Your first restaurant order: the phrases that carry the interaction
Use すみません to get attention, then order with a counter such as 一つお願いします.
For a first restaurant order, 一つお願いします is the pattern people use most often: a counter plus お願いします. If you can point, これ一つお願いします works. If you can name the dish, use the dish, a counter, and をお願いします.
Get the server’s attention
すみません is the standard call to a server before you make a request.
すみません。You can then point and place the order with a counter.
これ一つお願いします。Name the item with a counter
ラーメンを一つお願いします。Drinks often take 杯.
水を一杯ください。The pattern is:
- First
- これ一つお願いします。
- Second
- ラーメンを一つお願いします。
Keep the counter. Replace これ with the menu item when you can say its name.
Naming the item alone is fully natural for a single order: ラーメンお願いします works as it stands. When you want to state how many, a counter such as 一つ or 一杯 is the easy default. The exact counter depends on what you are ordering; つ and 杯 cover many first orders.
ください is also used
Both Nをください and Nをお願いします work for ordering in a restaurant. This lesson leans on お願いします as one dependable pattern; ください is just as normal from a customer.
お茶を一杯ください。If you need a moment
ちょっと待ってください is a short way to ask for a moment, useful when the server arrives before you have decided.
ちょっと待ってください。These examples use standard polite request forms suited to a customer ordering from staff. The interaction can remain short: get attention, name the item with a counter, and make the request.
Language reference
Vocabulary
- 注文
- ordernoun; suru verb
Grammar pattern
- これをお願いします
noun, please
Form requested item + を + お願いします
Register polite
Pop quiz
Question 1: You want one of the dishes you are pointing at. Which sentence fits best?
- A. ちょっと待ってください。
- B. これ一つお願いします。
Show answer
Bこれ一つお願いします。
これ一つお願いします orders one of the items while you point. ちょっと待ってください asks for a moment.