Food and Restaurants

Eating in Persian: Key Words and Phrases

In this chapter you learn the essential words and expressions you need to talk about food and to handle simple situations in restaurants and cafés in Persian. You already know how simple sentences and present tense work, so here we focus on vocabulary and typical real-life phrases.

Basic Food Items

Start with the most common foods you will see and use. Remember that in everyday speech the connecting sound “‑e /‑ye” often links words, but here we keep them as separate dictionary items.

You already know that nouns do not change for plural in a basic way and there is no grammatical gender. Just learn the base form first.

Important staple foods:

نان /nân/ means “bread.”
برنج /berenj/ means “rice (uncooked or as a concept).”
پلو /polow/ means “cooked rice, usually plain or with some additions.”
گوشت /gusht/ means “meat.”
مرغ /morgh/ means “chicken (meat or animal, from context).”
ماهی /mâhi/ means “fish.”
تخم‌مرغ /tokhm‑e morgh/ means “egg.”
سبزی /sabzi/ means “herbs, greens” and سبزیجات /sabzijât/ means “vegetables.”
میوه /mive/ means “fruit.”

Some very frequent individual fruits and vegetables:

سیب /sib/ means “apple.”
موز /moz/ means “banana.”
پرتقال /porteghâl/ means “orange (fruit).”
گوجه‌فرنگی /goje farangi/ means “tomato.”
خیار /khiâr/ means “cucumber.”
پیاز /piyâz/ means “onion.”
سیب‌زمینی /sib‑zamini/ means “potato.”

Common dairy products:

شیر /shir/ means “milk.”
ماست /mâst/ means “yogurt.”
پنیر /panir/ means “cheese.”
کره /kare/ means “butter.”

Typical everyday foods you will often see in Iran:

کباب /kabâb/ is “kebab,” usually grilled meat.
چلوکباب /chelow kabâb/ is “rice with kebab,” a very classic dish.
خورش /khoresht/ is “stew,” usually eaten with rice.
سوپ /sup/ is “soup.”
سالاد /sâlâd/ is “salad.”
ساندویچ /sândevich/ is “sandwich.”
پیتزا /pitza/ is “pizza.”

Drinks and Ordering Something to Drink

Knowing drink words is essential, because being offered tea is a big part of Persian hospitality.

Most common drinks:

آب /âb/ means “water.”
چای /chây/ means “tea.”
قهوه /qahve/ means “coffee.”
آب‌میوه /âb‑mive/ means “juice” in general.
نوشابه /nushâbe/ means “soft drink, soda.”
دوغ /dugh/ means “yogurt drink,” very common with meals.

To say you want something, you can use a present tense form of خواستن /khâstan/ “to want,” but at this level you can rely a lot on the polite phrase خواهش می‌کنم /khâhesh mikonam/ “please” and very simple requests like:

من آب می‌خوام. /man âb mikhâm./ “I want water.”
من یک چای می‌خوام. /man yek chây mikhâm./ “I want a tea.”

In a restaurant you will soften this with لطفاً /lotfan/ “please”:

لطفاً یک چای. /lotfan yek chây./ “A tea please.”
لطفاً یک آب‌میوه. /lotfan yek âb‑mive./ “A juice please.”

You already know how to say “I want” and “I don’t want,” so here you practice these sentences with food and drink words.

At the Restaurant: Key Nouns

In a Persian speaking city you will see many signs with the word رستوران /resturân/ “restaurant.” Other useful place words:

کافی‌شاپ /kâfi shâp/ means “coffee shop.”
کافه /kâfe/ is also “café.”
سلف‌سرویس /self‑servis/ means “self service,” a buffet style place.

