How do you say "Not spicy, please" in Chinese?

"Not spicy, please" in Chinese is 不要辣。 — written in pinyin as Bú yào là. It is a restaurant phrase you would use in China.

What does 不要辣。 mean in Chinese?

不要辣。 (Bú yào là) means "Not spicy, please". Broken down word by word: 不 (bù) means "not"; 要 (yào) means "to want"; 辣 (là) means "spicy".

When would you use "Not spicy, please" in Chinese?

Say it as you order rather than when the food arrives — chilli usually goes into the wok, so a dish that reaches you mild had to be cooked that way from the start. It is worth saying even if you like heat, because 辣 in Sichuan and Hunan cooking is a baseline rather than a flavour, and 不要辣 is understood everywhere without further explanation.

How to say “Not spicy, please” in Chinese

“Not spicy, please” in Chinese is 不要辣。, written in pinyin as Bú yào là.

不要辣。

Bú yào là.

Not spicy, please.

Word by word

What each part of 不要辣。 actually means.

不bùnot
要yàoto want
辣làspicy

When you use it

Say it as you order rather than when the food arrives — chilli usually goes into the wok, so a dish that reaches you mild had to be cooked that way from the start.
It is worth saying even if you like heat, because 辣 in Sichuan and Hunan cooking is a baseline rather than a flavour, and 不要辣 is understood everywhere without further explanation.

Use 不要辣。 in restaurant situations. Order food, ask for the bill, handle spice levels.

Other ways people say it

The same idea, said differently. Roughly in the order you'll hear them.

不要放辣。
Bú yào fàng là
Don't put chilli in.
放 (to put in) turns the wish into an instruction, which is what you want when the order is being written down rather than remembered.
微辣。
Wēi là
Mildly spicy.
Two syllables and it fits on a menu line. 微 is the 微 of 微信 (WeChat), meaning tiny, so 微辣 is the lowest setting that still counts as spicy.
我不吃辣。
Wǒ bù chī là
I don't eat spicy food.
Stronger than 不要辣: it makes chilli something you cannot have rather than something you would rather skip this time, and waiters remember it.

What usually trips people up

不要辣 keeps the 要 (to want), so it is literally "don't want spicy". A bare 不辣 sounds like a claim about the dish instead of a request about your order, which is not what a waiter is listening for.
辣 covers chilli heat only. The numbing buzz of Sichuan peppercorn is a separate word — 麻 (má) — so a dish can be 不辣 and still leave your mouth tingling.
Some dishes are chilli-free before you ask. 白灼 (blanched), 清蒸 (steamed) and 清汤 (clear soup) have no chilli in the recipe, so ordering one of those is simpler than negotiating.

What you might hear back

知道了。Zhīdào leGot it.
要不要辣？Yào bú yào là?Spicy or not?
微辣可以吗？Wēi là kěyǐ ma?Would mild be OK?

Common questions

How do you say "Not spicy, please" in Chinese?: "Not spicy, please" in Chinese is 不要辣。 — written in pinyin as Bú yào là. It is a restaurant phrase you would use in China.
What does 不要辣。 mean in Chinese?: 不要辣。 (Bú yào là) means "Not spicy, please". Broken down word by word: 不 (bù) means "not"; 要 (yào) means "to want"; 辣 (là) means "spicy".
When would you use "Not spicy, please" in Chinese?: Say it as you order rather than when the food arrives — chilli usually goes into the wok, so a dish that reaches you mild had to be cooked that way from the start. It is worth saying even if you like heat, because 辣 in Sichuan and Hunan cooking is a baseline rather than a flavour, and 不要辣 is understood everywhere without further explanation.

Where you'll use it

不要辣。 comes up in these situations, in this order.

🍜 Ordering food9 steps

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