Arriving at the restaurant (jatetxean sartu)

The first step when going to a restaurant: entering, greeting, asking for a table, or confirming a reservation. Here are the basic formulas.

Types of places to eat

Basque	English
jatetxea	restaurant
erretegia	grill / steakhouse
sagardotegia	cider house
taberna	bar
pizzeria	pizzeria
hanburgeseria	burger joint
elkartea	gastronomic society

Characters in the scene

• Bezeroa — the customer
• Zerbitzaria — the waiter/waitress
• Mahaia — the table

Arriving without a reservation

— Egun on! Mahai bat bi lagunentzat, mesedez.

— Bai, jarraitu mesedez. Hemen daukazue mahai bat.

Useful phrases:

• Mahai bat, mesedez. — A table, please.
• Bi lagunentzat / lau lagunentzat. — For two / four people.
• Eserlekurik baduzue? — Do you have room?

Making a reservation

By phone or in person, there’s a pretty standard script:

— Egun on! “Kutixi” jatetxea al da? — Is this the “Kutixi” restaurant?

— Bai, hala da. Zer nahi duzu? — Yes, it is. What would you like?

— Erreserba bat egin nahi dut, bihar gauerako. — I’d like to make a reservation, for tomorrow night.

— Zenbat lagunentzat? — For how many people?

— Lau lagun izango gara. — There will be four of us.

— Zer ordutan afaldu nahi duzue? — What time would you like to have dinner?

— Bederatziak aldera. — Around nine.

— Noren izenean? — In whose name?

— Mikelen izenean. — In Mikel’s name.

Phrases you’ll hear

• Itxaron pixka bat, mesedez. — Wait a moment, please.
• Jarraitu mesedez. — This way, please (pointing to the table).
• Hemen daukazue. — Here you are.
• Karta nahi duzue? — Would you like the menu?

Cultural note: The elkarteak or gastronomic societies are typical spaces in the Basque Country where the food is prepared and cleaned up by the group of members themselves. They don’t operate as public restaurants, but it’s good to know they exist because you’ll hear the word a lot.