How to Order in a Pub Learn About Phrases Slang Idioms and Ordering
Hi, my name’s Olivier, and welcome to Oxford
Online English.
Hey Oli, I’m going to the UK soon.
What can I do to get a taste of real British
culture?
How about going to the pub?
There are around 60,000 pubs in the UK, so
if you’re in the UK now, there is probably
one just around the corner!
Pubs are incredibly popular in the UK, and
traditional pubs still offer a glimpse of
true British culture.
Maybe you’ve been out sightseeing all day
and you’re looking for a nice place to relax.
No trip to the UK is complete without a visit
to the local pub.
In this lesson you’ll learn how to order
in a pub, and also how to sound like a real
local while you’re in there.
Imagine: you’ve found a beautiful old British
pub; you walk in and go to the bar.
The bartender asks: ‘What can I get you?’
What do you do?
Hello.
Hi, what can I get you?
Um…. beer.
Which beer?
Umm..… this one
Pint or a half?
What?
Big or small?
Big, please
Anything else?
What?
Do you want anything else?
Umm yes…wine, please..
Red or white?
Red.
We’ve got Merlot, Cab, or Pinot.
That one.
Large or small?
Small.
Okay, anything else?
Eight pounds forty please.
Cheers.
Thank you.
Okay, let’s be honest, that didn’t go so well.
Why not?
There were many issues with understanding
and using the vocabulary you need in the pub.
But, there’s good news!
The vocabulary that you need
in the pub is actually quite limited.
Let’s see how that could have gone better.
Hi, what can I get you?
A pint of Kronenbourg and a small glass of
Merlot please.
Here you are.
Anything else?
No thanks, that’s all.
That’ll be eight forty.
Here you are.
Cheers.
Thanks.
I think you can see that was much better.
But what was different?
Mostly, she was more specific with the order.
That meant I didn’t have to ask her so many
questions, and the whole order didn’t take
much time.
Pubs are informal places, so it’s fine to
use very simple, direct language.
You can simply list the drinks you want, like
this: ‘one pint of IPA and two small glasses
of house white, please.’
You can use phrases like I’d like… or
Can I have…?, but they aren’t necessary.
This is true for the bartender, too.
You should expect to hear shortened questions,
like these: ‘Ice?’
‘Anything else?’
‘Draft or bottle?’
You should be ready for this, and not just
in the pub!
Shortened questions like these, for example
‘Ice?’
instead of ‘Do you want ice?’ are very
common in informal English.
Now you know the basics, let’s look at how
to order all the different kinds of drinks
you can find in a typical British pub.
Beer is by far the most popular drink ordered
in pubs.
Generally, you can choose from ale or lager.
‘Ale’ includes many kinds of beer.
Light ale is often called ‘bitter’, while
dark ale is often called ‘stout’.
Ale is especially popular in the UK, while
in some countries it isn’t a common drink.
‘Lager’ is the standard, light, fizzy
beer that is popular around the world.
So, a pub might have ales like Guinness, London
Pride, or Doom Bar, and lagers like Kronenbourg,
Fosters, Stella Artois, or Heineken.
Both ale and lagers come in bottles and draft.
‘Draft’ means from the tap.
The last thing to think about is the size.
There are normally just two options: a pint,
or a half-pint.
A pint is just over five hundred ml.
If you simply name the beer you want, the
bartender will generally assume that you want
a pint of draft beer.
If you want a half-pint or a bottle, it’s
better to say so directly.
Let’s see an example of ordering some beer.
Hi, can I have an Amstel please?
Pint?
Just a half, please.
Here you are.
Easy, right?
Let’s look at one more example, where it’s
a little more complicated.
Hi, two pints of Amstel, a bottle of Becks
and half a Fosters please.
Sorry, the Amstel’s off.
How about Grolsch?
Sure, that’s fine.
So that’s two pints of Grolsch, one bottle
of Becks, and a half of Fosters.
That’s right.
No problem.
Here you are.
Sometimes, the pub will run out of one kind
of beer.
If the bartender tells you that something
is ‘off’, that means they don’t have
any more.
In the past the selection of wines in pubs
was quite limited, but now you will often
find pubs with a large selection of wines.
If you want to see which wines the pub has,
you could ask: ‘Do you have a wine list?’
You could also ask:
‘What red/white wines do you have?’
Do you have a Pinot Grigio?’
Let’s see an example of ordering wine.
Hi, what can I get you?
Yes, what red wines do you have?
We’ve got a Pinot Noir, a Sauvignon Zinfandel
and a Malbec.
Two large glasses of Pinot Noir please
Okay, no problem.
That’s four fifty, please.
Are you sure?
That seems cheap…
It’s happy hour till six, so they’re two-for-one.
‘Happy
hour’ is a time, usually early in the evening,
when pubs and bars have special offers on
drinks.
Here, the wines were ‘two-for-one’, meaning
you can buy one and get one free.
Let’s look at a slightly more complicated
example of ordering wine.
Hi, what can I get you?
Hi, do you have a Pinot Grigio?.
No, sorry.
We’ve only got Chardonnay or Cabernet Blanc.
Hmm.
I don’t really like either of those.
What about rosé?
We only have one: a Syrah.
Okay, that’s perfect.
A large glass of Syrah and two small glasses
of Chardonnay.
Anything else?
No that’s all,
thanks.
That’ll be eleven pounds twenty, please.
Can I start a tab?
Of course.
I’ll just need to swipe a card.
Did you hear that phrase at the end: “Can
I start a tab?”
Can you guess what it means?
A tab means that you pay for everything when
you leave the pub.
