English the American Way: A Fun ESL Guide to Language and Culture in the U.S. » Unit 4: Dining in Style
I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted! All that waiting for the bus and hailing taxis has made me hungry. Hungry? Yes. In the mood to cook? No way! Hmmm. The hard part is deciding where to go and what to eat. Restaurant choices are endless: steaks, vegetarian meals, burgers, pizza, and ethnic cuisine from just about every country on earth. Even the picky eaters will be happy! But I think some takeout is just what the doctor ordered. There’s nothing like fast food after a busy day. Ha—fast food for when you’re feeling slow.
But don’t let fast food’s bad rap fool you. It’s more than just burgers and fries with a chocolate shake. With people becoming more health conscious (and conscious of those extra pounds!), restaurants are providing more and more healthy choices: salads, water, lean proteins, and whole grain breads. In fact, many restaurants now post the calorie counts of their menu items. I’m not sure I want to know that my mega-cheeseburger lunch has more calories than I need for an entire day!
Once you have your dream dinner in mind, you can just hop into your car and head to the nearest drive-thru. Sure, it may seem a little strange telling a machine that you want a mega-burger with cheese, but when you continue to the window to pay, the cashier will have your juicy burger order all ready to go. Ah, I can taste the fries already…
Machine Guy: Can I take your order, please?
Lia: Hmmm. A burger sounds good. I think I’ll have a mega-burger with cheese, extra pickles, no mayo.
Machine Guy: Anything to drink with that?
Lia: I’d like a Coke. Extra large.
Machine Guy: Anything else?
Lia: Yes, a kids’ meal with chocolate milk and chicken nuggets.
Machine Guy: Would you like fries with that?
Lia: Hmmm. The fries smell great, but do you have fruit instead?
Machine Guy: Sure. You can have an apple or fruit cup.
Kid: Mom, you know I like fruit cup, but I’d like to have the apple. But only if they put a pie around it!
| Tip 1 | Most places will fix the food to order. Just ask if you want something a little different from the usual preparation. |
| Tip 2 | Although fast food places offer many choices, don’t expect a gourmet meal. There’s a reason it’s called fast food! |
Some verbs (called stative verbs) are usually only used in the simple form. They refer to states or conditions. Examples of stative verbs are verbs of the senses (for example, smell and taste) and verbs of feeling (for example, love, like, hate, and want).
Should you say what would you like or what do you like?
You remember that I would (I’d) like is a more polite way to say what you want than I want. However, someone may just want to know, in general, what you like. Then you may hear, “What do you like?” You might answer that, in general, you like something: “I like coffee because it helps me wake up.”
What do you like: tea, coffee, or soda?
I like coffee best, but the caffeine keeps me awake.
Maybe you’ve decided that a table near a window sounds better than a front seat near a windshield. It may be time to splurge on a nice dinner out. It’s easy to find a nice sit-down restaurant without breaking the bank. Especially in a tough economy, restaurants will do almost anything to get your business. Lots of places offer a Restaurant Week menu all year. Take advantage of the early-bird special. You can have a fancy dinner at a much lower price.
Many restaurants are chain restaurants; this means they have restaurants of the same name and type in many towns or cities. At many places, you can call ahead and make a reservation, and they will save a table for you at a certain time. They’ll ask what time you’d like to eat, and how many will be in your party. Some restaurants won’t take a reservation. For those places, you check in at the hostess station when you arrive. The hostess will write down your name and call you when a table is free. Some very popular restaurants have a very long wait for a table. The hostess may give you a cool little gadget to hold while you wait in the bar or outside. When a table becomes available, the gadget buzzes and vibrates and little lights start flashing. (This can be very entertaining!) The flashing lights mean that your table is ready. The wait is no fun, but the little gadget sure is.
SERVER: Hi. Welcome to the Farkel Family Restaurant. I’ll be your server today. You’re just in time for our early-bird special, so you can choose from that menu or from the regular menu. Can I start you off with some appetizers and something to drink?
ALAN: I think I may have a beer. What do you have on draft?
SERVER: We have Statler Lite and Orange Cow on tap.
