식당에서 비빔밥 주문하는 간단한 대화

What does “몇 분이세요” mean in a Korean restaurant?

Korean counts people with 명: 두 명 is “two people.” But when a waiter counts customers, they switch to the respectful 분, so the first thing you hear at a restaurant is 몇 분이세요?, “how many are you?” Your answer uses the plain word, 두 명이요, because you don’t honour yourself. Polite for others, plain for you: the same rule as never putting 씨 after your own name.

The clip plays the exchange exactly: 어서오세요 몇 분이세요? (“welcome, how many?”), 두 명이요 (“two”). After that comes the other must-know restaurant word, 저기요, literally “over there,” which is how you call staff over, and then 주문할게요 (“we’d like to order”). You’ll meet 분 again in polite phrases like 이 분 (“this person”) and 어느 분 (“which person”).