It's All Chinese to Me: Useful Restaurant Phrases and Vocabulary

Upon arrival listen for:

Do you have a reservation?
You yuding ma?
有预定吗？

What name (is the reservation under)?
Zenme chenghu?
怎么称呼？

What time is it for?
Ji dian de?
几点的？

How many people?
Ji wei?
几位？

Smoking or non-smoking?
Yao zuo xiyan qu haishi wuyan qu?
要做吸烟区还是无烟区？

Say:

We have a reservation*.
You yuding.
有预定。

* If you’re responding to a question, you can just say “you” (yes) or “mei you” (no).

We are [three, four, five…] people.
[San, si, wu…] wei.
【三，四，五。。。】位。

Do you have highchairs?
You ertong canyi ma?
有儿童餐椅吗？

When ordering listen for: 

What do you want to order?
Xiang chi dian shenme?
想吃点什么？

Do you have any dietary restrictions?
You jikou ma?
有忌口吗？

I’m going to repeat your order. 
Wo chongfu yi xia.
我重复一下。

Say:

Do you have [name of dish]?
You … ma?
有。。。吗？

Please don’t put [meat, MSG, salt, spice, sugar …].
Qing bu yao fang [rou, weijing, yan, lajiao, tang…).
请不要放【肉，味精，盐，辣椒，糖。。。】

I’m vegetarian.
Wo chi su.
我吃素。

What are your house specialties?
You shenme tese/zhaopai cai?
有什么特色、招牌菜？

I am allergic to [eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, seafood, gluten …]
Wo dui [jidan, huasheng, jianguo, haixian, fulei …] guomin.
我对【鸡蛋，花生，坚果，海鲜，麸类。。。】过敏。

I’d like [one, two, three …] cups of [cold, warm, hot] water.
Yao (yi, liang, san …) bei (leng, wen, re) shui.
要【一，两，三。。。】杯【冷，温，热】水。

Please hurry, we’re tight on time.
Jinliang kuai yi dian’r, wo men gan shijian.
尽量快一点儿，我们赶时间。

During Dinner

Say: 

The rice still hasn’t been served. 
Mi fan hai mei shang.
米饭还没上。

I’d like another bowl of rice.
Zai lai yi wan mifan.
再来一碗米饭。

I’d like more tea/water.
Jia dian’r shui.
加点儿水。

General

Say:

Waiter/waitress! 
Fuwuyuan!
服务员！

Where is the bathroom?
Wo wen yi xia, xishou jian zai na’er?
我问一下，洗手间在哪儿？

Do you have cutlery?
You daocha ma?
有刀叉吗？

Can you make fapiao?
Neng kai fapiao ma?
能开发票吗

Vocabulary

Drinks:
Juice: Guozhi 果汁
Soft drinks: Ruan yin 软饮
Sprite: Xuebi 雪碧
Coke: Ke le 可乐
Soda water: Suda shui 苏打水
Tea: Cha 茶
Beer: Pijiu 啤酒

Meat:
Chicken: Ji rou 鸡肉
Beef: Niu rou 牛肉
Pork: Zhu rou 猪肉
Mutton/lamb: Yang rou 羊肉
Fish: Yu 鱼
Shrimp: Xia 虾

Seasonings and spices:
Soy sauce: Jiang you 酱油
Sesame oil: Zhima you 芝麻油
Vinegar: Cu 醋
Garlic: Suan 蒜
Ginger: Jiang 姜
Chili pepper: Lajiao 辣椒
Chili oil: Lajiao you 辣椒油
MSG: Weijing 味精

Vegetarian:
Tofu: Doufu 豆腐
Spinach: Bocai 菠菜
Broccoli: Xi lanhua 西兰花
Chinese cabbage: Da bai cai 大白菜
Chives: Jiu cai 韭菜
Scallion: Cong 葱
Bamboo shoots: Zhu sun 竹笋
Mushrooms: Mo gu 蘑菇
Tomato: Xihongshi 西红柿
Corn: Yumi 玉米
Potato: Tudou 土豆
Eggplant: Qiezi 茄子

This post originally appeared on beijingkids.

Photos: nicoleanjolie (Flickr), wikipedia.org, foodnetwork.ca, neumeyer (Flickr), ulixiscrafts (Flickr), food.com, wikipedia.org