ごちそうさまでした

When to use it

The closing bracket of every meal. いただきます opens it, ごちそうさまでした closes it. Say it when you put your chopsticks down: at home, at a friend’s table, and in a restaurant on the way out (a nod to the staff is enough). It also thanks the person who paid: after someone treats you, 今日はごちそうさまでした is the expected line, and thanking again the next time you meet (先日はごちそうさまでした) is normal.

ご馳走（ごちそう）is a feast or a treat, and ごちそうする means to treat someone to a meal. Among family and close friends the short ごちそうさま is enough; the full でした form goes to hosts, staff and anyone senior.

Examples

• ごちそうさまでした。とてもおいしかったです。（ごちそうさま でした。とても おいしかった です）— Thank you for the meal. It was delicious.
• 昨日はごちそうさまでした。（きのう は ごちそうさま でした）— Thank you for treating me yesterday.
• ごちそうさま！お皿、洗うね。（ごちそうさま！おさら、あらう ね）— That was good! I’ll do the dishes.

Traps for Spanish, English and French speakers

• Spanish has ‘buen provecho’ and French ‘bon appétit’ before the meal but nothing fixed after it, so learners simply stand up. In Japan a silent exit reads as cold: say ごちそうさまでした to the cook, the host or the staff, even when you paid yourself.
• English ‘thanks for the meal’ goes only to the person who provided it, so English speakers skip the phrase when eating alone. ごちそうさま is said to an empty room too; it thanks the food, not only a person.
• ‘C’était délicieux’ and ‘estaba riquísimo’ are compliments, and learners use one instead of the formula. They are welcome after ごちそうさまでした, never in its place: おいしかったです on its own leaves the meal unclosed.
• The vowel is long: ごちそうさま. Dropping the う gives ごちそさま, a beginner’s mistake heard on the first syllable.