Ordering in a Restaurant  

1 Vocabulary

appetizer a small dish at the beginning of a meal, a starter
a chef a skilled cook
chives a small onion-like herb commonly added to potatoes
chowder a kind of soup usually containing fish and vegetables
to come with  to include (in a meal)
dressing a sauce added to salads
entree a main dish
menu a list of dishes available in a restaurant
salmon a large fish with silvery skin and pinkish meat
well done fully cooked.
medium-rare slightly pink
rare very pink


2 Vocabulary in Conversation

Use the above vocabulary to fill in the blanks in the following conversation.

Waitress: Good evening, are you ready to order, or do you need a little more time?

Tim: Yes, I'm ready to order.

Waitress: Did you notice on our ______________________ that we have two seafood specials tonight. One is poached ______________________ and the other is grilled shark.

Tim: That sounds really good, but I think I am going to start with the shrimp cocktail ______________________. And as for my ______________________, I think I'll have the New York steak.

Waitress: And, how would you like that steak?

Tim: I'd like that ______________________. I don't like it when the meat is even a little pink.

Waitress: I'll make sure the ______________________ prepares it just the way you like it. The New York steak ______________________ mashed potatoes, a baked potato, or steak fries.

Tim: I'll take the baked potato.

Waitress: Would you like sour cream and ______________________ on that?

Tim: I'll have sour cream.

Waitress: Your meal also includes a choice of soup or salad.

Tim: What is the soup today?

Waitress: Clam ______________________ or chicken vegetable.

Tim: I think I'll have the salad instead.

Waitress: What kind of ______________________ would you like?

Tim: Blue cheese.


3 Vocabulary Follow-Up

Use the above vocabulary to fill in the blanks in the following sentences.

1. She always has Italian ______________________ on her salad.

2. Gerrie doesn't like most kinds of fish, but she does like ______________________.

3. Keith's mom makes the best fish ______________________ I have ever tasted. She uses shark, corn, potatoes, carrots, onions and peppers.

4. I like my baked potatoes with butter. I don't like sour cream and ______________________.

5. Gene is studying at a school in Paris to become a ______________________. He hopes to run his own restaurant.

6. The steak was prepared very ______________________. It looked like they hadn't even cooked it.

7. That Chinese restaurant has a fantastic selection of dishes on their ______________________.

8. The meal ______________________ soup or salad and a dessert afterwards.

9. The ______________________ at that restaurant are huge. There is no reason to order side dishes or dessert.

10. Buffalo wings, potato skins, and shrimp cocktail are all famous American ______________________.


4 "Get"

1) Complete the following text by filling in the blanks with the appropriate preposition or prepositions.

Use the following prepositions:
around to, down, in, into, over with, down to, out, out of, up on, at

Becoming a Chef


    Becoming a chef isn't easy. It seems like I just cook twenty-four hours a day. From 8 am to 3 pm I work at a restaurant downtown to earn money to pay for cooking school. From 4 pm to 7 pm I have classes, and then I have to take the train home. I don't usually get _____________ until after 8 pm and I have to make myself dinner before I start doing my cooking homework. By the time I get _____________ doing my assignments, I am exhausted and I can't stand looking at food. Unfortunately I have no choice,  I have to practice preparing special dishes for class.

    Practicing is constantly a problem; either my roommates are bothering me or the dog is trying to get _____________ the food. Yesterday, while I was trying to prepare steak tartar and chocolate mousse, the dog ran into the kitchen and tried to get _____________ the counter. I screamed, "Get _____________!" but he wouldn't stop. My roommates aren't much better. While I was trying to get the dog _____________ the kitchen, my roommate, Fred, showed up and got _____________ the bag of chocolate I needed for my mousse. I took one look at him eating my chocolate and yelled, "Get _____________!"

    By the time I got _____________ work, it was after 10 o'clock. I just wanted to get the cooking _____________; I didn't even care if I did a good job. How am I supposed to learn to cook under these conditions?
 

2) Now reread the above passage to help you complete the list of definitions below.

get _____________: to arrive in a place
get _____________: to finally start doing something
get _____________: to reach, get hold of
get _____________: to climb on to something
get _____________: to jump down, move down from someplace
get _____________: to leave from a place
get _____________: to reach into or enter something without permission
get _____________: to leave
get _____________: to finally begin (work) after much waiting
get it ____________: to quickly finish something which you don't want to do


5 Focus on Verbs

The following passage should be completed by putting the verb in parentheses in the Present Perfect or the Present Perfect Continuous.

Where's the waiter?


Robin: I think the waiter (forget) ______________________ us. We (wait) ______________________ here for over half an hour and nobody (take) ______________________ our order yet.

Michele: I think you're right. He (walk) ______________________ by us at least twenty times. He probably thinks we (order, already) ______________________.

Robin: Look at that couple over there, they (be, only) ______________________ here for five or ten minutes and they already have their food.

Michele: He must realize we (order, not) ______________________ yet! We (sit) ______________________ here for over half an hour staring at him.

Robin: I don't know if he (notice, even) ______________________ us. He (run) ______________________ from table to table taking orders and serving food.

Michele: That's true, and he (look, not) ______________________ in our direction once.



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