Meaning & use
restaurant experience
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
The overall time you spend eating at a restaurant, including food, service, and atmosphere.
Grammar: Countable: you can say "a restaurant experience" or "restaurant experiences."
Patterns
- a restaurant experience
- the restaurant experience
- restaurant experiences
The restaurant experience was wonderful, from the greeting to the dessert.
They want to improve the restaurant experience for families with children.
My best restaurant experience was a small place in Italy.
noununcountablebusiness
Work experience or a period of training in a restaurant kitchen or dining room.
Grammar: Uncountable when referring to general work experience; often used in resumes or job applications.
Patterns
- restaurant experience
- have restaurant experience
- gain restaurant experience
She has five years of restaurant experience, mostly in busy downtown cafes.
The job requires some restaurant experience, but they will train the right person.
He gained restaurant experience while studying abroad.
Word forms
| plural | restaurant experiences |
|---|
Common combinations
- a great restaurant experience
- We had a great restaurant experience at the new seafood place.
- improve the restaurant experience
- The owner hired a new manager to improve the restaurant experience.
- years of restaurant experience
- The ad asks for at least three years of restaurant experience.
- the whole restaurant experience
- The whole restaurant experience, from the music to the service, was perfect.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dining experience
- Very similar, but often suggests a more formal or special meal rather than a casual one.
- meal
- Refers only to the food you eat, not the whole event including service and atmosphere.
Word family
- restaurant noun
- A place where you pay to sit and eat meals.
- restaurateur noun
- A person who owns or manages a restaurant.
Commonly confused: restaurant experience or restaurant experience?
restaurant experience vs restaurant experience
This phrase can be confusing because it has two common meanings: the feeling of eating out, or work experience in a restaurant. The context usually makes it clear.
Practice
The job posting says: "Applicants must have at least two years of ______."
Choose one answer.
"Restaurant experience" is uncountable when talking about work history, so it does not take an article or a plural form in this context. The other options would be used when talking about specific dining events.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “restaurant experience”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.