ALAN: What’s your house wine?
SERVER: The house red is a Napa Valley cabernet, and the house white is a chardonnay from Mendoza, Argentina.
ALAN: I’ll have a glass of cabernet.
SERVER: And for you, ma’am?
LIA: I’m driving so I’ll just have an OJ.
SERVER: Would you like any appetizers?
ALAN: No, I think we’ll just have the entree. I’ll have the filet mignon.
SERVER: Sure. How would you like it?
ALAN: I’d like it rare. And hold the mushrooms.
SERVER: And for you, ma’am?
LIA: I’ll have the seafood combination with rice.
SERVER: The dinner comes with a vegetable. What would you like?
ALAN: I’ll have broccoli and a side salad.
LIA: And I’ll have some sautéed onions with the seafood.
| Tip 3 | Steak is usually prepared to order. If you like your meat very lightly cooked, order it rare. More cooked, but still pink is medium. Cooked for a longer time with no pink is well done. |
| Tip 4 | A party in a restaurant is not necessarily a birthday party, although it could be. Confused? A party is simply the number of people in a group wishing to share the same table. |
| Tip 5 | The law is very clear: Don’t drink and drive! Many people have a “designated driver” when they go out. This person will not drink any alcohol, and he or she will be responsible for driving. |
Count nouns (things you can count, for example, one glass, two glasses… you get the idea!) will take the verb that goes with the number. However, noncount nouns (things you can’t count, for example, wine, sugar, and water) take a singular verb.
Note: Count nouns are sometimes called countable nouns and noncount nouns are sometimes called uncountable nouns. It’s the same idea, no matter what they’re called: some things you can count, and some things you can’t!
Remember: A noncount noun (for example, beer, coffee) acts like a count noun if you put it into a container: a bottle of beer; a cup of coffee. In fact, if you simply say a beer or a coffee, people will know what you want. See how Lia asks for a Coke in dialogue 1 and Alan asks for a beer in dialogue 2.
We know what you’re thinking: I’m having a lovely dinner out, why should I complain? American restaurants place a top priority on excellent service. Because people have so many choices when dining out, if a restaurant’s service isn’t perfect, it can lose customers. The waiters and waitresses know that great service equals great tips, so they’ll do their best to be sure you have an excellent meal. But, let’s face it: everyone has a bad day. You may have a beef about something if the food or service is not right.
Servers are not surprised if a customer has a legitimate complaint. For example, it is absolutely unacceptable for anything in the place setting to be dirty. Your server should apologize and immediately replace the item with one that is spotlessly clean. Although this is not fast food, if the service is too slow or if the waiter doesn’t ask often enough if there’s anything you need, then you can complain. If the food is not hot when it arrives, you can complain. If you don’t get the dish that you ordered, you can complain. Of course, the best way to complain is to be very polite.
If there has been a problem and if you’re polite when you mention it, the restaurant staff will usually try their best to correct their mistake. There’s an expression in English: “You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” This means that if you are polite, people will try to make you happy. If you are rude, they may not try their best.
ALAN: Miss… Excuse me, but my glass has a smudge on it.
*** Some time later ***
ALAN: Miss, I’m still waiting for a clean glass, and we still haven’t received our salads. We’ve been waiting a long time for our food.
SERVER: I am SO sorry! We’re a little busier than usual tonight, and we’re short-staffed. I’ll bring it immediately. I’ll also bring more water.
*** A few moments later ***
SERVER: Here you are, sir, and I’ve brought you another glass of wine, on the house. The manager would also like to give you a dessert of your choice, also compliments of the house. We’re so sorry for the mix-up. Sorry you had to wait.
ALAN: Thank you very much.
| Tip 6 | A polite way to address a man you don’t know is sir. Use ma’am for a woman. |
| Tip 7 | Another tip about tips: You should tip in restaurants. For many servers, tips make up most of their pay. Usually the tip is 15% to 20% of the bill. If the food/service is exceptionally good, you may like to leave a little more. |
More tips for count/noncount nouns: Singular count nouns take articles (a, an, the). Noncount nouns are usually considered singular, but they do not take articles.
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