à la carte

Meanings

1. 1adjectivebefore a noun

   Describing a restaurant menu where every dish has its own price and you choose what you want, instead of paying one price for a fixed meal.

   Grammar: Used before a noun: an à la carte menu. It does not change form.

   Patterns

   • an à la carte menu
   • an à la carte dinner

   The restaurant offers an à la carte menu in the evening and a cheaper set lunch.

   We chose the à la carte option because neither of us wanted a dessert.

   Their à la carte dishes change with the season.

2. 2adverbafter a verb

   Ordered as separate items with separate prices, not as part of a fixed package.

   Grammar: Comes after the verb: you can order à la carte. It can also follow a noun phrase in a menu.

   Patterns

   • order à la carte
   • eat à la carte

   You can eat à la carte or choose the tasting menu.

   The hotel lets guests order breakfast à la carte if they do not want the buffet.

3. 3adjectivebefore a nounfigurative

   Letting a customer pick individual parts of a service or product and pay for each one, rather than buying a bundle.

   Grammar: Used before a noun in a looser, figurative way: an à la carte subscription.

   Patterns

   • an à la carte service
   • à la carte pricing

   The cable company now sells channels à la carte instead of in large packages.

   The gym has an à la carte plan where you pay only for the classes you attend.

Common combinations

à la carte menu

The à la carte menu had more than twenty main courses.

order à la carte

If you order à la carte, side dishes are charged separately.

à la carte pricing

The software company switched to à la carte pricing so customers could pay for only the tools they use.

à la carte dining

The hotel is best known for its à la carte dining on the terrace.

à la carte option

There is an à la carte option for guests who want something lighter.

Synonyms and how they differ

individually priced

Individually priced is plain English for the same idea, but it sounds less specific to restaurants and less polished on a menu.

separately

Separately describes how items are paid for in any situation, while à la carte is mainly used for menus and service choices.

Opposites

Word family

carte noun

the French word for menu, rarely used alone in English

menu noun

the list of dishes a restaurant offers

table d'hôte noun

a meal of fixed courses at a fixed price

Commonly confused: à la carte or à la mode?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “à la carte”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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