mensa
cafeteria
In Italian, 'mensa' is used to refer to a place where meals are provided, especially in an institutional context like in a school, college, or a workplace. It's similar to the English 'cafeteria'. Note, however, that a more general term for restaurant in Italian is 'ristorante'.
Example sentences using: mensa
La mensa della scuola è molto grande.
The school canteen is very big.
In this sentence, 'mensa' is referred to a place in a school where meals are served. The adjective 'grande' describes the size of this school canteen.
Il cibo alla mensa è delizioso.
The food at the canteen is delicious.
In this instance, 'mensa' is used to refer to a place where meals are provided, typically in a workplace or educational institution. The phrase describes the quality of food served in the canteen.
Non ho mai mangiato nella mensa dell'università.
I have never eaten in the university canteen.
This sentence uses 'mensa' to refer to a university canteen. 'Mangiato' is the past participle of the verb 'mangiare' (to eat), used here in the negated 'mai' (never) form of the present perfect tense.