Learn English through the BEST Listening Practice | Talking about RESTAURANTS & EATING OUT

this podcast episode this English lesson is  going to be super useful if you want to learn

common phrases and also get some really good  listening practice because I'm going to talk

about language used and also just what it's like  going to restaurants in the USA and also in the UK

the topic for today is restaurants and the first  phrase I want to teach is eating owl okay to eat

out and this means to go to a restaurant or to  go somewhere to eat so someone might say should

we eat out tonight should we eat out tonight and  that is the most common way to talk about going to

a restaurant especially in the USA and before we  continue with the lesson be sure to subscribe to

the channel or follow if you're listening on  Spotify or apple podcast and then also share

this lesson with a friend so just click that share  button and uh send it to one of your best friends

or a friend who's not your best friend before  we go into the phrases too I want to say from

my experience and this is just my experience in  the UK people don't go to restaurants as much as

people in the United States of America so it's  more common in my opinion to go to a restaurant

when you live in the USA there are also more  International food options available for you

and if you go to the USA too you'll know noticed  there are a lot of Mexican restaurants whereas in

the UK it's more common to see Indian restaurants  but before you even go to a restaurant there's a

little bit of planning involved here you have to  decide where to go if you need a reservation and

also think about the type of food you feel like  eating a super common phrase here is to say where

should we go for dinner tonight where should we  go for dinner tonight before deciding where to

go maybe you need to decide if you want to go  or not so you might ask a question should we

eat out tonight should we eat out tonight or just  have something here and this is when you and your

friend or your partner decide if you want to go to  a restaurant or not if you decide to go you'll say

where should we go where should we go for dinner  tonight someone usually says something like well

I'm in the mood for Italian food I'm in the mood  for this is like saying I feel like having Italian

food or very direct ly I want Italian food I  want to go to an Italian restaurant and then

if you know your restaurants in the town you're  in then usually you have a little brainstorming

session where you say what about this place or  what about that place and this is when you have

a good debate or maybe sometimes even an argument  over where you should go so you'll say what about

that place that we went to to last time what about  this restaurant and then some places you need to

have a reservation it's not always necessary but  some places require a reservation and if you're

deciding just to go out for that evening then  usually you'll go to a place that's not as formal

with the reservations and they always have space  and tables available for you so a question you

might ask here is do we need to book a table or  can we just show up and just show up means go to

the restaurant without booking a table or making  a reservation when you get to your restaurant of

choice after you've done the research you've had  your arguments you've looked on the Google Map for

the reviews you've looked on Google Maps for the  reviews you arrive at the restaurant now sometimes

it's difficult to park at the restaurant some  restaurants in the US have parking and lots of

parking others are on high streets or main streets  where you have to park somewhere else and walk to

the restaurant but you get there you open the  door and there's someone at the front who will

say something like oh do you have a reservation  or how many for so normally you don't make that

first choice of saying something so in a lot  of English courses you'll you'll hear people

say oh when you get to the restaurant you say hi  we have a reservation or do you have a table for

four however in most cases they're going to say  the first thing which is good so they'll say like

for how many or they'll notice that there are  two of you and say for two and then the words

you don't want to hear are something like well  we have a 30 minute wait would you like me to

put your name on a list we have a 30 minute wait  would you like me to put your name on the list

and that's when you have to make the decision  of if you're going to stay at that restaurant

or go somewhere else in most cases I tend to go  somewhere else or I might say is there room at the

bar is there room at the bar and that's when you  can sit at the bar and have your meal there but

luckily in this situation there's a great table  for two by the window so you can people watch

people watch I love people watching it's one of  my favorite things to do and it just means you're

sitting there watching the world go by watching  people do their thing and you can do that if you

get a table by the window like I mentioned before  there are lots of different types of restaurants

and in the US a very common restaurant is the  grill which is similar to the English pub it's

not as good but it's very similar to that where  you're going to get you can think of burgers and

fries and different types of sandwiches you can  also get salads as well and then they have cheap

beer there too those places are more casual  there are also some places as well where you

go order your food at the counter and then you  take a number to your table and they bring the

food over when it's ready but as you probably know  the US is all about service service I'm going to

talk about how this relates to paying later  but usually someone comes over after you're

sat at the table and they'll say hi my name is  Louise and I'll be taking care of you tonight

can I get you started on a drink I tend to order  some type of drink and say can I get a water as

well and sometimes they look at me in a confused  way because they don't understand they say water

I say yeah oh water water and this is the big  pronunciation difference between British and

