Have you ever typed restaurant and wondered whether resturant might also be a correct spelling? The difference between Restaurant vs Resturant is easy to overlook, especially because the word can be tricky to spell and pronounce. However, only one of these forms is considered the correct standard spelling in English.
Restaurant is the correct spelling, while resturant is a common misspelling. The word restaurant refers to a place where people go to buy and eat prepared food and drinks. The incorrect form, resturant, is often written by mistake because people may leave out the second a when spelling the word.
Examples:
- We had dinner at a new restaurant downtown.
- The restaurant serves Italian and Mexican food.
The confusion is understandable. People often search for restaurant vs resturant, restaurant or resturant, which spelling is correct, or resturant meaning in English because the pronunciation can make the spelling difficult to remember. And here’s the kicker: resturant may look close to the correct word, but it is not an accepted standard spelling.
In this guide, you’ll learn the complete difference between Restaurant vs Resturant, including their meaning, pronunciation, origin, correct spelling, and usage. You’ll also discover why resturant is commonly misspelled and learn simple tips to help you remember the correct spelling of restaurant.
Restaurant vs Resturant: Which Spelling Is Correct?
The answer is straightforward:
Restaurant is correct. Resturant is incorrect.
| Spelling | Correct? | Meaning |
| restaurant | ✅ Yes | A place or business where meals are served or sold |
| resturant | ❌ No | A common misspelling of restaurant |
Major dictionaries recognize restaurant as the standard English word. Merriam Webster defines it as a business establishment where meals or refreshments may be purchased. Oxford likewise lists restaurant as a noun for a place where people can buy and eat a meal.
By contrast, resturant isn’t a separate standard English word with its own definition. If you see it in an email, text, article, menu, or online post, it is normally just a spelling mistake.
Restaurant Is the Correct Spelling
The correct spelling is:
R-E-S-T-A-U-R-A-N-T
Notice the letters in the middle:
rest + au + rant
The “au” is easy to forget. That’s the small detail that often separates restaurant from resturant.
For example:
- ✅ We found a great restaurant downtown.
- ❌ We found a great resturant downtown.
The meaning is clear in both sentences, but only the first spelling is correct in standard English.
Resturant Is a Misspelling
Resturant leaves out the “a” in the middle of the standard spelling.
Compare them closely:
restaurant → r e s t a u r a n t
resturant → r e s t u r a n t
That missing a makes resturant incorrect.
You may still encounter this spelling online because people often type words the way they hear them. A familiar word can also become harder to spell when its pronunciation doesn’t make every written letter obvious.
How Do You Spell Restaurant?
The correct spelling is:
restaurant
You can spell it letter by letter as:
R-E-S-T-A-U-R-A-N-T
One useful way to remember it is to focus on “restau” rather than trying to memorize the entire word at once.
Break Restaurant Into Spelling Parts
For spelling practice, divide the word into manageable sections:
rest + au + rant
This isn’t a modern linguistic breakdown of the word. It’s simply a useful spelling trick.
The important part to remember is:
REST + AU + RANT
Once the au becomes familiar, the common mistake resturant becomes easier to spot.
A Simple Restaurant Spelling Trick
Think:
“Don’t forget the AU in restaurant.”
Then write:
rest + au + rant = restaurant
You can also practice the word inside familiar phrases:
- a local restaurant
- a busy restaurant
- my favorite restaurant
- a family restaurant
- an Italian restaurant
- a new restaurant
- a popular restaurant
- the restaurant menu
Seeing the word repeatedly in context can make the spelling feel more natural than memorizing isolated letters.
Why Is “Resturant” a Common Misspelling?
The spelling resturant is easy to produce because the pronunciation doesn’t always make the middle letters obvious.
English spelling and pronunciation don’t always line up perfectly. In everyday speech, speakers may pronounce restaurant with fewer clearly separated syllables than the spelling suggests. Oxford lists multiple pronunciations, including forms represented as /ˈrestrɒnt/, /ˈrestrɑːnt/, and /ˈrestərɑːnt/.
American English also has more than one listed pronunciation. Oxford’s American dictionary gives forms including /ˈrɛstəˌrɑnt/, /ˈrɛstrɑnt/, and /ˈrɛstərənt/.
So the spelling can feel longer and more complicated than the spoken word.
Pronunciation Can Hide the “Au”
When you say restaurant naturally, you may not pronounce every written part as a distinct sound.
