As I do my little things, I can tell I'm always hearing the same stuff over and over again. But even though I get the message, it's always too fast to distinguish what's really being said. So, I asked for help and nailed down some of those common phrases at restaurants.

• Literal, word by word translations appear in [brackets].
• Optional words appear in (parentheses)
• Notes appear with an asterisk (*in parentheses)
• Measure words are translated in {curly brackets}.
• Alternative translations are separated by a slash (/)

First words

huānyíng guānglín 欢迎光临= welcome (*formal)jǐ wèi? 几位？= how many people? [how many {polite measure word for people}]

Good bye

nín màn zǒu 您慢走= Go safely [you (*polite) slowly go]xièxie guānglín màn zǒu 谢谢光临，慢走= Thanks for coming, go safely [thanks attend slowly go]zǒu hǎo 走好= good bye (*polite) / go wellxià cì zài lái 下次再来= come back and see us again [next time again come]huānyíng zài lái 欢迎再来= you're welcome to come again [welcome again come]See also Stuff you might be hearing - Shopping