Esperanto Restaurant Phrases: Ordering, Bonan Apetiton, Toasts

At an Esperanto table you need one verb, mendi (to order), and a few fixed phrases. Two of the phrases end in -n because a verb has been left out.

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1. 1la klientino
2. 2la kliento
3. 3la kelnero
4. 4la menuo
5. 5la tasoj

La klientino the customer (a woman), la kliento the customer (a man), la kelnero the waiter, la menuo the menu, la tasoj the cups.

Ordering: mendi

Mendi covers ordering food, ordering goods and booking a room. After a quantity word, such as a glass or a bottle, the food comes after da, not de:

• Mi mendas supon kaj glason da vino. - I will have soup and a glass of wine.
• Mi ŝatus mendi fiŝaĵon. - I would like to order the fish.
• Ni mendis botelon da akvo. - We ordered a bottle of water.

Mi ŝatus, I would like, is the polite conditional. Quantity has the full rule for da.

Bonan apetiton and je via sano

Bonan apetiton! is said before a meal. The full sentence is Mi deziras al vi bonan apetiton, I wish you a good appetite. The verb has gone and the -n of its object has stayed. Other greetings and wishes have the same shape:

• Bonan apetiton! - Enjoy your meal!
• Bonan tagon! - Good day!
• Dankon! - Thank you!

Je via sano! is the toast, or just Sanon!. After je there is no -n: the preposition already shows the role.

• Ni levis la glasojn: Je via sano! - We raised our glasses: To your health!

Je is the preposition Esperanto uses when no other one fits, and PMEG advises avoiding it when a better one exists. In this fixed phrase it is the usual word. Tricky prepositions has more on je.

Hungry, full and thirsty

Hunger and thirst are verbs in Esperanto:

Malsata, hungry, is mal- plus sata, full: there is no third root to learn. Mi estas malsata is also correct, but the verb is shorter.

How much you eat runs from a snack to your fill:

• manĝeti - to eat a little, a snack between meals
• manĝi - to eat
• satiĝi - to eat until you are no longer hungry

Trinki or drinki

Trinki is to drink anything. Drinki is to drink alcohol: ReVo defines it as drinking something intoxicating for pleasure, to forget, or in ceremony.

• Mi trinkas akvon. - I drink water.
• Ili drinkis la tutan nokton. - They drank all night.

The family shows the register: a drinkejo is a bar and a drinkulo is a drinker, someone fond of drink.

The meals and the card

ReVo gives menuo two food senses: the list of dishes at a banquet or formal meal, and the card a restaurant hands you, which it defines under manĝokarto. Both words are understood; menuo is the one you will hear.

Food in the proverbs

These are printed in ReVo under manĝi:

• Ĉiu manĝas, kiel li aranĝas. - Everyone eats as they arrange it.
• Instruas mizero manĝi panon sen butero. - Misery teaches you to eat bread without butter.
• Mustardo post la manĝo. - Mustard after the meal: too late.

Mistakes English speakers make

What to do next

1. Order a meal aloud: a starter, a main course and a drink, with da.
2. Say Bonan apetiton! and Je via sano! at your next meal.
3. Read the food words for everything on the plate.