restaurateur

noun res·tau·ra·teur \ ˌre-stə-rə-ˈtər \

variants: or less commonly restauranteur play \ˌre-stə-ˌrän-ˈtər\

|Updated on: 17 Aug 2018

Editor's Note: restaurateur Has French Roots

Definition of restaurateur

: the operator or proprietor of a restaurant

See restaurateur defined for English-language learners

See restaurateur defined for kids

restaurateur was our Word of the Day on 03/06/2016. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of restaurateur from the Web

Yasuo Shigeta, a restaurateur, and the creative director Tomoyuki Iwanami have brought over three chefs who specialize in the cooking of the Hida region of Japan, a mountainous area northwest of Tokyo.

— florence fabricant, New York Times, "An Outdoor Outpost of Tulum, in Hudson Square," 3 July 2018
Louis Barrios, a local restaurateur and board member of both the San Antonio Restaurant Association and the San Antonio Area Tourism Council, said the ordinance would be devastating to business owners, particularly those in the restaurant industry.

— josh baugh, San Antonio Express-News, "Paid sick leave initiative signatures said to be enough," 6 July 2018
The exclusive cooking academy attracts chefs, restaurateurs and dedicated foodies from around the world.

— allen pierleoni, sacbee, "'Estelle 2.0' culminates lifelong dream for Sacramento baker," 30 June 2018
But some local restaurateurs and their staffs are reexamining those standards after a series of incidents last week, in which several Trump aides attempting to dine out were heckled or asked to leave because of their political affiliation.

— janelle nanos, BostonGlobe.com, "Would you ask someone to leave your restaurant? Boston owners say that’s tricky," 26 June 2018
More than 1,000 international chefs, restaurateurs and food writers contribute feedback from personal dining experiences to cultivate the list.

— justin phillips, SFChronicle.com, "SF’s Dominique Crenn notably absent from annual World’s 50 Best Restaurants list," 19 June 2018
Connecticut chefs, restaurateurs and culinary figures are reacting to the death of Anthony Bourdain, sharing their sorrow, disbelief and gratitude for his influence.

— leeanne griffin, courant.com, "Connecticut Chefs React To Anthony Bourdain's Death," 9 June 2018
Men in rubber pants and knee-high boots deftly hoisted the fish onto cutting tables with metal hooks, while restaurateurs and fishmongers roamed the stalls, making deals with fistfuls of cash.

— sean patrick cooper, The New Republic, "Is America Ready for the Next Superstorm?," 4 June 2018
Image The filmmaker Gilles de Maistre spent two years trailing Alain Ducasse, the restaurateur and chef, whose global empire has been awarded 19 Michelin stars.

— florence fabricant, New York Times, "Documentary Follows Alain Ducasse on a Quest for Perfection," 4 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'restaurateur.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

restaurateur Has French Roots

Restaurateur and restaurant were borrowed directly from related French words, and both ultimately derive from the Latin word restaurare ("to restore"). Restaurateur is the older of the two; our earliest evidence dates it to 1793. Restaurant is only slightly newer; it dates to 1806. Of the two words, restaurant is of course significantly more common—a fact that may have influenced the development of the variant spelling restauranteur for restaurateur. Restauranteur first appeared a mere 44 years after restaurateur, but it is considered by many to be an error. It is, however, a standard variant, albeit one that continues to be used less frequently than restaurateur.