We went looking for a glossary for people who eat while travelling, and there isn't one. Search for it and you get a vocabulary written for the tourism industry, full of terms like value chain and destination development, or a recycled article explaining what a food tour is. Nothing that tells you what a huarique is, or why the small plate you did not order has appeared on your table in Tokyo.
So here is one. A hundred and thirty-nine terms, split by where you meet them: on the booking page, on the door, before you order, on the bill, and on the menu itself. Where a word is commonly misunderstood we have said so, because those are the ones that cost you something.
On the booking page
Sixteen terms, several of which mean less than they appear to.
| Term | What it means | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Tasting | One plate or portion served to you | Not the same as a stop. Ten tastings across three venues is normal |
| Stop | One place the group enters | Median of four on this site. Some listings count a photo stop as one |
| Crawl | Several bars in sequence, one drink and one bite each | Pace is the whole point. Expect standing, not tables |
| Food walk | Guided eating across a neighbourhood on foot | The default product. Three hours, four to six stops |
| Market tour | A market visit, sometimes with a meal after | Usually early. The market is a workplace with a working day |
| Cooking class | You cook, then you eat what you cooked | Largest groups of any format. Ask how many work stations |
| Small group | No agreed definition anywhere | Look at the actual cap. Fifty-five listings here allow over twenty |
| Private | Your party only | Thirteen per cent of this catalogue. Buys pace more than access |
| Skip the line | Pre-booked entry to a venue | Rare and largely meaningless on food tours |
| Free tour | Tip-based walking tour, food not included | You will buy your own food. Budget for it |
| Meeting point | Where the tour starts, not where it ends | Check the end point too. Walks finish elsewhere |
| Grace period | How late you can be before they leave | Five to ten minutes, and enforced |
| All sales final | No refund, no date change, ever | Fifteen listings here. Read this line before the reviews |
| Gratuities not included | A tip for the guide is expected but unspecified | About sixty listings here say it. The rest say nothing |
| Plus plus, written ++ | Price before service charge and tax | Standard on Thai menus. Adds roughly seventeen per cent |
| Pace | How briskly the group moves | Only one operator worldwide publishes it as a number |
Where you are standing: Europe
The name above the door is a price signal and a menu in one word, and getting it wrong is how people end up paying restaurant money for bar food.
| Word | Country | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Trattoria | Italy | Family-run, short menu, cheaper than a ristorante. Historically no written menu at all |
| Osteria | Italy | Originally a wine house that fed you. Now often indistinguishable from a trattoria, sometimes pricier |
| Ristorante | Italy | Full service, printed menu, the highest prices of the three |
| Tavola calda | Italy | Hot counter food, sold by weight or portion. Lunch, standing or takeaway |
| Friggitoria | Italy | Fried food to take away. In Naples this is the cuoppo |
| Rosticceria | Italy | Roast meat and prepared dishes to take away |
| Enoteca | Italy | Wine shop that pours by the glass, usually with food |
| Bacaro | Venice | Wine bar serving cicheti, the Venetian small plate |
| Fraschetta | Lazio | Rural wine tavern outside Rome, cold cuts and litres of local white |
| Forno | Italy | Bakery. In Rome it also means pizza al taglio, sold by weight |
| Alimentari | Italy | Grocer. Many will make you a sandwich from the counter |
| Agriturismo | Italy | Farm that feeds and sometimes houses you. Legally must be a working farm |
| Bar | Spain | Coffee in the morning, wine and tapas later. Not a nightspot |
| Taberna | Spain | Old-style bar with food, usually traditional |
| Tasca | Spain | Small, cheap, local. Standing room and a loud television |
| Bodega | Spain | Winery, or a bar that started as a wine cellar |
| Sidreria | Basque Country | Cider house. Fixed menu, cider poured from the barrel on the call of txotx |
| Asador | Spain | Grill house. Meat or whole fish over embers |