Objects and people in a restaurant:

میز /miz/ means “table.”
صندلی /sandali/ means “chair.”
پیشخدمت /pish‑khedmat/ means “waiter / waitress” in more formal style.
گارسون /gârson/ (from French) is also used for “waiter.”
منو /meno/ means “menu” and sometimes also کارت منو /kârt‑e meno./
لیوان /livân/ means “glass (for drinking).”
فنجان /fenjân/ means “cup,” often for tea or coffee.
بشقاب /bosghâb/ means “plate.”
چنگال /changâl/ is “fork,” چاقو /châghu/ is “knife,” قاشق /ghâshogh/ is “spoon.”
صورت‌حساب /surat‑hesâb/ means “bill, check.”
حساب /hesâb/ by itself also often means “bill, check” in a restaurant context.

Typical Restaurant Expressions

When you enter a restaurant you may say سلام /salâm/ “hello” which you already know. The staff might ask:

برای چند نفر؟ /barâye chand nafar?/ “For how many people?”

You answer with a number you already learned:

برای دو نفر. /barâye do nafar./ “For two people.”

To ask for the menu:

منو لطفاً. /meno lotfan./ “Menu please.”

To say you are ready to order, you can use:

آماده‌ام. /âmâde‑am./ “I am ready.”
سفارش می‌دم. /sefarresh midam./ “I order (I will order).”

At A2 level it is enough to say simply what you want, plus لطفاً:

یک چلوکباب لطفاً. /yek chelow kabâb lotfan./ “One chelow kabab please.”
دو تا دوغ لطفاً. /do tâ dugh lotfan./ “Two dugh please.”

The word تا /tâ/ is a common counter for items and is very natural with numbers in ordering.

To ask “What do you have?” you can say:

چی دارین؟ /chi dârin?/ “What do you have?”

To ask “What is this?” when you point at something on the menu:

این چیه؟ /in chie?/ “What is this?”

To check whether something is available:

... دارین؟ /... dârin?/ “Do you have ...?”
For example: سوپ دارین؟ /sup dârin?/ “Do you have soup?”

If you want something “without” an ingredient, the common word is بدون /bedun/ “without”:

بدون پیاز لطفاً. /bedun‑e piyâz lotfan./ “Without onion please.”

If you want “with” something, use با /bâ/ “with”:

سالاد با سس لطفاً. /sâlâd bâ sos lotfan./ “Salad with sauce please.”

Tastes, Likes, and Dislikes with Food

You already know how to say you like or do not like something in general. Here we apply that to food.

To say something is tasty, use خوشمزه /khoshmazze/:

این خیلی خوشمزه‌ست. /in kheili khoshmazze‑st./ “This is very tasty.”

To say the opposite:

بد مزه /bad‑mazze/ means “bad tasting.”
این بد مزه‌ست. /in bad‑mazze‑st./ “This tastes bad.”

To express like or dislike with food:

من کباب دوست دارم. /man kabâb dust dâram./ “I like kebab.”
من ماهی دوست ندارم. /man mâhi dust nadâram./ “I do not like fish.”

To talk about sweet, salty, etc., some basic taste adjectives:

شیرین /shirin/ means “sweet.”
شور /shur/ means “salty.”
ترش /torsh/ means “sour.”
تند /tond/ means “spicy, hot (in taste).”

For example:

غذا خیلی تنده. /ghazâ kheili tond‑e./ “The food is very spicy.”
این کیک شیرینه. /in keyk shirine./ “This cake is sweet.”

To ask someone “Do you like this food?”:

این غذا رو دوست داری؟ /in ghazâ ro dust dâri?/ “Do you like this food?”

You see the object marker را /râ/ in the spoken form رو /ro/ here, but its full explanation belongs to a later level. At this stage you just copy the pattern for common sentences with food.

Special Diets and Simple Problems

To explain that you cannot eat something, a very useful pattern is “I do not eat ...”:

من ... نمی‌خورم. /man ... nemikhoram./ “I do not eat ...”

