25 Essential Japanese Restaurant Phrases for Confident Dining

1. Why Restaurant Phrases Matter

The practical reason to learn restaurant phrases is simple: menus aren't always in English, staff don't always speak it, and you need to be able to communicate two things: what you want, and what you can't eat. Japan is not an easy country for serious food allergies or strict dietary restrictions, and the phrases in that section are the ones worth studying most carefully.

Itadakimasu before eating and gochisousama deshita after are said at every meal by Japanese diners without a second thought. As a foreign visitor you're not obligated to use them. But if you do, and the cook is standing right there at a small restaurant, it tends to get noticed.

2. Entering & Getting Seated

Most restaurants seat you. You don't just pick a table and sit down. The first question after you walk in will almost always be about party size. Have a number ready.

• 予約をお願いします
  Yoyaku o onegaishimasu
  I'd like to make a reservation, please

  Useful when calling ahead for popular spots or high-end restaurants. Many also take reservations through Tabelog or Google, but if you're calling directly, this is what you need.

• 二名です
  Ni-mei desu
  Party of two

  Replace ni with: ichi (1), san (3), yon (4), go (5), roku (6). The suffix -mei is the counter for people in this context. Holding up fingers alongside the word works fine too.

• 二名 vs. 二人

  You may already know 二人 (futari), which also means two people. In everyday Japanese, saying 二人です (futari desu) is completely natural and correct.

  At restaurants, hotels, and other customer-service settings, staff often use 名 (mei) as a people counter: 一名 (ichi-mei) (one person), 二名 (ni-mei) (two people), 三名 (san-mei) (three people), and so on.

  Japanese often has more formal words and counters that are common in business and service settings. For example, staff may say 本日 (honjitsu) instead of 今日 (kyō) for today, or 名 (mei) instead of 人 (nin) when counting customers.

  Despite how it sounds, 名 (mei) is not an honorific like さん (san). It is a more formal counter commonly used in customer-service language. Using 二名です (ni-mei desu) when telling a host your party size sounds natural and matches the wording you'll often hear from restaurant staff, though 二人です (futari desu) is also perfectly natural.

• 禁煙席をお願いします
  Kin'en seki o onegaishimasu
  Non-smoking seat, please

  Indoor smoking restrictions have tightened significantly since the 2020 revision of Tokyo's indoor smoking rules, but some izakayas still have designated smoking sections. Worth specifying upfront if it matters to you.

• 窓側の席はありますか?
  Madogawa no seki wa arimasu ka?
  Do you have a window seat?

  Useful at restaurants with views. At sushi bars, asking for kaunta seki (counter seat) puts you in front of the chef, generally the better seat if you're going for omakase.

3. Ordering Food & Drinks

These six phrases cover almost every ordering situation. Pointing at the menu plus kore o onegaishimasu will get you through 90% of meals in Japan without any other vocabulary.

• メニューをお願いします
  Menyuu o onegaishimasu
  Menu, please

  Some restaurants bring menus automatically, but this is helpful when they don't.

• おすすめは何ですか?
  Osusume wa nan desu ka?
  What do you recommend?

  One of the most useful things you can ask, especially at small specialty restaurants where the chef has a clear opinion about what you should be ordering. The answer will require some follow-up (pointing or nodding), but it often leads somewhere better than whatever you would have picked off the menu yourself.

• これをお願いします
  Kore o onegaishimasu
  This one, please

  The universal ordering phrase. Point at the menu item and say this.

• 同じものをください
  Onaji mono o kudasai
  The same thing, please

  For when the person next to you orders something that arrives and looks significantly better than what you have. No shame in it.

• お水をください
  O-mizu o kudasai
  Water, please

  Water is free at most restaurants and comes automatically at some. At traditional Japanese restaurants you may be brought ocha (green tea) instead. It's also free, and just as fine.

• ビールを二つください
  Biiru o futatsu kudasai
  Two beers, please
  Numbers for ordering: hitotsu (1), futatsu (2), mittsu (3), yottsu (4), itsutsu (5)

  Replace "biiru" with any drink: sake, wain (wine), uisukii (whiskey), kohii (coffee).

4. Dietary Restrictions & Special Requests

This is the section to study most carefully if it applies to you. Vegetarian and vegan eating is genuinely hard in Japan, not because of unwillingness, but because dashi (fish stock) is a base ingredient in many dishes that appear meat-free, as JNTO's vegetarian and vegan guide explains. An allergy card in Japanese is worth having if your restrictions are serious.