| Mercado | Spain | Market. Many now have counters that cook what the stalls sell |
| Chiringuito | Spain | Beach shack, fried fish, usually seasonal |
| Tasca | Portugal | Same word as Spain, same idea. Small, cheap, no frills |
| Cervejaria | Portugal | Beer hall, and by tradition the place for shellfish |
| Marisqueira | Portugal | Shellfish restaurant. Prices are per kilo and add up fast |
| Pastelaria | Portugal | Pastry shop and cafe. Where the pastel de nata lives |
| Adega | Portugal | Wine cellar, or a restaurant styled as one |
| Churrasqueira | Portugal | Grilled chicken, takeaway, piri-piri on the side |
| Casa de fado | Portugal | Restaurant with fado singing. Expect a cover charge for the music |
| Taverna | Greece | The default. Cooked dishes, wine from the barrel, paper on the table |
| Psarotaverna | Greece | Fish taverna. Priced by the kilo, chosen from ice |
| Mezedopoleio | Greece | Small plates only, meant for sharing over a long evening |
| Ouzeri | Greece | Ouzo and the food that goes with it. Same idea, different bottle |
| Souvlatzidiko | Greece | Grill counter for souvlaki and gyros, mostly takeaway |
| Kafeneio | Greece | Old-style coffee house. Coffee, spirits, backgammon, rarely food |
| Zacharoplasteio | Greece | Pastry shop, for syrup sweets and galaktoboureko |
The chalkboard is a document
Across southern Europe the handwritten board is where the real menu lives, because it changes with what came in that morning. A printed menu in six languages and a chalkboard in one is not a contradiction: it is the difference between what they sell and what they cooked.
If you can only read one, read the board. If you cannot read the board, photograph it and translate it at the table. Nobody minds.
Where you are standing: Asia
| Word | Country | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Izakaya | Japan | Drinking place that feeds you. Small plates, ordered in rounds |
| Otoshi | Japan | The small dish that arrives unordered in an izakaya. A cover charge in disguise |
| Yakitoriya | Japan | Grilled chicken skewers, part by part. Counter seating |
| Sushiya | Japan | Sushi restaurant. At the counter you are eating in front of the chef |
| Omakase | Japan | I leave it to you. The chef chooses, and you do not see a price list |
| Kaiseki | Japan | Formal multi-course seasonal meal. The most expensive thing in this glossary |
| Kissaten | Japan | Old-fashioned coffee house. Slow, dark, often smoking-permitted |
| Depachika | Japan | The food floor in a department store basement. Extraordinary and free to browse |
| Tachinomi | Japan | Standing bar. Cheap, fast, no chairs by design |
| Yatai | Japan | Street food cart. Rare in Tokyo now, common in Fukuoka |
| Quan | Vietnam | Shop or eatery. Usually followed by what it sells, as in quan pho |
| Bia hoi | Vietnam | Fresh draught beer brewed daily, drunk on plastic stools on the pavement |
| Cho | Vietnam | Market. The wet market is where a cooking class usually starts |
| Com binh dan | Vietnam | People's rice. Point at trays of prepared dishes, eat with rice |
| Banh mi | Vietnam | Both the bread and the filled sandwich made from it |
| Raan aahaan | Thailand | A food shop. The generic term for a simple restaurant |
| Talat | Thailand | Market. Talat nam is the floating one, talat yen the evening one |
| Rot khen | Thailand | Push cart. The smallest unit of Thai street food |
| Sen lek, sen yai | Thailand | Thin and wide rice noodles. You are expected to choose |
Where you are standing: the Americas
| Word | Country | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Fonda | Mexico | Small family kitchen serving a set lunch. The best value meal in the country |
| Taqueria | Mexico | Taco place. Judge it by the queue and the spit |
| Cenaduria | Mexico | Evening-only eatery, antojitos rather than full plates |
| Cantina | Mexico | Drinking place. Historically men only, now generally not |
| Tianguis | Mexico | Open-air market that appears on a fixed day and vanishes again |
| Pulqueria | Mexico | Serves pulque, the fermented agave drink. Older than tequila by centuries |
| Comida corrida | Mexico | Fixed-price set lunch: soup, rice, a main, a drink |
| Huarique | Peru | A hole in the wall that locals keep to themselves. The word implies a secret |
| Cevicheria | Peru | Ceviche specialist. Traditionally closes in the afternoon, because the fish is a morning purchase |
