Pizza, tiramisù, gelato … Eating out in Italy is one of the best parts of the trip. You might even already know some handy Italian phrases for ordering.
But what about when waiters reply to you? There are a lot of restaurant phrases tourists don’t understand. That’s because waiters use phrases that you don’t usually find in textbooks.
In this post, you’ll learn the phrases waiters actually use, plus a few cultural tips to explain why they ask certain questions.
Italian Restaurant Phrases You’ll Hear When You Arrive
As soon as you arrive at a restaurant in Italy, the waiter will start with a few questions.
Here are some of the questions that you’ll hear:
| Avete prenotato? | Have you* booked? | Ah-VEH-teh preh-noh-TAH-toh? |
| In quanti siete? | How many of you are there? (lit. in how many are you) | Een KWAHN-tee SYEH-teh? |
| Preferite dentro o fuori? | Do you prefer inside or outside? | Preh-feh-REE-teh DEN-troh oh FWOH-ree? |
| Prego, di qua | Please, this way (lit. please, over here) | PREH-goh, dee KWAH |
*There are a few different words for “you” in Italian, but here (and in the rest of the post), we’ll give you phrases using the plural you. We think it’s the most useful one if you're eating out as you might be with friends or family. But even if you’re eating alone, the sentences should sound similar enough for you to understand.
For example:
-Buonasera, vorrei un tavolo per due per favore. -Good evening, I’d like a table for two please
-Avete prenotato? -Have you booked?
Or:
-Preferite dentro o fuori? -Do you prefer inside or outside?
-Fuori, per favore. -Outside please
💡 Good to know
Italy has a culture of eating outside when the weather’s nice. You might have seen Italians mingling on the piazze (squares). That's why it’s common to hear the waiter ask you if you want to eat in or out.
Italian Restaurant Phrases When You’re Seated at the Table
Once you’re seated at the table, the waiter might need to do something quickly, like grab a menu, before taking your order. Here are some of the things they might say before or when taking your order:
| Arrivo subito | I’ll be right with you | Ahr-REE-voh SOO-bee-toh |
| Un attimo solo | Just one moment | Oon AHT-tee-moh SOH-loh |
| Porto qualcosa da bere intanto? | Can I get you (lit. bring you) something to drink in the meantime? | POR-toh kwal-KOH-zah dah BEH-reh een-TAHN-toh? |
| Porto dell’acqua intanto? | Can I get you (lit. bring you) some water in the meantime? | POR-toh dell-AH-kwah een-TAHN-toh? |
| Acqua frizzante o naturale? | Sparkling or still water? | AH-kwah FRET-zahn-teh oh nah-too-RAH-leh? |
| Ambiente o fredda? | Room temperature or cold? | ahm-BYEN-teh oh FREHD-dah ? |
| Porto il menù dei vini? | Can I get you (lit. bring you) the wine menu? | Por-TO eel meh-NOO day VEE-nee? |
| Porto la lista dei vini? | Can I get you (lit. bring you) the wine list? | POR-toh lah LEE-stah day VEE-nee? |
| Ecco il menù | Here is the menu | EHK-koh eel meh-NOO |
| Pronti per ordinare? | Ready to order? | PRON-tee pehr or-dee-NAH-reh? |
| Siete pronti? | Are you ready? | SIEH-teh PRON-tee? |
| Avete deciso? | Have you decided? | Ah-VEH-teh deh-CHEE-zoh? |
| A posto così? | Is that everything? | Ah POS-toh koh-ZEE? |
For example:
-Porto dell’acqua intanto? -Can I get you some water in the meantime?
- Sì, grazie! Un’acqua frizzante per favore -Yes, thank you! A sparkling water please
Or:
-Vorrei una pizza margherita, per favore -I’d like a pizza margherita please
-Perfetto. A posto così? -Perfect. Is that everything?
💡 Good to know
Even something as simple as drinking water works a little differently in Italy. You’ll always be asked to choose between still and sparkling, and the waiter might also check if you prefer it cold or at room temperature. For more on how this works, you can visit our blogpost on how to say and order water in Italian .
Italian Restaurant Phrases for When the Waiter Checks In
Italian waiters don’t usually hover around you too much while you’re eating. But every now and then they might pop by to check how everything’s going using these phrases:
| Come va? | How’s it going? | KOH-meh vah? |
| Tutto bene? | All good? | TOOT-toh BEH-neh? |
| Tutto a posto? | Everything all good? | TOOT-toh ah POS-toh? |
| Posso portare via? | Can I clear the table? (lit. can I take away) | POS-so por-TAH-reh VEE-ah? |
For example:
-Come va signori, tutto bene? -How’s everything going folks, all good?
