A la carte (also à la carte), is a French phrase meaning "from the menu".

Its meaning is "each item separately". It is used in the restaurant terminology in one of two ways. This first way is to refer to a style of menu in which each items is priced and ordered separately, as opposed to a fixed price menu where the customer doesn't select what they will eat but is served a preset multi-course meal at a set price. A typical restaurant in uptown Manhattan A restaurant is an establishment that serves prepared food and beverages to be consumed on the premises. ... Terminology is the set of all the terms related to a given subject field or discipline. ...

Another way it is used is to designate an option the customer has in which they may order a main course item normally served with a side or starter dishes such as soup or salad solely by itself.