How to Order Food at a Restaurant in English Basic English Phrases

Oh a great tie everybody welcome back to

our weekly live stream my name is Alisha

and today we’re going to talk about how

to eat at a restaurant for today’s

lesson I’m going to talk about how to

make reservations I’m going to talk

about ordering at the restaurant asking

questions making complaints and getting

the bill so today’s goal is to go

through the flow of visiting a

restaurant there’s a lot to do so I hope

that there’s a lot of stuff that we can

review as well I see we’re loading our

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as you join please send us a message

please like and share the video so that

other people can find it as always do we

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from this link I’ll show you the

food-related one a bit later today so

please check out this link for your free

stuff as always this week great it looks

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okay nice so we’re going to start in

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more time to join today’s lesson as I

said today’s lesson is about eating at a

restaurant eating at a restaurant so as

you join please do send a message in the

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meantime while we wait I too will share

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good though okay so if you’re just

joining as I said today’s lesson is on

eating at a restaurant eating at a

restaurant I am going to begin today’s

lesson over here with some reservation

related phrases so when I say

reservation I’m gonna focus for this

lesson on making a phone reservation to

begin your trip to a restaurant and I

want to focus in this part on

prepositions so prepositions remember

are those short little words like of 2 4

5 and so on those are prepositions I’m

going to focus on those and on a couple

small pronunciation points that I hope

can help you make your reservations more

smoothly so let’s begin ok first the

first step in making a reservation

calling to make a reservation yes I know

there are internet reservations but

sometimes it’s still easier just to call

and make the reservation ok so first I’d

like to make a reservation I’d like to

make a reservation first point for

today’s lesson is in this sentence I’d

like to make a reservation my point

right here is this I’d I’d I apostrophe

D this is the reduced form of I would

I’d like to make a reservation I would

like is what this means

I’d so first point here I’d like next

point here is this - sometimes learners

forget this - I’d like to I’d like to

make up reservation so as I said I want

to focus on these

little connecting words a lot in this

lesson I’d like to make a reservation so

a mistake I often hear is learners

forget to pronounce this

it’s not I like that’s a totally

different grammar pattern but I’d like

I’d like I’d like to make a reservation

please keep in mind reservation

reservation is different from

appointment reservation is different

from appointment we use reservation for

hotels and restaurants appointment is a

word we use for like hair salons or for

the doctor’s office a dentist’s office

an appointment we use restaurant

sorry reservation for restaurants okay

Arturo hey there assess make a

reservation or a booking you can use

booking I’d like to make a booking I

suppose but booking I feel like is used

more in travel we also use the verb to

book so I’ll add it here to book do book

or to make a reservations we can use

that yes but we tend to use book a

little more often when we’re reporting

this to someone else you could use like

I’d like to book a table here perhaps

but I use book personally more when I’m

talking to my friends about the

reservation like I booked this

restaurant or I booked a table at this

restaurant so yes to book something

means to make a reservation you can use

that but the pattern changes a little

bit so I wanted to focus on this one for

today but yes you can use that ok good

Diego says I’d like to make a

reservation for two

yes great so we’re going to move on to

the next part beef here B here is the

staff person the restaurant staff person

on

phone so we’ve said I’d like to make a

reservation hello I’d like to make a

reservation staff says okay for what day

and time you might hear date as well

that’s possible but here he preposition

is for for for what day you might also

hear like what day are you thinking

about what day are you thinking about or

what day do you have in mind what day do

you have in mind so there are a couple

of different patterns I think this one

is very general okay for what day and

time so your response then here needs to

include the date and the time and it’s a

good idea to include the number of

people so for people for Saturday the

17th at 6 p.m. for people for Saturday

the 17th at 6 p.m. so again I want to

focus on prepositions in this sentence

first 4 people 4 so we’re putting 4

before the date and time here’s my date

and time Saturday the 17th 17th means

the 17th of this month so it’s very

common to drop the month when you’re

making a reservation so this is probably

not like Saturday the 17th of December

it’s understood it’s the 17th of this

month also we’re using the here before

the date so if it were the 10th for

example like for the 10th at 6 p.m. for

the 12th for the 2nd so include your

article here your definite article the

before your date before your time then

include your preposition for time

at 6:00 p.m. not in not on at 6:00 p.m.

