Learn how to ask for items in a restaurant, including recommendations from the waiter
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Sadia: Hi from New York. Thanks for joining us today. This is Sadia. |
| Keith: And I’m Keith. “Getting the Best Table and Dish in Town” |
| Sadia: In our last lesson, Lesson 20, you learned how to ask for permission. |
| Keith: You also learned about time expressions, the phrase, "What time do you...?" |
| Sadia: And the phrase, "Excuse me." |
| Keith: In this lesson you will learn about eating out, and getting the table and food that you want. |
| Sadia: The conversation takes place at a restaurant. |
| Keith: And this conversation is between Zo and the waiter serving him. |
| Sadia: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Clerk #1: Hello, sir, how many? |
| Zo: One, please. |
| Clerk #1: Right this way. Here you are. |
| Zo: Hmm…. Can I sit there instead? |
| Clerk #1: Sure! What would you like to drink? |
| Zo: Water, please. |
| Clerk #1: And what will you be having to eat? |
| Zo: What do you recommend? |
| Clerk #1: Definitely the patatak mentaiko—crispy fries with spicy cod roe mayo. |
| Zo: I'll have that. Also, what is that—what she’s having? |
| Clerk #1 Those are kroketas—crispy, creamy croquettes. |
| Zo: I'll have that, too. |
| Clerk #1: Yes, sir. |
| [moments later] |
| Clerk #1: Is everything all right? |
| Zo Yes, very nice. Thank you. |
| Keith: One more time, slowly. |
| Clerk #1: Hello, sir, how many? |
| Zo: One, please. |
| Clerk #1: Right this way. Here you are. |
| Zo: Hmm…. Can I sit there instead? |
| Clerk #1: Sure! What would you like to drink? |
| Zo: Water, please. |
| Clerk #1: And what will you be having to eat? |
| Zo: What do you recommend? |
| Clerk #1: Definitely the patatak mentaiko—crispy fries with spicy cod roe mayo. |
| Zo: I'll have that. Also, what is that—what she’s having? |
| Clerk #1 Those are kroketas—crispy, creamy croquettes. |
| Zo: I'll have that, too. |
| Clerk #1: Yes, sir. |
| [moments later] |
| Clerk #1: Is everything all right? |
| Zo Yes, very nice. Thank you. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Sadia: So Zo has gone out for dinner alone—and judging from the food he’s ordered, these very exotic sounding foods, he’s at, what sounds like a tapas restaurant! |
| Keith: Tapas-- that's Spanish, right? |
| Sadia: Tapas restaurants—sometimes called tapas bars— They’re Spanish, and they serve like wine and small plates of Spanish appetizers. |
| Keith: it seems like the number of tapas restaurants in New York has increased over the past few years-- I mean, I keep hearing about new ones every day.. |
| Sadia: Definitely, I think so. It’s probably because the experience of having some wine or a drink and tasty bites of really flavorful food in a really casual place, that’s probably a nice alternative to a big fancy dinner somewhere. |
| Keith: And in this bad economy, it’s not so good right now, and everyone is looking for less fussy, less expensive and more practical ways to go out. |
| Sadia: And as we’ve talked about before, America—and probably New York in particular—really is a melting pot. So finding all kinds of ethnic food and things like that is never a problem! |
| Keith: There’s always different kinds of ethnic foods. And if you ever visit, no matter where you're from, you'll probably be able to find a taste of home right here in Manhattan. And what that means is, a taste of your own country. Alright, well let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Sadia: many [natural native speed] |
| Keith: consisting of a large amount |
| Sadia: many [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: many [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| smoking [natural native speed] |
| Keith: the area in a restaurant where smoking is allowed |
| smoking [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| smoking [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: non-smoking [natural native speed] |
| Keith: the area in a restaurant where smoking is not allowed |
| Sadia: non-smoking [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: non-smoking [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| to sit [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to have a seat |
| to sit [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| to sit [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: to recommend [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to endorse, to speak well of, to suggest |
| Sadia: to recommend [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: to recommend [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| also [natural native speed] |
| Keith: in addition; besides; too |
| also [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| also [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| Sadia: all right [natural native speed] |
| Keith: okay; to one's liking; acceptable |
| Sadia: all right [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: all right [natural native speed] |
| Next:" |
| very [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to a high degree, truly |
| very [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| very [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Keith: Let’s take a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Sadia: The first phrase we’ll look at is, “How many?” |
| Keith: This is a commonly used phrase in restaurants. |
| Sadia: And it’s short for, “How many people are in your party?” Or, “How many people will be |
| dining? |
| Keith: Next is, “Smoking or non-smoking?” |
| Sadia: Another restaurant phrase. |
| Keith: Yep. It’s short for, “Would you like to sit in the smoking section or the non-smoking section?” |
