Are you hungry? I hope so. Let's talk about it. 

Do you like to cook meals at home nonstop,  then doing the dishes and then preparing  

what you're going to make for the next meal  all the time? Probably not. Sometimes it's  

nice to go to a restaurant, but nowadays  things have changed a bit. Here in the U.S.  

restaurants are slowly starting to  open, but not everyone feels comfortable  

going to a restaurant. For me, I have two young  children. So, even without the current situation,  

it's still a little bit complicated to go into  a restaurant. But we don't always want to cook.  

Sometimes it's nice to eat restaurant food.  So, what we can do is order food on the phone,  

pick up the food and take it home to eat.  Or sometimes we take it to a park to eat.  

And that is what I would like to do today  with you. I'd like to invite you to join me  

as I order food on the phone and pick it up. This is a very natural daily life situation.  

You are going to hear a fast conversation that I  have on the phone with the woman who's working at  

the restaurant. But after each short clip from the  conversation, I'm going to be explaining to you  

the phrases we used, the different expressions, so  that you can use this as well, because sometimes  

talking on the phone is tough. You can't see the  other person, but also there's a lot of background  

noise. Sometimes the restaurant is loud. The  person on the phone is just speaking quickly.  

They're not thinking about your perspective. So, today I want to break down this conversation  

and help you to tackle this seemingly tough  situation. But after this conversation,  

I hope it will be more doable and approachable.  We're going to be watching each of the clips  

from the conversation, one time, then I'm  going to explain it and then you'll watch  

it again after my explanation. I hope that the  second time will be more understandable to you.  

Your listening skills will have improved. Your  grammar and vocabulary will have improved.  

So, put your helmet on, put your seatbelt on. This  is going to be a fast ride, but you can do it.  

All right. Let's get started with my clip. We just got back from a hike and I'm so hungry,  

but we really don't have much food in our fridge.  So, we decided to order out and I thought I would  

invite you to join me in the process of ordering  food out at a restaurant to go pick up. So,  

let's see what happens. Waitress: Stoney Knob  

Cafe, this is Mackenzie, how can I help you? Vanessa: Hi, I'd like to make an order for pickup. 

This was a pretty fast start. Wasn't it? Well, in  this first clip, I introduced what I wanted to do  

very clearly and directly. I said, "I would  like to make an order for pickup." For pickup,  

means that I'm going to be the one getting the  food, but we could switch that out and say,  

"I would like to make a order for delivery."  And that means that, that restaurant  

will bring the food to your house. Now, this  is typically, in the U.S., only available for  

big restaurants, like chain restaurants,  the restaurant that I'm ordering from,  

there's only one of them near my house. It's  not an international, or even a national,  

or even a citywide restaurant. There's only one  of them. So, they don't have a delivery service. 

So, that's why I said, "for pickup" and I used  the verb "would". "I would like", very polite,  

"I would like to make an order for pickup." All  right, we're going to listen to that clip one more  

time. I hope that you'll be able to understand a  little bit more. I know it starts off with a bang,  

but I hope you'll be able to understand a little  bit more. We're going to listen to that first  

part of the clip. And then you're going to  watch the second part of the clip as well,  

that I'll explain in just a minute. Let's go. Waitress: Stoney Knob Cafe, this is Mackenzie,  

how can I help you? Vanessa: Hi. I'd like  

to make an order for pickup? Waitress: Yeah, that's all  

right. What can I get for you? Vanessa: Yes. I'd like to get  

the duck spring rolls. Waitress: All right. 

Vanessa: Also, a big Greek salad. Waitress: All right. 

Vanessa: You heard, "What can I get for  you?" She said, "What can I get for you?"  

This is a common restaurant expression when  you're ordering on the phone. She wants to  

know what are you going to order. This is  similar to the phrase. "How can I help you?"  

But usually we hear, "What can I get for you?"  At a restaurant, and "How can I help you?"  

In a retail store, where you're going to buy  clothes or buy a phone or something like this. 

Notice that in my answer, I used the word "the",  before my order, this is extremely common in a  

restaurant. I said, "the duck spring rolls.",  "I'd like to order the duck spring rolls." I'm  

talking about a specific item on the menu. So,  you might say, as you were looking at the menu,  

even in a fast food restaurant, you might  say, "Oh, I'd like to order the number five  

pork dumplings." Okay. You're talking about  that specific item, the number five. All right.  

