Order Pizza from an American Restaurant

Vanessa: Do you like pizza? I like  

pizza. And today I want to empower you to order  pizza on the phone for delivery in English. Yes,  

you can do it. Hi, I'm Vanessa from  speakenglishwithvanessa.com, and today  

I'm going to take you with me as I order pizza  from a local delivery pizza parlor on the phone,  

and they deliver it to my house. I'm going to  walk you through our conversation step-by-step,  

so that you feel confident and comfortable  doing this yourself. And like always,  

I've created a free PDF worksheet for you with  all of today's key vocabulary, pronunciation,  

tips, tricks, and including the full transcript of  the conversation on the phone where I ordered the  

pizza and the full transcript of the conversation  when he arrives at my door to give me the pizza  

for delivery. I hope this will help you to go  out into the world, order your own pizzas and  

feel confident about it. You can click on the  link in the description to download that free  

PDF worksheet today. It's my pizza gift to you. Let's listen to the first clip of the conversation  

where I ordered pizza on the phone, and then  we'll pause, and I'll explain a key vocabulary  

expression. Strap on your English helmets.  It's going to be a fast ride. Let's go.

Pizza Worker: Thanks  

for calling Blue Mountain. This  is Nick, how may I help you?

Vanessa: Hi. Yes, I'd like to call in a pizza for delivery.

Pizza Worker: Alrighty. And can I get a number for this order?

Vanessa: Yes, it's-

Pizza Worker: All right.

Vanessa: You did it.  

That was a fast beginning to the conversation,  ordering pizza on the phone. But you know what?  

He used a wonderful fast reduction that I want to  introduce you to. He said this word, all right,  

but it did not sound like that did it. When he  said it, sounded like a'igh. It's just a sound,  

it doesn't even sound like a word, but he was  reducing the word. All right. Which is just  

saying, okay, continue. I understand, but he  reduced it so much that it just sounded like  

a'igh. What we're going to do now is we're  going to watch that clip again, and then go  

on to the next clip, where I'll explain some more  important vocabulary and pronunciation. Let's go,  

and I want you to listen carefully for that  word or sound that he uses. A'igh, let's watch.

Pizza Worker: Thanks for calling Blue Mountain.  

This is Nick, how may I help you?

Vanessa: Hi. Yes, I'd like to call in a pizza for delivery.

Pizza Worker: Alrighty. And can I get a number for this order?

Vanessa: Yes, it's-

Pizza Worker: All right.

Vanessa: I'd like to-

Pizza Worker: Can I get an address?

Vanessa: Oh, yes, yes. It's-

Pizza Worker: One second, okay?

Vanessa: No problem. In this clip,  

I thought that he was pausing so that I could give  him my order, but really he was just dealing with  

all of the busyness at the pizza shop too, so  there was a little miscommunication, but no big  

deal. Instead, I want to introduce you to the  question that he asked me. So the full question  

is this. Can you give me one second, okay? And  that means just please wait, I'm really busy. Can  

you give me one second, okay? But he doesn't say  this full question. Instead, he reduces it a lot,  

just like the previous expression we talked  about. Instead, he just says the end. One second,  

okay? One second, okay? He says just this end  part, and I know, especially because I could  

hear the noise in the background. I know he's  really busy, and he just needs me to pause. 

That often happens when you call in an order on  the phone. And how did I respond? I just said,  

no problem, no problem. This is just a  simple way to acknowledge it's not a big  

deal to wait because you're busy. I'll still  be here on the phone. No problem. All right,  

let's watch that clip that you just saw,  plus we're going to add on a little bit  

more. I want you to listen carefully for  the phrase we just talked about. One second,  

okay? Listen carefully for that, and then  we'll move on. All right. I'd like to-

Pizza Worker: Can I get an address?

Vanessa: Oh, yes, yes. It's-

Pizza Worker: One second, okay?

Vanessa: No problem.

Pizza Worker: Could you spell that for me?

Vanessa: Yeah, the road name?

Pizza Worker: Uh-huh.

Vanessa: It's-

Pizza Worker: Road or drive?

Vanessa: Road. In this clip, he asked me to spell the  

road name. I wasn't exactly sure what he wanted me  to spell. He asked this question, could you spell  

that for me? But before that he didn't say, your  road name, could you spell that for me? I wanted  

to make sure that I was spelling the correct  thing, so I asked him the road name? And he said,  

uh-huh. So if you need to ask for clarification  on the phone, of course it's no problem. It's  

best that your road name, your phone number, all  of those things are as clear as possible, and that  

the other person really understands it or else  you're not going to get your pizza. So if you  

don't feel completely comfortable saying out loud  the letters of the alphabet and correctly spelling  

your address, especially if you are visiting  the US, and maybe you are staying in an Airbnb  

in the countryside of North Carolina, the state  where I live, and you think I don't know how to  

spell this road name, well, never fear. I have created an English lesson to help  

you say the letters of the alphabet correctly and  clearly. It's also fun. It includes my son, Theo.  