Normally, you pay for food and drinks as you
order them, but if you’re planning to stay
in the pub for some time, you might start
a tab so that you can order food and drinks
quickly and conveniently.
You’ve seen how to order beer and wine;
what other kind of drinks could you order?
You could also order spirits or mixed drinks.
‘Spirits’ includes hard alcohol like vodka,
whiskey, gin, rum, and so on.
You can also order mixed drinks, like vodka
and coke or gin and tonic.
Some pubs might serve cocktails, although
it’s more common for bars to serve cocktails.
There’s a difference between pubs and bars
in the UK!
Ordering mixed drinks is easy: put the spirit
first, then the mixer, like this: vodka and
orange, whiskey and coke, rum and ginger beer.
Hi, what can I get you?
Two rum and cokes, a vodka lemonade and a
gin and tonic please.
Anything else?
Oh, and a whiskey, please.
Straight?
Yes.
Ice?
No thanks.
Do you remember what was ordered?
I asked for: two rum and cokes, a vodka lemonade,
a gin and tonic and a straight whiskey.
In pubs, it’s common to leave out the word
‘and’ when ordering mixed drinks, so you
can say, ‘gin and tonic’ or ‘gin tonic’.
‘Straight’ here means without a any mixer.
If you want to sound like a real local, and
you want ice with the drink, you can say ‘on
the rocks’.
For example.,
‘A Glenlivet on the rocks please.’
Of course, you don’t just come to the pub
to drink!
In recent years the food in pubs has really
improved, and you can often find some nice
traditional food.
Pubs aren’t restaurants, so you need to
order food at the bar.
The menu will often be written on a blackboard
near the bar somewhere.
Let’s see how to order food in a pub.
Hi, what can I get for you?
Can I order some food please?
Yes, of course.
What table number are you?
Sorry, I’m not sure.
It’s that table in the corner.
Okay, no problem.
That’s table 7.
What would you like?
I’d like a one fish scampi and chips and
a steak and ale pie.
Anything else?
Yes, do you have anything for children?
Yes, just down here we have a few things for
children.
Ah, excellent.
… And a spaghetti Bolognese as well please.
Okay, anything else?
No, that’s everything.
Great, that’s twenty-three seventy please.
Here you are.
Thank you.
Cutlery and condiments are over on the table
in the corner; you can just help yourself.
Thanks.
Do you remember what I ordered?
There were three things.
I ordered a scampi and chips, a steak and
ale pie and a spaghetti Bolognese.
‘Scampi’ is shrimp which is covered in
breadcrumbs and deep-fried.
‘Steak and ale pie’ is a traditional English
pub dish.
It’s a pie with thick pastry, with beef
cooked in ale inside.
Do you remember the first question the bartender
asked?
She asked, ‘What table number are you?’
Often you will see a number somewhere on the
table.
You need to tell the bartender your table
number when you order food.
The only other question Oli asked was, ‘Do
you have anything for children?’
Very often pubs will have a specific menu
for children.
If you can’t see it on the menu, you can
always ask.
Finally, at the end of the dialogue, I mentioned
some things on the table in the corner.
Do you remember what I said?
I said that the cutlery and condiments were
on the table.
‘Cutlery’ means knives, forks and spoons.
‘Condiments’ could be ketchup, mustard,
mayonnaise, or salt and pepper for example.
Right, now you have your drink, and you’re
waiting for your food.
It’s time to do some talking.
Next, you’ll see some slang and idioms that
you might hear and say in the pub.
I think you’ve got the basics now, but if
you want to practice your English, you should
speak to other people besides the bartender.
Watch a dialogue and try to find the idioms
and slang.
Is he alright?
He’s just had one too many.
He’s not drinking any more, is he?
No, no, he got cut off about an hour ago.
That’s probably for the best.
How about you?
Just a little tipsy, I got here late.
They’re closing soon, right?
Yeah, they just called last orders, but I
think some people are going to John’s place
for a bit of a piss-up.
Hmm…
I’ll come for a bit, but I can’t stay
long.
I’ve got work in the morning and I don’t
want to be hungover.
That’s what everyone says.
Anyway, let’s go, bottoms up!
So, what did you hear?
At the beginning, I said, ‘He’s had one
too many’.
This is used to describe somebody who is drunk.
There are many other words you can use here,
like ‘pissed,’ ‘smashed’, ‘hammered,’
‘battered,’ ‘wasted,’…
Okay, we get it!
There are many slang words you can use here.
You also heard ‘he got cut off about an
hour ago’.
‘Cut off’ means that the bar staff refuse
to sell you any more alcohol, because you’ve
drunk too much already.
The next word was ‘tipsy.’
This is the feeling when you’ve had one
or two drinks.
You aren’t drunk, but you can feel something
from the alcohol.
I invited Stephanie to John’s house for
a ‘piss-up’.
This is a very informal way to describe a
drinking session with a group of people.
Don’t expect to be drinking a cup of tea
at a piss-up!
At the end of the evening, the bartender will
call last orders.
Sometimes they shout across the pub, or sometimes
they ring a big bell.
This is your last chance to order drinks before
the pub closes.
I said that I didn’t want to be ‘hungover.’
This isn’t really slang or an idiom, but
is a very common event after a night in the
pub.
When you wake up feeling terrible, it’s
because you are hungover
The last phrase was ‘bottoms up.’
This a way of saying, finish your drink and
often said as you are getting ready to leave
the pub.
Now you should know how to order different
drinks in a pub, so next time you’re walking
past an old traditional pub, why not stop
for a quick drink!
You can find more free English lessons on
many different topics on our website.
Check it out: Oxford Online English dot com.
Thanks for watching!
See you next time!