| Picanteria | Peru | Regional kitchen, spicy, often Arequipan. Chicha served alongside |
| Chifa | Peru | Peruvian Chinese cooking, from Cantonese migration in the nineteenth century |
| Nikkei | Peru | Peruvian Japanese cooking. The other great migrant kitchen |
| Polleria | Peru | Charcoal chicken. A national institution, eaten with three sauces |
| Menu | Peru | The fixed-price set lunch, not the list of dishes. Ask for la carta for that |
| Leche de tigre | Peru | The citrus marinade left after the ceviche. Drunk on its own |
| Corrientazo | Colombia | Set lunch of the day, soup and a plate, at a working price |
| Finca | Colombia | Farm. On this site it usually means a coffee estate you can visit |
| Panaderia | Colombia | Bakery, and the default place for a coffee and something cheesy |
| Tinto | Colombia | Small black coffee sold on the street. Not red wine, which is what the word means elsewhere |
| Deli | United States | Delicatessen. In New York it means cured meat, rye and a counter argument |
| Bodega | United States | Corner shop with a sandwich counter. Nothing to do with the Spanish wine cellar |
| Food hall | United States | Curated collection of counters under one roof. The modern market |
| Letter grade | New York | The A, B or C in the window, awarded by the city health department |
Where you are standing: Morocco and Australia
| Word | Country | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Souk | Morocco | Market, usually a covered warren organised by trade rather than by aisle |
| Riad | Morocco | House built around a courtyard. Many now run cooking classes on the roof |
| Farnatchi | Morocco | The furnace that heats the neighbourhood hammam, and where tanjia is cooked in the ashes |
| Hanout | Morocco | Small general shop. Ras el hanout means head of the shop, the spice blend the owner is proud of |
| Milk bar | Australia | Corner shop and sandwich counter. A disappearing institution |
| Laneway | Melbourne | Narrow service alley turned into cafes and bars. The city's signature format |
| Magic | Melbourne | Double ristretto in a small flat white. Ordered nowhere else on earth |
What arrives before you order it
Five words for the same awkward moment, with five different sets of rules behind them. The page on the bill covers where each one is lawful.
| Word | Where | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Coperto | Italy | A per-person cover charge for the seat, bread and linen. Banned outright in Lazio |
| Couvert | Portugal | Bread, olives, cheese brought to the table. Legal, priceable, and refusable |
| Kouver | Greece | The same charge, and prohibited, even when it is written on the menu |
| Otoshi | Japan | A small dish and a few hundred yen for the seat. Refusable in principle, rarely in practice |
| Servicio | Latin America | A service percentage. Voluntary in Colombia by law, and capped at ten per cent |
Words that decide what you pay
| Word | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Il conto, la cuenta, a conta | Italy, Spain, Portugal | The bill. In none of these countries is it brought before you ask |
| Propina | Spain, Mexico, Portugal | Tip. Voluntary everywhere it appears |
| Recargo al consumo | Peru | A service surcharge that is legally not a tip and goes to the staff |
| Prezzo al kg | Italy | Price per kilo. Standard for fish, and the commonest way to be surprised |
| Secondo pezzatura | Italy | Priced by the size of the piece. Ask what the piece weighs |
| S.q. or sq | Italy, worldwide | According to quantity, or market price. It means nobody has told you the price |
| Racion, media racion | Spain | A full or half sharing plate, larger than a tapa |
| Tapa, pincho, pintxo | Spain | A small bite. In the Basque country it usually comes on bread with a skewer through it |
Ten words on a menu that are not the name of a dish
| Word | Where | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Del giorno | Italy | Of the day. Usually means it was bought this morning |
| Fatto in casa | Italy | Made on the premises. A legally meaningful claim in Italy for pasta |
| Casalingo | Italy | Home-style. A claim about the recipe, not the kitchen |
| Di mare, di terra | Italy | From the sea, from the land. Splits a menu in two |
| Casero | Spain, Latin America | The same idea as casalingo |
| Del dia | Spain | Of the day. Menu del dia is the fixed-price working lunch |
