How to Order at a Restaurant: US vs UK

How to Order at a Restaurant: US vs UK

Do you ask for the bill or the check? How much should you tip? Are they chips or fries? Dining out is a great way to practice your English skills when you’re studying English at one of our schools in the UK or USA, but for many learners, it can be a nervous experience. This is because of the confusion around the differences between the two countries when it comes to ordering food at a restaurant. By using our essential guide, you’ll never embarrass yourself by ordering fish and fries!

Check the bill

Let’s begin at the end: paying. In the UK, you ask for the bill; in the USA, it’s the check. If you mix them up, you’ll still be understood clearly, but it will help with your cultural immersion and your confidence if you remember the correct term and practice getting it right. You can drop in a few slang words too, just to really impress the locals.

Tipping

This can often be an area of uncertainty. The custom of tipping—giving money on top of the bill/check to your waitstaff for their service—exists in both the UK and the USA, but it’s much more common and significant in America. Generally, in the UK a 10% tip is considered appropriate for good service in a restaurant, and some people don’t tip at all. In the USA, however, tips are considered necessary (waitstaff are often paid very low wages), and can be anything from 15-25% of the check.

You say potato, I say potato

As the famous song goes, some words are identical yet can be pronounced differently (well, no one really says poe-tah-toe that way, but it works for the song!). Then there are some foods that have a totally different word: courgettes in the UK become zucchinis in the USA; aubergines become eggplant; coriander becomes cilantro. You’ll just have to learn these differences. But then there are chips. In the UK, chips are what you get with your fish—thick cut slices of deep-fried potato. Fries, however, are skinny, and the only place you’re likely to see them on the menu in the UK is in a burger restaurant. But ask for chips in the USA and you’ll get the popular potato snack that comes in a sealed foil bag. Just to complicate things further, these are known as crisps in the UK. Got all that? Good.