American English where you say water in the  UK or water water and also in the US it is

water water or something like that and then the  server will also ask are you ready to order or

do you need a few more minutes are you ready  to order or do you need a few more minutes

and for some reason everyone says here I  think we're ready no I think we're ready

not we're ready I think we're ready and this is  just sounding more polite and not as direct to

say no we are ready right now we're saying I  think we're ready and when it's time to order

you'll use a phrase like I'll have the pasta with  chicken please or can I get can I get the burger

but without onions again in the US when your food  comes the server will often come over and say how

is everything how is everything they tend to do  this they usually do this when you're taking your

first bite and your mouth is full of food and then  you have to respond to go like yep it's good it's

good it's good something I hate doing is talking  about or telling the weight staff the servers that

there's a mistake but I I do it so let's say they  bring you broccoli instead of french fries then

I'm going to say something and say excuse me  I ordered fries and didn't order broccoli and

they'll say oh I'm so sorry I'll I'll just go  get you a quick basket of fries right now I'll

be right back then you go on eat your food the  server comes over and they see some empty plates

and they'll say can I get these out of your way  can I get these out of your way which means can I

take these plates away from your table they'll ask  if you want anything else but if you're ready just

uh pay and leave the restaurant in the US you'll  say can we get the check please or could we have

the check please in the UK you'll say can we get  the bill please can we get the bill so check in

American English c h e c k and Bill in British  English the hard part is knowing how much to tip

in the US at the moment it's standard to leave 20%  and although this is not obligatory it's something

that everyone just does it's the custom thing  to do so you add 20% on to how much it costs so

if the meal is $20 you leave $4 if it's 50 you  leave 10 and then you do some math add things

up and then you leave the total amount and sign  the check now often times after the meal or even

during the meal you'll talk about your experience  what you like what you dislike how the food is and

you sometimes you have some regrets as well for  example you might say oh oh I should have ordered

the burger I got a salad but I should have ordered  the burger which means along the lines of I wish

I had ordered the burger the burger would have  been better another one is I should have left a

bigger tip I should have left a bigger tip meaning  that you left a tip that you don't think is enough

maybe you didn't tip enough I should have left  another tip if you didn't enjoy the experience

you might say food was okay but it wasn't worth  the price it wasn't worth the price which means

that the food was too expensive for what it was  it wasn't worth the price you might complain that

you're still hungry and say I'm still hungry Those  portions were way too small Those portions were

way too small which means they didn't give you  enough food on your plate if it was really good

you might say something like that was one of the  best meals I've had in a long time that was one

of the best meals I've had in a long time or the  burger was so good and this is where you really

emphasize the so the Burger was so good people  often talk about the service as well they might

say that server was really rude that server was  really rude or that server was great that server

was great now sometimes instead of eating out  at a restaurant you'll get takeout or in British

English you'll hear takeaway a lot of people use  things like Uber Eats or deliver to have the food

delivered to their home but you can also order uh  restaurants and go pick it up to pick it up it's

very rare that I get take out I prefer to either  cook at home or often times go to a restaurant

but every now and then I'll get takeout and  use an app especially if it's a Friday night

everyone is feeling tired and we just want to get  something easy and then there are also the fast

food restaurants that are very popular in the US  with drive-throughs where you go in your car you

order from your window and then you go to the  next window and your food is delivered this is

very common as well to get coffee especially at  the Starbucks chain there are Starbucks all over

the US and a lot of them have drive-throughs  especially in normaliz cities let's finish the

lesson with three restaurant idioms the first  one is to bite off more than you can chew and

you can imagine somebody eating something in  their mouth but they can't chew it all because

they have put too much food in their mouth now  this is used to mean to take on more than you

can handle so let's say that you have a  job and then you get another job and then

you do some extra freelance work or Contracting  work on the side you might say oh with all this

work I've bitten off more than I can chew I have  bitten off more than I can chew something similar

an idiom similar is have a lot on your plate  to have a lot on your plate so you might say

for example I wanted to go out for dinner but I  have a lot on my plate with work this week and

this means to have a lot of responsibilities or  things to do and lots of tasks to do to have a lot

on your plate and you'll hear people say I have  a lot on my plate at the moment I have a lot on

my plate at the moment and the third one is leave  a bad taste in your mouth to leave a bad taste in

your mouth and this means to leave a negative  impression and talking about a restaurant you

might say that experience left a bad taste in  my mouth I don't think I'll come back I don't

think I'll come back it left a bad taste in my  mouth okay so those are the different restaurant

phrases and the listening practice related  to restaurants what to do now is to take more

lessons with me more podcast episodes and also  if you're on YouTube YouTube explore the YouTube

channel if you're listening on Apple or Spotify  look back at some older episodes and just start

listening to those ones too and just keep learning  English keep going with it listen to these podcast

episodes and take my advice that I talk about  in the description so you can better improve

your English thank you so much for learning  with me and I'll speak to you soon bye for now