Now we're going to listen to that clip one more  time. Listen for "What can I get for you?" And my  

answer, "the duck spring rolls." After we listen  to that clip, we're going to immediately listen to  

the next clip. So, get ready. Let's listen. Waitress: Yeah. That's all right.  

What can I get for you? Vanessa: Yes. I'd like to get  

the duck spring rolls. Waitress: All right. 

Vanessa: Also, a big Greek salad. Waitress: All right. 

Vanessa: Also, Enter the Dragon. Waitress: And how did you want that cooked? 

Vanessa: What do you recommend? Waitress: We recommend medium rare to rare. 

Vanessa: Okay. How about medium rare? Waitress: Alrighty. 

Vanessa: There is a lot happening in  this short clip, I ordered a tuna dish,  

and this dish just has a fancy name, "Enter the  Dragon", on their menu. She asked me an important  

question. She said, "How did you want that  cooked?" Notice that she uses the past tense. "How  

did you want that cooked?" And you can  use this equally the same amount as, "How  

do you want that cooked?" She could have asked  me either question and they both would have been  

equally fine. "How did you want that  cooked?", "How do you want that cooked?"  

Sometimes we use these kinds of flexible tenses  to be more polite in these restaurant situations.  

Unless you are working in a restaurant, maybe you  are, you don't need to worry about the tense. It's  

more important to understand the context and how  to answer, but you might hear people say this,  

"How did you want that cooked?"  Or "How do you want that cooked?" 

She's asking about how done or how cooked I want  my tuna. This is often asked for fish like tuna,  

salmon, and sometimes for hamburgers or  steak, which you'll see in just a minute.  

There are different levels of doneness. This is  what we call it, doneness. How much you would like  

it cooked. There is rare, which is basically raw,  very red in the middle. Then we have medium rare,  

pretty red still. Then we have medium, a little  pink in the middle. Then we have medium well,  

just a small amount of pink. And then well done  or well, and this is no pink in the middle,  

this is completely cooked. Usually, this is  not recommended for these types of meats.  

So, what I like to do is what you just saw. I  like to ask the restaurant what they recommend. 

You're welcome to do this too. This is very  common in a restaurant. I want to know what the  

chef or what the restaurant thinks is the best  amount of doneness for the meat. I don't want it  

overcooked. I don't want it undercooked. I want  them to make the best decision here. Of course,  

if you have some special diet needs, then you  can say what you want and it's not going to  

offend the restaurant. If they say, "We recommend  medium." And you say, "Oh, no, no, no, I don't  

want any red. I want it to be well done." That's  fine. They'll do what you want. The customer is  

always right. But for me, I like to ask what they  recommend. You also heard me say this phrase,  

"How about medium rare?". "How about", why  did I say this? Usually, we use "how about"  

to give a polite suggestion to other people. For example, you might say to your friends,  

"How about we go to the beach this afternoon?"  And you're just giving a suggestion. You're  

not saying, "We have to go to the beach."  You're just giving a suggestion. Does it  

seem a little bit strange that the customer  would give a suggestion to the restaurant?  

Because they will do whatever I want. I'm the  customer. This is very normal. Why do I need to  

give a suggestion? Well, I'm just being polite.  This is a common phrase that we use when we're in  

these type of restaurant or store situations. Let's imagine that you're trying on a shirt  

in a store and you like the shirt, but you don't  exactly like the color. So, the employee comes  

to you and says, "Can I get that for you in  a different color?" You might say, "Yeah.  

How about red?" You're suggesting, "I would like  to try this shirt, but in a different color",  

you might say, "Yeah. How about red?" Or you  could also say, "Do you have red? I'd like to try  

red." But we often use this lovely expression, how  about. "How about medium rare?", "How about red?"  

Great. All right. Let's watch that clip one  more time. I want you to listen carefully for  

how she asked me about how I want it cooked, how I  answered, how I said, "how about", and then we're  

going to go on to the next clip where I'm also  going to continue my order. Listen carefully. 

Also, Enter the Dragon. Waitress:  

And how did you want that cooked? Vanessa: What do you recommend? 

Waitress: We recommend medium rare to rare. Vanessa: Okay. How about medium rare? 