Use it with meat words:

من گوشت نمی‌خورم. /man gusht nemikhoram./ “I do not eat meat.”
من مرغ نمی‌خورم. /man morgh nemikhoram./ “I do not eat chicken.”
من ماهی نمی‌خورم. /man mâhi nemikhoram./ “I do not eat fish.”

To say “I am vegetarian” the common phrase in Iran is:

من گیاه‌خوارم. /man giyâh‑khvâram./ “I am vegetarian.”

If you cannot eat something for health reasons, a simple phrase with allergy is useful:

من حساسیت دارم. /man hassâsiyat dâram./ “I have an allergy.”

You can also say “I cannot eat ...” with نمی‌تونم /nemitunam/ “I cannot,” but at your level using “I do not eat ...” is simple and works in restaurants.

If something is too salty or too spicy, you can say:

خیلی شوره. /kheili shur‑e./ “It is very salty.”
خیلی تنده. /kheili tond‑e./ “It is very spicy.”

These are polite if you say them with a friendly tone.

After the Meal: Paying the Bill

When you finish eating, you need to ask for the bill. This is one of the most useful restaurant sentences.

Very often people simply say:

حساب لطفاً. /hesâb lotfan./ “The bill please.”

If you want to pay, you can say:

می‌خوام حساب کنم. /mikhâm hesâb konam./ “I want to pay.”

To ask “How much is it?” or “How much does it cost?” you can use the pattern you already know from shopping:

چنده؟ /chande?/ “How much is it?”
چقدر شد؟ /cheghadr shod?/ “How much is it in total?”

To ask if you can pay by card:

کارت می‌گیرین؟ /kârt migirin?/ “Do you take card?”

If you want to say “Thank you, the food was very good,” a natural sentence is:

ممنون، غذا خیلی خوب بود. /mamnun, ghazâ kheili khub bud./ “Thank you, the food was very good.”

This kind of sentence is very appreciated in Persian speaking cultures.

Simple Dialogues in a Restaurant

Now you put the words and expressions together. Here are two short example dialogues. Focus on the Persian sentences and how the key words from this chapter appear.

Dialogue 1, ordering a simple meal:

Customer: سلام. برای دو نفر.
/ salâm. barâye do nafar. /
“Hello. For two people.”

Waiter: بفرمایین. اینم منو.
/ befarmâyin. inam meno. /
“Here you are. Here is the menu.”

Customer: ممنون.
/ mamnun. /
“Thank you.”

After some time:

Customer: یک چلوکباب و یک سالاد لطفاً.
/ yek chelow kabâb va yek sâlâd lotfan. /
“One chelow kabab and one salad please.”

Waiter: نوشیدنی چی میل دارین؟
/ nushidani chi meyl dârin? /
“What would you like to drink?”

Customer: دو تا دوغ لطفاً.
/ do tâ dugh lotfan. /
“Two dugh please.”

Dialogue 2, asking and paying:

Customer: این چیه؟
/ in chie? /
“What is this?”

Waiter: این سوپ مرغِ.
/ in sup‑e morgh‑e. /
“This is chicken soup.”

Customer: خوبه. یک سوپ مرغ لطفاً، بدون پیاز.
/ khube. yek sup‑e morgh lotfan, bedun‑e piyâz. /
“Good. One chicken soup please, without onion.”

After the meal:

Customer: حساب لطفاً.
/ hesâb lotfan. /
“The bill please.”

Waiter: ۳۰۰ هزار تومن شد.
/ sisad hezâr toman shod. /
“It is 300,000 toman.”

Customer: کارت می‌گیرین؟
/ kârt migirin? /
“Do you take card?”

Waiter: بله.
/ bale. /
“Yes.”

Customer: ممنون، غذا خیلی خوشمزه بود.
/ mamnun, ghazâ kheili khoshmazze bud. /
“Thank you, the food was very tasty.”

These dialogues show how a small group of words lets you manage real situations. Practice reading them aloud and then try to replace some words with other foods and drinks from this chapter.

Vocabulary Table for “Food and Restaurants”