That’s why someone might remember something like:
rest-rant
or
res-tur-ant
and then write resturant.
The problem isn’t the meaning. The problem is that the spelling gets reconstructed from memory instead of from the standard written form.
Similar Spelling Mistakes
Restaurant has several common misspellings. For example:
- resturant
- restaraunt
- restraunt
- restarant
- restorant
These forms may look familiar because they reflect attempts to reproduce the word’s sound. However, the standard spelling remains:
restaurant
What Does Restaurant Mean?
A restaurant is a business or establishment where customers can buy food and usually eat it there.
Merriam Webster defines it as “a business establishment where meals or refreshments may be purchased.”
Oxford gives a similar definition and provides examples such as Italian restaurants, fast food restaurants, and restaurants where people meet for meals.
Restaurants can vary enormously. A small neighborhood café may serve a few simple dishes, while a large fine dining establishment may offer several courses and an extensive menu.
The word doesn’t describe one particular type of food or service. It refers broadly to an establishment where people can purchase meals.
Types of Restaurants
The word restaurant can describe many different businesses, including:
- Fast food restaurants
- Fine dining restaurants
- Family restaurants
- Casual restaurants
- Vegetarian restaurants
- Seafood restaurants
- Italian restaurants
- Mexican restaurants
- Indian restaurants
- Chinese restaurants
- Steak restaurants
- Buffet restaurants
- Self service restaurants
For example, an Italian restaurant may specialize in pasta and pizza, while a seafood restaurant may focus on fish and shellfish.
The word stays the same regardless of the cuisine.
Restaurant Meaning in a Sentence
Here are several natural examples:
- We went to a new restaurant for dinner.
- That restaurant serves excellent seafood.
- The restaurant opens at 11 a.m.
- They own a small family restaurant.
- We made a reservation at our favorite restaurant.
- The restaurant was crowded on Saturday night.
- She works at a busy Italian restaurant.
- Let’s try the new restaurant downtown.
- The restaurant offers vegetarian options.
- We had lunch at a restaurant near the hotel.
Each sentence uses restaurant as a noun.
Restaurant vs Resturant in a Sentence
Seeing the two forms side by side makes the difference easy to understand.
Incorrect Examples
These sentences contain the misspelling resturant:
- ❌ We had dinner at a new resturant.
- ❌ The resturant serves fresh pasta.
- ❌ Let’s meet at the resturant at seven.
- ❌ She works at an Italian resturant.
- ❌ The resturant was full last night.
Correct Examples
The corrected versions use restaurant:
- ✅ We had dinner at a new restaurant.
- ✅ The restaurant serves fresh pasta.
- ✅ Let’s meet at the restaurant at seven.
- ✅ She works at an Italian restaurant.
- ✅ The restaurant was full last night.
The meaning doesn’t change. Only the spelling changes.
Restaurant vs Resturant: A Quick Comparison
| Feature | Restaurant | Resturant |
| Standard spelling | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Dictionary word | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Refers to a place serving food | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Used in formal writing | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Common online spelling mistake | Sometimes | ✅ Yes |
| Contains “au” | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
The easiest conclusion is simple: choose restaurant every time you need the standard English spelling.
How Do You Pronounce Restaurant?
Restaurant can have different pronunciations depending on the speaker’s accent and variety of English.
Merriam Webster gives pronunciations including /ˈre-stə-ˌränt/ and other variants. Oxford also lists multiple British and American pronunciations.
The key point is that pronunciation varies. You don’t need to force every speaker into one exact pronunciation to spell the word correctly.
Restaurant Pronunciation in American English
American English commonly uses pronunciations that sound approximately like:
RES-tuh-rahnt
or, in some speech:
RES-trahnt
The exact sound can vary between speakers.
Why Pronunciation Causes Spelling Problems
Suppose someone hears restaurant pronounced quickly. They may not perceive the word as a neat sequence of every written letter.
That’s similar to many other English words whose spelling contains letters or combinations that aren’t obvious in casual speech.
The important lesson is:
Don’t spell restaurant only from how it sounds. Remember its written form.
The History of the Word Restaurant
The spelling makes more sense when you look at the word’s history.
Restaurant entered English from French. Merriam Webster traces it to French restaurant, connected to restaurer, meaning “to repair, refresh, renew.” The English noun meaning an establishment where food and drink could be purchased dates to the early 19th century, with Merriam Webster giving 1806 as its first known use in that sense.
Oxford likewise identifies the word as an early 19th century borrowing from French and connects it to restaurer.
