Hebrew for Restaurants: Words and Phrases You’ll Hear in Israel

If you’re eating out in Israel, you do not need perfect Hebrew. You do need a small set of words and phrases that come up all the time: ordering, asking what something is, changing an order, and paying.

This guide focuses on the Hebrew you’re most likely to hear in cafés and restaurants.

Basic restaurant words

Start with the essentials:

• מסעדה (mis'ada) — restaurant
• בית קפה (beit kafe) — café
• תפריט (tafrit) — menu
• מלצר (meltzar) — waiter
• מלצרית (meltzarit) — waitress
• שולחן (shulchan) — table
• חשבון (cheshbon) — bill
• הזמנה (hazmana) — order

If you want a broader foundation first, see Essential Hebrew Phrases.

Ordering food

These are the most useful phrases at the table:

• אני רוצה... (ani rotze...) — I want...
  • masculine: אני רוצה (ani rotze)
  • feminine: אני רוצה (ani rotza)
• אפשר... (efshar...) — can I have... / is it possible...?
• מה יש ב...? (ma yesh ba...?) — what is in...?
• יש לכם... ? (yesh lachem / lachem / lachem?) — do you have...?
• אני אקח... (ani ekach...) — I’ll take...

Examples:

• אפשר קפה?
  Can I have coffee?
• אני רוצה סלט.
  I want a salad.
• אני אקח את המנה הזו.
  I’ll take this dish.

For more everyday sentence patterns, see How Hebrew Sentence Structure Works: A Beginner’s Guide.

Useful words for the menu

These words show up often in Israeli restaurants:

• מנה (mana) — dish / portion
• סלט (salat) — salad
• לחם (lechem) — bread
• בשר (basar) — meat
• עוף (of) — chicken
• דג (dag) — fish
• אורז (orez) — rice
• פסטה (pasta) — pasta
• מרק (marak) — soup

A few common menu questions:

• מה זה? (ma ze?) — what is this?
• יש בזה... ? (yesh baze...?) — does this have...?
• זה חריף? (ze charif?) — is it spicy?

Drinks and café words

In cafés and casual restaurants, these come up a lot:

• קפה (kafe) — coffee
• תה (te) — tea
• מים (mayim) — water
• בירה (bira) — beer
• יין (yayin) — wine
• חם (cham) — hot
• קר (kar) — cold

Examples:

• קפה קר
  iced coffee
• מים קרים
  cold water

If you want more everyday vocabulary, see 100 Common Hebrew Words for Everyday Conversation.

Changing your order

These small words are very useful in real life:

• עם (im) — with
• בלי (bli) — without
• עוד (od) — more / another
• פחות (pachot) — less

Examples:

• סלט בלי בצל
  salad without onion
• עוד מים, בבקשה
  more water, please
• בלי חריף
  without spicy sauce / not spicy

If you want to understand how these words fit into a sentence, see How Hebrew Sentence Structure Works: A Beginner’s Guide.

Paying the bill

At the end of the meal, you’ll often hear:

• חשבון (cheshbon) — bill
• לשלם (leshalem) — to pay
• כרטיס (kartis) — card
• מזומן (mezuman) — cash

Useful phrases:

• אפשר חשבון?
  Can I get the bill?
• אפשר לשלם בכרטיס?
  Can I pay by card?
• רק רגע, בבקשה.
  Just a moment, please.

What you may hear in real Israeli restaurants

Hebrew in restaurants is often short and fast. Sometimes people leave out words because the meaning is obvious from context.

You may hear things like:

• רוצה משהו? (rotze mashehu?) — Want something?
• הכול בסדר? (hakol beseder?) — Everything okay?
• עוד משהו? (od mashehu?) — Anything else?

If you want more of the informal spoken style, see Israeli Slang You’ll Actually Hear in Real Life.

A simple restaurant mini-dialogue

Server: מה תרצה?
You: אני רוצה קפה ומים, בבקשה.
Server: לשבת או לקחת?
You: לשבת.
Later: אפשר חשבון?

A few useful words here:

• לשבת (lashevet) — to sit here / for here
• לקחת (l'kachat) — to take away / to go

The most important takeaway

You do not need a huge restaurant vocabulary to get by in Israel. If you know how to say what you want, what you do not want, and how to ask for the bill, you can handle most situations.

Start with:

• אני רוצה...
• אפשר...?
• עם / בלי
• חשבון
• לשלם

That small set will take you a long way.