Salut c’est Géraldine, bienvenue sur Comme
une Française TV, Sound French, even to the French!
Restaurants are one of French people’s favorite
places.
You can eat your lunch or dinner while talking
with friends or family, with wine in your
glass and a baguette always within reach.
But with time and habits, you’ll find out
the interactions there are quite codified,
especially with the staff–and that’s good
for you!
Once you learn a few of our usual scripts,
you can order your meal and drinks just like
a native, and that’s a huge boost for a
student in French!
Which sentences, you ask?
Let’s dive in!
Le serveur
Le serveur is a waiter, while la serveuse
is the waitress.
They’re probably the first people who’ll
greet you in the restaurant.
They might ask how many people are in your
group, which you can answer for example with:
Bonjour, on est quatre.
Hi, there will be four of us!
Bonjour is expected, as it’s good manners.
As a general rule, be generous with your s’il
vous plaît, please, and merci, thank you,
it’s always appreciated as well.
So now you are seated, someone gave you le
menu, the menu, you’ve made your choice
and you’re waiting for a waiter to take
your order.
You can raise your hand subtly, or even ask
S’il vous plaît ? if you catch their eye.
Avoid yelling Garçon !, it’s quite rude.
Anyway, they might come to take your order,
or ask you to wait a little: “J’arrive
tout de suite.”
“I’m coming in a minute.”
Or “Juste une minute!”
“Just a minute!”
You can answer OK, Merci ! Just to be clear.
Now you can order.
Try le menu / la formule, the special formula,
or order à la carte, or in English, “a
la carte [NdA : à dire avec accent américain
qui parle français]:” a combination of
entrée-plat-dessert, starters, main dish
and desserts.
Commander
Commander means “to order.”
Food, for instance.
The simplest order would be “Un café, l'addition”
“A coffee, and the bill.”
Straightforward, to start your day or enjoy
the afternoon.
For a full meal, though, you can start your
order with: “Je vais prendre le…”
“I’m going to take the...”
For instance, “Alors, moi, je vais prendre
le plat du jour, s’il vous plaît.”
“So, I’m going to take the daily special,
please.”
Le plat du jour is very often a good call
to make if you’re not sure, anyway.
Another informal and popular script we use in
this case, especially if you’re following
someone else’s order, is:
“Pour moi ce sera…”
“For me, it will be…
For example: “Pour moi, ce sera le saumon
au four, s’il vous plaît.”
“For me, I will take the baked salmon, please.”
For several reasons, you might want to ask
for precisions on the kind of dishes you want.
For example: “Qu’est-ce que vous avez
comme poisson ?” “What kind of fish do you have?”
“Qu’est-ce que vous avez en viande ?” “What
kind of meat do you serve?”
And don’t forget your drinks!
The default is une carafe, or une carafe d’eau:
a pitcher of tap water.
But if you want, ask for: “Et une bouteille
de vin rouge.”
“And a bottle of red wine.”
You can ask for something specific from the
drink list, or ask for input:
“Qu’est-ce que vous nous conseillez ?” “What would
you suggest?”
By the way, it’s also a great question to
ask at any point of your order!
Demandes spéciales
Les demandes spéciales, your special requests,
can often be met, especially if you’re asking
nicely.
Try c’est possible de..., Is it possible
to…
“C’est possible de faire la salade sans
les lardons ?”
“Is it possible to make the salad without bacon?”
“S’il vous plaît, c’est possible de
mettre les anchois sur un seul côté ?”
“Please, is it possible to keep the anchovies on just
one side?”
You can also ask for their selection of les
plats végétariens / les plats sans viande,
vegetarian dishes.
Végétarien has a wide definition, but it
still includes dishes with eggs and milk for example.
Vegan isn’t really a thing in France yet;
it exists but is even less common than végétarien,
so you might need to be clear or careful about
what you’re asking.
And also in your meal, just ask for more bread
and water if they run out: “Vous pouvez
nous apporter du pain ?” “Can you bring
us some more bread?”
“Vous pouvez nous apporter de l’eau, s’il
vous plaît ? Merci !”
“Can you bring us more water, please ? Thanks
a lot.”
Remercier, payer, et partir
Now hopefully your meal went well, so it’s
time to remercier, payer et partir, to say
thank you, pay the bill and leave.
When you’re ready to leave, catch a waiter’s
attention to ask: “L’addition s’il vous
plaît” “The bill, please.
Sometimes you might not be sure: “On paye
ici ou au comptoir ?” “Do we pay seated
here, or at the counter?”
In France the tip is not mandatory, as employers
are actually supposed to pay living wages,
but if you’re satisfied you can leave 5%
of your bill for the staff.
A nice word is always appreciated, if it’s
true.
“C’était très bon / délicieux / exquis.”
“That was very good, delicious.”
And before you leave for more adventure, be
nice and say goodbye!
“Merci, au revoir ! Bonne journée !” “Thank
you, good bye!
Have a nice day!”
And you’re ready to go!
Et toi ?
When was the last time you went to a restaurant?
Have you ever been to a restaurant in France?
For which other situations would you like
to have scripts and sentences?
Tell me in the comments section, I want to
hear from you!
If you’re on Youtube, you’ll find a link
below this video to the blog CommeUneFrançaise.com:
on the site I read all the comments and answer
all your questions too!
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sound French, even to the French.
Allez, salut !
