Real English - Ordering food on the phone

Hi. I'm Rebecca from engVid. In today's lesson, I'll show you how to order food on the phone.

Sometimes we learn how to do all kinds of other sophisticated things in a new language,

but we still feel nervous when we need to do simple things. So, this is one of those

things. And hopefully after this lesson, you won't be nervous or shy to order food on the

phone. All right? Let's see how a typical dialogue might proceed. Okay?

So, let's say you call, you know what you want. All right? And you say: "I'd like to

order please." So, the person asks you: "Pick-up or delivery?" That means: do you want the

food delivered to your home, or are you going to go there and pick up the food from the

restaurant? Okay? So: -"I'd like to order please." -"Pick-up or delivery?" Let's say

you want it delivered, so you say: "Delivery."

So, if you want it to be delivered, the person's going to ask you some more questions. For

example: "What's your address?" So you say: -"66 Fleet Street, Apartment 4." -"What's

your phone number?" You give your phone number. -"647-2164." -"What's your buzzer code?" Okay?

Now, what's a buzzer code? In many North American buildings, as part of the security system,

you can't get into the building by just walking in. There's usually a security door which

can only be unlocked by the residents from upstairs. All right? And the buzzer code does

not... Is a separate number from the apartment number. This is an added layer of security

so that nobody can know exactly how to get inside, and so on, and they won't know which

apartment you live in. So, a buzzer code is a number that is given to you so that you

answer it in your apartment and you can let somebody inside to... Into the building when

they either press the button or they punch in the number. So this is like a code. So

this is the buzzer code. -"What's your buzzer code?" Let's say: "612." Okay?

Then: "What would you like to order?" Now you give them your order. "1 Pad Thai and

three veggie spring rolls." Okay? Let's say you called a Thai restaurant. All right. So,

"veggie", you know, it's used, it's like short form, "vegetarian". Right? Next, so the person

says: -"Anything else?" -"Could you please send some chilli sauce?" Okay? Anything extra

that you want or any special instructions you have about how the food should be cooked,

that's the time to say it. All right?

Next will come the question of money. So: "How are you paying?" So, you could just say:

"Cash", or: "Mastercard", "Visa", "Debit". All right? You'll see that a lot of this conversation

is very short, to the point. Okay? It's not long sentences because nobody has time, also.

They're usually very busy at these places. So they just ask you basic questions, so you

give basic answers. You don't always need to use a full sentence.

Okay, then maybe you want to ask them: "How much will..?" Some other questions, like:

"How much will that be?" Or: "How much is it?" Let's say the person says: -"$18.47."

-"How long will it take?" -"About 45 minutes." -"Okay, thanks." -"Thanks. Bye." Okay? So,

you see that the conversation goes pretty fast, but at the same time, if you know what

to expect, it will be a lot easier for you to order the food.

Let's run through it one last time, fast. -"I'd like to order please." -"Pick-up or

delivery?" -"Delivery." -"What's your address?" -"66 Fleet Street, Apartment 4." -"Your phone

number?" -"612-9148." -"Your buzzer code?" -"317." -"What would you like to order?" -"One

Pad Thai and three veggie spring rolls, please." -"Anything else?" -"Could you send some chilli

sauce, please?" -"Okay. How are you paying?" -"Cash. How much will that be?" -"$18.47."

-"And, how long will it take?" -"Oh, about half an hour." -"Okay, thanks." -"Thanks.

Bye." Okay? So, that's how you order food in English.

And if you'd like to do a quiz on this, please go to our website: www.engvid.com. Thanks

for watching. Bye for now.