1. Sit down restaurants usually have a host or hostess. The host/hostess will ask you, “How many are in your party?” You should answer: “We have __ people.”
2. If you have children with you, the host/hostess will ask if you need any children’s menus or high chairs/booster seats. If they don’t ask, you can request these by saying:
“We need _ children’s menus please.” “We need a high chair or booster seat please.”
3. When the waiter/waitress first comes to your table, they will take your drink order and ask if you want an appetizer. This is a good time to ask about specials or other questions about the menu. Here are some phrases you can use:
“I’ll have ____ to drink.”
“No thank you, we don’t need any appetizers” or “Yes, please, we’ll have chips and salsa.”
“What is the soup of the day?” “Do you have any specials today?”
“Can I make a special request?”
4. When the waiter/waitress brings your drinks and appetizer, they will ask you if you are ready to order. If you’re not ready, you can say: “Can we have a few more minutes please?”
If you’re ready, you can go ahead and order.
5. When the waiter/waitress brings you your meal, you can ask for extra items like ketchup, honey mustard, etc. If something is wrong with your order you can say:
“Excuse me, I ordered ____ not ____.” Or “Excuse me, my steak needs to be cooked a little longer please.”
6. When you finish your meal, you need to leave a tip. 15% is the custom tip. If you received extra good service, you can leave more. If you received bad service, you can leave less.
