Restaurant reservations Part 3 (Advanced): Asking about any ongoing promotions or special menus.

💬 Entrée means the starter here, not the main course as in American English. The main dish is le plat.

💬 Avoir l'air means "to seem" or "to look", and you can swap in any describing word: Ça a l'air bon "That looks good". The two a sounds in Ça a simply blend together.

💬 Une formule has nothing to do with a formula here. In restaurants it means a fixed-price combination, such as starter plus main.

💬 Mets means "dishes" or "food", and its final ts is silent, so it sounds like (meh). You'll mostly meet this word in this exact menu phrase.

🇫🇷 With a food and wine pairing, each course comes with a glass chosen to match it. It's usually a set-price option, so it's a good deal to ask about when booking.

💬 D'actualité doesn't mean "actual". It means "current" or "still on", which makes it a handy way to check whether an offer you saw is still running.

🇫🇷 Asking this is natural if you spotted an offer online or on a sign. Restaurants don't always update their websites.

💬 Du ... au ... gives a range of days: du lundi au vendredi "Monday to Friday". Du and au are de le and à le merged, and in French the days take no capital letter.

💬 The extra e in désolée shows a woman is speaking, and a man would write désolé. Both sound exactly the same.

🇫🇷 Weekday-only deals are common in France because restaurants fill up easily on weekends. The apology is polite routine, not a sign you asked something awkward.

💬 La means "it" and sits before the verb, not after it, with ne ... pas wrapped around both. Compare On la propose "We offer it".

💬 Putting le before a day makes it mean "every" that day: le samedi is "on Saturdays". Plain samedi means this coming Saturday.

🇫🇷 This is the usual light reply to bad news on the phone. It's polite and shows you're moving on without fuss.

🇫🇷 Tasting and set menus in France are often only served if the whole table orders them. It's worth checking before you get your heart set on one.

💬 Chacun means "each one" and takes the singular form of the verb, just like "everyone" in English. So you say chacun choisit, never choisissent.

💬 Qu' is que shortened before a vowel and must attach to the next word. Ce que means "what" in the middle of a sentence: Je prends ce que tu prends "I'll have what you're having".

💬 In everyday speech the ne usually disappears, so you'll hear Y'a pas de souci or simply Pas de souci.

🇫🇷 You'll hear this constantly from staff in France. It works as a friendly "no worries" or "sure", and often just means yes.

💬 In everyday spoken French, a question can keep normal word order and put combien at the end. Compare the formal Combien seriez-vous ?, which means the same.

💬 French uses "to be" plus a number to say how many people are in a group: Nous serions quatre. Swap the number to fit your group: Nous serions deux "There would be two of us".

💬 Vers in front of a time means "around". Swap the time freely: vers midi "around noon".

💬 Vers means "around" with times: vers vingt heures. You can also put it before other times, as in vers midi "around noon".

🇫🇷 The French use the 24-hour clock for bookings. Eight in the evening is usually said vingt heures, and you'll hear it more often than huit heures du soir.

💬 The person who still has something goes before reste. Swap it to talk about yourselves: Il nous reste une table "We have one table left".

💬 French books "at" a name: à quel nom is literally "at which name". Answer with Au nom de Martin "Under the name Martin".

💬 French books "at" a name: à quel nom. You'd answer Au nom de Martin "Under the name Martin".

💬 Beaucoup means "a lot", so this is literally "thanks a lot". You can't build it with très "very" the way English does; merci très is wrong.

💬 Renseignements is the everyday word for practical information or details. You'll also see it on signs pointing to an information desk.

💬 À + a time means "see you then": À demain "See you tomorrow", À ce soir "See you tonight".

💬 Bonsoir "good evening" is what you say on arriving. Bonne soirée is only for leaving, wishing someone a good rest of the evening.

💬 À plus a time or day is a handy goodbye: À demain "See you tomorrow", À tout à l'heure "See you later".

🇫🇷 Bonne soirée is the standard friendly sign-off from late afternoon on. Use Bonne journée "Have a good day" earlier on.

🇫🇷 This is the reply when someone ends a call with bonne journée "have a good day" or bonne soirée "have a good evening". It's the expected way to return the wish before hanging up.