eat in

Meaning

'Eat in' has two common meanings: either to eat a meal at home instead of going to a restaurant, or to consume your food inside a fast-food restaurant or cafe rather than taking it away (to go).

Examples

• I don't feel like going out tonight, let's just eat in.

  I don't feel like going out tonight, let's just eat in.

• When you order at the counter, they will ask if you want to eat in or take out.

  When you order at the counter, they will ask if you want to eat in or take out.

• We decided to eat in and cook a nice homemade pasta dish.

  We decided to eat in and cook a nice homemade pasta dish.

• It's much cheaper to eat in during the week and only go to restaurants on weekends.

  It's much cheaper to eat in during the week and only go to restaurants on weekends.

• The cafe is quite small, so most customers prefer to take away rather than eat in.

  The cafe is quite small, so most customers prefer to take away rather than eat in.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ We decided to eat inside tonight instead of going to a restaurant.

  ✓ We decided to eat in tonight instead of going to a restaurant.

  'Eat inside' sounds like you are physically sitting indoors rather than outdoors. To express eating at home, the phrasal verb is 'eat in'.

• ✗ Do you want to eat in the restaurant or take out?

  ✓ Do you want to eat in or take out?

  While grammatically possible, native speakers simply say 'eat in' as a set phrasal verb at fast-food registers. Adding 'the restaurant' is redundant.

Related Expressions

Practice

• I'm too tired to go to a restaurant, so let's ___ tonight.

  💡 Have a meal at home.

  Show answer

  eat in

• At the fast-food counter, the cashier asked, 'To ___ or to go?'

  💡 Consume the food inside the restaurant.

  Show answer

  eat in