we use at to mark a specific point in

time so again this reads for people for

Saturday the 17th at 6:00 p.m. there are

three components we are connecting those

with prepositions and an article here so

you can try to send along another date

in the chat I will try to check it out

I’ll try to check that out nice one

Oh Weiss wrote three people for Friday

the fourth at 12 p.m. perfect

very nice very nice send a few more

examples so include floor and at before

your date for your time that’s a key

point for today okay while I wait for

your for your examples I want to mention

sometimes the restaurant cannot take

this reservation

sometimes this rest of the restaurant is

busy on this date or this time so in

those cases the response from the staff

is sorry we’re full at 6:00 sorry we’re

full so two points here first this we’re

we’re this is the contracted form of I’m

sorry we are we are so the staff person

will not say we are full or maybe they

will it’s not likely they’ll say sorry

we’re full full full F ull full means

all seats all tables in the restaurant

are full it means they’re occupied

someone has reserved someone has booked

that seat already you cannot use that

seat

sorry we’re full at 6:00 so we see this

preposition again here at 6:00 that

shows us this specific time 6:00 is full

so you can respond with a substitute

time or an alternative time how about

7:00 how about 7:00 here how about is a

suggestion pattern

how about seven okay finally let’s say

it’s okay seven is okay the restaurant

is not full seven is fine seven is fine

or seven is okay you’ll hear something

like that then can I have your name and

phone number can I have your name and

phone number so seven is fine can I have

your name and phone number

here can I have means please give me

please give me your name and phone

number please tell me your name and

phone number so in my case I would say

my name is Alicia

my phone number is one two three four

five six seven eight nine zero okay

there are some other examples coming in

shock Oh said I’d like to make a

reservation for Thursday the 14th at 7

p.m.

