To translate a restaurant menu, there are three options: a professional translator, a machine translation tool or a multilingual digital menu. iAlacarte goes further: the menu, dish details and conversation switch into the guest's language, in any of 27 languages, without reprinting the menu.
| Method | Benefit | Limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Professional translator | Reliable translation, reviewed by a human | Must be redone, and paid for, whenever the menu changes |
| Machine translation (such as Google Translate) | Instant and free | Culinary mistranslations, and sometimes allergen errors |
| Multilingual digital menu | Instant updates, without reprinting | Displays the menu, but does not answer guest questions |
| AI assistant (iAlacarte) | The menu and answers in the guest's language: allergens, diets, pairings | For a severe allergy, confirmation must always be obtained from the team |
A menu cannot be translated word for word. Here are real errors made by machine translation engines when translating restaurant menus and pages:
On a menu, an allergen error is not a matter of style. At iAlacarte, allergen names use reviewed labels, identical across all menus, and are never improvised translations.
The menu opens in your establishment's language. The guest selects their language in a selector, or simply writes in it: iAlacarte recognises it and switches the entire interface — sections, dish details, buttons, conversation — through to the final choice.
If the guest changes language midway, the context is retained: the last answer is replayed in the new language and their restrictions remain.
The translation is structural: navigation, sections and subsections, dish names and descriptions, ingredients, allergens, diets, interface messages and the link to the terms of use. The entire experience is in the guest's language, not just the list of dishes.
Food is not translated literally. Magret de canard rosé, tataki de thon, cuisson saignante, cépage syrah are rendered with their culinary meaning, not through word-for-word translation.
Regional products retain their name in languages using the Latin alphabet; in other scripts, they are rendered by their familiar equivalent (Grana Padano becomes parmesan in Russian or Japanese).
Hotels, resorts, hotel restaurants: one assistant for every guest nationality.
Guests are passing through and in a hurry. The language sets itself.
Reach international guests without printing ten versions of the menu.
Multiple restaurants, multiple atmospheres, the same multilingual menu for each one.
Your venue's tone (see Personas and tone) applies whatever the language: the response is written directly in the guest's language, in the selected register, not translated afterwards.
Activate your menu in 27 languages, with no manual entry and no PDFs to reprint.