hey everybody welcome to this b1 English listening practice video you can use this video to practice your listening and comprehension as I speak you ready so today I'm gonna talk about restaurants this is a topic that I could talk about all day because I love eating out so let's talk specifically about American restaurants we could probably classify American restaurants into several different categories there are fast-food restaurants like your typical burger joints like McDonald's Burger King jack-in-the-box etc these would obviously be considered the lowest class restaurants then there are normal average restaurants that are chains or franchises these places usually have locations all over the country as well as multiple locations in the same city then you've got your normal average restaurants that are individually or family-owned in the US we sometimes call family-owned businesses ma and pas businesses so some of the restaurants in this category could be called Mon paw restaurants then you've got your high-end restaurants which would be considered fine dining these can be really fancy and expensive and if they're really highly acclaimed they might even have a Michelin star too needless to say most people can't afford to eat at these restaurants too often one of the type of restaurant that's distinctly American is called a diner diners are restaurants that sell typical American food like American breakfast food burgers sandwiches steak etc a lot of diners sell breakfast all day so you can order eggs sausage and pancakes at 9:00 p.m. if you want I've always loved diners because they have a really American feel to them whenever I go on a road trip I always look forward to stopping in the middle of nowhere and one of these classic American diners you can always find diners off the highway in the middle of nowhere all right now let's talk about tipping in the US this is something that all foreigners need to know because it's a custom that's different in the u.s. than it is in other countries when you eat it a sit-down restaurant in the US you're expected to give a tip for the service you receive there are no exceptions here even though it's not mandated by law it's an unspoken rule that all Americans abide by you have to tip your waiter whether you feel like it or not so now you might be wondering how you have to tip well until recently 15% has been the standard tip at most restaurants but in the last few years they've been trying to raise this nowadays many restaurants expect 18% or more which i think is ludicrous I always give 15% no matter what and this is still acceptable but there's definitely a visible effort on the part of restaurants to raise this percentage so be aware of this if you're traveling to the US any time soon lastly let's talk about the common expressions we use in the restaurant environment when you first enter the restaurant and talk to the host you normally say how many people there are in your party so you can say can we have a table for two please and to order food you can say a few different things you could say I'll have the cheeseburger I'll take the cheeseburger or can I have the cheeseburger you can use any of these phrases and just substitute the word cheeseburger for whatever dish you're ordering if you want to ask the waiter for something else after you've already ordered you can just use the phrase could I have so for example you could say could I have another glass of water please and one more note in the u.s. you don't ask for the check when you're done eating the waiter brings it to you without you asking I know this might seem weird but it's the custom okay that's all for today leave a comment and tell me what your favorite type of restaurant is I'll see you next time [Music] [Applause] [Music]