perfect oh that’s today isn’t it good ok

nice other ones Mohammed on Facebook

five people for Friday the 6th at 12

p.m. perfect very nice could I pronounce

there yes there th ey dari their their

practicum YouTube said sorry we’re full

at 6 p.m. yes exactly sorry were full at

6 p.m. you can include p.m. here

nice see 8 is fine ah always on YouTube

row 8 is fine can I have your address

address remember address is the place

you live the restaurant does not need

your address the restaurant should only

should ask only for your name and phone

number just your name and phone number

there’s no reason I can imagine why a

restaurant would ask for your address

okay um let’s see Jorge on facebook says

could I have your phone number or must

you say can no you may here could as

well could concerns a little bit more

polite could I have your phone number

please yes you will here could as well

okay junior a junior a long time to see

thanks for joining the chat great okay

can I repeat that please which part

which parts we can come back to some of

this but for now I’m going to take a

quick break so this is the first part of

today’s lesson making the reservation I

chose for today’s break to focus on over

here to focus on this PDF that we have

from the link below the video on YouTube

and above the video on Facebook this is

the dining PDF cheat sheet you can

download this and you can save this to

like your iPhone your iPad your computer

wherever so today we’re talking about

food on the first page of this are some

key phrases here is a phrase for

claiming your reservation I have a

reservation at 9 so when you arrive at

the restaurant after we’ve just talked

about making the reservation I have a

reservation at 9 right here is how you

claim your reservation then we’re going

to talk today about some of these other

phrases this one right here sorry this

one right here do you have a table for

two do you have a table for two this is

an expression that you can use if you

don’t have a reservation and you just

walk into the restaurant this right here

do you have a table for two do you have

a table for four four people two people

that is the expression we use to walk in

to a restaurant with no reservation so

these are very helpful basic phrases I’m

going to talk about some of these in

today’s lesson and some new ones too but

if you would like to get this I’ll show

this again later in some other points

there’s a lot if you’d like to pick this

up and some other PDFs we have a lot

more about other topics like singing

this one singing but I’m focusing on

food today please check the link below

the video on YouTube in the description

or check the link above the video if

you’re watching on Facebook if you’re

watching on Instagram check YouTube or

Facebook please to find the link okay

good so as I said today we’re talking

about eating at restaurants

I started this lesson by looking at how

to make a reservation for the second

part of today’s lesson I’m going to talk

about like asking questions how to ask

questions about the menu so you’ve come

to the restaurant you’ve claimed your

reservation I have a reservation at 7:00

for four people for example so part two

today will be this so if you’re just

joining please make sure to send some

example sentences in the chat and I’ll

try to check them of course we really

appreciate it if you like and share the

video too so other learners can find it

ok onward asking about the menu

I’ve prepared a couple questions here to

help you ask details about the menu I

know there are many people that have

specific food needs like there are some

things you can eat or you cannot eat so

we’re going to cover that today first

point I want to review I know many of

you know this expression but I want to

review two things if you arrived at the

restaurant and you want a recommendation

how do you ask for them there are two

common patterns first do you have any

recommendations so do not forget this s

many learners forget this s do you have

any any recommendations and we use any

here because we use any when we’re

asking information questions not some

don’t use some do you have any

recommendations use the plural form

there or another common pattern here

same exact meaning is what

do you recommend what do you recommend

so notice here there’s no s at the end

of this no recommends because recommend

in this pattern is used as a verb

recommendation here is used as a noun in

this pattern so these two sentences have

the same purpose the same meaning but

they have different grammatical

structures so please choose one of these

do you have any recommendations what do

you recommend one of those two is okay

don’t mix the two second then if you

need to ask about the ingredients so the

ingredients means the things a dish is

made with so the contents of the dish

what’s inside the food to ask about that

and maybe there are some others you can

send in the chat if you have other like

food needs ways to ask about that is

this vegan for example is this

vegetarian where is this is the dish so

how do you use this expression let’s

imagine you’re at the restaurant looking

at the menu and the waiter or waitress

comes to your table you point at the

thing on the menu and say is this vegan

is this vegan I pointed at beef is this

vegan so no this is beef in this case

I’m actually pointing at beef but this

is not vegan

so is this vegan no is this vegetarian

know what else is others a salad here -

is this vegetarian so maybe I don’t know

if there meat in this salad is this

vegetarian point at something and ask

this question is this vegan is this

vegetarian a second point here notice

the pronunciation is different between

these two words but they are spelled

similarly the eg and VG

here vegan vegan and vegetarian so the e

sound changes vegan and vegetarian so

remember

vegetarian has the same pronunciation as

vegetable vegetable vegan takes a

special pronounciation okay yes someone

else has another one Abdul wrote is this

kosher is this kosher yes great is this

kosher that’s exactly correct we can use

the same one is this dish vegan perfect

good I am vegetarian good yeah great

South I know many viewers have different

food needs

so vegetarian vegan kosher is all very

important I think ok on to this next one

I know this is something that’s of

course popular among some people but

also very important for others

gluten-free is the last one here is this

gluten-free gluten-free so this is a

common question to ask regarding bread

products bread related products

gluten-free okay what do you call people

who eat meat well we can say carnivore

carnivore person who eats meat or a

person who eats meat and vegetables is

an omnivore as well so omnivore or a

carnivore I’ll write that here so a

vegetarian you can say I’m vegetarian

actually yeah let’s make a vocabulary

list here this is a good one thanks for

your question so if you eat meat you are

a carnivore carnivore carnivore your

Spanish speakers out there may be

recognized this carne as in like carne I

think relating to meat so carnivore is

the English word for a meat eater and

omnivore is a person or a creature that

eats everything so Omni here Omni means

everything maybe you know the word

omniscient omnipresent Omni means

briefing all things everywhere so meat

fish plants everything great omnivore

vegetarian vegetables

one more pescetarian oops

pescetarian pescetarian for maybe french

speakers Pesce Pesce like Pescatore

relates to fish a pescetarian is someone

who eats fish so many people don’t eat

like red meat but they eat fish

that’s called a pescetarian pescetarian

so maybe you are pescetarian good ok

let’s move along x go on quick so onward

next point ordering let’s go to maybe

the most important point of the meal

ordering your food so I have two

patterns here I want to keep it simple

two patterns first can I have the food

item please can I have the food item

