---
title: "Menu Translation: How to Translate a Restaurant Menu"
description: "How to translate a restaurant menu: what to translate and what to keep, six steps from draft to native check, allergens in every language, and common mistakes."
canonical: https://menumigo.com/guides/menu-translation
source: Menumigo
---

# Menu Translation: How to Translate a Restaurant Menu Guests Can Order From

> How to translate a restaurant menu: what to translate and what to keep, six steps from draft to native check, allergens in every language, and common mistakes.

Written by The Menumigo Team · Updated 2026-10-24 · 8 min read

**Short answer:** Translate the descriptions, section names, allergens and notes, but keep each dish's own name and add a short description in the guest's language: "Bacalhau à Brás: shredded salt cod with egg and crisp potatoes". Draft the translation with a tool or AI, have a native speaker check the food words, and update every language whenever a dish or price changes. A digital menu that opens in the guest's phone language does that last part for you.

**Key takeaways**

- **Keep the original dish names.** Guests order by pointing or repeating the name, and a literal translation of a regional dish usually means nothing.
- **Translate what helps people choose:** descriptions, ingredients, cooking method, section names, allergens and dietary labels.
- **Never translate prices.** Keep one currency and one price list for every language.
- **Allergens have to be right in every language.** In the EU, mandatory food information must be in a language the consumer easily understands.
- **A translation is only correct on the day it is made.** Plan how each language stays in sync when the menu changes.

**In this guide**

- What should you translate on a menu, and what should you keep?
- How to translate a restaurant menu in 6 steps
- How do you choose which languages to offer?
- Allergens and dietary labels in other languages
- The most common menu translation mistakes
- Printed or digital: two ways to serve a multilingual menu
- How Menumigo fits

## What should you translate on a menu, and what should you keep?

A menu translation has a different job from a book translation. The guest has to understand a dish well enough to choose it, then order it from someone who may only know its original name.

| Part of the menu | Translate it? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Dish names | Keep the original, add a description | Staff and kitchen know the dish by that name |
| Descriptions and ingredients | Yes | This is what the guest decides on |
| Section names (starters, mains) | Yes | Guests use them to find their way |
| Allergens and dietary labels | Yes, checked carefully | A wrong word here is a safety problem |
| Notes (sizes, sides, cover charge) | Yes | Unexpected charges cause disputes |
| Prices and currency | No | One price list for everyone |
| Wine names, brands, producers | No | They are proper names |

For a dish known abroad by its original name (pizza margherita, paella, croissant), the name alone is often enough. For local dishes, the name plus one line of description works best.

## How to translate a restaurant menu in 6 steps

1. **Finish the source menu first.** Translate the menu you will actually serve, with final names, prices and allergens. Every later change has to be made once per language.
2. **Pick the languages from your guests, not from a list.** Ask the staff which languages they hear at the tables, and look at where your bookings and reviews come from.
3. **Make a first draft with a translation tool or AI.** It is fast and usually gets the structure right. It often gets food words wrong: regional dishes, cuts of meat, local fish and cooking terms.
4. **Have a native speaker check the food words.** A member of staff, a regular or a paid proofreader. Ask them to read it as a guest: would they know what arrives at the table?
5. **Check the allergens line by line.** Compare each dish's allergens in every language against the source menu. This is the one part of the translation where a mistake can hurt someone.
6. **Decide how each language stays in sync.** A new dish, a sold-out item or a price change has to reach every language on the same day. On paper that means reprinting every version; on a digital menu it means one edit.

## How do you choose which languages to offer?

Start with the languages your guests already speak to you in. A café near a station, a beach bar and a hotel restaurant will have very different lists, even in the same town.

- **The local language comes first**, for residents and for staff.
- **English is the common second language** for travellers who do not share yours.
- **Add a third or fourth language only when you see those guests regularly.** A menu in seven half-checked languages helps nobody.

Look at the question the other way round, too: if your staff often translate a dish out loud, that language belongs on the menu.

