restaurant
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of restaurant
An Americanism first recorded in 1820–30; from French, noun use of present participle of restaurer, from Latin restaurāre “to restore, reestablish”; cf. re- ( def. ), store
Compare meaning
How does restaurant compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A restaurant is a place — usually inside a building — where you go to eat food, which, most of the time, you must pay for. Restaurant comes from the French restaurer, which means "to provide food for." Restaurants will provide food for you if you've got the cash, and most of the time they'll even let you sit down right there and eat it. Common examples of restaurants include burger joints, cafeterias, pizzerias, sandwich shops, steak houses, seafood shacks, (some) hot-dog stands, ice cream parlors, taquerias, Chinese takeout, (some) bakeries, and fine-dining establishments.
Vocabulary lists containing restaurant
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Unlike many mature restaurant chains, Chipotle still has a long runway for expansion.
From Barron's • Jun. 10, 2026
Stephen suggested Kie-Gol-Lanee, our neighborhood Oaxacan restaurant, where the mole is rich, the tamarind margaritas are dangerous and the frijoles arrive with a bowl of chips that seem to disappear on their own.
From Salon • Jun. 9, 2026
The restaurant, more than 100 feet above Pyongyang’s streets, had glass floors.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026
Buoyed by her win, Kish released her first cookbook in 2017 and opened the Austin restaurant Arlo Grey in 2018.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026
I was seated in the hotel restaurant, just about to sink my teeth into a buttery roasted goose.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
