واحنا في المطعم، بابا كان بيطلب لحمة وماما كانت بتشرب شاي.

واحنا is و + احنا:

• و = and
• احنا = we

In this sentence, واحنا في المطعم is often understood as and while we were at the restaurant or when we were in the restaurant.

So the و is not always just a simple and connecting two equal sentences the way English does. In Egyptian Arabic, it can also help introduce background context.

Because Arabic often uses nominal sentences in the present and in general descriptive statements without a verb like to be.

So:

• احنا في المطعم = we are in / at the restaurant

There is no separate word for are.

When this kind of phrase appears as background in a past story, English may translate it as we were at the restaurant, even though Arabic still says simply احنا في المطعم.

So the Arabic is natural, even though English needs were.

في literally means in, but in many situations it can also translate naturally as at.

So:

• في المطعم = literally in the restaurant
• but in English we often say at the restaurant

Both ideas are built into the Arabic phrase depending on context.

كان بيطلب is a very common Egyptian Arabic way to express an action that was ongoing in the past.

It is made of:

• كان = was
• بيطلب = he asks / he is asking / he would ask, depending on context

Together:

• كان بيطلب = he was ordering

This structure is often called the past continuous or past progressive in English terms.

So in the sentence:

• بابا كان بيطلب لحمة = Dad was ordering meat

Because كان changes for gender.

• كان = masculine singular was
• كانت = feminine singular was

So:

• بابا كان... because بابا is masculine
• ماما كانت... because ماما is feminine

That is why the sentence has:

• بابا كان بيطلب
• ماما كانت بتشرب

In Egyptian Arabic, the prefix بـ is very common with the present tense.

Examples:

• يطلب = he order / he order(s) in more formal or non-Egyptian styles
• بيطلب = he orders / he is ordering in Egyptian
• تشرب = she drink
• بتشرب = she drinks / she is drinking

In Egyptian Arabic, this بـ often marks the normal present/imperfect form. After كان / كانت, it helps form the idea of an ongoing past action:

• كان بيطلب = was ordering
• كانت بتشرب = was drinking

Because the verb agrees with the subject.

In Egyptian Arabic:

• بيـ... often marks he
• بتـ... often marks she or you depending on context

Here the subjects make it clear:

• بابا كان بيطلب = Dad was ordering
• ماما كانت بتشرب = Mom was drinking

So the verb form changes to match the person/gender of the subject.

Because they are being used as indefinite nouns here:

• لحمة = meat
• شاي = tea

So:

• بيطلب لحمة = was ordering meat
• بتشرب شاي = was drinking tea

If the speaker meant a specific, known meat or a specific tea, they might use الـ:

• اللحمة = the meat
• الشاي = the tea

But with food and drink, Arabic often leaves them indefinite when talking generally, just as English often does.

In everyday Egyptian Arabic, لحمة usually means meat, and very often it especially suggests red meat rather than chicken or fish.

So depending on context, it might feel like:

• meat
• beef / red meat

A learner should know that in normal conversation, لحمة often contrasts with things like:

• فراخ = chicken
• سمك = fish

In Arabic, family words like بابا and ماما can naturally mean Dad and Mom without an extra possessive word.

So:

• بابا = Dad / my dad
• ماما = Mom / my mom

The possession is understood from context.

English often needs my dad or my mom, but Arabic does not always need to say that explicitly.

That opening phrase sets the scene first.

So the structure is roughly:

• While we were at the restaurant,
• Dad was ordering meat
• and Mom was drinking tea

This is very natural in Arabic storytelling. The first part gives the background situation, and then the main actions follow.

So the sentence is doing something like:

1. setting the scene
2. describing what people were doing in that scene

Yes, in many contexts you could say:

• احنا في المطعم، بابا كان بيطلب لحمة وماما كانت بتشرب شاي

That would still make sense.

Adding و can make it feel more connected to what came before, like:

• and while we were at the restaurant...
• and when we were at the restaurant...

So the و often helps the sentence flow as part of a larger story.

A simple learner-friendly transliteration would be:

wa-ehna fil-matʿam, baba kan biyotlob lahma w mama kanet bitishrab shay

A few notes:

• واحنا sounds like wa ehna
• في المطعم often runs together like fil-matʿam
• كان = kan
• كانت = kanet
• شاي = shay

Pronunciation can vary a bit by speaker, but this is a good practical guide.

It describes ongoing background actions in the past.

That is because of:

• كان بيطلب = was ordering
• كانت بتشرب = was drinking

This is different from a simple completed action like ordered or drank.

So the sentence gives the feeling that these things were happening at that time, not just that they happened once and ended.

Yes, depending on context, كان / كانت + بــ present verb can sometimes describe repeated past behavior as well as ongoing past action.

So it can mean:

• Dad was ordering meat and Mom was drinking tea
  or, in the right context,
• Dad would order meat and Mom would drink tea

But with the opening scene-setting phrase واحنا في المطعم, many learners will first understand it as a past scene in progress: while we were at the restaurant...