-Sì, benissimo, grazie! -Yes, great, thank you!
Italian Restaurant Phrases for the End of the Meal
At the end of the meal, waiters in Italy won’t bring you the bill unless you ask for it. That’s because eating out in Italy isn’t something you rush, it’s normal to stay chatting at the table after you’ve finished your meal.
But waiters might come and subtly check whether you’re nearing the end of your meal with some of these questions:
| Volete qualcos’altro? | Would you like (lit. do you want) anything else? | Voh-LEH-teh kwal-koh-ZAL-troh? |
| Volete un caffè? | Would you like (lit. do you want) a coffee? | Voh-LEH-teh oon kahf-FEH? |
| Volete un dolce? | Would you like (lit. do you want) a dessert? | Voh-LEH-teh oon DOL-cheh? |
| Gradite qualcos’altro? | Would you like anything else? | Grah-DEE-teh kwal-koh-ZAHL-troh? |
| Gradite un caffè? | Would you like a coffee? | Grah-DEE-teh oon kahf-FEH? |
| Gradite un dolce? | Would you like a dessert? | Grah-DEE-teh oon DOHL-cheh? |
| Porto il menù dei dolci? | Shall I bring the dessert menu? | POR-toh eel meh-NOO day DOL-chee? |
| Porto la lista dei dolci? | Shall I bring the dessert list? | POR-toh lah LEE-stah day DOHL-chee? |
| Potete pagare alla cassa | You can pay at the cash register | Poh-TEH-teh pah-GAH-reh AHL-lah KAH-sah |
For example:
-Gradite qualcos’altro? Un dolce, un caffè? -Do you want anything else? Dessert, coffee?
-No grazie, il conto per favore. -No thank you, the bill please
Or:
-Porto il menù dei dolci? -Shall I bring the dessert menu?
-Sì, grazie! -Yes, thank you!
Italian Restaurant Phrases Most Tourists Don’t Understand: Review
Now you know the common phrases you’ll hear camerieri (waiters) say in Italy. Let’s review what you’ve learnt.
-
Waiters ask you a few questions when you arrive at the restaurant, like whether you’ve booked or if you’d prefer to sit inside or out.
Avete prenotato? -Have you booked?
Preferite dentro o fuori? -Do you prefer inside or outside?
-
Once you’ve sat down at the table, waiters might ask if you can give them a moment, or ask you what you’d like to drink, before taking your order.
Arrivo subito -I’ll be right with you
Un attimo solo -Just one moment
Porto qualcosa da bere intanto? -Can I get you (lit. bring you) something to drink in the meantime?
-
During the meal, the waiter might come by to check that everything’s ok or ask if they can clear the empty plates.
Tutto bene? -All good?
Tutto a posto? -Everything all good?
Posso portare via? -Can I clear the table? (lit. can I take away)
-
At the end of the meal, the waiter won’t bring you the bill, but will see if you want something else.
Gradite qualcos’altro? - Do you want anything else?
Gradite un caffè? - Do you want a coffee?
Porto il menù dei dolci? -Shall I bring the dessert menu?
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti! Hi everyone and welcome to “Learn Italian with Joy of Languages”.
M: Restaurants are great places to practice your Italian and you might have already learnt a few phrases to order food.
K: But what about knowing the phrases that waiters will say to you? Sometimes they ask unexpected questions, not just because you haven’t learnt the words yet, but because they’re linked to cultural quirks you haven’t come across.
M: That’s why in this episode, you’ll also get some cultural tips on eating out in Italy.
K: Before we get started, can we ask you a quick favore? If you’re listening to this on your podcast app, could you click the subscribe or follow button? This way you’ll get notified when we release a new episode and you’ll help our podcast grow so we can keep making free lessons like this. Grazie!
M: You’re going to hear a conversation between Katie and I where we pretend to be in a restaurant. Just to give you an idea of the kinds of questions Italian waiters ask.
K: Matteo will be the waiter and Brody and I will be the customers. Brody is our dog, but we need her so that you know what waiters ask when you’re with other people. Italian has a plural “you” form, used when speaking to more than one person—a bit like saying “you both” or “you all.” We’ll use this in the conversation because you’ll hear waiters use it when you’re with at least one other person. But if you're dining alone, which I like to do sometimes in Italy, the sentences should sound similar enough for you to understand – the goal for this episode is comprehension.
