<p>The difference between 餐馆 and 饭店 is:</p>

<ol>
<li>餐馆 is only meant for a place where you consume certain cuisine, i.e. a restaurant</li>
<li>饭店 can mean either a restaurant or a hotel, depending on whether the place offer accommodation as part of its business or not.</li>
</ol>

<p>if you say, "I'm going to xxx 餐馆", people understand that you are going there for a meal only, if no other specific purpose is mentioned.</p>

<p>if you say, "I'm going to xxx 饭店", people may think you're going to eat there (if there's a restaurant at that place) or you're going to stay there for a night (if it's a hotel).</p>

<p>Last but not least, it's more common nowadays in China to say "酒店" instead of "饭店" to name a decent hotel.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-10T03:04:41.903Z
2013-05-10T03:04:41.903Z
Simon Weng
<p>It think both means restaurant. Someone use 饭店 to refer hotel, I think that's not precise and is little bit old school. Use 酒店 if you mean hotel.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-16T05:18:09.657Z
2014-06-16T05:18:09.657Z
Joe Li
<p>餐馆 is a restaurant. It is usually a small one on the street where you can have an inexpensive lunch or something like that.</p>

<p>饭店, on the other hand, could be either a restaurant or a hotel. And it could be as small as a 餐馆, or it could be as good as a five-star hotel.</p>

<p>I don't think they differ in formality; they refer to different types of restaurants.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-13T08:17:02.163Z
2013-05-13T08:17:02.163Z
Mingjing Zhang
<p>餐馆 and 饭店 differ in terms of formality, with 餐馆 being the more formal. 饭 and 店 are less formal words for "meal," and "store."</p>

<p>饭店 has the connotations of being an (informal) "coffee shop" type eatery. Ironically, it is the one that likely to be connected to a hotel, to which the 饭店  is an "adjunct." A 餐馆 is a "standalone" operation that would NOT be "adjunctive" to a hotel. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-12T19:53:00.513Z
2013-05-12T19:53:00.513Z
Tom Au
<p>If you work for a 餐馆 and they offer accommodation, it's possible you are going to stay in 餐馆。But in general,餐馆 is a sheer place for people to eat and 饭店 probably combine the staying part and eating part.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-23T02:18:51.563Z
2014-06-23T02:18:51.563Z
moiaussi06
<p>饭店 is generally used for hotels. It's an older term that probably dates from the turn of the 20th century that isn't in frequent use now. A famous example is of course 和平饭店 in Shanghai.</p>
<p>I reckon it could be used for eateries but cannot really recall seeing any.</p>
<p>餐馆 is generally used for eateries. I don't think it's in common use, though. Chinese eateries generally use 酒家，茶樓，酒樓，茶居，or even just 居 or 樓. Western style ones use 餐厅 or sometimes 冰室</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-10-30T02:41:44.480Z
2023-10-30T02:41:44.480Z
fat penguin
<p>restaurant - 餐馆，饭馆，小吃店，酒店，饭店，食肆</p>

<p>hotel - 旅馆，旅店，宾馆，酒店，饭店，客栈</p>

<p>酒家 in old days meant restaurant, but nowadays it is almost only used in the names of restaurants or hotels.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-10T01:34:30.483Z
"餐廳" and "菜館" are also quite popular in the south for restaurant.
dda
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-25T19:23:53.003Z
餐厅/餐廳 has a corresponding word in English, **canteen**. @dda
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-26T05:37:40.237Z
@Stan 餐廳 means "restaurant" not canteen in the south...
dda
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-26T06:31:09.390Z
@dda: I dig a little deeper and find you are right to some extent. I once thought 餐廳(Cantonese: caan1 teng1, Mandarin: can1 ting1) is the original word of canteen, because they sounds extremely alike. The [etymology of canteen](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=canteen) shows that it originates from French *cantine* or Italian *cantina* or Latin *canto*, extending to "refreshment room at a military base, school, etc." from 1870---However, many English-Chinese dictionaries shows **canteen** can be translated into 餐廳 (for a real world example, there's one in my school, CityU Hong Kong :)
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-26T06:46:50.697Z
Esp in Canto -- don't forget 茶餐廳 ;-)
dda
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-10T00:18:00.703Z
2013-05-10T00:18:00.703Z
孤影萍踪
<p>饭店 and 餐馆 can both mean restaurant. My Chinese friend here in Dongguan tells me 饭店 is not commonly used to mean hotel. I want to understand in what contexts both of these words are used. 谢谢.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-09T09:04:47.133Z
餐馆 is definitely a restaurant. 饭店 or 酒店 can mean either a hotel or a restaurant, depending on locale.
杨以轩
<word-choice><synonyms><difference>
What is the difference between 餐馆 and 饭店? Is 饭店 used for restaurant or hotel?
# What is the difference between 餐馆 and 饭店? Is 饭店 used for restaurant or hotel?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-05-09)

饭店 and 餐馆 can both mean restaurant. My Chinese friend here in Dongguan tells me 饭店 is not commonly used to mean hotel. I want to understand in what contexts both of these words are used. 谢谢.

