餐館是反映一個國家文化的重要窗口。在西餐中，菜肴通�？梢苑殖蓭状箢�，如主菜前的開胃食品(starters)、主菜(main dishes)、甜點(diǎn)(desserts)及飲料(beverages)。菜單上的價格一般包括了稅款。一些餐館的菜單或廣告上印有l(wèi)icensed 或fully licensed 的字樣，這表明這些餐館有特許賣酒的執(zhí)照。一些繁忙而有名氣的餐館特別強(qiáng)調(diào)預(yù)先訂座，集體訂餐更需如此。用餐后給服務(wù)生的小費(fèi)一般為顧客就餐費(fèi)用的15% 左右。一些比較講究的餐館內(nèi)設(shè)有鋼琴，有的還有樂隊，甚至還為用餐者提供跳舞的場地。

基本句式 BASIC SENTENCES

Waitress: Good evening. Do you have a reservation? 晚上好，您訂座位了嗎？

Jim: No, we don't. 沒有。

Waitress: How many people are you together? 你們一共多少人？

Jim: Just two people. 就兩位。

Waitress: Would you like to sit in a smoking section, a non-smoking section or whatever comes open first? 你們要吸煙區(qū)還是非吸煙區(qū)，或是有空位就行？

Jim: We prefer non-smoking section. 我們要非吸煙區(qū)。

Waitress: I am awfully sorry but there are no vacanciesleft now. Would you like to wait for a moment? 十分抱歉，現(xiàn)在非吸煙區(qū)還暫時沒有座位。您能稍等一會兒嗎？

Jim: How long a wait do you think there’ll be? 我們要等多長時間？

Waitress: I think about ten minutes. 我想大約十分鐘。

Jim: Ok, we'll wait a while. 好吧，那我們就等一會兒。（十分鐘之后）

Waitress: I am sorry for making you wait so long. Now there is a tableavailable in non-smoking section. Please follow me. 非常抱歉讓你們等了這么久�，F(xiàn)在在非吸煙區(qū)有空位了。請跟我來。

Jim: Thank you. 謝謝。

Waitress: This is the menu. Are you ready to order now? 這是菜單。您現(xiàn)在可以點(diǎn)菜了嗎？

Jim: Well, I think I'd like to have a tomato sausagesoup first. And the same for him, please. 我想先點(diǎn)一個番茄香腸湯。他也要同樣的。

Waitress: Yes, and what would you like to drink? 好。那么喝些什么呢？

Jim: One goblet of red wine and one bottle of beer please. 請拿一瓶紅葡萄酒和一瓶啤酒。

Waitress: Would you like a dessert? 要不要甜點(diǎn)？

Jim: What special kind of desserts do you have? 你們有什么特色甜品？

Waitress: Lemonpie, hot cake in syrup, chocolate sundae andcustardpudding. 檸檬派，糖油煎餅，巧克力圣代和奶油布丁。

Jim: Well, I think we will order after we finish the main course. 等我們吃過主菜再點(diǎn)吧。

Waitress: All right. I'll bring your soup right away. 好的，湯馬上就來。

注釋：

在國外，餐廳一般都分為"smoking section"和"non-smoking section”，即“吸煙區(qū)”和“無煙區(qū)”。這樣，在顧客選擇用餐區(qū)域的時候，如果是吸煙人士會選擇“吸煙區(qū)”，不吸煙或害怕二手煙的人就會選擇“無煙區(qū)”�，F(xiàn)在好多國內(nèi)的餐廳也是如此。