Order Food in an American Restaurant

Vanessa: Hi, I'm Vanessa from  speakenglishwithvanessa.com.  

Are you hungry? I hope so. Let's talk about it. 

Do you like to cook meals at home nonstop,  then doing the dishes and then preparing  

what you're going to make for the next meal  all the time? Probably not. Sometimes it's  

nice to go to a restaurant, but nowadays  things have changed a bit. Here in the U.S.  

restaurants are slowly starting to  open, but not everyone feels comfortable  

going to a restaurant. For me, I have two young  children. So, even without the current situation,  

it's still a little bit complicated to go into  a restaurant. But we don't always want to cook.  

Sometimes it's nice to eat restaurant food.  So, what we can do is order food on the phone,  

pick up the food and take it home to eat.  Or sometimes we take it to a park to eat.  

And that is what I would like to do today  with you. I'd like to invite you to join me  

as I order food on the phone and pick it up. This is a very natural daily life situation.  

You are going to hear a fast conversation that I  have on the phone with the woman who's working at  

the restaurant. But after each short clip from the  conversation, I'm going to be explaining to you  

the phrases we used, the different expressions, so  that you can use this as well, because sometimes  

talking on the phone is tough. You can't see the  other person, but also there's a lot of background  

noise. Sometimes the restaurant is loud. The  person on the phone is just speaking quickly.  

They're not thinking about your perspective. So, today I want to break down this conversation  

and help you to tackle this seemingly tough  situation. But after this conversation,  

I hope it will be more doable and approachable.  We're going to be watching each of the clips  

from the conversation, one time, then I'm  going to explain it and then you'll watch  

it again after my explanation. I hope that the  second time will be more understandable to you.  

Your listening skills will have improved. Your  grammar and vocabulary will have improved.  

So, put your helmet on, put your seatbelt on. This  is going to be a fast ride, but you can do it.  

All right. Let's get started with my clip. We just got back from a hike and I'm so hungry,  

but we really don't have much food in our fridge.  So, we decided to order out and I thought I would  

invite you to join me in the process of ordering  food out at a restaurant to go pick up. So,  

let's see what happens. Waitress: Stoney Knob  

Cafe, this is Mackenzie, how can I help you? Vanessa: Hi, I'd like to make an order for pickup. 

This was a pretty fast start. Wasn't it? Well, in  this first clip, I introduced what I wanted to do  

very clearly and directly. I said, "I would  like to make an order for pickup." For pickup,  

means that I'm going to be the one getting the  food, but we could switch that out and say,  

"I would like to make a order for delivery."  And that means that, that restaurant  

will bring the food to your house. Now, this  is typically, in the U.S., only available for  

big restaurants, like chain restaurants,  the restaurant that I'm ordering from,  

there's only one of them near my house. It's  not an international, or even a national,  

or even a citywide restaurant. There's only one  of them. So, they don't have a delivery service. 

So, that's why I said, "for pickup" and I used  the verb "would". "I would like", very polite,  

"I would like to make an order for pickup." All  right, we're going to listen to that clip one more  

time. I hope that you'll be able to understand a  little bit more. I know it starts off with a bang,  

but I hope you'll be able to understand a little  bit more. We're going to listen to that first  

part of the clip. And then you're going to  watch the second part of the clip as well,  

that I'll explain in just a minute. Let's go. Waitress: Stoney Knob Cafe, this is Mackenzie,  

how can I help you? Vanessa: Hi. I'd like  

to make an order for pickup? Waitress: Yeah, that's all  

right. What can I get for you? Vanessa: Yes. I'd like to get  

the duck spring rolls. Waitress: All right. 

Vanessa: Also, a big Greek salad. Waitress: All right. 

Vanessa: You heard, "What can I get for  you?" She said, "What can I get for you?"  

This is a common restaurant expression when  you're ordering on the phone. She wants to  

know what are you going to order. This is  similar to the phrase. "How can I help you?"  

But usually we hear, "What can I get for you?"  At a restaurant, and "How can I help you?"  

In a retail store, where you're going to buy  clothes or buy a phone or something like this. 