## Allergens and dietary labels in other languages

In the European Union, mandatory food information, which includes the 14 allergens, must appear in a language easily understood by consumers in the country where the food is sold (Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Article 15). The local language is therefore not optional, and a translated menu is extra information on top of it.

Translate allergen names with the official wording of each language version of the regulation, not with a general dictionary: "celery" is *apio* in Spanish and *sedano* in Italian, and "sulphites" has a precise name in each language. Keep dietary labels (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free) consistent: the same word on every dish in a given language.

For the 14 allergens themselves and how each country wants them shown, see the [restaurant allergen guide](/blog/restaurant-allergen-guide) and the free [allergen table](/tools/allergen-table).

## The most common menu translation mistakes

- **Translating dish names word for word.** The result is often funny or misleading, and the server no longer recognises the order.
- **Machine translation published without a check.** Food vocabulary is where general tools fail most.
- **Allergens that differ between languages.** The source menu was updated, the English version was not.
- **Different prices in different versions.** A printed English menu from last season next to this season's local menu.
- **Translations that never get updated.** A dish removed months ago is still on the French version.
- **Text pasted into an image.** A photographed or image-only menu cannot be enlarged, read by a screen reader or translated by the guest's phone.

## Printed or digital: two ways to serve a multilingual menu

**Printed menus** work for one or two languages: a bilingual menu, or one menu per language. Each language is a separate document to update and reprint, so every price change costs a print run per language.

**Digital menus** behind a QR code hold every language in one menu. The guest's phone opens the language it is set to, the guest can switch, and a change to a dish or price applies to every language at once. Keep a few printed copies for guests who do not scan.

## How Menumigo fits

Menumigo is a digital menu with translation built in. What it does today:

- **21 menu languages with AI translation**, from Turkish and Arabic to Japanese and Chinese. You can then correct any dish's translation by hand.
- **One translation covers the whole menu** into one language. The free plan includes 10 AI translations a month and publishes 2 languages; Pro publishes up to 6 languages at a time and has unlimited AI.
- **Guests read the menu in their phone's language** when the menu offers it, and otherwise in your main language. They can switch with the language picker, and the choice is remembered on their phone.
- **Allergen tags for all 14 EU allergens** show in every published language, on every plan.
- **Prices and sold-out dishes change in every language at once**, with no reprint. A new dish needs translating, not reprinting.

See the plans on the [pricing page](/pricing), or create a free menu from the [home page](/).

## FAQ

### What is the best way to translate a restaurant menu?

Draft it with a translation tool or AI, then have a native speaker check the food words and the allergens. Keep the dish names in the original language with a short translated description, and make sure every language is updated when the menu changes.

### Should dish names be translated on a menu?

Usually not. Keep the original name and add a description in the guest's language, so the guest understands the dish and can still order it by name. Names already known abroad, such as pizza or paella, rarely need a description at all.

### Can I use AI or machine translation for my menu?

Yes, for the first draft. It is fast and gets most sentences right, but it often mistranslates regional dishes, cuts of meat and cooking terms, so a native speaker should check it before guests see it.

### How many languages should a restaurant menu have?

As many as your regular guests speak, and no more than you can keep accurate. For most places that means the local language, English, and one or two languages you hear often at the tables.

### Do allergens have to be translated on a menu?

In the EU, allergen information must at least be in a language easily understood by consumers in the country where the food is sold. When you add other languages, the allergens in each version must match the source menu exactly.

### How do I keep translated menus up to date?

Make every change once in the source menu and copy it into each language the same day. On a digital menu that holds all languages in one place, a change to a price or a sold-out dish applies to every language at once.

## Sources

- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, Article 15 (language requirements) and Annex II (allergens). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2011/1169/oj

## More restaurant guides

- [All restaurant guides](https://menumigo.com/guides.md)

## Get started

- [Create a free account](https://menumigo.com/sign-up) — no credit card required
- [Pricing](https://menumigo.com/pricing.md) — plan limits and prices
- [Machine-readable plan data](https://menumigo.com/api/public/plans) — live JSON

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