Restaurant Word Search

A restaurant puzzle of menu, table and kitchen words that prints with its answer key.

Name Date

Find every word hidden in the grid. Words go across and down.

0 of 15 words found

SSMKITCHENAPKIN

IAGACOHIDESSERT

TLUPTABLERUAVUP

AGNOIOEOZOSORPU

PMENUESPIZHOELM

PRNGKVPTECSSSPS

EIUSYETUENRDEYB

TRITNATTCHEFROO

IEHESICEPOAHVFO

ZCUISRESTAURANT

EETMDAABUFFETAH

RIZABTIPVIPCIMA

UPHSWDDALHKRONC

ETECHKSAOUDINER

UOXWAITERZWSSHH

This grid is wider and taller than its box. Slide it to see every letter.To drag, hold the first letter for a moment, then slide.Keyboard: Tab to the grid, arrow keys to move, Enter on the first and last letter.

RestaurantRESTAURANT
MenuMENU
WaiterWAITER
ChefCHEF
AppetizerAPPETIZER
ReservationRESERVATION
ReceiptRECEIPT
TipTIP
BoothBOOTH
TableTABLE
NapkinNAPKIN
DessertDESSERT
KitchenKITCHEN
DinerDINER
BuffetBUFFET

15 of 20 words from the Restaurant list.

Pick three words from the list. Write what a customer or a worker might say using each one.

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Easy: words go across and down.

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Word list

Large print Lower-case letters Name and date line on paper

The puzzle changes as you go. See the puzzle

Answer key: Restaurant Word Search

SSMKITCHENAPKIN

IAGACOHIDESSERT

TLUPTABLERUAVUP

AGNOIOEOZOSORPU

PMENUESPIZHOELM

PRNGKVPTECSSSPS

EIUSYETUENRDEYB

TRITNATTCHEFROO

IEHESICEPOAHVFO

ZCUISRESTAURANT

EETMDAABUFFETAH

RIZABTIPVIPCIMA

UPHSWDDALHKRONC

ETECHKSAOUDINER

UOXWAITERZWSSHH

RESTAURANT, MENU, WAITER, CHEF, APPETIZER, RESERVATION, RECEIPT, TIP, BOOTH, TABLE, NAPKIN, DESSERT, KITCHEN, DINER, BUFFET

Next step Make a word search from your own menu's words Make a restaurant word scramble

All 133 words

Who Works Here 16

Apprentice A learner who works under a skilled cook to pick up the trade.
Barista A person who makes and serves coffee drinks.
Busser The worker who carries off used dishes and readies a table for the next guests.
Caterer A person or business that supplies the food for a party or event.
Chef The cook who runs things; short for a French title meaning head of the kitchen.
Cook A person who prepares food.
Critic A writer who eats out and reviews the meal.
Dishwasher The worker, or the machine, that cleans plates and pans.
Guest A restaurant's polite word for a customer.
Host The person at the door who greets guests and leads them to a table.
Maitre d' The head of the dining room staff; the full French title means master of the house.
Regular A customer who comes back again and again.
Restaurateur The owner or manager of a place to eat; the usual spelling has no N.
Server Today's word for a waiter or waitress.
Staff All the people who work in one place.
Waiter A person who takes orders and carries food to the tables.

Show all 133 words (117 more)