Notice that in my answer, I used the word "the",  before my order, this is extremely common in a  

restaurant. I said, "the duck spring rolls.",  "I'd like to order the duck spring rolls." I'm  

talking about a specific item on the menu. So,  you might say, as you were looking at the menu,  

even in a fast food restaurant, you might  say, "Oh, I'd like to order the number five  

pork dumplings." Okay. You're talking about  that specific item, the number five. All right.  

Now we're going to listen to that clip one more  time. Listen for "What can I get for you?" And my  

answer, "the duck spring rolls." After we listen  to that clip, we're going to immediately listen to  

the next clip. So, get ready. Let's listen. Waitress: Yeah. That's all right.  

What can I get for you? Vanessa: Yes. I'd like to get  

the duck spring rolls. Waitress: All right. 

Vanessa: Also, a big Greek salad. Waitress: All right. 

Vanessa: Also, Enter the Dragon. Waitress: And how did you want that cooked? 

Vanessa: What do you recommend? Waitress: We recommend medium rare to rare. 

Vanessa: Okay. How about medium rare? Waitress: Alrighty. 

Vanessa: There is a lot happening in  this short clip, I ordered a tuna dish,  

and this dish just has a fancy name, "Enter the  Dragon", on their menu. She asked me an important  

question. She said, "How did you want that  cooked?" Notice that she uses the past tense. "How  

did you want that cooked?" And you can  use this equally the same amount as, "How  

do you want that cooked?" She could have asked  me either question and they both would have been  

equally fine. "How did you want that  cooked?", "How do you want that cooked?"  

Sometimes we use these kinds of flexible tenses  to be more polite in these restaurant situations.  

Unless you are working in a restaurant, maybe you  are, you don't need to worry about the tense. It's  

more important to understand the context and how  to answer, but you might hear people say this,  

"How did you want that cooked?"  Or "How do you want that cooked?" 

She's asking about how done or how cooked I want  my tuna. This is often asked for fish like tuna,  

salmon, and sometimes for hamburgers or  steak, which you'll see in just a minute.  

There are different levels of doneness. This is  what we call it, doneness. How much you would like  

it cooked. There is rare, which is basically raw,  very red in the middle. Then we have medium rare,  

pretty red still. Then we have medium, a little  pink in the middle. Then we have medium well,  

just a small amount of pink. And then well done  or well, and this is no pink in the middle,  

this is completely cooked. Usually, this is  not recommended for these types of meats.  

So, what I like to do is what you just saw. I  like to ask the restaurant what they recommend. 

You're welcome to do this too. This is very  common in a restaurant. I want to know what the  

chef or what the restaurant thinks is the best  amount of doneness for the meat. I don't want it  

overcooked. I don't want it undercooked. I want  them to make the best decision here. Of course,  

if you have some special diet needs, then you  can say what you want and it's not going to  

offend the restaurant. If they say, "We recommend  medium." And you say, "Oh, no, no, no, I don't  

want any red. I want it to be well done." That's  fine. They'll do what you want. The customer is  

always right. But for me, I like to ask what they  recommend. You also heard me say this phrase,  

"How about medium rare?". "How about", why  did I say this? Usually, we use "how about"  

to give a polite suggestion to other people. For example, you might say to your friends,  

"How about we go to the beach this afternoon?"  And you're just giving a suggestion. You're  

not saying, "We have to go to the beach."  You're just giving a suggestion. Does it  

seem a little bit strange that the customer  would give a suggestion to the restaurant?  

Because they will do whatever I want. I'm the  customer. This is very normal. Why do I need to  

give a suggestion? Well, I'm just being polite.  This is a common phrase that we use when we're in  

these type of restaurant or store situations. Let's imagine that you're trying on a shirt  

in a store and you like the shirt, but you don't  exactly like the color. So, the employee comes  

to you and says, "Can I get that for you in  a different color?" You might say, "Yeah.  

How about red?" You're suggesting, "I would like  to try this shirt, but in a different color",  

you might say, "Yeah. How about red?" Or you  could also say, "Do you have red? I'd like to try  

red." But we often use this lovely expression, how  about. "How about medium rare?", "How about red?"  