You can watch it here just to kind of brush up on  those skills so that you can spell accurately on  

the phone, and you don't have someone else end up  with your pizza, because they understood the wrong  

street name. All right, let's watch that clip  again, and then we'll go on to the next section.

Pizza Worker: Could you spell that for me?

Vanessa: Yeah, the road name?

Pizza Worker: Uh-huh.

Vanessa: Yeah, it's-

Pizza Worker: Road or drive?

Vanessa: Road.

Pizza Worker: Road. All right,  

I got you in there now. All  right, what can I get for you?

Vanessa: In this section,  

you heard him say, I got you in  there now. Where am I in now? Well,  

he's talking about accurately having my  address in their system, so he could have said,  

I got your address in the system correctly now,  because he asked a couple of times how to spell  

it. Is it road or street? He asked a couple  questions, and he wanted to confirm. Yes, okay,  

I have your address correctly in the system, but  that's very formal. And this guy, he seems very  

happy and jolly. He's not a very formal guy, and  that's often how it is at a restaurant. They're  

just going to be casual and comfortable. So he  said, I got you, meaning your order in there,  

meaning the system now, and now I could tell him  my order. So let's watch the next clip and see  

what my order is, and we can talk a little  bit about some of the important vocabulary.

Pizza Worker: Road or drive?

Vanessa: Road.

Pizza Worker: Road. All right,  

I got you in there now. All  right, what can I get for you?

Vanessa: Okay,  

I'd like to get a large pizza with  three different toppings on it.

Pizza Worker: Alrighty.

Vanessa: Pepperoni, bell, peppers and mushrooms, please.

Pizza Worker: Green or red?

Vanessa: Red.

Pizza Worker: 

All right, let's see. Red pepper.  And what was the other topping?

Vanessa: Pepperoni,  

bell pepper and mushrooms in this section.  I gave him my order and I told him I wanted  

three toppings. Did you pick up what I said?  I said I wanted pepperoni, bell peppers and  

mushrooms. Bell peppers are a non spicy type  of pepper that are often on pizzas in the US,  

and he asked me a very interesting question. He  said green or red? Well, if you just ordered these  

three items, would you know why he was asking me  green or red? Is he talking about green or red  

pepperonis peppers or mushrooms? Well, he's asking  me if I want green or red bell peppers. To me,  

it didn't make much of a difference, so I said  red. Okay. It wasn't very important to me,  

but that's a question that they might ask. They  might ask you to clarify about the items that  

you've chosen to put on your pizza. All right,  let's watch that clip again and then move on to  

the next one. Okay, I'd like to get a large  pizza with three different toppings on it.

Pizza Worker: Alrighty.

Vanessa: Pepperoni, bell peppers and mushrooms, please.

Pizza Worker: Green or red?

Vanessa: Red.

Pizza Worker: All right, let's see. Red  

pepper. And what was the other topping?

Vanessa: Pepperoni, bell pepper and mushrooms.

Pizza Worker: Mushrooms. Alrighty. Anything else for you today?

Vanessa: Is it possible  

to buy some extra marinara on the side?

Pizza Worker: Yeah, it's like 75 cent if I'm not mistaken.

Vanessa: Yeah, can we add that on please?

Pizza Worker: Yeah.

Vanessa: In this clip I asked for an add-on that  

means something extra on top of my main order,  and I wanted to have a marinara, which is a tomato  

sauce, dipping sauce for our pizza. And I asked  if that was something that I could add on, and he  

used a very interesting phrase. He said it's 75  cents, if I'm not mistaken. So he wasn't exactly  

sure if it was 75 cents or not. So he added, if  I'm not mistaken, and this is just a common phrase  

that you can use if you're not completely certain  about something, but you're pretty sure it's  

around 75 cents. And just a little note, sometimes  in the US you will hear people use cents in the  

singular when it should be plural. So he said  it's 75 cent, if I'm not mistaken, technically  

this is a mistake, he should have said it's 75  cents if I'm not mistaken. But this is just an  

example of a time when a native English speaker  makes a mistake because it's socially acceptable. 

It is fine to say this, especially in the south  of the US, where I live. This is a common way of  

expressing cent or cents, even though your grammar  textbook would say it's a mistake. All right,  

let's watch the next clip, and you can see  how we talk about this next. Let's watch.

Pizza Worker: Alrighty, anything else for you today?

Vanessa: Is it possible  

to buy some extra marinara on the side?

