Lesson Transcript

Hi, everybody. My name is Alisha. In this lesson, I'm going to talk about restaurant service questions and answers. These are expressions you can use if you are a staff member at a restaurant, or of course, you can use the answers to these questions if you are a guest at a restaurant. So, let's get started.
All right. For this lesson, I'm going to go through the flow, the basic flow of visiting a restaurant. So, the first question for staff is usually, "How many people?" or "How many people in your party?" So, "party" is a word that we use to mean "group." We use party in dining situations. So, "party" doesn't mean like, you know, a big like a party in like a bar, or a club, or something. "Party" here means group. So, "How many people in your group?" or in your party. You may hear that to respond just say three, five, one, two, whatever the number is, just reply with the number of people who are going to join you or the number of people in your group at that moment. You can say, for example, "Two, but one more person is going to join us later," or "Five people total." Maybe some people are late. You can say that specifically if you need to as well.
Okay. So, after that, the next question, in many cases, is the staff will ask you, "Smoking or non?" or "Smoking or non-smoking?" So, sometimes, you might hear "smoking" removed from this. And this the staff might say, "Smoking or non?" Because we understand it means "non-smoking." So, to answer it, just say, "Smoking," or "No smoking," or "Non-smoking." So, this question is about where you want to sit. So, some restaurants have smoking and non-smoking seats. That means it's okay to smoke in a smoking seat, it's not okay to smoke in a non-smoking seat. So, if you have a preference, you can say, "Smoking, please," or "Non-smoking, please," or "No smoking." Either of these will communicate the idea.
Okay. The next one, "Are you ready to order?" "Are you ready to order?" At native speed, this question sounds like, "Are you ready to order?" "Are you ready to order?" So, this is nice for servers to use because you don't just walk to the table and say, "Okay. I'm ready," like "I'm here." You ask the guests, "Are you ready?" "Are you ready to order?" So, it's like you're confirming, "Is it okay if I come to you now?" Or, what is -- "Is everything all right?' So, you can answer this with, "Yes. I'll have…" So, this "I'll have," this is the beginning to an order. "Yes, I'll have an appetizer," or "Yes, I'll have this pasta," whatever your order is. If you are not ready, you still need some time to look at the menu, you can say, "Could we have a little more time?" Here, I've used "we," "Could I have a little more time?" is also okay. So, "we" if you're in a pair or in a group of people. "Could we have a little more time?" At native speed, this sounds like, "Could we have a little more time, please?" "Could we have a little more time?" So, "Are you ready to order?" "Yes." Or, ask for more time here. Usually, if you say, "No," it's too direct. So, instead, just say, "Could we have a little more time?" Alternatively, another thing is you can use this question to ask a question about the menu, too. We'll talk about this here.
So, you might also have a server who asks you this question which is, "Do you have any questions about the menu?" "Do you have any questions about the menu?" For restaurant staff, a point to note here is this S. Make sure to use the plural questions. So, "Do you have any question?" is incorrect. "Do you have any questions about the menu?" And so, please use "about" here. "Do you have any questions about the menu?" So, if you have a question, this is a yes or no question. "Do you…" "Do you have…" So, this is a yes or no question. If you have a question, "Yes. What's this item?" or "Yes. Is this item gluten-free?" or "Is this item vegetarian?" and so on. So, "yes," and then you ask your question. Or, "No, I'm okay." No. I'm okay. So, you can use these to respond here like, "Are you ready to order?" You could say, "Actually, I have a question. What's this thing?" or "Is this gluten-free?" So, you can connect these a little bit if you like, if you need to.
Okay. The next one. This one depends on the restaurant a little bit. Sometimes, you will go to a restaurant, or café, or bar as well, and that day, there's special menu items. There's some like, maybe one-day-only dish. The server will often explain that with this expression, "Today's specials are…" "Today's specials are…" So, in this case, I'm using "are," because usually, there's some like a few different special dishes or a few different special drinks. Sometimes, maybe you find a restaurant where there's just one thing. In that case, change "are" to "is," and change "specials" plural to "special," one singular. So, "Today's special is this pasta," or "Today's specials are," this pasta, this fish, and this meat. So, use the plural form or the singular form depending on if you have one special or many specials, more than two, or rather, more than one. And, also, please note "today's." Today's, not "today." Today's specials. So, "today's." That means this item belongs to today. So, these are the special items for today.
As a guest, to respond to this, just say, "Okay," or "Thank you." Or, you can ask a question like, "Oh, what's the sauce on the pasta?" or "What kind of fish is it?" Something like that. If you want to ask a follow-up question about specials, it's very natural to do that.
Okay. Moving on to the next question, "What can I get you?" "What can I get you?" This is a very common and very friendly sounding question from the staff at a restaurant to a guest. At native speed, this sounds like, "What can I get you?" "What can I get you?" Or, you might hear, "What can I get 'ya?" "What can I get 'ya?" So, this sounds very friendly, and usually, it shows that the staff is ready to take your order. They're waiting there to write your order. So, "What can I get you?"