Great. All right. Let's watch that clip one  more time. I want you to listen carefully for  

how she asked me about how I want it cooked, how I  answered, how I said, "how about", and then we're  

going to go on to the next clip where I'm also  going to continue my order. Listen carefully. 

Also, Enter the Dragon. Waitress:  

And how did you want that cooked? Vanessa: What do you recommend? 

Waitress: We recommend medium rare to rare. Vanessa: Okay. How about medium rare? 

Waitress: Alrighty. Vanessa: And finally,  

the Gustavo's Gourmet Hamburger Steak. 

Waitress: All right. Wonderful.  And how would you like that cooked? 

Vanessa: What do you think? You  think medium well is normal for that? 

Waitress: Most people go for medium on that one. Vanessa: Okay. Let's just do medium then. 

All right. In this clip, I finished ordering  all of the food that I was going to get  

because I... You'll see later, I have a gift  certificate. So, I decided to order a lot of  

food because I wouldn't really need to pay for it.  But did you notice in this clip, if you did not,  

when we watch it again, please try to notice. I  said, "the", in front of my order, "the Gustavo's  

Hamburger Steak". The, because I'm talking  about a specific item on their menu.  

When I asked her about what is normal  for the doneness of the hamburger steak,  

she said, "Most people go for medium on that  one." Do you know this phrasal verb, "to go  

for"? "Most people go for medium on this one." It is extremely common to use this phrasal verb  

in restaurants. When you are ordering something,  you might say, "All right, I'm going to go for the  

tuna and the steak.", "I'm going to go for the  salad.". "I'm going to go for", this just means to  

choose. "I'm going to choose that one." But we use  this phrasal verb a lot when we're ordering in a  

restaurant. All right, let's watch that clip again  and go on to the next clip. Listen carefully. 

And finally, the Gustavo's  Gourmet Hamburger Steak. 

Waitress: All right. Wonderful.  And how would you like that cooked? 

Vanessa: What do you think? You  think medium well is normal for that? 

Waitress: Most people go for medium on that one. Vanessa: Okay. Let's just do medium then. 

Waitress: Alrighty. And anything else for you? Vanessa: That's all. 

Waitress: All right. So, that's the duck spring  rolls. The Greek salad. The tuna, cooked medium  

rare. Then the Gustavo, cooked medium? Vanessa: Yes. That's it. 

Here, she is repeating my order to make sure that  I got everything correct. I think this is a common  

practice around the world in restaurants. It seems  like a good idea, right? But I used two phrases  

with the word "that", they're slightly different.  So, I want to help you understand them and also  

use them because we use them all the time,  like a lot of expressions from this video. So,  

when she asks, "Anything else for you?" She's  wanting to know, are you going to order anything  

else? "Anything else for you?" And I said,  "That's all." That's all, means I'm finished.  

There is no more. This is the end. That's all.  It's not rude to say, it is extremely helpful,  

in fact, to say, "Anything else I can get  for you.", "Nope. That's all. Thank you."  

After she listed all of the things that I  ordered, I said, "That's it." That's it. 

"Yes. That's it." How is this different from  "That's all."? Well here, I'm telling her,  

"You got it, correct. That's it." This is common  in other situations too, not just restaurants.  

This is very useful for you, as an English  learner. If you're having a conversation and  

you forget a word, which happens to us  all, even for native English speakers,  

this happens too, you might be talking  about an experience you had driving.  

"I was driving down the street, and then a dog ran  into the road and I didn't want to hit the dog.  

So, I turned my car and I ran into a... What's  that word? The thing on the side of the road,  

it goes down. Rain is in it sometimes." And your  friend might say, "A ditch, you ran into a ditch." 

And here you can use our key expression. You can  say, "That's it. Yes. I ran into a ditch." You're  

letting that person know, with enthusiasm, that  they got it correct. That was the word that you  

were thinking of. So, here I used "that's it" to  tell her, "You got my order, correct. Yep. That's  

it." Or you can tell your friend, "That's it. You  understood the word that I was trying to say."  

All right, let's go back and watch this  clip and then go on to the next clip. 

Waitress: Alrighty. And anything else for you? Vanessa: That's all. 