Restaurant Originally Had a Different Food Related Sense
The history is particularly interesting because restaurant wasn’t always used primarily for the place where you eat.
Merriam Webster explains that the French word originally referred to food or drink with a restorative quality. The word developed from the French verb restaurer, which ultimately traces back to Latin restaurare, meaning to restore or renew.
Over time, the word became associated with establishments serving food.
Merriam Webster also discusses the often repeated story of a Parisian named Boulanger, whose establishment around 1765 served restorative broths. The dictionary notes that the story is part of the history surrounding the development of the modern restaurant concept and the word itself.
So the spelling restaurant isn’t arbitrary. It comes from a long linguistic history involving French and Latin.
Restaurant and Restaurateur: Don’t Mix Them Up
Another reason people sometimes hesitate over restaurant is its relationship with the word restaurateur.
These words are related, but they mean different things.
| Word | Meaning |
| restaurant | A place or business where meals are served |
| restaurateur | A person who owns or operates a restaurant |
For example:
- The restaurant opened at noon.
- The restaurateur opened three restaurants.
Merriam Webster defines restaurateur as the operator or proprietor of a restaurant. It traces the word to French and ultimately to Latin restaurare.
Why Restaurateur Can Cause Confusion
The spelling of restaurateur is unusual because it doesn’t contain the n found in restaurant.
Merriam Webster notes that restauranteur also exists as a less common variant of restaurateur, although many people consider it an error and prefer the traditional spelling restaurateur.
That distinction is worth remembering:
restaurant = the place
restaurateur = the person who owns or operates it
Don’t use resturant for either one.
Restaurant Plural and Possessive Forms
Once you know the singular form, its common grammatical forms are easy.
Singular: Restaurant
Use restaurant when you’re talking about one establishment.
Example:
We found a quiet restaurant near the hotel.
Plural: Restaurants
Add s to form the plural:
restaurant → restaurants
Example:
Several restaurants opened in the neighborhood this year.
Singular Possessive: Restaurant’s
Use restaurant’s when something belongs to or is associated with one restaurant.
Example:
The restaurant’s menu changes every season.
Plural Possessive: Restaurants’
Use restaurants’ when something belongs to multiple restaurants.
Example:
The restaurants’ menus were posted online.
Here’s the full comparison:
| Form | Example |
| restaurant | The restaurant is busy. |
| restaurants | The restaurants are busy. |
| restaurant’s | The restaurant’s menu is new. |
| restaurants’ | The restaurants’ menus are different. |
Notice that none of these forms becomes resturant.
Common Restaurant Phrases
Learning the word in common phrases can make its spelling easier to remember.
Restaurant Menu
Restaurant menu refers to the list of food and drinks available.
The restaurant menu includes several vegetarian dishes.
Restaurant Owner
A restaurant owner owns the business.
The restaurant owner greeted the customers.
Restaurant Staff
Restaurant staff refers to employees who work at the establishment.
The restaurant staff prepared the dining room before opening.
Restaurant Reservation
A restaurant reservation is an arrangement to have a table available at a particular time.
We made a restaurant reservation for seven o’clock.
Restaurant Industry
The restaurant industry includes businesses and workers involved in preparing and serving food to customers.
She has worked in the restaurant industry for ten years.
Restaurant Chain
A restaurant chain is a group of restaurants operating under the same brand or business system.
That restaurant chain has locations across the country.
These phrases also show why spelling matters. Restaurant appears in many forms of everyday writing.
Common Misspellings of Restaurant
Resturant is not the only spelling mistake people make.
Here are several forms that can appear when someone tries to spell the word from memory:
| Incorrect Form | Correct Form |
| ❌ resturant | ✅ restaurant |
| ❌ restaraunt | ✅ restaurant |
| ❌ restraunt | ✅ restaurant |
| ❌ restarant | ✅ restaurant |
| ❌ restorant | ✅ restaurant |
| ❌ restuarant | ✅ restaurant |
Some of these mistakes move letters around, while others remove letters.
The safest approach is not to memorize every incorrect version. Instead, remember the correct structure:
REST + AU + RANT
Is “Resturant” Ever Correct?
In standard English, resturant is not the correct spelling of the noun restaurant.
If you’re writing something that needs standard spelling, use:
restaurant
You might still see resturant on websites, social media, signs, menus, comments, or informal messages. Its appearance in real world writing doesn’t make it a standard spelling.
