What an English menu actually changes on the floor
A foreign guest who can't read the menu orders what they recognise. In practice, that means the burger, the pasta and still water. Your seasonal dishes stay in the kitchen.
The second effect eats into your time. With no translation, every table needs a three to five minute explanation. Over a service of 40 covers with a third of your guests from abroad, that easily adds up to half an hour of floor time lost.
Restaurateurs who translate their menu notice one simple change first: foreign guests start ordering a starter and a dessert, because they finally understand what's in them.
Basic restaurant menu vocabulary in English
Start with the structure. It guides the reading before guests even reach the dish names.
The main sections of the menu
- Starter or appetizer: the first course. Starter is British, appetizer American.
- Main course: the main dish. Avoid main dish, which reads like a word-for-word translation.
- Side or side dish: the accompaniment, served separately.
- Dessert, cheese, drinks: these three words cause no trouble at all.
The words that appear on every menu
Around twenty terms cover most of what comes up during a service. Above all, learn the cooking levels: rare, medium rare, medium, well done. English-speaking guests order their meat with these words, every single time.
For preparation: grilled, roasted, pan-fried, slow-cooked, steamed. One cooking word beats a descriptive sentence. It's shorter and clearer.
The most common translation traps
False friends
A warm goat's cheese salad is not a hot goat salad. Write warm goat cheese salad. In the same way, entrée in American English means the main course, not the starter. Heading your first courses with Entrées guarantees confusion with North American guests.
Other classics: preservative means a food additive, not a contraceptive. Delay means being late, not a deadline. And the chef refers to the cook, not the owner.
Dishes you shouldn't translate
Confit de canard, cassoulet, tartare, ratatouille: keep the French name, then add one line of explanation in English. That's what well-built menus do. The name sells, the description reassures.
For example: Confit de canard — slow-cooked duck leg, served with sautéed potatoes. One sentence is enough, two lines maximum.
Raw machine translation
An online translator is still useful for a rough first pass. It becomes dangerous with dish names and wordplay. Menus displaying fried eggs of the house or chicken of the sea all come from the same reflex: copy-paste without proofreading.
The best method is still a read-through by a native speaker. An intern, a regular customer, a fellow restaurateur nearby. Allow thirty minutes for a menu of thirty items.
Useful phrases for taking an order
Your team doesn't need to be bilingual. Ten or so phrases fit on a laminated card behind the bar and cover 90% of exchanges.
- Would you like to order? — for taking the order.
- Are you ready to order, or do you need a few more minutes?
- Do you have any allergies we should know about?
- Please note the kitchen closes at 10 pm. — to announce closing time.
- We are sorry, this dish is not available today.
The word waiter is fading out in favour of server in North America. Use a neutral phrase instead to help a guest call you over: Just let us know if you need anything.
Translated PDF or multilingual digital menu: which to choose
Many restaurants start with an English PDF, printed or emailed. It's a fine start, but updating it quickly becomes the weak point.
| Criterion | Translated PDF menu | Multilingual digital menu |
|---|---|---|
| Changing a price | New layout + reprint | Edited online, visible immediately |
| Number of languages | 1 document per language | Several languages on the same QR code |
| Annual cost | Recurring printing, often €300 to €800 | Subscription, no reprinting |
| Dish sold out | Corrected by hand on the floor | Hidden in two clicks |
| Reading on mobile | Zooming required | Fits the screen |
If your menu changes every week, the PDF will cost you more in time than in paper. A digital restaurant menu solves the updating problem, and lets you show the same menu in French, English and Spanish.
What translation doesn't replace
Translating exempts you from no legal obligation. The 14 regulated allergens must remain available, in French, on the premises. An English version is a bonus for the guest, not a substitute for the official document: see the rules on allergen information in restaurants.
The same goes for prices. They are shown in euros, taxes and service included, on the English version too. There's no point converting to pounds or dollars: the rate moves and you open yourself up to a dispute.
Where to start, in practice
Don't translate everything at once. Work in order of usefulness.
- Section headings and cooking levels: one hour of work.
- Your ten best-selling dishes, with a two-line description.
- Drinks and the wine list, often forgotten even though they carry the margin.
- Service details: opening hours, payment methods, terrace.
For a layout that works, look at an example of a restaurant menu before writing your descriptions. You'll save time on the structure, which is the longest part.
Once the translation has settled, it barely changes again. Only the daily specials need adjusting, and that's where a menu you can edit online makes the difference.