**Tags:** word-choice, synonyms, difference
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 餐馆 is definitely a restaurant. 饭店 or 酒店 can mean either a hotel or a restaurant, depending on locale.  

---

## 7 answers

### Answer by username_8 on 2013-05-10. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

restaurant - 餐馆，饭馆，小吃店，酒店，饭店，食肆

hotel - 旅馆，旅店，宾馆，酒店，饭店，客栈

酒家 in old days meant restaurant, but nowadays it is almost only used in the names of restaurants or hotels.

> **Comments:**
> **username_9**: "餐廳" and "菜館" are also quite popular in the south for restaurant.  
> **username_10**: 餐厅/餐廳 has a corresponding word in English, **canteen**. @dda  
> **username_9**: @Stan 餐廳 means "restaurant" not canteen in the south...  
> **username_10**: @dda: I dig a little deeper and find you are right to some extent. I once thought 餐廳(Cantonese: caan1 teng1, Mandarin: can1 ting1) is the original word of canteen, because they sounds extremely alike. The [etymology of canteen](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=canteen) shows that it originates from French *cantine* or Italian *cantina* or Latin *canto*, extending to "refreshment room at a military base, school, etc." from 1870---However, many English-Chinese dictionaries shows **canteen** can be translated into 餐廳 (for a real world example, there's one in my school, CityU Hong Kong :)  
> **username_9**: Esp in Canto -- don't forget 茶餐廳 ;-)  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2013-05-10. Score: 6

The difference between 餐馆 and 饭店 is:

1. 餐馆 is only meant for a place where you consume certain cuisine, i.e. a restaurant
2. 饭店 can mean either a restaurant or a hotel, depending on whether the place offer accommodation as part of its business or not.

if you say, "I'm going to xxx 餐馆", people understand that you are going there for a meal only, if no other specific purpose is mentioned.

if you say, "I'm going to xxx 饭店", people may think you're going to eat there (if there's a restaurant at that place) or you're going to stay there for a night (if it's a hotel).

Last but not least, it's more common nowadays in China to say "酒店" instead of "饭店" to name a decent hotel.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2014-06-16. Score: 3

It think both means restaurant. Someone use 饭店 to refer hotel, I think that's not precise and is little bit old school. Use 酒店 if you mean hotel.


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### Answer by username_4 on 2013-05-13. Score: 3

餐馆 is a restaurant. It is usually a small one on the street where you can have an inexpensive lunch or something like that.

饭店, on the other hand, could be either a restaurant or a hotel. And it could be as small as a 餐馆, or it could be as good as a five-star hotel.

I don't think they differ in formality; they refer to different types of restaurants.


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### Answer by username_5 on 2013-05-12. Score: 3

餐馆 and 饭店 differ in terms of formality, with 餐馆 being the more formal. 饭 and 店 are less formal words for "meal," and "store."

饭店 has the connotations of being an (informal) "coffee shop" type eatery. Ironically, it is the one that likely to be connected to a hotel, to which the 饭店 is an "adjunct." A 餐馆 is a "standalone" operation that would NOT be "adjunctive" to a hotel.


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### Answer by username_6 on 2014-06-23. Score: 2

If you work for a 餐馆 and they offer accommodation, it's possible you are going to stay in 餐馆。But in general,餐馆 is a sheer place for people to eat and 饭店 probably combine the staying part and eating part.


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### Answer by username_7 on 2023-10-30. Score: 0

饭店 is generally used for hotels. It's an older term that probably dates from the turn of the 20th century that isn't in frequent use now. A famous example is of course 和平饭店 in Shanghai.

I reckon it could be used for eateries but cannot really recall seeing any.

餐馆 is generally used for eateries. I don't think it's in common use, though. Chinese eateries generally use 酒家，茶樓，酒樓，茶居，or even just 居 or 樓. Western style ones use 餐厅 or sometimes 冰室


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