Waitress: All right. So, that's the duck spring  rolls. The Greek salad. The tuna, cooked medium  

rare. Then the Gustavo, cooked medium? Vanessa: Yes, that's it. 

Waitress: All right. Perfect.  We'll have this ready for pickup  

in probably about 15 minutes. Is that okay? Vanessa: Yes. I have a quick question though,  

I was given a gift certificate  to Stoney Knob. When I pay,  

should I just bring that  with me or what should I do? 

Because I don't order pickup very often. I wasn't  sure what this restaurant wanted to do. I didn't  

know if they wanted me to pay over the phone,  sometimes they'll ask for your card number over  

the phone, or if they wanted me to just pay when  I went to the restaurant. So, that's why I asked,  

and because I had a gift certificate, I wasn't  sure what their process was. So, I simply asked  

them, "What should I do?" And this is good  news for you because maybe there's multiple  

cultural practices that you're not sure  about. It is no problem to ask. I asked,  

you saw me ask, I didn't know what to do. This  is my home country. I feel familiar with a lot  

of the customs, but there's still things  that I don't know too. And I want to make  

sure that I'm being polite to that restaurant. So, I just asked, "What should I do?" And I  

also... Because it's a gift certificate, I wanted  them to be aware of this, in case there were any  

little rules about the gift certificate, sometimes  gift certificates or gift cards have rules like,  

you need to go into the store to pay, or you  need to spend this much money to use it. So,  

I just wanted them to be aware so that there  were no surprises when I went to pick up my food.  

All right. Let's watch this clip  and then go on to our next one. 

Waitress: All right. Perfect. We'll have  this ready for pickup in probably about  

15 minutes. Is that okay? Vanessa: Yes. I have a quick question though,  

I was given a gift certificate to  Stoney Knob. When I pay, should I  

just bring that with me or what should I do? Waitress: Yeah. Just bring it with you and we'll  

be able to... We can just take it from you. You  can either come in to pay with it, or we can just  

take it from you in the car and do it inside. Vanessa: Okay. 

Waitress: So, either way, yeah.  But just bring it with you. 

Vanessa: In this clip, she's giving me two  options. One option is, I can go into the  

restaurant and pay for the food when I arrive, or  they will come to my car, take my payment, go in,  

make the payment and bring it back to me. There  are two options. She uses a lovely expression  

here. She says, "either way", you can use this  in so many situations in daily life. If you and  

your friend are going to drive to the beach, and  you're not sure whose car you're going to take,  

you might say, "Well, should you drive, or should  I?" And your friend might say, "I don't know,  

either way is fine with me." Or if your friend  says, "Well, do you want to cook tonight,  

or do you want to go to a restaurant?" You  might say, "Oh, either way is fine with me."  

Either way. Both of these are okay with you,  either way. All right, let's go and watch  

this clip again and then go on to our next one. Waitress: Yeah. Just bring it with you and we'll  

be able to... We can just take it from you. You  can either come in to pay with it, or we can just  

take it from you in the car and do it inside. Vanessa: Okay. 

Waitress: So, either way, yeah.  But just bring it with you. 

Vanessa: Okay. I should just  give you a call when I get there? 

Waitress: Yes, ma'am. That would be great. Vanessa: I live in the South of the U.S. and it is  

quite common to use the term "ma'am", even though  I'm probably not that much older than she is. I'm  

not her mother or her grandmother, but it's still  polite in the South to say "ma'am". So, if someone  

asks me a question, I might say, "Oh, yes, ma'am,  that's right." If I'm talking on the phone to my  

bank, or even if I go into a restaurant, I might  say that or into the bank, this is polite, but it  

is not necessary. If you say this in the North  or in the West or in the Midwest of the U.S.,  

I don't think this is as common,  but in the South of the U.S.,  

when you say "ma'am", this is only for women, just  to let you know, when you say "ma'am", to a woman,  

or "yes, sir", to a man, their eyes get all  sparkly and lit up because you're being so polite. 

