During your stay in Japan, you’ll undoubtedly find yourself in situations where you’ll have to interact with restaurant staff. In these moments, knowing how to speak Japanese is not really necessary -- universal hand gestures and basic English will get you through most conversations. Having said this, it’s always comforting to have a few Japanese phrases on hand to help smooth things over.
First of all, when you enter a restaurant, it’s common for the employees to belt out irasshai mase! In some restaurants, they’ll yell this extremely loud! There’s no need to reply or even acknowledge this greeting, just continue walking in and expect to be served promptly.
When selecting an item, you can point to it and say:
kore o kudasai - this one please
If you’re ordering from a food menu, your server may ask how many of that item you wish to order by holding up one finger and saying hitotsu? (one item?).
You can reply:
hitotsu - one
futatsu - two
mittsu - three
After you’ve finished your meal, you can get the attention of a restaurant worker by saying owaisou.
On your way out the door, it’s a good time to yell out gochisou sama (thank you for the meal) or gochisou sama deshita if you want to sound extra polite.
