It is quite usual to drink cocktails before lunch and dinner in America and somewhat less usual, except in California, to drink wine with a meal. You can either have a cocktail in the bar, if there is one, while you wait for a table or for friends, or you can have one served before your dinner comes. At some restaurants the waiter/waitress will come to your table as soon as you sit down to ask if you want a cocktail, and you can then drink this while deciding what to order to eat. At others, there may be a separate cocktail waiter or waitress. In this case, you do not normally order wine from him or her but from the normal waiter- or the wine waiter is there is one.
Do not hesitate to order Californian wines. They can be excellent and in many parts of the country are cheap.
Salad 色拉
It is usual to have a salad with your meal, and a separate plate is provided for this purpose. The normal practice in America is to eat the salad before the main course. A wonderful American invention is the salad bar. In restaurants that have these salad bars the waiter does not bring your salad. You go to the salad bar and help yourself, usually to as much as you want. This is normally done after you have ordered your meal; you eat the salad while the main course is being cooked.
Choosing from the Menu 选菜
American menus can look rather confusing at first sight, for they may use some terms which are unfamiliar to most vistors. Here are some points which may be useful.
Fried mushrooms, fried onion rings (洋葱圈) and fried zucchini (小胡瓜) are sometimes served as starters (第一道菜).
Potatoes most often come "French-fried" or baked. If you order a baked potato, the waiter will ask you what you want on it. The choice is butter and/or sour cream and sometimes chives (细香葱).
Very often vegetables do not come automatically with the meal, and you have to pay extra for them.
"Scrod" (小鳕鱼), "red snapper" (啮龟) and "mahi hahi" are all name of fish. "Seafood"means lobster (龙虾), shellfish and fish, including,funnily enough, freshwater fish! Prawns (对虾) are known as "shrimp".
American beef is usually good and often wonderful.
American salt and pepper (糊椒粉) pots are confusing until you realize that the salt pot may look like a pepper pot except that the salt pot’s holes are bigger. Pepper is normally black rather than white. American mustard (芥末) is mild and normally eaten with hot dogs or hamburgers rather than meat.
17he_com
And that stuff in a dish that looks ice cream is actually whipped (搅拌过的) butter.
Leftovers 吃剩的食物
You have probably heard that in American restaurants, if you can’t finish your meal, you can put the remains in a "doggy bag" and take them home. This is quite true. If you leave some meat, in particular, your waiter may ask you if you’d like him to put it into "a little bag", or you can ask him to do this.
旅游英语2：Eating In America
Fast Food 快餐食品
Fast-food chains, American-style, are currently on the increase all over the of these places work on a similar principle. There is a long counter, above which is displayed a list (often with pictures) of the items available, and behind which several people(often students working for the minimum wage) are serving. Individual queues form in front of each assistant. You receive what you order more or less immediately and take it on a tray to a table, picking up thing like straws(吸管), peper, salt, ketchup(蕃茄酱), pickles(泡菜)and napkins (usually paper napkins) on the way. If yo can't see any knives and forks, this means you are supposed to eat with your hands. If you can't see any straws, that's because they are hiding in the straw dispenser(分配器) that you have to fiddle(拨弄) with the bottom of it to get a straw(one at a time)to emerge. When you've finished, you yourself throw away everything except the tray.
Many fast-food places have drive-in place your order from your car via(通过)a microphone and then drive round to a special window to pay and pick it up. You may even encounter places where a waitress bring your meal out, and you sit and eat it in the car from a tray hooked over the door through the open window.
You may be asked if your order is "for here"or "to go"(i.e. to take away). In some states there is no sales tax on food consumed.
Types of Fast Food Restaurants 快餐店的'种类
The most widespread type of fast-food restaurant is that serving hamburgers, such as the chains of the different chains have their own specialties. Arby's restaurants serve large roast beef, ham and cheese, and turkey(火鸡)"sandwidhes". Some restaurant chians specialize in serving steaks quickly and cheaply. And then there's Kntucky Fried Chicken.
Chips 油炸土豆片
Chips in Amercis are called "French fries"or "fries" for short. (Note that in the USA "chips" mean crisps). "French fries" are normally thinner than chips. Amercians generally put ketchup on their chips, and you will not normally find vigegar(醋).
Pizzas (意大利式)烘焰饼
There are many specialty pizza restaurants in America, and many of them take telephone orders and deliver pizzas to your home, which can often be come in different sizes, and a large one can be big enought for a party of four you want ot share a pizza but can't agree on the ingredients, it is possible to order two different sets of toppings, one set on each half.
Ice-Cream 冰淇淋
Shops selling large number of different flavors of ice-cream are very common in America. If you are not sure what flavor you want, generaly you can sample a small spoonful of a particular flavor to see if you like it. You can either have your ice-cream in a "plain cone"(普通型锥形物) or in a "sugar cone"(甜脆型锥形物).
Soft Drinks 软饮料
Fast-food restaurants do not serve soft drinks most often sold are Coca-Cola and Pepsi--Cola, plus fizzy drinks (which are like leminade)and root beer(which is like cough medicine)y drinks are known as "carbonated beverages"(碳酸饮料) or, more colloquially, "soda", "pop", "soda pop", and "soft drinks".
All these drinks come wiht lost of ice. In fact, you will probably find as much ice as drink in your you ask fo a soft drink without ice, they will think yu are funny but will probably oblige.(They may charge yu a bit extra, for ice is cheaper than Coke.)
