Published September 13, 2012 • Updated May 18, 2026 — By French teacher David Issokson • Native Audio by Marie Assel Cambier
Learn how to order food in French with essential French restaurant phrases and practical restaurant vocabulary for dining out with confidence. This lesson covers everything from making reservations and ordering meals to dietary restrictions, compliments, complaints, and paying the bill. You’ll also hear 30+ FrenchLearner exclusive native audio clips for all the words and phrases.
📅 Making reservations
🍽️ Ordering meal
🥗 Dietary restrictions
😋 Compliments and complaints
💳 Paying the bill
📅 Making reservations
Je voudrais réserver une table pour deux personnes.
— I’d like to reserve a table for two people.
On arrive à dix-neuf heures.
— We’ll arrive at 7.00pm.
Une table pour deux s’il vous plaît.
— A table for two please.
🍽️ Ordering meal
Nous sommes prêts à commander.
— We’re ready to order
Puis-j’avoir la carte?
— May I have the menu?
Je voudrais…
— I would like…
Je prendrais…
— I’ll have…
Avez-vous des menus ?
Do you have set/fixed-price menus?
Nous commandons à la carte.
— We’ll order separate items off the menu.
Que recommandez-vous ?
— What do you recommend?
Quelles sont les specialités du/chef de la région ?
— What are the chef’s/ region’s specialties?
Une bouteille de vin rouge/blanc/mousseux
— A bottle of red/white/sparkling wine
🥗 Dietary restrictions
Avez-vous des plats végétariens ?
— Do you have vegetarian dishes.
Je suis végétarien/végétarienne.
— I’m a vegetarian.
Je suis allergique au gluten.
— I’m allergic to gluten.
Je suis allergique au produits laitiers.
— I’m allergic to dairy products.
Pas trop épicé, s’il vous plaît.
— Not too spicy, please.
😋 Compliments and complaints
C’est délicieux/très bon !
— It’s delicious/very good!
Nos compléments au chef !
— Our complements to the chef!
C’est trop cuit.
— It’s over-cooked.
La viande est trop cuite/saignante/dure.
— The meat is overcooked/rare/hard.
C’est trop salé/amer/sucré.
— It’s too salty/bitter/sweet.
Ce plat ne me plaît pas.
— I don’t like this dish.
Je voudrais renvoyer ce plat.
— I’d like to send this dish back.
Degrees of steak doneness
In France, people tend to eat steak at more rare or red levels compared to in North America. When ordering, you may say je voudrais ma viande (I’d like my meat):
bleu very rare
saignant rare
à point medium rare
moyen medium (you can also say demi-anglais)
bien cuit well-done
👉 See: Ordreing steak »
💳 Paying the bill
Je vous invite !
— It’s my treat!
L’addition, s’il vous plaît.
— The bill, please.
Il parraît qu’il y a une erreur dans l’addition.
— It looks like there’s a mistake in the bill.
Le service est compris ?
— Is the service included?
Acceptez-vous les cartes de crédit ?
— Do you accept credit cards
🗂️ Ordering food reference card
Save this list of common restaurant vocabulary and phrases for quick reference and daily practice.
❓ Want to practice real French restaurant conversations?
🎯 À Moi Paris by Camille Chevalier includes authentic spoken French dialogues covering everyday situations like ordering meals, dining out, making reservations, and interacting naturally with waiters in France. The lessons feature native audio recorded at multiple speeds to help improve listening comprehension and pronunciation.
👉 Explore À Moi Paris »
👉 Read my review »
🎧 French Verb Drills helps reinforce the verb patterns and sentence structures you’ll use constantly in restaurants and everyday conversation.
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📚 Related lessons
👉 French food vocabulary »
👉 How to Order Steak in French »
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