M: See if you can catch the different questions the waiter asks.
M: Buonasera, avete prenotato?
K: No.
M: Ok, va bene dentro?
K: Mmh avete un tavolo fuori?
M: Controllo e arrivo subito.
Prego, di qua. Ecco il menu, porto qualcosa da bere intanto?
K: Mmh acqua frizzante per favore.
M: Ambiente o fredda?
K: Mmh… un attimo, scusi. Mmh…
M: Quindi?
K: Fredda
M: Volete ordinare?
K: No, a posto così.
M: Definitely don’t be a customer like Katie when you go to Italy, Katie is being a very annoying customer, just because it helps us use some more follow up questions.
K: When Brody and I arrived, Matteo asked:
M: Buonasera, avete prenotato?
Buonasera - good evening
Avete - you have (this is the plural “you” have).
Prenotato - booked
Buonasera, avete prenotato?
K: One of the first things waiters will ask in Italy is whether you’ve booked a table, just for the usual reasons of checking whether there’s space and, if you have booked, to make sure they’ve crossed you off the list. I said: no .
K: Then Matteo asked:
M: Ok, va bene dentro? - Is inside OK?
Literally:
Va - it goes
Bene - well
Dentro - inside
Va bene dentro?
K: Eating outside in Italy is really common when the weather’s nice, which, being Italy, it is a lot of the time. I didn’t want to eat inside, so
I asked Matteo:
M: Avete un tavolo fuori? - Do you have a table outside?
Avete - you have (again, this is the plural “you have”)
Un tavolo - a table
Fuori - outside
Avete un tavolo fuori?
K: I’m only speaking to Matteo, but I’m using the plural “you” because I’m not asking him personally if he has a table outside, I’m addressing him as part of the team, everyone that runs the restaurant.
M: So you’ve heard the word for inside: dentro (x2) . And the word for outside: fuori (x2). Instead of phrasing the question the way I did, Italian waiters might ask you:
Dentro o fuori? - Inside or outside?
Dentro o fuori?
K: Matteo then said:
M: Controllo e arrivo subito - I’ll check and be right back. Literally:
Controllo - I check (interestingly in Italian “I check” and “I control” is the same, controllo ) .
E - and
Arrivo - I arrive
Subito - straight away
Controllo e arrivo subito
K: Arrivo subito is something that waiters say all the time in Italy any time they want to let you know they’ve seen you and will be right there, a bit like saying “I’ll be right with you” in English.
M: It’s helpful to learn this phrase in advance because if you just heard arrivo and thought it was talking about arriving it would sound confusing.
K: So “I’ll be right there”, in Italian, literally “I arrive straight away”, is:
M: Arrivo subito
K: Then Matteo said:
M: Prego, di qua - Please, this way. Literally:
Prego - please
Di qua - over here
Prego, di qua
K: You might know the word prego as “you’re welcome”, but it can also be a polite way to encourage someone to do something. In this case it’s more like saying “please, right this way”, or “please, follow me”.
Then Matteo said:
M: Ecco il menu - Here’s the menu. Literally:
Ecco - here you go
Il menu - the menu
Ecco il menu
K: Ecco is Italian for “here you go”, a bit like the French voilà. You might hear a waiter say it when he passes you something, or shows you to your table.
K: Then Matteo asked:
M: Porto qualcosa da bere intanto? – Shall I bring you something to drink in the meantime? Literally:
Porto – I bring
Qualcosa – something
Da bere – to drink
Intanto – in the meantime
Porto qualcosa da bere intanto?
K: This is a really common phrase when waiters have shown you to your table and maybe haven’t brought over the menu yet, but imagine that you might at least want to order something to drink.
So I replied:
M: Acqua frizzante per favore - Sparkling water please
Acqua - water
Frizzante - fizzy
Per favore - please
Acqua frizzante per favore
K: In Italy, you almost always choose between still or sparkling.
Then Matteo asked:
M: Ambiente o fredda? - Room temperature or cold? Literally:
Ambiente - ambient
O - or
Fredda - cold
Ambiente o fredda?
K: Lots of other countries don’t ask you what temperature you want your water, so why do they ask you in Italy?
M: [...]
K: Then I told Matteo:
M: un attimo, scusi… - One moment, sorry. Literally:
Un attimo - One moment
Scusi - excuse me
Un attimo scusi
M: It shouldn’t be taking Katie this long to decide, but as we said, she’s a difficult customer.
K: Saying “one moment” is something I said here, but you also might hear a waiter say it.