旅游英语3：Eating In American
Eating Custom and Practice 用餐习惯
American eating is funny. They eat almost everything with a fork, and it appears that holding a knife in one's right hand longer than a few seconds is considered to be against good table manners.
The system is that if it is absolutely necessary to use a knife, people take the fork in their left hand, and cut off a piece of meat or whatever it is in the normal manner. Then they put the knife down, transfer the fork to their right hand, and only then do they transport the food to their mouth. This is clearly ludicrous(滑稽可笑), but it is considered good manners.
There are several results of this system. First, if it is not absolutely necessary to use a knife, Americans don't use one, because obviously this greatly complicates(使复杂化) things, and you will therefore see them trying to cut things like potatoes, fish and even bacon(熏猪肉) with a fork. Second, towards the end of a course, since only one implement(器具) is being used, food has to bo chased around the plate with the fork — and for the last mouthful the thumb has to be used to keep the food in place, although one is not supposed to do this.
Third, tables are generally laid with one knife and two forks, the outside fork being for the salad. There is no need for foreign visitors to follow the American system and try to eat the salad with only a fork, but if you do use your knife, remerber to save it for the meat course. Even desserts(甜食) (except ice cream) are eaten with a fork if at all possible, and the spoon you see by your dessert is meant to be for coffee (but if you use it for your dessert no one will say anything).
Some Breakfast Dishes 早餐食谱
Breakfast in a restaurant is a very enjoyable experience. If you order eggs in a restaurant, the waiter/waitress will ask you how you want them . You can reply that you want them "scrambled(炒)" or "boiled". It is not sufficient, however, to ask for them "fried"; you will have to specify whether you would prefer them "sunny-side-up" (煎一面), "over"(两面煎), "over-easy/easy-over"(两面煎，但蛋黄仍然呈流体状).
American sausage(香肠) comes in slices and is quite spicy. But you can also have link sausage. American bacon comes in small strips, can be rather fat, and is served crispy. It is usually very tasty, and you can eat it with your fingers.
"Hash brows"(油炸土豆片) are shredded(切成碎片的) and fried potatoes. They are wonderful, especially with fried eggs and ketchup(蕃茄酱).
"Pancakes", sometimes called "hot cakes", are made with baking power. They are normally served in a pile, and you are supposed to put butter and syrup(果浆) on them.
"Jelly"(果子冻) is jam and includes grape jelly, which is very tasty.
Toast is often served already buttered.
"English muffins(松饼)" are like small crumpets(烤饼) without the holes and are served toasted. You put jam on them.
A "biscuit"(软饼) is a snall, scone-like bread roll, often served hot.
Orange juice and coffer are often serced with breakfast.
旅游英语4：Eating In American
Eating out is one of the joy of being in the USA. The food is usually good and often excellent; the prices are reasonable ; and the service is mostly fine.
Choosing a Restaurant 选择餐馆
Some restaurants are open for breakfast; others are open twenty-four hours a day. A number of restaurants call themselves "family restaurants". Many of these serve no alcohol and have fairly restricted menus which include steaks, hamburgers, omelettes(炒蛋) and sandwiches, and all are at very reasonable prices. They may also serve smaller and cheaper children's portios(份餐). Note that many American restaurants are "speciatly" restaurants . They may serve only, or mainly , steaks , seafood, etc.
Many restaurants, especially the more expensive ones, open at about 11：30 a.m.(midday, rather than 1 p.m. , is the most normal time for lunch in the USA), and some remain open until the evening, so it is possible to order a meal throughout the afternoon.
In many areas it is usual for people to leave work and go out for an evening meal at 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. , than waiting until later.
Reserving a Table 预订餐位
Eating out is rather popular in the USA. And it is often necessary to make a reservation. You will sometimes see short queues of people waiting for tables at restaurants-it's more pleasant to wait in the bar , of course, if there is one-but there queues more quickly.
Arriving at Restaurant 到达餐馆
When you arrive at most restaurant, you should not just go in and sit down-unless you see a sign saying "Please seat yourself" . Usually you will have to wait for a "hostess" or "captain"(领班) to escort(陪同) you to a table . Often there will be a sign that reads "Please wait to be seated".
Do not expect to share a table with other parties, even if the restaurant is crowed . It just isn't done.
Many restaurant have a no-smoking section, in some place by lows.
One excellent American custom is that after you have sat down your waiter or waitress will often bring you a glass or water(with ice naturally) and will keep on refilling it throughout the meal. (Most American are incapable of eating a meal without drinking something at the same time.)
When your waiter or waitress takes your order, it is not very normal for one person to order for the whole table. Each person orders separately , except in the most expensive restaurants.
Summoning a waiter 召唤侍者
You may find your waiter unusually friendly. He may ask you how you are (You're supposed just to say "Fine"), inquire whether you have a good day and , later on say that he hopes you will enjoy your meal.
To summon a waiter in a American restaurant you may call "Bill", or "Mary", or "Claude", or whatever. Waiters and waitresses often actually introduce themselves when they first come to your table or wear name tags, you are permitted to use their first names.
Paying the Bill 付款
The bill (often called the "check") comes usually with tax added but no service chare-though some restaurant do now add a service charge. The etiquette(规矩) books say that you should leave a ten per cent tip(小费) for lunch, fifteen per cent for dinner. The tip should be calculated on the basis of the total before the addition of tax.
At many restaurant you can ask the waiter to bring the bill and than pay at a cash desk on the way out