There is one important distinction, though. A business can choose an unusual name or spelling as part of its branding. If a company deliberately calls itself something unusual, that specific name may have its own spelling. That doesn’t change the standard English spelling of the common noun restaurant.
A Simple Way to Remember Restaurant vs Resturant
The most useful trick is also the simplest:
Remember the “AU”
When you write restaurant, stop briefly after rest and remember:
REST + AU + RANT
That gives you:
restaurant
Instead of:
resturant
Use a Visual Memory Cue
Think of the word as three chunks:
REST | AU | RANT
The middle chunk AU is the part most likely to disappear.
If you can remember that small middle section, the rest of the spelling becomes much easier.
Practice With Short Phrases
Write these phrases a few times:
- a restaurant
- the restaurant
- my favorite restaurant
- a local restaurant
- a busy restaurant
- a new restaurant
- restaurant food
- restaurant owner
- restaurant menu
Repeated exposure helps build spelling memory without turning the process into a tedious exercise.
Restaurant vs Resturant: A Practical Example
Imagine someone is writing a review:
“We visited a beautiful resturant last night. The food was excellent.”
The sentence communicates the intended meaning, but resturant is misspelled.
The corrected version is:
“We visited a beautiful restaurant last night. The food was excellent.”
This small correction matters if the text appears in a professional review, business website, school assignment, publication, or marketing material.
Why the Difference Matters in Professional Writing
A spelling mistake can make otherwise polished writing look careless.
For example, compare:
The restaurant offers fresh seafood and homemade desserts.
with:
The resturant offers fresh seafood and homemade desserts.
The second sentence is easy to understand, but the misspelling immediately stands out.
That is especially important for businesses. A restaurant website, menu, advertisement, or sign should normally use the standard spelling restaurant unless an unusual spelling is intentionally part of a proper business name.
Restaurant vs Resturant: Quick Facts
Here are the most important facts at a glance:
- Restaurant is the correct spelling.
- Resturant is a misspelling.
- Restaurant is a noun.
- A restaurant is a place or business where people can buy and eat meals.
- The word comes into English from French.
- Its history is connected to the French verb restaurer, meaning to restore or refresh.
- Merriam Webster records 1806 as the first known English use of restaurant in the modern sense.
- The word has several accepted pronunciations in English.
- The plural is restaurants.
- Restaurateur refers to a person who owns or operates a restaurant.
- The easiest spelling reminder is rest + au + rant.
Frequently Asked Questions About Restaurant vs Resturant
Is “restaurant” or “resturant” correct?
Restaurant is correct. Resturant is a misspelling.
Is resturant a word?
No. Resturant is not the standard spelling of the English noun referring to a place where meals are served. The correct form is restaurant. Major dictionaries list restaurant rather than resturant.
How do you spell restaurant?
Spell it:
R-E-S-T-A-U-R-A-N-T
The easiest part to remember is AU in the middle.
Why is restaurant spelled with “au”?
The spelling reflects the word’s French history. English borrowed restaurant from French, where it developed from restaurer, a verb related to restoring or refreshing.
What does restaurant mean?
A restaurant is a business or place where people can buy and eat meals. It may specialize in a particular cuisine or offer a broad menu.
What is the plural of restaurant?
The plural is restaurants.
Example:
There are several restaurants near the theater.
What is the difference between restaurant and restaurateur?
A restaurant is the place or business. A restaurateur is the person who owns or operates that business.
How do you pronounce restaurant?
Pronunciation varies by accent and speaker. Major dictionaries list several pronunciations in both British and American English.
Is resturant a different type of restaurant?
No. Resturant doesn’t represent a different kind of restaurant. It’s simply a misspelling of restaurant.
Can resturant be used in formal writing?
No, not as the standard spelling of the word. Use restaurant in formal, academic, professional, and general standard English.
Restaurant vs Resturant: Final Verdict
When choosing between restaurant vs resturant, there is no real contest.
Restaurant is the correct spelling.
Resturant is a common misspelling caused in part by the fact that the word’s pronunciation doesn’t always make every written letter obvious.
The spelling to remember is:
restaurant
A quick memory trick is:
REST + AU + RANT
So when you’re writing about a place where people go to eat, don’t drop the A from the middle.
Correct: “We had dinner at a great restaurant.”
Incorrect: “We had dinner at a great resturant.”
Once restaurant becomes familiar as a whole word, the spelling becomes much easier to recognize and use correctly.
