The Italian bar is really what Americans would call a café. There you can get breakfast (coffee and a pastry), snacks, sandwiches, and salty snacks to accompany your before-dinner drink.
assegno (ahs-seh-nyoh) [m] (check)
pagare (pah-gah-reh) (to pay)
soldi (sohl-dee) [m/pl] (money)In Italian-speaking countries, as in most of the rest of the world, there are three meals a day: colazione (koh-lah-tsee-oh-neh) [f] (breakfast), pranzo (prahn-tsoh) [m] (lunch), and cena (cheh-nah) [f] (dinner).
The following phrases might help you when you're eating at a restaurant.
- Vorrei prenotare. (I’d like to make a reservation.)
- Per che ora? (For what time?)
- Per quante persone? (For how many people?)
- No, non abbiamo prenotato. (No, we don’t have a reservation.)
- Ci porti il conto, per favore. [Formal] (Bring us the check, please.)
antipasti (ahn-tee-pahs-tee) [m] (appetizers)
carne (kahr-neh) [f] (meat)
cioccolata (choh-koh-lah-tah) [f] (chocolate)
formaggio (fohr-mahj-joh) [m] (cheese)
fragola (frah-goh-lah) [f] (strawberry)
frutta (froot-tah) [f] (fruit)
gelato (jeh-lah-toh) [m] (ice cream)
insalata (een-sah-lah-tah) [f] (salad)
pane (pah-neh) [m] (bread)
pesce (peh-cheh) [m] (fish)
riso (ree-zoh) [m] (rice)
sale (sah-leh) [m] (salt)
verdura (vehr-doo-reh) [f] (vegetables)The following phrases can help you place your drink order.
- Un caffè, per favore. (A coffee, please.)
- Un bicchiere di latte caldo (A glass of warm milk)
- Una cioccolata calda (A hot chocolate)
- Tre birre (Three beers)
- Un bicchiere di acqua minerale (A glass of mineral water)
- Liscia o gassata? (Flat or carbonated?)
- Un panino, per favore. (I’ll have a sandwich, please.)
- Lo scontrino, per favore. (Receipt, please.)
- Due cappuccini, per favore. (Two cappuccinos, please.)
acqua (ahk-koo-ah) [f] (water)
vino (vee-noh) [m] (wine)
bere (beh-reh) (to drink)
birra (beer-rah) [f] (beer)
caffè (kahf-feh) [m] (coffee)
latte (laht-teh) [m] (milk)You might want to use the following adjectives to when giving your cameriere/cameriera (waiter/waitress) your food or drink order:
calda/o (kahl-dah/doh) [f/m] (warm; hot)
fredda/o (frehd-dah/doh) [f] (cold)
dolce (dohl-cheh) [m/f] (sweet)
grande (grahn-deh) [m/f] (big; tall; large)
piccola/o (peek-koh-lah/loh) [f/m] (small; short)
Italians don’t drink cappuccino after breakfast time.