How to Order Food in English

There are many topics that need to be studied to engage in daily conversations. One of those topics is how to order food in English.

To be able to order in English, you need to be familiar with food vocabulary in English, expressions to order food and some grammar structures.



Vocabulary to Order Food in English

This is a list of important vocabulary to order food in a restaurant or similar places.

EggsCheeseburger
ToastCoffee
Chicken SoupTea
SaladSoft Drinks
Slice of Pizza

Phrases to Order to Food in English

These are some common phrases to order food in English divided in two categories:

  • Questions by the people who work in a restaurant
  • Questions by people who order the food

These are some of the most important questions made by the people who work in a restaurant

  1. Would you like to start with a drink?
  2. Would you like to taste the wine?
  3. Can I take your order?
  4. Are you ready to order?
  5. Can I get you a drink?
  6. Can I get a drink for you all?
  7. Would you all like to order a drink now?
  8. What  drinks would you like?
  9. Do you have question about the menu?
  10. Do you want the combo meal?
  11. How would you like your meat cooked?
  12. How would you like your eggs cooked

These are some of the questions made by the people who order food in a Restaurant

  1. What would you recommend?
  2. What are the specialities?
  3. What are today’s specials?
  4. Can we have the bill, please?
  5. Can we have the check, please?
  6. What do you have?
  7. Can we have a table for two?

These are some useful sentences to Order Food in English

  1. Hi, Welcome to Applebee’s
  2. I’d like a cheese pizza, please.
  3. I’m going to have the eggs and toast.
  4. I’ll get the coconut ice cream.
  5. I‘ll take the burger
  6. I’m going to take the hot chocolate
  7. That will be $8

How to Order Food in English – Dialogue

This is an example of a dialogue that covers how to order food in English

Waiter: Hello, Can I help you?.
Kim: Yes, I’d like to have some lunch.
Waiter: Would you like a starter?
Kim: Yes, I’d like an order of French Fries, please.
Waiter: And what would you like for your main course?
Kim: I’d like a grilled cheese sandwich.
Waiter: Would you like anything to drink?
Kim: Yes, I’d like a glass of Coke, please.
Waiter: (After Kim has her lunch.) Can I bring you anything else?
Kim: No thank you. Just the bill.
Waiter: Certainly.
Kim: I don’t have my glasses. How much is the lunch?
Waiter: That’s $6.75.
Kim: Here you are. Thank you very much.
Waiter: You’re welcome. Have a good day.
Kim: Thank you. Same to you.


Lesson Plan: How to Order Food in English

This is a lesson plan that can help you teach students how to order food in English

The lesson in based in the task-based approach and it is divided into

  • Schema Activation
  • Pre-Tasks
  • Main Task
  • Post-Task

Schema Activation

  • Students play a memory game with information about food served in restaurants
  • Students are shown images of food and they have to remember the food items in the order they were shown.

Pre-Task

This is the first pre-task so students can familiarize with some of the expressions

  1. Students are given a list of scrambled questions and statements.
  2. They unscramble the questions and statements
  3. They review the answer orally with other classmates

This is the second pre-task so students can practice asking and answering questions orally

  1. Students make pairs and sit in a back to back position
  2. A classmate is given column A of a matching and another student is given column B
  3. They have to talk to their partners to complete the task.

This is the third pre-task that students can use to create a conversation

  1. Students are given a template of a dialogue with highlighted information
  2. They analyze the dialogue and use it to have a conversation with their partners

Main-Task

  1. Students make groups of 3 
  2. Students grab five strips of paper with some phrases studied during the lesson.
  3. Student prepare and rehearse the dialogue
  4. They do the role play

Post-Task

  1. Teacher reviews some of the most common mistakes made during the first stages of the lesson
  2. Students take a quiz 

More Information & Lessons

These are some of the lessons that you can find in EnglishPost.org and that you might find interesting

  1. How to Make, Accept and Decline Invitations
  2. How to Express Opinions in English
  3. How to Give Directions in English
  4. How to Ask for Clarification in English
  5. How to Express Feelings in English
  6. How to Make Plans in English
Manuel Campos, English Professor

Manuel Campos

I am Jose Manuel, English professor and creator of EnglishPost.org, a blog whose mission is to share lessons for those who want to learn and improve their English