Pizza Worker: Yeah, it's like 75 cent if I'm not mistaken.

Vanessa: Yeah, can we add that on please?

Pizza Worker: Yeah. And you wanted what now? The marinara?

Vanessa: Yeah, just an extra marinara.

Pizza Worker: Two ounces or four ounces.

Vanessa: Let's go with  

four. In this clip, he asked me if I wanted a two  ounce marinara or a four ounce marinara. Well,  

I decided to go with the larger option, so I said  let's go with the four ounce. Let's go with, this  

is an extremely common phrase for restaurants,  so when you have a couple different options,  

you can just say your answer by adding, let's  go with, for example, if you're sitting down  

in a restaurant and a server says, okay, you  want the sandwich, will you have the option  

of a salad or french fries to go with that?  And you want the french fries, you might say,  

let's go with the french fries. Beautiful phrase.  This is a lovely thing to say. You could just say,  

I want the french fries. Okay. Or you could  use this wonderful phrase and say, let's go  

with the french fries. Yes. Great phrase. All  right, let's watch this clip. And the next one.

Pizza Worker: And you wanted what now? The marinara?

Vanessa: Yeah, just an extra marinara.

Pizza Worker: Two ounces or four ounces?

Vanessa: Let's go with four.

Pizza Worker: Alrighty. All right, anything else for you?

Vanessa: Nope, that's all.

Pizza Worker: All right. With  

taxes and all, that's going to be $32:02, and  we're looking about 25 to 30 minutes right now.

Vanessa: Okay. All right.  

And do I need to pay over the phone,  or should I pay when they get here?

Pizza Worker: Just whenever  

the delivery guys gets there, and it's either  cash or check, no cards or anything like that.

Vanessa: Oh,  

interesting. Okay. All right. That's no problem.

Pizza Worker: All right, thank you so much.

Vanessa: Okay, thank you.

Pizza Worker: Uh-huh. Bye.

Vanessa: Bye. In this final clip,  

he told me the price of the pizza, which I must  say was a lot more expensive than I thought. I've  

never ordered pizza for delivery because, well,  we can just go to the pizza parlor, it's just a  

couple of streets away and pick it up ourselves,  but if you want to order delivery, sometimes it's  

a little more expensive. He told me the price  $32:02. Notice that he said not zero, two. He  

said, O two. This is quite common when talking  about cents. It's going to be $32.02. And then  

he told me how long it's going to be. This is  really important because you need to be ready  

for the pizza, you need to have your money ready,  and of course you need to be at home waiting for  

it. So he used a wonderful phrasal verb. We're  looking at about 20 to 30 minutes, we're looking  

at 50 minutes, we're looking at, you're not  really using your eyeballs to look at that time. 

He's just using this to let you know the  average amount of time that you're going to  

have to wait until they arrive at your door. When  he said, we're looking at about 20 to 30 minutes,  

I was kind of surprised that seemed really fast.  Maybe I ordered at just the right time, so that  

they weren't too busy, and they could get the  pizza relatively quickly. So this is a wonderful  

phrase that you can use, we're looking at when  you're trying to give an estimate for amount of  

time or an amount of money. All right, now that  we have ordered the pizza, we're going to watch  

that final clip again, and then you'll see them  arrive at my door, and we have a little exchange,  

and we'll talk about a couple other expressions  that you'll hear in this section. Let's watch.

Pizza Worker: All right, anything else for you?

Vanessa: Nope, that's all.

Pizza Worker: All right. With  

taxes and all, that's going to be $32:02, and  we're looking about 25 to 30 minutes right now.

Vanessa: Okay. All right.  

And do I need to pay over the phone,  or should I pay when they get here?

Pizza Worker: Just whenever  

the delivery guy gets there, and it's either  cash or check, no cards or anything like that.

Vanessa: Oh,  

interesting. Okay. All right. That's no problem.

Pizza Worker: All right, thank you so much.

Vanessa: Okay, thank you.

Pizza Worker: Uh-huh. Bye,

Vanessa: Bye. Just  

a second. I'm getting my  check. Hello. Thanks so much.

Speaker 3: Of course. $32.02.

Vanessa: Okay,  

let me set this in here. And I'm writing an  old fashioned check, but this tip is for you.

Speaker 3: Oh, thank you.

Vanessa: I know we're just really close to you guys,  

but with three kids it's very handy. All right.  In this clip, the pizza delivery guy arrived at  

my door and handed me the precious pizza. When  I said, thanks so much, he said a great phrase,  

you have to listen carefully for. Of course, of  course. This is a really common response to just  

saying thank you. It means it's not a big deal.  Of course, of course. It's my pleasure to do this.  