please so again we’re looking at the

menu here we see something we like hmm

can I have that salad please or can I

have the seafood please can I have the

chicken please so use the here because

you’re asking for a specific item this

thing right here that your restaurant

has on the menu I want this one that’s

why we use the if you just say can I

have chicken please it’s like which

chicken maybe there are a few other

chicken dishes on the menu or maybe it’s

not so clear to the server exactly which

dish you mean so use the food item or

the menu item name in this pattern can I

have the chicken burger please can I

have the veggie burger please so use

that before the food item to make your

request sound more natural okay

pratik on the in the YouTube chat says

can I have up order please

careful

if you are ready you lift at the menu

and you’re ready to order

say can I order please not can I have

order can i order we use 10 I have plus

this item for an object we want to

receive can I have this thing please can

I order is asking is this behavior okay

can i order so please be careful there

thanks for that point okay

can I have the roast beef please perfect

can I have a important point can I’ve

this I have we do not reduce this I have

can I’ve is well is not used can I have

the roast beef please can I have some

spicy food please so don’t reduce this I

this will not reduce too bad and I have

can I have when you make a request can I

have how do you say serviette the in

English I don’t know I don’t know I

don’t know I would recommend you check a

dictionary for that one

okay good can I have some Indian food

please good can I have a glass of water

perfect great great so a shoes so

shallow got our next one here can I have

or can I get when you’re ordering drinks

this is my second pattern can I get up

for example glass glass singular noun

your singular noun of water in this case

can I get a burger please or can I get

sandwich please so this is a more casual

way to make your order can I have

something please can I get get is a kind

of rougher way slightly rougher way more

casual way to make your request I feel I

would use can I get more in like a fast

food situation I go to like McDonald’s

working something like that can I get

the chicken sandwich I would use it

there so there I use this pattern the

food item please you can use this part

with can I get it’s okay to mix those

there so can I get sounds a little

rougher but when you order drinks keep

in mind there are drinks that are

uncountable nouns we cannot use like one

wine two wines three wines we have to

use a counter word glass of wine bottle

of wine someone wrote can I get a bottle

of Malbec yeah nice choice I like

Malbecs that’s delicious okay so to do

that

can I get or can I have a bottle of the

Malbec please for wine can I have a

bottle of that Chardonnay please

same thing for beer can I have a pint of

the Stout please that is my favorite can

I have a pint of the Vice please so use

the same request pattern and use your

counter words before your uncountable

nouns here this is how we do it okay can

I use could yes you can

so could I have something something

guests great can I get a couple of

drinks a couple of drinks

Fabiano can I get a couple of drinks

couple is too so make sure drink takes

the S the plural form can I get a couple

of drinks can I say let me get an ice

cream please I would say can I get an

ice cream can I get an ice cream please

don’t forget your and there cuz ice

cream starts with the vowel sound

okay I’ll finish today’s lesson over

here and then I’ll show you this one

more time making requests during the

meal these are very simple these are

very simple patterns I made when you

need to ask for something during the

meal can we or can I do something so

again we’re using this can I get can

I have pattern yes you can use could as

well it’s going to sound a little more

polite so can we have the dessert menu

can we have the dessert menu also no

dessert pronunciation of dessert make

sure desert desert so not desert desert

but desert desert can we have the

dessert menu can we see the wine list

so can I have a fork a knife a spoon a

napkin please

so you’ll see all of these sentences all

of these requests follow that same

pattern can we have can I have this

noun please so we’re also using the the

to refer to this restaurants dessert

menu this restaurants wine list the wine

list the dessert menu okay finally

complaining that’s done if you have a

problem at the restaurant these are two

ways that you can address this first

okay I have to go quickly first let’s

say you receive your food and it’s not

correct you’re like I ordered chicken

but this is beef so to explain that you

use this isn’t what I ordered this isn’t

what I ordered the past tense this is

not what I ordered this is not the food

I ordered here I ordered chicken or I

ordered salad this isn’t what I ordered

if the food is not correctly cooked use

this isn’t cooked

this isn’t cooked for example you order

beef and it’s totally raw very strange

situation ever but if it’s not cooked

correctly this isn’t cooked or if it’s

cooked too much

this is over cooked this is over okay so

those are a couple ways to make a

complaint all right

lastly then good I see lots of people

sending sentences this isn’t what I

ordered nice can I use could could you

bring the menu yes many of you are

asking can I use good can I use good the

answer is yes yes yes could I have the

menu please could I have the wine list

please yes the answer is yes go ahead

use good last thing to finish your meal

when you have eaten you’re ready to go

this sentence right here is how to

request your check same exact pattern

this is a key point for today can I have

the check please can I have the check

please

or could I have the check please you may

hear people use bill - can I have the

bill please

I prefer check I think maybe British

English speakers might use bill more

commonly but either it’s fine

so please use that to finish your meal

can I have the check please

and then you’re done great so we’ll end

there cuz I’m late ok I have to finish

someone says I’m starving now oh I hope

it’s not too late I hope you can go eat

so I hope that these expressions helped

you in making reservations ordering

asking questions and so on this is the

flow of visiting a restaurant so I hope

that it’s useful for you the next time

you visit a restaurant if you missed it

make sure to download your FREE Dining

cheat sheet which I showed you earlier

on the back our restaurant vocabulary

words as well as menu items so please

download this if you are interested in

getting some vocabulary that you can use

to talk about the menu at a restaurant

please check this out you can get this

from the link below the video on YouTube

or above the video on Facebook so check

this out for sure we’ll finish today’s

lesson but we’ll be back next week of

course as always so please join us next

week I’m very excited for next week’s

lesson next week it’s hard to see on the

screen but the next week’s next week’s

live stream is phrases to use when

giving a presentation so lots of you I

know are practicing or working on

English for career opportunities

so next week I’m going to focus on

presentation phrases it’s going to be a

bit different from a previous live

stream on a similar topic so please join

us next Wednesday February 20th 9 p.m.

Eastern Standard Time to talk about

presentation of phrases I’m excited

about this one

so I hope that this was a useful lesson

for you don’t forget to grab your free

stuff and thank you so much for sending

all of your example sentences in the

chat and your questions fantastic if you

have other questions please send those

in the chat I will check those as well

so thank you for liking the video thank

you for sharing the video and I hope

that you enjoy the rest of your week we

will see you again soon bye bye