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Nous allons dans un restaurant américain.

Nous allons dans un restaurant américain.
We are going to an American restaurant.
From Lesson 34:Prepositions for cities and countries (à, en, au, aux)·French

Questions & Answers about Nous allons dans un restaurant américain.

The translation says 'to an American restaurant', so why does the French use dans (in) instead of à (to)?
While à usually means 'to', French prefers dans (in or inside) when you put un or une before a physical building. If you were talking about going out to eat in general, you would say au restaurant (combining à and le). But because you are going to a specific restaurant (un restaurant américain), you use dans.
Could I just say à un restaurant instead?
Native speakers almost never say à un for a physical place. It sounds unnatural. Whenever you want to say you are going 'to a' physical building, use dans un or dans une.
Why is américain at the end of the sentence?
In French, adjectives that describe nationality or geographic origin always come directly after the noun they describe. That is why it is restaurant américain rather than américain restaurant.
Since the current lesson is about countries, how would I use this verb to say 'We are going to America'?
To go to a country, you use a different preposition. Since Amérique is feminine (it ends in -e), you use en: Nous allons en Amérique. If you mean the United States, which is plural, you use aux: Nous allons aux États-Unis.

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