English Phrases For Going To Restaurants & Ordering Food (Useful English Expression & Vocabulary!)

Could you give us a few minutes please?  How can you give time to someone? Let’s find out.

 

What’s up guys? My name is Shane and today we are talking about going to a restaurant and ordering food. Everyone loves food, right? I love food too but I don’t wana eat too much because I don’t wana get fat.

 

But we still need to know how to order food at a restaurant.  So today I take you on a little journey.

 

We go into a restaurant together, we order food, we have a problem and then we pay and leave the restaurant. And I tell you what phrases you can use at every step of the way so make sure you watch until the end of the video so you know what to say at every step of the way when you go to a restaurant and order food. Okay let’s get started. 

 

Going into the restaurant

The first thing we have to do is go into the restaurant, right? And when we go into a restaurant, there will normally be a person waiting to greet you or you will have to go to the counter.

 

And you will normally be in one of two situations.

 

Number 1. You will have a booking or reservation.

 

And number 2. You won’t have a booking or reservation.

 

A booking or reservation means when you have an arrangement with the restaurant, a plan with the restaurant where the restaurant will keep a table free for you.

 

So if you don’t have a reservation and you go into the restaurant, and you see that there are many many tables free, you can say: just a table for two please if it’s just you and your friend.

 

Or if you go with your mum and dad, you can say: just a table for three please.

 

And when we say this really quickly, it sounds like this. Justa, justa. Justa table for two please. Now you try.  Justa table for two please.

 

Now let’s pretend the waiter he walks you to your table but it’s in the center of the restaurant and you don’t really want to sit in the center.

 

You want to sit near the window. You can say: could we sit over there please? Could we sit over there please? This means: can we sit at a different table please? Is this okay?

 

Now, let’s pretend you go into the restaurant and it’s really really busy and you can’t really see any tables free. You can say: do you have a table for two free? If it’s just you and your friend or do you have a table for three please? If it’s your mum and dad.

 

This means: are there any tables free or do we have to wait?

 

And when we say this really quickly, it sounds like this: Djyuh hava table for two free? Djyuh hava table for two free? We don’t say do you. We don’t say have a. We say djyuh hava. Djyuh hava. Djyuh hava table for two free? Now you try.  Djyuh hava table for two free?

 

Now let’s pretend you go into the restaurant and you do have a reservation, you do have a booking.

 

You can say: Hi, I have a reservation for .. at .. So for me, I would say: I have a reservation for Shane at 8pm. I have a reservation for Shane at 8pm.

 

And then the waiter will probably look at the reservation book and then he will probably take you to your table.

 

So let’s look at those phrases again. Just a table for two please. Could we sit over there please? Do you have a table for two free? And I have a reservation for Shane at 8pm. 

 

Ordering food

Okay now let’s pretend you get to your table and you’re really hungry but there’s no menu. What could you say to the waiter?

 

You could say: could we get a menu please?   Could we get a menu please?  And when we say it really fast, it sounds like. Could we gedda menu please? Could we gedda menu please?  Now you try: could we gedda menu please? 

 

Now let’s pretend you are looking at the menu.  You’re looking at all the different dishes and all the different foods and drinks. And the waiter comes back to you and he says: can I take your order please? But you’re not ready to order. What can you say to him?

 

You can say could you give us a few minutes please? Could you give us a few minutes please? This means we are still not ready. Come back in 2 or 3 minutes and then we will be ready.

 

And when a native speaker says this really quickly, it sounds like this: couldjuh give us a few minutes please? Couldjuh give us a few minutes please? We say couldjuh. Couldjuh give us a few minutes please? Now you try.  Couldjuh give us a few minutes please? 

 

Now let’s pretend you’ve looked at the menu and you are ready to order. And you want to order the lasagna. 

 

What can you say? You could say could I have the lasagna please? Could I have the lasagna please?  This means I would like to order the lasagna please. 

 

And when a native speaker says this really quickly, it sounds like this: couldi. Couldi. Couldi have the lasagna please?  Now you try: couldi have the lasagna please? 

