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Common Italian phrases for ordering food in restaurants

Learn Essential Italian Phrases for Your Italian Journey: Common Italian phrases for ordering food in restaurants
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Here are common Italian phrases for ordering food in restaurants:

  • To ask if they have something: “Hai _____?”
  • I’ll have/I’d like: “Avrò _____.” or “Vorrei _____.”
  • What is the house specialty?: “Qual è la specialità della casa?”
  • May we have a few more minutes?: “Potremmo avere ancora qualche minuto?”
  • What comes with that?: “Cosa ne deriva?”
  • Is salad included?: “È inclusa l’insalata?”
  • What is the special of the day?: “Qual’è il piatto del giorno?”
  • What do you recommend?: “Cosa raccomanda lei?”
  • Do you have children’s portions?: “Hai le porzioni dei bambini?”
  • May we have some more bread, please?: “Che possiamo avere del pane in più, per favore?”
  • Is it hot or cold?: “Fa caldo o freddo?”
  • A little more please: “Ancora un po’, grazie.”
  • Enough, thank you: “Basta, grazie.”

In practice, the most useful phrases are the ones that help with three moments of the meal: asking about the menu, placing the order, and ending with the bill. In Italian restaurants, “Vorrei” is especially common and polite, while “Prendo” is shorter and very natural when ordering casually.

Useful phrases for the menu

To ask whether a dish is available, the simplest pattern is Hai ___? for informal situations, or Ha ___? when speaking politely to a server. In a restaurant, the polite form is usually safer: Ha un tavolo libero? means “Do you have a free table?” and Ha ___? means “Do you have ___?”

A few menu questions come up often:

  • Qual è la specialità della casa? — What is the house specialty?
  • Qual è il piatto del giorno? — What is the special of the day?
  • Cosa mi consiglia? — What do you recommend?
  • È incluso l’insalata? — Is salad included?
  • Cosa c’è come contorno? — What comes as a side dish?

One common trap is word order. English speakers often try to translate “What comes with that?” literally, but in Italian it is more natural to ask about the side dish, the garnish, or what is included in the plate.

How to order politely

For ordering, the most natural verbs are vorrei and prendo.

  • Vorrei un risotto ai funghi. — I’d like a mushroom risotto.
  • Prendo i ravioli. — I’ll have the ravioli.
  • Prendo questo. — I’ll have this.

Vorrei sounds polite and works well in most restaurants. Prendo is shorter and very common in spoken Italian, especially when speaking quickly or ordering from a menu that is already in front of the server. Avrò is not the usual choice for ordering food; it is a future tense form and sounds unnatural in this context.

If a dish name is hard to pronounce, pointing at the menu and saying Prendo questo is often enough. That phrase is simple, natural, and widely understood.

Bread, portions, and adjustments

Restaurants often bring bread automatically, but it is still useful to know how to ask for more:

  • Possiamo avere ancora un po’ di pane, per favore? — May we have some more bread, please?
  • Ancora un po’, grazie. — A little more, please.
  • Basta, grazie. — Enough, thank you.

For portion sizes or dietary needs, these phrases are practical:

  • Avete porzioni per bambini? — Do you have children’s portions?
  • È piccante? — Is it spicy?
  • È caldo o freddo? — Is it hot or cold?
  • Senza cipolla, per favore. — Without onion, please.
  • Senza glutine. — Gluten-free.

Small adjustments are easier to handle when they are stated as short, direct phrases. In a busy restaurant, concise wording is usually clearer than a long explanation.

Ending the meal

When the meal is finished, the standard phrase is:

  • Il conto, per favore. — The bill, please.

In many Italian restaurants, asking for the bill is done with this exact expression. It is more natural than trying to say “check” in English or translating word for word.

Pronunciation and word choice

Several restaurant phrases depend on choosing the right level of formality:

  • Hai is informal and used with friends, family, or children.
  • Ha is the polite form and is better for servers and strangers.
  • Vorrei is polite and useful in almost any restaurant setting.
  • Prendo is casual but still natural and widely used.

The difference between cosa mi consiglia? and cosa raccomanda lei? also matters. The first is the more common, conversational option. The second is grammatically possible but sounds more formal and less natural in everyday restaurant speech.

For learners, short phrases are often easier to produce under pressure than full sentences. Active conversation practice helps those phrases become automatic, especially for pronunciation and timing in real interactions.

Quick restaurant phrases in Italian

  • Un tavolo per due, per favore. — A table for two, please.
  • Vorrei ordinare. — I’d like to order.
  • Ha una raccomandazione? — Do you have a recommendation?
  • Cosa c’è nel piatto del giorno? — What’s in the dish of the day?
  • Prendo questo. — I’ll have this.
  • Il conto, per favore. — The bill, please.

Common mistakes to avoid

A few English-to-Italian translations sound unnatural even when the meaning is clear.

  • Avrò is not the usual way to say “I’ll have” when ordering food.
  • Cosa ne deriva? is not the normal way to ask “What comes with that?” in a restaurant.
  • Qual’è is often written incorrectly; the standard spelling is Qual è without an apostrophe.
  • Lei in cosa raccomanda lei? adds formality, but it is often unnecessary in casual service situations.

The safest strategy is to rely on short, high-frequency phrases: Vorrei, Prendo, Ha, Il conto, per favore. These cover most restaurant situations with little risk of sounding awkward.

References