To respond to this, "I'll have…" I'll have… So, this "I'll have" means "I will have" some menu item. So, "I'll have a salad," or "I'll have this steak." So, "I'll have," plus your menu item. Alternatively, another way to say it, "I'd like…" I'd like… Again, a key pronunciation point, "I'd" is "I would" in the reduced form. "I would like," something, something. You can follow it in exactly the same way, or rather follow this expression with another dish name. So, like, "I'd like the steak." I'd like a salad, please. So, just place your order, give your order when you hear this question.
You might also hear a server ask, "What would you like to drink?" "What would you like to drink?" So, this is a question about a drink order. You can say, "Just water." "Just water." So, depending on the restaurant. Some restaurants charge money for water. Water costs money. In many restaurants, water is free. So, you can say, "Just water." "Just water." If you want to order a drink, say, "A," plus the drink name, "please." So, "A soda, please," or "A Pepsi, please." Of course, if your drink begins with a vowel sound, use "an." Like, "An orange juice, please," for example. So, just use the indefinite article, "a" or "an," plus your drink name, and I like to end it with "please." It sounds more polite, sounds a little nicer.
You might also hear this question. This is another yes or no question. "Would you like anything to drink?" At native speed, "Would you like anything to drink?" So, "Would you like anything to drink?" is a yes or no. Just a quick, "Yes, a drink, please." So, like, "Yes, an orange juice, please." Or, "Yes, a beer, please." You can use, "Just water." Or, if you don't want anything, just use, "No, thank you." "No, thank you." So, you don't need any drink. So, you might hear one of these two. "What would you like to drink?" is an information question. "Would you like anything to drink?" is a yes or no question. So, just small differences in how to answer these two.
Okay. The next couple questions, these are used during the meal. So, in restaurants in the U.S.A., and in some other countries as well, it's common and it's expected that the restaurant staff will visit the guests' table during the meal. Like the guest didn't call the staff, but the staff will visit to check with the guests. And they will usually ask a question like this, "How is everything?" "How is everything?" So, this means, how is your meal? It means, "Is your food okay? Is your drink okay? Is everything ready?" It's like, "Do you need anything?" So, this is kind of a question, like it's an opportunity for the guests to ask for something. So, you can reply to this with, "Great, thanks." This means, "We're fine. We don't need anything." "How is everything?" "It's great. Thank you." So, that means I don't need you. I don't need anything. Thank you for checking on me. Or, if you need something, you can say, "Could I have this thing, please?" So, this could be anything you need at the restaurant within reason. So, "Could I have a napkin, please?" Or, "Could I have a new spoon, please? I dropped mine on the floor." So, "Could I have," item, "please?"
Of course, if you have a problem with your meal, you can say it here. You can mention it here. Like, "How is everything?" You might say, "I didn't order this," or "I don't think this is what I ordered." So, if you have some kind of problem as well, if there's some kind of issue or if you have a question about your meal, you can ask it if the staff asks you this question. You may also hear, "Can I get you anything else?" "Can I get you anything else?" At native speed, this sounds like, "Can I get you anything else?" So, again, the staff will come to your table and ask this question, which means, "Would you like to order something?" "Would you like another item from the menu?" "Can I get you anything else?" So, this "else" here means other than. So, other than the things that you have on the table, "Can I get you something more?" in other words. "Can I get you anything else?" To respond, "No, I'm fine. Thanks." No, I'm fine. Thanks. Or, "No, we're fine. Thanks." So, no more orders, we're finished. Or, to order, "Could I have item, please?" "Could I have this dessert, please?" or, "Could I have this drink, please?" So, you can order here. This is another opportunity to order something.
So, these are fairly common -- actually, very common questions that staff use to check with guests. "How's everything?" Another question is, "Are you enjoying your meal?" Something like that. Just respond with yes or no, or ask a question. Use that opportunity to ask a question. So, it's considered a good service for staff to come to the diners' table, to come to the guests' table, to check on them regularly. It shows they're paying attention, and they're paying attention to the needs of their customers. So, this is considered a good thing.
Finally, when your meal is finished, the staff will typically bring your check or your bill. We use both words in the U.S. They will typically bring the check or the bill to the table. Though, you may pay at the table. So, you may give cash, or a card, or something at the table, or they may tell you where to go to pay for your meal. Usually, they'll say, "Here's your check." "Here's your check." Or, "Here's your bill." Another point for restaurant staff, "here's." Here's. So, this is "here is." Here is. "Here is your check," or "Here is your bill." "Here's your check." "Here's your bill." "Please pay here at the table." "Please pay here at the table." Or, "Please pay at the register." "Please pay at the register." Or, maybe you might hear, "Please pay at the front," or maybe, "Please pay in the lobby." Depending on what kind of restaurant or maybe hotel you're at. So, it'll often be something like this, "Here's your check. Please pay here at the table," or "I'll take your check," or "I'll take your bill whenever you're ready." So, "here at the table," something like that will tell you, you don't have to go anywhere. Or, when the server says, "I'll take your check when you're ready," that means just give it to the server. You don't need to go anywhere. So, to reply to this, "Okay. Thank you." That's all you need to do. And, of course, pay.
So, this is a very typical flow of visiting a restaurant or visiting a bar in a typical -- I would say restaurant, yeah -- restaurant, bar, cafe situation in the U.S. So, I hope that this was helpful for you whether you are restaurant staff or a regular diner. Thanks very much for watching this lesson, and I will see you again soon. Bye-bye.

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