Kinds of Restaurants 26

Bistro A small, informal restaurant; the word reached English from French.
Buffet A meal set out on a long table so diners can serve themselves.
Café A small place for coffee and light meals; the word is French for coffee.
Chain A group of restaurants with one name and one owner.
Chophouse A restaurant that specializes in steaks and chops.
Coffee shop A small restaurant that serves hot drinks and simple meals.
Concession A stand that sells snacks at a ballpark or fair.
Diner A small restaurant with a long counter; some are built to look like a railroad dining car.
Dining car The part of a train in which meals are served.
Drive-through A window where customers order and pick up food without leaving the car.
Eatery An informal word for a restaurant.
Fast food Meals made and served quickly, such as burgers and fries.
Food court An area in a mall where many counters share one set of tables.
Food truck A kitchen on wheels that sells meals at the curb.
Franchise A license to open a branch of a well-known restaurant company; also the branch.
Luncheonette A small restaurant that serves light meals.
Patisserie A bakery that specializes in French pastry.
Pizzeria A shop where pizza is baked and sold.
Restaurant A place that sells meals to eat at its tables; in French the word first named a restoring soup.
Rotisserie A turning spit for roasting meat; also a shop that sells meat roasted this way.
Snack bar A counter for buying a quick bite, as at a pool or a theater.
Steakhouse A restaurant known for its beef.
Takeout Food bought to eat somewhere else.
Taqueria A restaurant that sells tacos and other Mexican food.
Teahouse A place that serves tea and light refreshments.
Trattoria A small, informal Italian restaurant.

Getting a Table 15

Banquet A formal dinner for a large group, often with speeches.
Booth A table set between two benches with high backs.
Capacity The largest number of people a room may hold.
Counter A long, high surface with stools where diners eat.
Dress code Rules about what guests may wear.
Highchair A baby's tall seat with its own tray.
Lobby The room by the entrance where guests wait.
Party The host's word for a group that eats together.
Patio A paved outdoor area with tables.
Reservation An arrangement that holds a table for a set day and time.
Seat A chair, bench or stool: somewhere to sit.
Stool A seat with no back.
Table Where a party sits to eat.
Waitlist The list of parties to be seated as tables open up.
Walk-in A guest with no reservation; in the kitchen, a cooler big enough to step into.

On the Table 23

Breadbasket Warm rolls arrive at the table in this.
Carafe A glass bottle with a flared lip for serving water at the table.
Centerpiece A decoration, such as flowers, set at the middle of a dining table.
Chopsticks A pair of thin sticks held in one hand for picking up food.
Coaster A small mat that keeps a wet glass off the table.
Condiment Something added at the table for flavor, such as mustard or relish.
Cruet A small glass bottle for oil or vinegar.
Cutlery Eating tools as a set; first of all, the knives.
Fork The eating tool with prongs.
Goblet A drinking glass that stands on a stem.
Linen Tablecloths and cloth napkins.
Napkin Cloth or paper kept on the lap for wiping lips and fingers.
Place mat A small cover that protects the table under one diner's plate.
Place setting The dishes and silverware laid out for one diner.
Platter A large, shallow dish for serving food.
Ramekin A small baking dish that holds a single helping.
Saucer The small dish a cup sits on.
Shaker A container with holes in the top for sprinkling salt.
Silverware Forks, knives and spoons, taken together.
Spoon The eating tool for soup.
Toothpick A thin sliver of wood for cleaning between teeth after a meal.
Tumbler A drinking glass with a flat bottom and no stem or handle.
Tureen A deep covered dish for serving soup.

Reading the Menu 21

À la carte With a separate price for each dish.
Appetizer A little plate to share before the bigger dishes come.
Beverage A drink.
Brunch A late morning meal that stands in for breakfast and lunch.
Chalkboard Where a small restaurant writes the specials of the day.
Combo Short for combination: several menu items sold together.
Course One part of a meal, served by itself.
Cuisine A style of cooking, such as Thai or Mexican; in French the word also means kitchen.
Dessert The sweet last course; its French root means to clear the table.
Du jour Of the day, as in the soup on today's menu.
Entrée In the United States, the main dish of a meal.
Garnish A sprig or slice added to a plate for looks and flavor.
Gourmet Someone with a fine taste for food.
Hors d'oeuvre A bite-size snack served before a meal.
Menu The list of dishes for sale, with their prices.
Price What a dish costs.
Prix fixe A whole meal of several courses at one set price.
Salad bar A counter where diners help themselves to greens and toppings.
Sampler An assortment of small helpings to try.
Serving The amount of a food meant for one person.
Vegan Someone who eats only foods from plants; also a dish made that way.