Waitress: Alrighty. Vanessa: And finally,  

the Gustavo's Gourmet Hamburger Steak. 

Waitress: All right. Wonderful.  And how would you like that cooked? 

Vanessa: What do you think? You  think medium well is normal for that? 

Waitress: Most people go for medium on that one. Vanessa: Okay. Let's just do medium then. 

All right. In this clip, I finished ordering  all of the food that I was going to get  

because I... You'll see later, I have a gift  certificate. So, I decided to order a lot of  

food because I wouldn't really need to pay for it.  But did you notice in this clip, if you did not,  

when we watch it again, please try to notice. I  said, "the", in front of my order, "the Gustavo's  

Hamburger Steak". The, because I'm talking  about a specific item on their menu.  

When I asked her about what is normal  for the doneness of the hamburger steak,  

she said, "Most people go for medium on that  one." Do you know this phrasal verb, "to go  

for"? "Most people go for medium on this one." It is extremely common to use this phrasal verb  

in restaurants. When you are ordering something,  you might say, "All right, I'm going to go for the  

tuna and the steak.", "I'm going to go for the  salad.". "I'm going to go for", this just means to  

choose. "I'm going to choose that one." But we use  this phrasal verb a lot when we're ordering in a  

restaurant. All right, let's watch that clip again  and go on to the next clip. Listen carefully. 

And finally, the Gustavo's  Gourmet Hamburger Steak. 

Waitress: All right. Wonderful.  And how would you like that cooked? 

Vanessa: What do you think? You  think medium well is normal for that? 

Waitress: Most people go for medium on that one. Vanessa: Okay. Let's just do medium then. 

Waitress: Alrighty. And anything else for you? Vanessa: That's all. 

Waitress: All right. So, that's the duck spring  rolls. The Greek salad. The tuna, cooked medium  

rare. Then the Gustavo, cooked medium? Vanessa: Yes. That's it. 

Here, she is repeating my order to make sure that  I got everything correct. I think this is a common  

practice around the world in restaurants. It seems  like a good idea, right? But I used two phrases  

with the word "that", they're slightly different.  So, I want to help you understand them and also  

use them because we use them all the time,  like a lot of expressions from this video. So,  

when she asks, "Anything else for you?" She's  wanting to know, are you going to order anything  

else? "Anything else for you?" And I said,  "That's all." That's all, means I'm finished.  

There is no more. This is the end. That's all.  It's not rude to say, it is extremely helpful,  

in fact, to say, "Anything else I can get  for you.", "Nope. That's all. Thank you."  

After she listed all of the things that I  ordered, I said, "That's it." That's it. 

"Yes. That's it." How is this different from  "That's all."? Well here, I'm telling her,  

"You got it, correct. That's it." This is common  in other situations too, not just restaurants.  

This is very useful for you, as an English  learner. If you're having a conversation and  

you forget a word, which happens to us  all, even for native English speakers,  

this happens too, you might be talking  about an experience you had driving.  

"I was driving down the street, and then a dog ran  into the road and I didn't want to hit the dog.  

So, I turned my car and I ran into a... What's  that word? The thing on the side of the road,  

it goes down. Rain is in it sometimes." And your  friend might say, "A ditch, you ran into a ditch." 

And here you can use our key expression. You can  say, "That's it. Yes. I ran into a ditch." You're  

letting that person know, with enthusiasm, that  they got it correct. That was the word that you  

were thinking of. So, here I used "that's it" to  tell her, "You got my order, correct. Yep. That's  

it." Or you can tell your friend, "That's it. You  understood the word that I was trying to say."  

All right, let's go back and watch this  clip and then go on to the next clip. 

Waitress: Alrighty. And anything else for you? Vanessa: That's all. 

Waitress: All right. So, that's the duck spring  rolls. The Greek salad. The tuna, cooked medium  

rare. Then the Gustavo, cooked medium? Vanessa: Yes, that's it. 

Waitress: All right. Perfect.  We'll have this ready for pickup  

in probably about 15 minutes. Is that okay? Vanessa: Yes. I have a quick question though,  

I was given a gift certificate  to Stoney Knob. When I pay,  

should I just bring that  with me or what should I do? 

Because I don't order pickup very often. I wasn't  sure what this restaurant wanted to do. I didn't