| Sadia: In America, though, it’s becoming I think increasingly common for state governments to ban smoking in public places— |
| Keith: Recently, a lot of places in America, not just in New York, you just can’t smoke inside. |
| Sadia: Might take some getting used to for all of our smoking listeners. Next is, “What would you like to drink?” |
| Keith: This phrase is ALWAYS, always used at restaurants. |
| Sadia: Yes. After you place your food order with the waiter or waitress, he or she will ask, “What would you like to drink?” What's the next phrase, Keith? |
| Keith: The next phrase is, “And what will you be having to eat?” |
| Sadia: After Zo requests water, the waiter asks, “And what will you be having to eat?” |
| Keith: He’d like to know what food Zo would like to order. |
| Sadia: Some other ways of saying, "And what will you be having to eat?" are, maybe “What can I get you?” “May I interest you in some of the food items?” |
| Keith: Or also you can say, “Would you like anything to eat?” |
| Sadia: Next is, “I'll have that.” The waiter suggests some things that he thinks Zo will like, so |
| Zo says, “I’ll have that.” Which means, “Okay. I’ll have what you just described.” |
| Keith: Zo approves of the waiter’s selection and he would like to try it.The next phrase is, “I'll also have that.” |
| Sadia: So, after approving the waiter’s suggestion, Zo asks about what the woman next to him is having. |
| Keith: Yeah, the waiter describes the food and Zo says, “I’ll also have that.” |
| Sadia: Which means, “I’ll also have that food that she’s having. |
| Keith: OK, next up, “Is everything alright?” |
| Sadia: Good waiters and waitresses always ask at some point during your meal, “Is everything alright?” |
| Keith: So you’re eating, and maybe 10 minutes have passed, and maybe they’ll say, “Is everything alright?” “Is everything OK?” Our final phrase, Very nice. |
| Sadia: This phrase shows very enthusiastic approval or agreement. It’s strong. |
| Keith: The waiter asks Zo if everything is alright, and |
| Zo says, “Yes—very nice.” |
| Sadia: Zo is giving his approval— is very happy with his experience at the restaurant. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Sadia: The focus points of this lesson are requesting something using the phrase, "Can I?" and Asking, "What do you recommend?" |
| Keith: How about we start with REQUESTING SOMETHING USING, "CAN I?" |
| Sadia: OK. Go ahead. |
| Keith: Alright, Zo arrives at the restaurant and is shown to his table by the restaurant host. Zo would prefer, he wants to sit at another table, so he asks, “Can I sit there instead?” |
| Sadia: He makes a request using the phrase, “Can I…?” |
| Keith: "Can I sit there instead?" What are some other examples of making a request using, "Can I...?" something afterward... |
| Sadia: Can I have another glass of water? Or, Can I see the dessert menu? |
| Keith: You could also say, Can I see the wine list? Or, Can I have an extra plate? |
| Sadia: Now, Zo could have also said, “MAY I sit there instead?” Which brings us to this point - making a request with, “can” was actually considered to be incorrect. But recently, using “can I…” is normal and accepted. |
| Keith: In school actually, we learned that “May I” is correct, but I think recently you said that “Can I” is now correct. Using “may," however, does make your request more formal— It makes it a little more polite. |
| Sadia: Sure. So, MAY I have another glass of water? or MAY I see the dessert menu? |
| Keith: MAY I see the wine list? MAY I have an extra plate? |
| Sadia: If you are writing, which requires more formal English, you should research the difference between “can” and “may.” In short, “can” is used to express ability-- |
| Keith: That's right. And “may” is used to express permission or possibility. |
| Sadia: But from now on, you can make simple requests by asking, "Can I...?” |
| Keith: And what about ASKING, "WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND?" |
| Sadia: OK. When the waiter asks Zo what he would like to eat, Zo asks, “What do you recommend?” And this phrase is the same as, “What do you suggest?” |
| Keith: Zo is asking the waiter to make a suggestion. But why? |
| Sadia: Well, the waiter has a better idea of what’s available and he’s probably tasted all of the food—the waiter has an informed opinion. He knows what they have. |
| Keith: And of course Zo is visiting the restaurant for the first time, and he has no idea, so of course the waiter knows better than Zo. So the next time if you’re dining out and you can’t decide what to order, ask your server, your waiter or waitress, for a recommendation—say, “What do you recommend?” And Sadia, I think this will be useful for you. |
| Sadia: Yeah, probably because I can never decide. I do ask often. And usually I find that the waiter or waitress is more than happy to make a suggestion. |
| Keith: And you can also use the phrase, “What do you recommend?” when you’re shopping. For example, you’re shopping for something expensive, like a computer or a camera, you can ask the salesperson what he or she “recommends.” |
| Sadia: That’s true. And while suggestions from salespeople are not always reliable, you can’t always trust them because sometimes they’re just wanting you to buy the most expensive thing. But you might receive some pretty important information anyway. |
| Keith: Probably some information that may help you decide which computer or television you should buy. |
| Sadia: So don't be afraid to ask for a suggestion using, "What do you recommend?" |
| Keith: Alright, well that’s going to do it for this lesson. Thanks for listening. |
| Sadia: See you next time. |
| Keith: Bye. |
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