And in Southern culture, where I live, this  is kind of what children are taught. They're  

taught that when you say "Yes, ma'am. Yes,  sir." You're being polite to older people,  

but even in restaurant situations,  when there's not a big age difference,  

this is still a polite situation with a store  and a customer. So, you're going to hear those  

expressions if you visit the South of the U.S.  Please don't feel like you need to use, ma'am,  

when you're talking with people on a daily basis,  but I just wanted you to know why she said "ma'am"  

to me on the phone. All right. Let's watch that  clip one more time and then go on to our next one. 

Okay. I should just give  you a call when I get there? 

Waitress: Yes, ma'am. That would be great. Vanessa: All right. 

Waitress: And, let me see.  What's the name for your order? 

Vanessa: Vanessa. Waitress: And a phone number? 

Vanessa: It's (412)... Did you hear that question she asked?  

"What's the name for the order?" Why didn't she  ask me, "What's your name?" She wants to know who  

can they write on the receipt or on the ticket  so they could deliver it to the right person  

in their car. But why didn't she ask me  "What's your name?" She could have said that,  

and you might hear that sometimes for pickup  orders, but it's a little bit more common to hear,  

"What's the name for the order?" Because maybe I'm  not going to be the person who picks up the order.  

Maybe it's going to be someone else. Maybe I'm  making an order for someone else. For some reason,  

this expression is just more common in restaurant  situations, when you're making an order. 

"What's the name for the order?" It  feels a little more indirect, too.  

Not too personal like, "What's your name? I want  be your friend." It's a little more separated. So,  

you feel like it's a professional situation.  They're only asking for a business reason,  

not for a personal reason. "What's the name  for the order?" And I just told her my name.  

Okay. Let's watch that little clip again, and then  we will finish this first conversation in the next  

clip. All right. Take a deep breath. Let's watch. Waitress: And, let me see. What's the name  

for your order? Vanessa: Vanessa. 

Waitress: And a phone number? Vanessa: It's (412)... 

Waitress: All right. And so, if you don't mind,  just give us a call when you pull in. We'll bring  

it out to you and get the gift card and all that. Vanessa: Okay. Thank you so much. 

Waitress: No problem. We'll see you then. Vanessa: Bye. 

Waitress: All right. Bye-bye. Vanessa: She uses another polite expression here,  

"if you don't mind, just give us a call when you  pull in." This phrase, "If you don't mind." Is  

lovely to use in business situations, or  just any time that you want to be polite.  

You might ask your co-worker, "If you don't mind,  can you send me an email when you're all done?"  

If you don't mind. Or maybe my husband  already has a long list of things that he's  

going to make at the grocery store, or things  that he's going to buy at the grocery store,  

and as he's leaving the door, I might say, "Oh,  wait. If you don't mind, can you pick up another  

bag of apples?" This is a little bit... Maybe  a little bit inconvenient for him because  

he already has a list, he's about to leave.  So, I just want to use this polite expression.  

You don't always need to use it, but there are  many situations when you can, just to be polite. 

Did you recognize that she used a phrasal verb at  the end of her question? To pull in. Do you know  

what that means? "Just give us a call when you  pull in." This is talking about my car arriving  

to the parking lot. That means that I have arrived  at the restaurant. You might use this phrasal verb  

to text your friend, or to call your friend, when  you are meeting her at a store, for example. You  

might say, "Hey, I'll be in, in a minute. I just  pulled in." That means that your car just arrived  

in the parking lot. This is especially if you're  driving. If you're taking the bus, you might say,  

"Yeah, the bus just pulled in. I'll be there in  just a second." But we use it more often for when  

we're driving. "I just pulled in. I'll be inside  in a minute." All right. We have successfully made  

an order on the phone, but we need to pick it up.  So, there's a couple more clips that I'd like to  

show you so that you can successfully pick up  food in English. Let's watch the first clip. 

Hey, so sorry. Waitress: No, you're fine. 

Vanessa: I was coming to pick up a pickup order. Waitress: Okay. What was the name? 

Vanessa: Vanessa. Waitress: Vanessa. Okay,  

I'll go see if that's ready. Vanessa: Thank you. 

