Friends in a Restaurant
Six people, one menu, and three of them cannot afford it. Learn the two phrases that order any meal in English — and watch what happens when the bill arrives.
Warm-up
Short answers. Tap a card when you have answered it.
Two phrases and you can eat anywhere in the world. I'll start with… for the first plate and I'll have… for the rest. Everything else in a restaurant is just food words.
Useful language
On the menu
Click a word, then click its meaning. Correct pairs turn green. The audio button says the word.
Complete the sentences
Click a word in the bank, then click a gap. Click a filled gap to clear it.
First you read the
_____ and choose.
Then the
_____ comes and asks if you are ready.
You give your
_____: one plate for each person.
The soup or the salad is the
_____, at the beginning.
The fish or the steak is the big plate, the
_____ of the meal.
Rice or fries go next to the steak, as a
_____ dish.
At the end the waiter brings the
_____.
The waiter was very kind, so we left him a big
_____.
Six friends, six orders
Watch the first minute. Every person uses the same two phrases. Then read what happens after.
Six friends are at an expensive restaurant. The waiter asks: "Do I dare ask?" Then he takes the orders, one by one, and every single person uses the same two phrases.
Monica goes first. She says: "I'll start with the carpaccio, and then I'll have the grilled prawns." Two plates, two phrases: I'll start with for the small one and I'll have for the big one.
Ross says only three words: "Same for me." That is the shortest way to order in English. You do not repeat the food — you point at the person before you.
Joey asks for the Thai chicken pizza, and then he asks the waiter a question: is it cheaper without the nuts? The waiter says no.
Rachel orders only a side salad. The waiter asks what it goes next to, because a side dish is not a whole meal. Phoebe orders a cup of cucumber soup — not a bowl, a cup.
Chandler orders the Cajun catfish. Six people, and three of them order almost nothing. They are not on a diet. They do not have the money.
Then the bill comes. With the tip, divided by six, everybody owes twenty-eight dollars. And when they take one person out of the division, it becomes thirty-three fifty each.
Multiple choice
The stamp shows the second of the video where the answer is.
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What does Monica start with? 00:01
The appetizer comes first, so it goes with I'll start with.
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And her main course? 00:03
"…and then I'll have the grilled prawns." The word then joins the two plates.
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What does Ross order? 00:05
Three words: "Same for me." Learn them — they save you every time.
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What does Joey order? 00:09
And then he asks the waiter something nobody normally asks.
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What does Joey ask the waiter? 00:12
Without the nuts and the other things. The waiter's answer is no.
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What does Rachel order? 00:20
A side dish and nothing else, which is why the waiter is confused.
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What does the waiter ask her? 00:23
A side dish goes next to something. Hers goes next to her water.
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What does Phoebe order? 00:35
A cup, not a bowl — the small size. That is the whole joke.
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What does Chandler order? 00:49
The last of the six orders, and the waiter then asks "Anything else?"
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Why do three of them order so little?
The restaurant is expensive and the bill is the real subject of the scene.
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How much does everybody owe, divided by six? 01:09
Twenty-eight dollars each, with the tip already inside.
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And when they divide it by five? 01:25
One person fewer, five dollars fifty more each — and that is where the argument starts.
I'll have and I'll start with
Do not say "I want". It is not wrong, but it sounds like a child asking. Every adult in the video uses I'll have — and it is the same two words every time.
- For the first plate: I'll start with the carpaccio. · I'll start with the tomato soup.
- For everything else: I'll have the grilled prawns. · I'll have a fruit juice.
- Both together: I'll start with the soup and then I'll have the fish.
- With a side dish: I'll have the chicken with a side of rice.
- Informal: I'm gonna have the fish. You will hear it, but write I'll have. And to copy somebody: Same for me.
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The waiter is ready. You want the pizza. You say:
The middle one is what people actually say. The first is not rude, but it sounds like a child.
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For the first plate you say:
A fixed phrase. Learn it as one block, with the with attached.
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What does I'll mean?
And you use it at the exact moment you decide, which is why it fits a menu.
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Your friend orders first and you want the same. You say:
Three words, and Ross uses them in the video.
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You want chicken and rice next to it. You say:
With a side of is the fixed phrase for the small plate that goes next to the big one.
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How do you join the two plates in one sentence?
The word then does the joining, and the second half repeats I'll.
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Which one is informal?
Phoebe says it in the video. Understand it, but write the other one.
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Which sentence is WRONG?
After will the verb never takes to.
What the waiter says
- 1. Are you ready to order? — Yes, please. or Not yet, thank you.
- 2. Anything to start with? — I'll start with the tomato soup.
- 3. And for your main course? — I'll have the mustard chicken with a side of rice.
- 4. And to drink? — I'll have a fruit juice, please.
- 5. Anything else? — No, thank you. That's all. At the end: Could I have the bill, please?
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"Are you ready to order?" You need two more minutes. You say:
Short and polite. The other two are correct English but sound harder.
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"Anything to start with?" means:
The first plate. Answer it with I'll start with…
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"And for your main course?" You want the fish. You say:
One word works, but the full sentence is what you are practicing.
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"And to drink?" is asking about:
Three words, and it always comes after the main course.
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"Anything else?" You want nothing more. You say:
The fixed way to close an order politely.
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You want to pay. You say:
Could I have…? is the most useful polite question in a restaurant.
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In the United States, the tip is…
In the video the tip is inside the total before they divide it.
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The waiter finishes with "Enjoy!" You answer:
Two words. Not everything needs a long answer.
Say it like a customer
Rewrite with I'll have or I'll start with. Example: I want the pasta. → I'll have the pasta.
The words to start are the signal. If they are in the sentence, use I'll start with — and then they disappear from your answer.
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aI want the pizza.
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bI want the vegetable soup to start.
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cI'm gonna have the fish.
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dI want the tomato soup to start.
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eI want an omelet.
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fI want a cup of coffee and a cheese sandwich.
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gI'm gonna have the carpaccio to start.
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hI want the lasagna.
Build the order
Three customers, two sentences each. Use I'll start with the … and I'll have the … with a side of …
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1aAppetizer: green salad.
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1bMain: Steak Parmigiana. Side: rice.
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2aAppetizer: tomato salad.
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2bMain: Mustard Chicken. Side: vegetables.
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3aAppetizer: tomato soup.
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3bMain: Spicy Prawns. Side: fries.
Role-play: in a restaurant
First I am the waiter and you order. Then we change and you take my order. Full sentences.
Useful language
My order, and the whole conversation
60–100 words. Write the full conversation between you and a waiter, from "Are you ready to order?" to the bill. Use I'll start with, I'll have, with a side of and one polite question with Could I…?
My results
Check your score, then copy it and send it to your teacher on WhatsApp.
One job for this week. Every time you order anything — a coffee, a sandwich, a pizza on an app — say it in English in your head first: I'll have a coffee, please. You order something almost every day.