So if you do something kind for someone else,  and they say, thank you so much, and for you,  

it was something that it was a pleasure to do, it  wasn't a big deal, and you want to let them know,  

you can use this phrase, of course,  of course. I do want to give you a  

quick cultural note that I gave him a cash tip. In the US, it's really common to give at least  

20% tip. I gave him a little bit more because he  delivered it to our house, but I gave him a cash  

tip because generally a server will appreciate,  they'll appreciate whatever money you give them,  

but they'll definitely appreciate a cash tip,  because most people just pocket that tip. That  

means they put it in their pocket, and they don't  have to account for it in their taxes, and they  

get to keep all of that money. So generally when  I give a tip, I try to give minimum 20%. If it's  

a special service like delivery, I give over 20%,  and I give it to them in cash if I can. If you  

don't have enough cash to give a 20% tip, don't  worry about it. A card or in this case a check,  

it's very uncommon to use a check in the US.  That's why I was very surprised. But any kind of  

tip that you give will be appreciated, especially  cash. All right, let's watch the final section  

where I get the pizza delivered. Just a second.  I'm getting my check. Hello. Thanks so much.

Speaker 3: Yeah, of course. It's going to be $32:02.

Vanessa: Okay. Let me  

set this in here. And I am writing an old  fashioned check, but this tip is for you.

Speaker 3: Oh, thank you.

Vanessa: I know we're just really close to  

you guys, but three kids, it's very handy. $32:02.  Theo, you want to bring that pizza to the deck?

Theo: We are going to use our clip.

Vanessa: Oh, to make the bonfire. Okay. 32. Okie-dokie.

Speaker 3: Well, thank you. You have a good rest of your day.

Vanessa: Thanks so much. You  

too. In this final section, I got the pizza. I  wrote the check, and when he was saying goodbye,  

he used an interesting phrase, that's another  reduction. He could have said, I hope you have  

a good rest of your day. Rest means the end of  your day. I hope you have a good rest of your  

day. But instead, he cut off the first two words,  I hope. And instead he said, you have a good rest  

of your day. It kind of sounds like a command.  You better have a good rest of your day or else,  

but, of course, he didn't say it with that kind of  violence. So it's just a kind expression to say,  

I hope that you have a good rest of your day. And  it's a really common thing to say. And you see  

that he said this to me, a complete stranger, when  he was saying goodbye after delivering the pizza. 

All right, we have made it to the end of this  experience, ordering pizza on the phone for  

delivery. Let's watch that final clip again, and I  want you to listen carefully for that phrase that  

he said to say goodbye to me. Let's watch. $32:02.  Theo, you want to bring that pizza to the deck?

Theo: We are going to use our clip.

Vanessa: Oh, to make the bonfire. Okay. 32. Okie-dokie.

Speaker 3: Well, thank you. You have a good rest of your day.

Vanessa: Thanks so much. You too. Great work of making  

it through this conversation where I ordered pizza  on the phone, got it delivered, and now it's time  

to eat it. You made it. Let's take off that  fast English-speaking helmet, and you can take  

a breather. I want to encourage you that when you  visit the US, and I hope that you get the chance  

to, I highly recommend ordering pizza from a local  pizza restaurant. Yes, you can order from Pizza  

Hut or Papa Johns or these chain restaurants that  exist all over the US. You can just order them  

online, click a couple of buttons and the pizza  will arrive at your house. But if you want to get  

a real taste for local pizza, I highly recommend  looking up on the website, yelp.com. This is  

where people in the US will go to give reviews  for local restaurants or any kind of business. 

And you can see what are some of the highly rated  local pizza restaurants in the area that you're  

staying. And you can order on the phone. Use this  lesson as your confidence boost, practice it in  

advance so that you can be ready, and don't be  afraid to ask the question, what did you say? Can  

you say that a little slower, please? That's no  problem. The goal is that you can order a pizza,  

you get it delivered to the right place, and that  you get to eat it and have a wonderful time. Well,  

don't forget to download the free PDF worksheet  for today's important pizza lesson. It includes  

all of the key vocabulary, sample sentences, and  the full transcript for my entire conversation on  

the phone and at the door when I got the pizza  delivered. You can go over that conversation in  

detail and make sure that you understand it all,  and you can feel confident getting your own pizza. 

You can click on the link in the description to  download that free PDF worksheet today and go eat  

pizza. Well, thank you so much for learning  English with me, and I'll see you again next  

Friday for a new lesson here on my YouTube  channel. Bye. But wait, do you want more? I  

recommend watching this video next where I order  food from a restaurant on the phone, and then I  

go to pick it up at the restaurant myself. What  happens when you have a coupon and a discount,  

and you pick it up at the restaurant? Well,  watch that video to find out. I'll see you there.