• アレルギーがあります
  Arerugii ga arimasu
  I have an allergy

  Follow with the ingredient: "Ebi ni arerugii ga arimasu" (I'm allergic to shrimp). Common allergens: tamago (egg), gyuunyuu (milk), komugi (wheat), soba, piinattsu (peanuts).

• ___は食べられません
  ___ wa taberaremasen
  I cannot eat ___

  More general than saying you have an allergy. Fill in with: niku (meat), sakana (fish), buta (pork), gyu (beef).

• ベジタリアンです
  Bejitarian desu
  I'm vegetarian

  Many Japanese dishes that look vegetarian contain dashi, a fish-based stock used as a flavor base for soups, sauces, and simmered vegetables. If dashi is an issue, add dashi mo dame desu (no dashi either). Without that clarification, vegetarian requests often result in dishes that technically have no meat but are still not fish-free.

• 辛くないものはありますか?
  Karakunai mono wa arimasu ka?
  Do you have anything not spicy?

  Japanese food isn't typically very spicy, but some dishes (like curry or certain ramen) can be.

• 少なめでお願いします
  Sukuname de onegaishimasu
  A small portion, please

  For "large portion": "Oomori de onegaishimasu" (大盛りでお願いします).

5. During Your Meal

Two of these are said by Japanese diners at every meal without thinking. Two are for mid-meal interactions. Learn all of them. They're short.

• いただきます
  Itadakimasu
  Thank you for this meal (said before eating)

  Said before eating. It's a brief acknowledgment of the food and everyone involved in producing it. Japanese diners say it quietly before every meal, at home and in restaurants. You don't need to announce it; saying it to yourself before picking up your chopsticks is exactly right.

• おいしいです
  Oishii desu
  It's delicious

  Worth saying directly to the chef or server at small restaurants, especially counter-style places where staff can hear you. At casual spots, oishii! without the desu is perfectly natural.

• すみません
  Sumimasen
  Excuse me

  The standard way to get a server's attention. Say it at a normal volume with eye contact. That's it. Snapping, waving aggressively, or calling out repeatedly will make staff and nearby diners uncomfortable. One clear sumimasen is always enough.

• お箸をください
  O-hashi o kudasai
  Chopsticks, please

  Replace "hashi" with: foku (fork), spuun (spoon), naifu (knife), oshibori (wet towel), napukin (napkin).

• もう一度お願いします
  Mou ichido onegaishimasu
  One more, please / Again, please

  Useful at izakayas when ordering another round, or at restaurants where a particular dish was good enough to order again. Pair it with pointing at an empty plate or your glass.

6. Paying & Leaving

Japan doesn't have table-side bill service the way Western restaurants do. At most places, you pay at a register near the exit. There's a specific way to ask for the bill, and two phrases you say before leaving that most foreign visitors skip.

• お会計をお願いします
  O-kaikei o onegaishimasu
  Check, please

  Say this to a server, or make an X with your index fingers. Both work. At many restaurants, rather than bringing the bill to you, they'll direct you to pay at the front register on your way out.

• クレジットカードは使えますか?
  Kurejitto kaado wa tsukaemasu ka?
  Can I use a credit card?

  Card acceptance keeps growing, as noted in JNTO's cashless payments guide, but some smaller restaurants are still cash-only. Always good to check first.

• 別々でお願いします
  Betsu-betsu de onegaishimasu
  Separate checks, please

  Splitting bills isn't standard in Japan and some restaurants won't accommodate it. The easier approach is having one person pay and sorting it out afterward, or each paying separately at the register rather than asking for itemized splits.

• ごちそうさまでした
  Gochisousama deshita
  Thank you for the meal (said after eating)

  Said as you leave. The standard way Japanese diners close out a meal: a thanks for the food and the work behind it. At a small restaurant where the chef can hear you on the way out, this lands better than just walking past. Most foreign visitors skip it. Most Japanese diners don't.

• ありがとうございました
  Arigatou gozaimashita
  Thank you very much (past tense)

  Said as you leave. The past tense form is appropriate here because the meal and service have concluded. Use this alongside gochisousama deshita rather than instead of it.

7. Restaurant Etiquette Tips

A few of these are practical. A few are the ones that get Western tourists in trouble without realizing it. The chopstick rules, in particular, have origins in funeral rituals, as laid out in the Japan National Tourism Organization's official etiquette guidelines. They're worth knowing, not because anyone will call you out, but because they add useful context.

9. Frequently Asked Questions