I used the phrase. "I was coming to pick up a  pickup order." You see how I use this as a verb,  

to pick up. And then also as a noun, a  pickup order. It's the same idea here,  

but I used an interesting verb tense. I said, "I  was coming." Do you notice how this is the past?  

We saw this earlier as well, that we sometimes  are a little bit more fluid in tenses when we're  

being extra polite, but it is no problem to say,  "I'm picking up a pickup order." In the present  

tense. "I am picking up an order." Or "I'm  here to pick up a pickup order." No problem.  

There's a couple of different expressions we  can use. And that's just the one that I chose. 

I'm not sure it's the same for your country  nowadays, but in the U.S., we are still required  

or suggested to wear a mask in face-to-face  conversations that are close together,  

especially in these kind of public situations like  restaurants and stores, these types of things. So,  

for her, she, probably a little bit uncomfortable,  she needs to wear her mask during her whole work  

day. But for me, only when I'm interacting with  the customer, is this type of thing... Or with  

the employee, is this type of thing necessary. I'm  curious what it's like in your country right now.  

Let me know in the comments, what that's like. All  right. Let's watch that clip one more time. I want  

you to listen carefully for my wonderful phrase,  and then we're going to watch the next clip. 

Hey, so sorry. Waitress: No, you're fine. 

Vanessa: I was coming to pick up a pickup order. Waitress: Okay. What was the name? 

Vanessa: Vanessa. Waitress: Vanessa. Okay,  

I'll go see if that's ready. Vanessa: Thank you. 

Waitress: The total is going to be 65.27. Vanessa:  

Okay. I have my... It's a gift certificate  that someone gave me, and my card. 

Waitress: All right. I'll be right back. Vanessa: Thanks so much. 

Did you notice that she told me the total for  my order, but she didn't use the word "dollar"?  

She said "That's going to be 65.27." This is a lot  more than I normally spend at a restaurant, maybe  

double the amount that I normally  spend, but I had a gift certificate.  

So, I felt like it was okay to splurge a it.  Usually eating out at a local restaurant is not  

that expensive. At least in my city. If you come  to visit a small town in the U.S., don't worry,  

it's usually not that expensive, but I thought  that it would be a fun time to splurge a bit. 

So, I want you to know that when she was telling  me the amount of money, she didn't say "dollar",  

she only said the number, 65.27. If you'd  like to practice some big numbers in English,  

like hotel numbers, phone numbers, dates,  these types of things. I made a whole video,  

just specifically for how to say big numbers in  English. It can be a little bit complex. We have  

a lot of different expressions for this. So, you  can check out that lesson up here if you want to  

dive deeper into it. All right. Let's watch that  clip one more time and then go onto the next one. 

Waitress: The total is going to be 65.27. Vanessa:  

Okay. I have my... it's a gift certificate  that someone gave me, and my card. 

Waitress: All right. I'll be right back. Vanessa: Thanks so much. 

Waitress: All right, and if  you could sign these for us. 

Vanessa: Yes. Do you guys have a lot of  people come in to do pickup like this? 

Waitress: Yeah. Vanessa: That's awesome. 

Do you know why I asked her, "Do you have people  coming in for pickup orders like this often?"  

Why did I ask her that? It's not necessary,  but sometimes I kind of like to have a little  

small talk at a grocery store or at a restaurant,  because I'm curious about what their experience  

is like. So, if I'm at the grocery store, I might  ask. "Yeah. Have you guys been really busy today?"  

Or just some kind of question to ask about them.  Maybe it's not appreciated by them. Maybe it is.  

I don't know, but it's just something interesting  for me. But I want to talk about one expression  

that we used here so that you can use it too.  She said, "If you could sign these for us."  

If you could, this is extremely polite. We  often use the full expression. "If you could  

sign these for us, it would be great." "It would be great." Is used at the end,  

make sure that you use "would". "It would be  great." This is using a, if, type of sentence.  

"If you could sign these, that would be great."  But she cut off that end part. It is implied  

or understood. I knew what she meant. That's  perfectly fine. It's very normal to do that. But  

at the beginning, she's asking me to do something.  Do you know what she's asking me to sign?  