Behind the Kitchen Door 12

Brigade A restaurant's kitchen team, in which each cook has a station.
Fryer A deep pot of hot oil for cooking fries.
Griddle A flat heated surface for cooking pancakes.
Grill A rack over heat for cooking burgers; also a restaurant that cooks this way.
Hairnet A mesh cap worn by kitchen workers over their hair.
Hood The metal cover over a stove that carries smoke and steam away.
Inspection An official's visit to check that a kitchen is clean.
Kitchen The room where the food is cooked.
Mise en place A French kitchen phrase: every ingredient cut, measured and ready before cooking starts.
Prep Kitchen shorthand for getting everything chopped and measured before the cooking starts.
Station One cook's work area, such as the grill or the fry corner.
Toque The tall white hat a chef wears.

Ordering and Paying 20

Bill The list of what a table owes.
Cash Coins and paper money.
Change Money a cashier hands back after a payment larger than the bill.
Check In American restaurants, the bill.
Compliment Kind words of praise; diners send theirs to the chef.
Coupon A ticket or code good for money off.
Delivery Bringing an order to a customer's door.
Discount Money taken off the regular price.
Doggie bag A container for carrying home what a diner could not finish.
Gratuity A formal word for a tip.
Leftovers Food remaining after a meal, saved to eat later.
Order To tell the server what you would like; also the food asked for.
Rating A score, often in stars, that sums up an opinion.
Receipt A printed slip that shows what was bought and paid.
Refund Money given back when something was wrong with an order.
Review A written opinion of a meal.
Service The work of waiting on guests.
Tax Money added to a bill and paid to the government.
Tip Extra money left to thank a server for good service.
Total The full amount owed.

How this list was compiled: Own work: the word list and every clue were written for this page. Spellings, meanings and word origins were checked on 16 October 2026 in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (https://www.ahdictionary.com/); Food truck, Prep and Combo, which it does not enter in these senses, were checked in Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/food_truck and the entries prep and combo). The origin of the word restaurant, the diner built like a dining car and the kitchen brigade were also read in the English Wikipedia articles Restaurant (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restaurant), Diner and Kitchen brigade. Licence: own work

How it works

Menu, Waiter, Chef, Appetizer, Reservation, Receipt, Tip and Booth are on the opening list of this restaurant word search. Eight lists follow a meal out from getting a table to paying the check, and one gathers words borrowed from French.

Read the full guide

Eight lists, in the order of a meal out

Kinds of Restaurants has Diner, Bistro and Food truck. Getting a Table has Waitlist and Booth. On the Table has Napkin, Chopsticks and Cruet. Reading the Menu has Appetizer, Entrée and Du jour. Behind the Kitchen Door has Brigade, Toque and Prep. Ordering and Paying has Gratuity and Doggie bag, and Who Works Here has Host, Busser and Barista.

Words from French

Twenty-two entries came into English from French. Chef is short for chef de cuisine, head of the kitchen. Dessert goes back to a verb for clearing the table, and the full title behind Maitre d' means master of the house.

Restaurateur has no N in its usual spelling: a fair bonus word for a spelling list.
For an English learners class, print Getting a Table, Reading the Menu and Ordering and Paying in that order.

Questions and answers

Is this restaurant word search printable and free?

Yes. The restaurant word search is a free printable: it costs nothing and asks for no account. The print is the puzzle, with a name and date line, then the answer key on a page of its own.

What words are in the restaurant word search?

133 words and phrases, from Tip and Tax to Luncheonette and Drive-through. They name the people, places, tableware and menu terms of eating out; the dishes are left to the food word search.

Is there an easy restaurant word search for kids?

Short and Easy has 12 words of 3 to 5 letters, such as Menu, Chef, Tip, Fork and Spoon. On the Table is a good next step, with Napkin and Saucer.

Where does the word restaurant come from?

From French, where restaurant first named a restoring soup; the word comes from restaurer, to restore. The American Heritage Dictionary gives that origin.

All 133 words

Who Works Here 16

Kinds of Restaurants 26

Getting a Table 15

On the Table 23

Reading the Menu 21

Behind the Kitchen Door 12

Ordering and Paying 20

How it works

Eight lists, in the order of a meal out

Words from French

Questions and answers

More tools