Italian · Cafés & restaurants · Elementary

How to book a table in Italian

Call and say “Vorrei prenotare un tavolo per sabato sera”. You’ll be asked “Quante persone siete?”: answer “Siamo in due”. Then agree a time and leave a name, usually just your surname: “A nome Martin”. To change it later, call back, give the name and say what’s different.

Try it · about two minutes

You phone a trattoria to book a table for Saturday night, then call back to change the number of guests.

Sound on: the restaurant host speaks Italian. You choose what to say back, and Frasa tells you why it works.

The conversation

You call the trattoria and someone picks up: “Pronto, Trattoria da Gino.”
You
Buongiorno, vorrei prenotare un tavolo per sabato sera.
Hello, I’d like to book a table for Saturday night.
Restaurant host
Quante persone siete?
How many of you are there?
You
Siamo in due.
There are two of us.
Restaurant host
A che ora?
What time?
You
Un tavolo per due alle otto, per favore.
A table for two at eight, please.
Restaurant host
A che nome?
What name is it under?
You
A nome Martin.
Under Martin.
Restaurant host
Come posso aiutarla?
How can I help you?
You
Ho una prenotazione per sabato. Saremo in quattro, non in due.
I have a booking for Saturday. There’ll be four of us, not two.
Restaurant host
Nessun problema.
No problem.
You
Grazie, arrivederci.
Thank you, goodbye.

Key phrases

Vorrei prenotare un tavolo per stasera.
I’d like to book a table for tonight.
Un tavolo per due, per favore.
A table for two, please.
Un tavolo per due alle otto, per favore.
A table for two at eight, please.
Quante persone siete?
How many of you are there?
A che nome?
What name is it under?
Come si scrive il suo cognome?
How do you spell your surname?
Le dico il mio nome lettera per lettera.
Let me spell my name for you.
Vorrei spostare la prenotazione a venerdì.
I’d like to move the booking to Friday.
Mi dispiace, dobbiamo disdire la prenotazione.
I’m sorry, we have to cancel our booking.
Mi dispiace, stasera siamo al completo.
Sorry, we’re fully booked tonight.

Good to know in Italy

How the call usually goes

1
Say you’d like to book, and for which day.
I’d like to book a table for tonight.
2
Say how many you are: siamo in due, siamo in quattro.
3
Agree a time. Dinner often starts around eight, and later in the south.
4
Leave a name, usually just your surname: a nome Martin.

Spell it the Italian way

Over the phone, Italians spell names with cities: A come Ancona, B come Bologna, M come Milano. It’s worth learning the ones for your own name.

Le dico il mio nome lettera per lettera.

Let me spell my name for you.

If they’re full

“Al completo” means fully booked. Ask about another day, or an earlier or later time.

Mi dispiace, stasera siamo al completo.

Sorry, we’re fully booked tonight.

More situations in Italian

All situations in Italian

Keep these phrases in Frasa

Frasa is an iPhone app for the conversations in front of you. Save phrases like these, rehearse them out loud, and they come back until they stick.

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AI-generated. May be inaccurate.