gourmet: high quality food, or a person who enjoys high quality food
You should go to a gourmet restaurant for your birthday.
My brother is a real gourmet. He knows a lot about food. - halal: meat that is prepared according to Muslim law
There’s a halal butcher in this neighborhood. - hard liquor: alcohol that isn’t beer or wine, stronger alcohol like vodka and whiskey
They only serve wine and beer here, you can’t get any hard liquor. - herb: a fragrant plant used in cooking, for example parsley, sage, rosemary, or cilantro
This restaurant has a beautiful herb roasted chicken. - kosher: food that is prepared according to Jewish law
Is there a kosher deli around here? - party (of): a group or number of people dining together at a restaurant
How many are in your party? - plant-based: a diet that focuses on food from plants, rather than animals
Many people are following a plant-based diet these days for a number of reasons. - rare, medium, well-done: ways of cooking steak and other meat
How would you like your steak, rare, medium, or well-done? - seafood: food from the ocean, fish and shellfish
Fried seafood is very popular. - shellfish: seafood from animals with shells: shrimp, lobster, crab, clams, mussels, oysters, scallops
Do you have any shellfish allergies? - soft drink: carbonated, sweetened drinks: sodas like coke or ginger ale
The kids like to get soft drinks when we go out to eat. - spice: something that flavors food, from a dried part of the plant (seeds, root, nut, etc.)
Indian food uses a lot of wonderful spices. - tip: extra money left for a server
How much do you tip here?
I forget to leave a tip! - utensil: something you use to eat with: a fork, a spoon, a knife, chopsticks, etc.
Where do you keep your utensils? - vegan: a diet that doesn’t include any animals products at all, entirely plant-based
Mark is vegan, so he can’t eat anything with dairy or eggs. - vegetarian: a diet that doesn’t include any products from animals that have been killed, but can include eggs and dairy
Are you vegan or vegetarian? Can you eat a cheese omelet?
How’s Your Food?
If someone asks you how your food is, you may want to answer with some of this vocabulary.
- delicious/wonderful/fantastic/incredible/great/beautiful are all ways of saying really good
My whole meal was delicious. Everything was fantastic.
Wow, that is a beautiful steak.
Every dish on the menu is great/wonderful/fantastic. You can’t go wrong here! - to taste good/to be tasty: something that tastes very good
These cookies are really tasty. They taste really good/great. - bland/tasteless/to have no taste
My soup doesn’t really have a lot of flavor. It’s a bit bland.
This food looks really good, but it’s tasteless. It has no taste at all. - gross/disgusting/foul/revolting are all ways of saying really bad
What are you eating? It looks gross!
Oh, man, this is disgusting/foul.
What is that revolting smell? Are you actually eating that??!? - raw/under-cooked
Don’t eat that chicken! It’s pink, the center is still raw!
My potatoes are a bit under-cooked. They’re still pretty hard. - overcooked/burned
This fish is overcooked. It was cooked for too long.
I asked for my steak well-done, not burned! - chewy/rubbery both describe food that is unpleasant to chew
I don’t think you followed the recipe correctly, because this cake is really chewy.
The chicken is really overcooked and rubbery. - crispy/crunchy/juicy
These French fries are cooked perfectly, they’re nice and crispy!
Fried chicken should be nice and crispy on the outside, but juicy in the middle.
Raw celery is very crunchy. It makes a lot of noise when you bite it. - oily/greasy
These French fries aren’t crispy at all, they’re really oily.
If I eat that greasy pizza, I’ll get terrible heartburn. - salty/sweet/savory/spicy/hot
Wow, this soup is much too salty. I can’t eat this much salt.
I want something sweet for dessert, like chocolate ice cream.
I don’t want something sweet; I feel like something savory instead.
Thai food can be really spicy/hot. - bitter/sour
Lemons are sour.
Dark chocolate is bitter.
Enjoy your meal!
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