| Especialidad de la casa | Spain, Latin America | House speciality. Order it, it is what they practise |
| Nama, jizake | Japan | Unpasteurised beer, and local sake. Both worth ordering by name |
| Phet mai | Thailand | Is it spicy. Phet nit noi means a little spicy, and is a negotiation |
| Rau song | Vietnam | The plate of raw herbs. Not a garnish, an ingredient you are meant to add |
Nine ways of cooking that name the dish
| Word | Where | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| A la plancha | Spain | On the flat iron griddle. The default for prawns and fish |
| Alla brace | Italy | Over embers, not gas. The claim behind bistecca alla fiorentina |
| Nixtamalizacion | Mexico | Cooking maize with lime before grinding. The reason a real tortilla tastes of maize |
| Molcajete, metate | Mexico | Volcanic stone mortar and grinding stone. Salsa made in one tastes different |
| Tanjia | Morocco | Both the clay urn and the meat slow-cooked in it in the ashes of a furnace |
| Dashi | Japan | Stock of kelp and dried fish. It is in almost everything, which matters if you are vegetarian |
| Wok hei | China, Thailand | The breath of the wok. The scorched aroma only a very hot pan produces |
| Sofrito | Spain, Latin America | The slow-cooked aromatic base a dish is built on |
| Confit, escabeche | Europe, Latin America | Preserved in fat, and preserved in acid. Both older than refrigeration and better than it |
Eight diet words that travel badly
These are the ones worth learning properly, because a mistranslation here is not embarrassing, it is a medical problem. Our page on allergies and dietary needs goes further.
| Word | The trap |
|---|---|
| Vegetariano | In several countries it is understood to permit fish, and sometimes chicken broth. Say what you do not eat, not what you are |
| Vegano | Widely understood in cities, much less so outside them. In Naples one operator declines vegan guests outright, because the cuisine is dairy, eggs and meat |
| Sin gluten, senza glutine | Well understood in Italy and Spain, where coeliac disease is common and diagnosed. Much weaker elsewhere |
| Dashi | Japanese stock made with bonito. It makes most apparently vegetarian Japanese dishes not vegetarian |
| Nam pla, nuoc mam | Fish sauce, in Thailand and Vietnam. Present in almost everything savoury, including salads |
| Strutto, manteca | Lard. Used in pastry, bread and refried beans without being mentioned |
| Caldo de pollo | Chicken stock, the base of many Mexican vegetable dishes |
| Cross-contact | The term allergy specialists use rather than cross-contamination. Ask about the surface and the fryer, not just the recipe |
If you learn six words in any language before a food trip, make them: the bill, no meat, no fish, allergy, delicious, and thank you. In that order of usefulness, which is not the order anybody teaches them.
Questions about the words
What is the difference between a trattoria and an osteria?
Historically an osteria sold wine and fed you as an afterthought, while a trattoria was a family kitchen with a short menu. Today the distinction has largely collapsed and some osterie are expensive restaurants using the word for atmosphere. Judge by the menu and the prices, not the sign.
Is a tapa the same as a pintxo?
Not quite. A tapa is a small plate, sometimes free with a drink in parts of Spain. A pintxo, in the Basque country, is usually built on a slice of bread with a skewer through it, laid out along the bar, and you pay for what you take. The counting is done on trust, often by the skewers left on your plate.
What does market price mean on a menu?
That nobody has told you the price. It is legitimate for fish and shellfish, which are bought daily by weight, and it is also where bills go wrong. Ask what the piece weighs and what the price per kilo is before you agree to it.
Why does the same word mean different things in different countries?
Because most of these words describe a room or a trade rather than a cuisine, and rooms drift. Bodega means a wine cellar in Spain and a corner shop in New York. Menu means the set lunch in Peru and the list of dishes almost everywhere else.
Data verified on. Terms drawn from the sixteen destinations covered on this site, with the booking-page counts taken from the 429 experiences published here.
The stories behind some of these words
Which food origin stories survive the archive, and the seven we are not going to settle.