This is the receipt. She's asking me to sign  it because I used my debit card, but also  

I needed to write a tip on the receipt.  And there's a spot on the receipt. It says,  

"The total", and then underneath that, there's  a line that says, "Tip", and then beyond that,  

it says, "Total". So, you have to do a little  math, but usually in the U.S., it is common,  

even for pickup orders where there's not  a normal server, to give 20% for a tip. 

So, the easiest way to do this is to take  the first number. So, for in my case, that's  

6 and to double it, which is 12. And because  it was 65, I could add an extra dollar. So,  

I could give her a $13 tip, or you can  give more if you want to be extra generous.  

Or if the service is not too good, you can  give less, but 20% is expected. This is a...  

Kind of an annoying custom in the U.S. because  all of a sudden your bill gets a lot higher,  

but it is necessary. And it's pretty rude,  extremely rude, if you don't give a tip.  

In fact, for this server, my tip is the only  money that she's going to make. The restaurant  

doesn't really pay her. I think they pay her like  $2 an hour. It just covers some basic fees, but it  

doesn't really go to her, kind of, tax money. But my money, your tip money, is the money,  

the only salary that the server will make. This  is very different from other countries. So,  

keep this in mind, as you are tipping your server.  For me, I've been a server for a part-time job,  

many times in high school and in college.  So, I know that tips are very important  

for servers. And if I can be extra generous  for a tip, I always try to do this.  

That's just something that's appreciated. So,  I wrote the tip amount. Then I did some math  

to see how much it would cost in total, and I  gave it back to her. A quick note about a gift  

certificate. If you have a gift certificate or  a gift card, for me, my total was $67 and I had  

a $50 gift card, but I gave a 20% tip based on the  total amount, not based on the amount that I paid. 

So, I gave a 20% tip from $67. Not from the  amount that I paid. This is important because  

there's some complicated stuff that goes on in  the restaurant where you should... In the end,  

you should give a 20% tip based on the total  amount. Even if you have a gift card, even if  

you have a coupon, gift certificate, any of this,  based on the total amount. All right, let's go  

on to our final clip. We're going to watch that  clip one more time, then go on to our final clip.  

Take a deep breath. Let's watch. Waitress: All  

right, and if you could sign these for us. Vanessa: Yes. Do you guys have a lot of people  

come in to do pick up like this? Waitress: Yeah. 

Vanessa: That's awesome. Cool.  

And I don't need that back, I  have to give that to you guys. 

Waitress: Yeah. All right. Here you are. Sorry. Vanessa: Great. Thanks so much. 

Waitress: Thank you. Vanessa:  

In this clip, she said, "Here you are." Is she  saying, I am in the car? "Here you are, in the  

car." No, instead, this is common when you hand  someone something from a store, from a restaurant,  

these type of situations. She could also have  said, "Here you go." They both mean exactly the  

same thing. "Here you go.", "Here you are." If you  go to a store and the cashier gives you a bag that  

has your dress, that you just purchased in it, the  cashier might say, "Here you go, have a nice day."  

They're just handing you the bag, that's a common  expression for giving someone something. Here  

you go. Here you are. All right, let's watch that  clip. One final time. Are you ready? Let's do it. 

And I don't need that back, I  have to give that to you guys. 

Waitress: Yeah. All right. Here you are. Sorry. Vanessa: Great. Thanks so much. 

Waitress: Thank you. Vanessa: Thanks so much for  

joining me as I ordered food on the phone and  picked it up. I hope that you learned a lot of  

useful daily expressions in this lesson. And  now I have a question for you. In the comments,  

let me know. How often do you eat in a  restaurant? Or you can use the phrasal verb,  

how often do you eat out? Let me know in the  comments and thank you so much for learning  

English with me. I'll see you again next Friday  for a new lesson here on my YouTube channel.  

Bye. And now my family is enjoying our food as  a little picnic on our back deck. It was so nice  

to not cook, to not clean up dishes, and to just  be able to enjoy this special meal as a family. 

The next step is to download my free ebook, 5  Steps To Becoming A Confident English Speaker.  

You'll learn what you need to do  to speak confidently and fluently.  

Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel  for more free lessons. Thanks so much. Bye.