How to say "restaurant" in Japanese

• 店てんJLPT N1approx.Common
  noun (suffix)Covers 'restaurant' only as part of the reading てん, which appears when 店 is used in compound words naming kinds of establishments. On its own as a word for a place you go to, the reading is みせ instead.
  私はこのペンを近所きんじょの文房具店ぶんぼうぐてんで買かった。↗

  I bought this pen at the stationer's around the corner.
• レストランJLPT N5approx.Common
  nounThe everyday word for a restaurant, especially a Western-style one. When you mean a place where you sit down and order from a menu in the Western manner, this is usually the word you want.
  いいレストランをご存知ぞんじでしょうか。↗

  Do you know a good restaurant?
• 店みせJLPT N5approx.Common
  nounThe general word for a store, shop, or establishment, and it can cover a restaurant as a place of business. Use it when speaking of the place itself, as in going to or liking a particular shop or eatery.
  あの店みせはサービスが良よい。↗

  That store gives good service.
• 料理屋りょうりやCommon
  nounA restaurant in the sense of an establishment that serves prepared food. For Western-style dining レストラン is the more natural choice, so this word tends to fit eateries that are not Western-style.
• 飲食店いんしょくてんCommon
  nounA formal term covering restaurants and other places that serve food and drink. It is the word you encounter in official, legal, or signboard contexts rather than in everyday conversation about where to eat.

Use 「レストラン」 for Western-style restaurants, 店（みせ） for a shop or eating place you visit, 店（てん） in compounds naming types of establishments, 料理屋 for a food-serving eatery, and 飲食店 for eating and drinking establishments in formal or official contexts.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 店てんstore
• レストランrestaurant (esp. Western-style)
• 店みせstore
• 料理屋りょうりやrestaurant
• 飲食店いんしょくてんrestaurant
• 店舗てんぽshop
• お店おみせstore
• 屋やshop
• 料理店りょうりてんrestaurant
• 旗亭きていrestaurant
• 酒楼しゅろうrestaurant
• 食事処しょくじどころrestaurant (esp. in a hotel or inn)
• 処どころrestaurant
• 食べ物屋たべものやeatery
• 食べ処たべどころeatery
• ごはん屋ごはんやeatery
• 食い物屋くいものやeatery
• 居食屋いしょくやeatery
• 割烹店かっぽうてん(Japanese) restaurant
• お食事処おしょくじどころ(Japanese) restaurant
• 料理茶屋りょうりぢゃや(Edo-period) restaurant
• 食堂しょくどうrestaurant
• 茶寮ちゃりょうrestaurant
• 割烹かっぽう(Japanese) restaurant