M: They might say it with that phrase we heard earlier, “arrivo subito” . For example: Un attimo, arrivo subito - One moment, I’ll be right with you. Literally:
Un attimo - One moment
Arrivo - I arrive
Subito - straight away
Un attimo, arrivo subito
K: The reason it can be hard to guess what this word might mean is because you might be expecting to hear un momento, “a moment”. This phrase also exists in Italian and they have the same meaning. But Italians use un attimo a lot, so now you’ll know what it means when you hear it.
M: Un attimo (x2)
K: Then as Matteo was waiting he asked:
M: Quindi? - So?
K: And I replied:
M: Fredda - Cold
We say fredda because acqua (water) is a feminine word in Italian, so we add an “a” to the end. If we were talking about a masculine word, like il caffè, we’d say freddO. But in this case it’s acqua freddA.
K: Then Matteo asked:
M: Volete ordinare? - Do you want to order? Literally:
Volete - you (plural) want
Ordinare - to order
Volete ordinare?
K: You might also hear a waiter say pronti , which means “ready” when they come to see if they can take your order.
Then I said to Matteo:
M: No, a posto così - No, we’re all set. Literally:
No - no
A posto - in place
Così - like this
No, a posto così
K: A posto is a really useful phrase because it’s something you’ll also hear the waiter say. For example, a waiter might come by and check that everything’s good with your food and say:
M: Tutto a posto? - Everything all good? Literally:
Tutto - everything
A posto - in place
Tutto a posto?
K: Or after they’ve taken your order, they might ask a posto così ? as a way of saying “is that all”, to make sure they’ve got everything and you don’t want anything else.
M: A posto così? (x2)
K: We’re going to play a kind of game now. Matteo’s going to repeat the common phrases that waiters use, but at a natural speed. You have to try and see if you can understand the full phrase. If you can, well done! You’re ready to eat out in Italy.
M: First phrase: avete prenotato? (x2)
K: You’ll hear this one when you first arrive at the restaurant and ask for a table. The waiter is asking you “have you booked?
M: Second phrase: Un attimo, arrivo subito (x2)
K: This means “one moment, I’ll be right with you”, like, if the waiter has to quickly grab the menus.
M: Third phrase: Porto qualcosa da bere intanto? (x2)
K: This means “can I bring you something to drink in the meantime?”. Most Italians at this point would say whether they want sparkling or still water, or in Italian, acqua frizzante or acqua naturale.
M: Fourth phrase: Ambiente o fredda? (x2)
K: This means room temperature or cold, referring to the water.
M: Fifth and final phrase: volete ordinare? (x2)
K: This one means “do you want to order”, so the waiter might ask this to check you’re ready to go.
K: Let’s listen to the whole dialogue again:
M: Buonasera, avete prenotato?
K: No.
M: Ok, va bene dentro?
K: Mmh… avete un tavolo fuori?
M: Controllo e arrivo subito.
Prego, di qua. Ecco il menu, porto qualcosa da bere intanto?
K: Mmh…acqua frizzante per favore.
M: Ambiente o fredda?
K: Mmh… un attimo, scusi. Mmh…
M: Quindi?
K: Fredda
M: Volete ordinare?
K: No, a posto così.
K: You’ve already learned some common phrases you’ll hear in Italy, but to make sure you're not left confused by any others, it’s helpful to see the complete list.
M: Just click the link in the description to head over to our website, or go to italian.joyoflanguages.com/podcast and search for episode 187. You’ll find more words and phrases, plus pronunciation and cultural tips.
M: See you next time.
K: Or as we say in Italian.
Alla prossima!
Time to check your understanding and remember everything you just learned! Below you’ll find a mini-quiz and some vocabulary cards to help it all go in.
Quiz: Italian Restaurant Phrases
How much did you learn? Find out in the quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Italian Restaurant Phrases
Vocabulary
Arrivo subito = I’ll be right with you
Un attimo solo = Just one moment
Porto qualcosa da bere intanto? = Can I get you (lit. bring you) something to drink in the meantime?
Pronti per ordinare? = Ready to order?
A posto così? = Is that everything?
Posso portare via? = Can I clear the table? (Lit. Can I bring take away)
Gradite qualcos’altro? = Do you want anything else?
Avete prenotato? = Have you booked?
Prego, di qua = Please this way Ecco il menu = Here’s the menu
Ambiente o fredda? = Room temperature or cold?
Volete ordinare? = Do you want to order?
Flashcards: Italian Restaurant Phrases
Not sure how it works? Click here to watch the tutorial
