How to Order at a Restaurant - Practice

Practice ordering at a restaurant

Lesson Transcript

Let's practice.

Imagine you're Karen Lee, and you're at a restaurant. Get the waiter's attention, and order a coffee.

Ready?

服务员，我要咖啡，谢谢。(Fúwùyuán, wǒ yào kāfēi, xièxie.)

好。马上来。(Hǎo. Mǎshàng lái.)

Listen again and repeat.

服务员，我要咖啡，谢谢。(Fúwùyuán, wǒ yào kāfēi, xièxie.)

Let's try another.

Ask the waiter for some fried rice.

Ready?

服务员，我要炒饭，谢谢。(Fúwùyuán, wǒ yào chǎofàn, xièxie.)

好。马上来。(Hǎo. Mǎshàng lái.)

Listen again and repeat.

服务员，我要炒饭，谢谢。(Fúwùyuán, wǒ yào chǎofàn, xièxie.)

Let's try one more.

Imagine you're Mark Lee, and you'd like a menu.

Ready?

服务员，我要菜单，谢谢。(Fúwùyuán, wǒ yào càidān, xièxie.)

好。马上来。(Hǎo. Mǎshàng lái.)

Listen again and repeat.

服务员，我要菜单，谢谢。(Fúwùyuán, wǒ yào càidān, xièxie.)

服务员，我要菜单，谢谢。(Fúwùyuán, wǒ yào ycàidān, xièxie.)

In this lesson, we used 服务员 (fúwùyuán) to get the waiter's attention.

It's not rude to address waiters or waitresses this way, although it may be considered old-fashioned.

Another polite way to get the waiter's attention is simply to say 你好 (nǐhǎo), "hello." 你好.

For example, if you're ready for the bill, you can start with 你好, then add 买单 (mǎi dān), "bill."

Together, 你好，买单。

It literally means "Hello, buying the bill." but translates as "Hello, bill please."

你好，买单。

This is the end of this lesson.

Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.

What's next?

Show us what you can do.

When you're ready, take your assessment.

You can take it again and again, so try anytime you like.

Our teachers will assess it, and give you your results.

Now you know how to order at a restaurant in Chinese. That's all there is to it.

Keep practicing — and move on to the next lesson!

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