Ordering Food in an Italian Restaurant - A Guide To Learning The Basics of A New Language

Learn Italian: A Guide To Learning The Basics of A New Language (2015)

Chapter 6. Ordering Food in an Italian Restaurant

Restaurant culture is quite prevalent in Italy. If you intend to travel to Italy, you will most likely dine in one of the many restaurants in the country. You can prepare yourself by learning key phrases that will help you order the food you want, tell the server how you want your food done, and basically express yourself in a variety of ways to get what you need.

As with most of the world, there are three main meals a day in Italy:

the colazione	breakfast
the pranzo	lunch
cena	dinner

Unless it’s ultra fine dining, it’s not usual to be seated by a server in an Italian restaurant and you have to look for an available table yourself. The menu is either on the table or will be brought to your table as soon as you’re seated.

After making the customary greetings and allowing you some time to go through the menu, the server would approach you and ask what you would like to order.

Waitere: Cosa prende?

Waiter: What would you like?

If you’re ready to order, you can tell the waiter/server any of the following phrases:

Vorrei ordinare ora.	I would like to order now.
Vorrei ______________	I would like ________________
Lo prendo ___________	I’ll have __________________
Vorrei degli ______ come antipasto.	To start, I would like the (appetizer).
Vorrei una _______ per secondo.	I would like _______ for the main course.

Alternatively, you can ask the server if he/she can recommend anything with the phrase: Cosa mi può raccomandare?

To ask for the daily special dish, you can tell the waiter: Qual'è la specialià del giorno?

To inquire about the soup of the day, you can say: Qual'è la zuppa del giorno?

Here are some of the common types of drinks that you might see on the menu:

acqua	water
l'acqua natural	still water
l'acqua leggermente gassata	slightly sparking water
l'acqua gassata	sparkling water
il succo	juice
vino	wine
il vino rosso	red wine
il vino bianco	white wine
il vino rosé	rose wine
birra	beer
caffè	coffee
caffè latte	coffee with milk
latte	milk
tè	tea

The following phrases will be helpful in placing your order for a drink:

Un tazza di caffè, per favore.	A cup of coffee, please.
Due cappuccini, per favore.	Two cappuccinos, please.
Una tazza di tè, per favore.	A cup of tea, please.
un bicchiere di latte caldo	a glass of warm milk

Menu choices:

Una cioccolata calda	hot chocolate
Tre birre	three beers
un bicchiere di acqua	a glass of water
una bottiglia di vino	a bottle of wine
(il) ghiaccio	ice cubes

When looking over the menu, you will normally see the following terms:

affumicato	smoked
ripieno	stuffed
al forno	baked
fritto	fried
arrosto	roasted
marinato	marinated
crudo	raw
cotto	cooked
al forno	baked
in camicia	poached
alla griglia	grilled
bollito	boiled
al vapour	steamed
impanato	breaded
le uova fritte	fried eggs
la frittata	omelette
le uova strapazzate	scrambled eggs
le uova bollite	hard-boiled eggs
le uova alla coque	soft-boiled eggs
le uova in camicia	poached eggs

Pay close attention to the above descriptions to make sure that you are ordering the food you actually want.

Here are some delicious options that you may want to try while you’re in Italy:

Spaghetti alla carbonara	spaghetti carbonara
Spaghetti al ragù	spaghetti bolognese
Zuppa di fagioli	bean soup
Penne all'arrabbiata	pasta in spicy garlic and tomato sauce
Cannelloni	pasta tubes stuffed with Bolognese/meat filling

Meat Choices

agnello	lamb
maiale	pork
pollo	chicken
vitello	veal
manzo	beef
polpette	meatballs
scaloppine	escalope
coniglio	rabbit
trippa	tripe
la cotoletta	cutlet

Seafood:

i gamberi	prawns
l'aragosta	lobster
i calamari	squid
il granchio	crab
pesce	fish
le cozze	mussels
il baccalà	dried cod
il pesce spada	swordfish
la spigola	sea bass
il polpo	octopus

Miscellaneous items you can order:

riso	rice
antipasti	appetizers
cioccolata	chocolate
formaggio	cheese
fragola	strawberry
frutta	fruit
gelato	ice cream
insalata	salad
pane	bread
verdura	vegetables

The following adjectives might be useful in ordering your food or drinks:

calda(o)	hot, warm
fredda(o)	cold
aspro	sour
dolce	sweet
grande	large, tall, big
piccolo(o)	short, small
piccante	spicy

Side dishes:

Insalata	salad
Insalata fresca	fresh salad
Insalata di pollo	chicken salad
Insalata mista	mixed salad
Patate in insalata	potato salad

Condiments:

sale	salt
formaggio	cheese
parmigiano	Parmesan cheese
pepe	pepper
sucherro	sugar
olio	oil
olio di semi	vegetable oil
olio d'oliva	olive oil
aceto balsamico	balsamic vinegar
aceto	vinegar

As for the steak, it’s quite usual to see the following choices:

Bistecca	steak
Bistecca di filetto	fillet steak
Filetto al pepe verde	fillet steak spiced with green pepper sauce

You can tell the waiter how you want you steak done with these terms:

Preferisco la bistecca ___________.	I prefer my steak to be ___________.
al sangue	rare
cotta al punto giusto	medium
ben cotta	well-done

After serving your order, you can expect the waiter/waitress to say:

Buon appetito!

Enjoy the meal!

After your meal, you can ask for the bill by telling the server:

Il conto, per favore.	The bill, please.
Posso avere il conto, per favore?	Can I have the bill, please?

Tipping is not a common practice among Italians but tourists normally would leave tips as a gesture of appreciation.

Restaurant Vocabulary

la scodella	the bowl
il tovagliolo	the napkin
il tavolo	the table
the chair	la sedia
il conto	the check
la caraffa	the pitcher
la tazza	the cup
il piatto	the plate
la forchetta	the fork
il coltello	the knife
il cucchiaio	the spoon
il cameriere	the waiter
la cameriera	the waitress
il menu	the menu
la mancia	the tip