 

Now let’s pretend you are allergic to nuts. Allergic means if you eat something, it might make you feel sick or it might make you have problems with your body.  Many people are allergic to nuts. If they eat nuts, it makes their body not very happy, not feel good.

 

So let’s pretend you want to order the lasagna but you’re not sure if it has nuts in it. 

 

What can you say?  You can say: does the lasagna have nuts in it? Does the lasagna have nuts in it? And then the waiter will say yes or no.

 

Or another phrase you could use is: is this dish okay for people who are allergic to nuts?  Is this dish okay for people who are allergic to nuts? 

 

Or let’s pretend you’re a vegan or a vegetarian, you could say: is this dish okay for vegans or for vegetarians.

 

So those phrases again are: excuse me, could we get a menu please?  Could you give us a few minutes? Could I get the lasagna please? Does the lasagna have nuts in it? And is this dish okay for vegans or vegetarians? 

 

Problems

Okay now let’s pretend you have ordered your food and your food arrives but it’s not what you ordered.  You ordered the lasagna but you got fried rice. 

 

What can you say to the waiter? You can say excuse me, I didn’t order this.  Excuse me, I didn’t order this.  And when native speakers say this really quickly, we say scuse me. Scuse me. Scuse me, I didn’t order this.  Now you try. Scuse me, I didn’t order this.  

 

Now let’s pretend your lasagna comes out but there’s no fork, there’s no knife, there’s no spoon. So how can you eat your food? You can say to the waiter: excuse me, could I get some cutlery please? Excuse me, could I get some cutlery please? 

 

Cutlery means a fork, a knife and a spoon.

 

Now let’s pretend you ordered your food 45 minutes ago but it still hasn’t come yet and you want to ask the waiter: where is it? 

 

What can you say?  You can say: excuse me, I ordered the lasagna 45 minutes ago but it still hasn’t come.  I ordered the lasagna about 45 minutes ago but it still hasn’t come. 

 

This is a really polite way to say: where’s my food?

 

So let’s look at those phrases again.  Excuse me, I didn’t order this.  Excuse me, could I have some cutlery please and excuse me, I ordered the lasagna 45 minutes ago and it still hasn’t come yet.

 

Paying

Okay let’s pretend you finished your food. It was really delicious and now you’re really full and you want to pay the bill.

 

What can you say to the waiter? You can say excuse me, could we get the check please?  Excuse me, could we get the check please?

 

And then the waiter will go to the counter and bring you the bill. Let’s pretend he brings you the bill and it’s wrong.  You ordered the lasagna but he’s got a fried rice and lasagna on there. 

 

What can you say to him? You can say: excuse me, could you check the bill again?  I didn’t order the fried rice.   Excuse me, could you check the bill again?  I didn’t order the fried rice.   This is a polite way to say: the bill is wrong.

 

And let’s pretend your bill is $95 and you give the waiter $100 but you don’t want the change.  You don’t want the $5 change.

 

What can you say to the waiter? You can say: you can keep the change. You can keep the change.  This means you don’t have to give me the change. It’s yours. I am giving it you.

 

And finally, you get up and you are leaving the restaurant and you see the waiter who was serving you, who was helping you all night.

 

What can you say to him?  You can say: thanks, see you next time.   Thanks, see you next time. 

 

And when a native speaker says this really quickly, he’ll say seeyuh next time. Seeyuh next time. Now you try. Seeyuh next time. 

 

And those phrases again are could we get the check or bill please?  Excuse me, could you the check the bill again? I didn’t order the ..  Keep the change (for when you want to give a tip) and thanks, see you next time. 

 

And that is the end of the lesson today. Try these phrases the next time you got to a restaurant. And if you’re interested in learning more phrases that English speakers use all the time, check out this video right here. And if you haven’t subscribed already, subscribe right now so you don’t miss any video that can help you understand English like a native speaker.   If you have any questions, please comment down below. If you learned something today, please hit like and share this with your friends so they can understand what phrase to use in a restaurant.  And for daily quizzes, weekly posts, videos, lessons and much more, follow me on Instagram and I will see you in the next video.  So let’s look at those phrases again.  Do you have a table for? Okay, now let’s pretended. Pretended.