This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 1294, your fast, casual food challenge for 2020.
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The best way to improve your English if you want to push to the advanced level, is when you're under pressure.
There's no better place than a fast casual restaurant to do it.
Today, get all the lingo you need to make your order in a fast-paced line.
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Hey, Lindsay, how's it going?
Awesome, Michelle.
How are you?
Have you had any bar food lately?
Oh, my gosh.
You know, last week we had this episode about dips and it made me so hungry.
And then, yeah, over the weekend, I definitely had to get some chips and guac.
Did you?
Yeah, for sure.
I get that.
I get that.
There's nothing like, I don't know, going to a bar with friends or a restaurant and sharing a plate like an appetizer, an app, as we say, right.
Chips and guac. or maybe buffalo wings.
It's so typical.
Or hummus.
It's typical and it's fun.
Yeah.
Oh my gosh.
I love it.
I love it.
I'm getting hungry again.
Lindsay, we got to stop doing these food episodes.
But guess what, guys?
We're actually going to do another one because we are going to do a follow-up on the one from last week.
And we talked about doing a follow-up soon.
Well, it's really soon.
This is Part two.
Right.
Because last week, guys, again, that episode number was 1292.
Go back and review that one because Sanjivan asked us on Instagram, what are all these sauces?
So we taught you just to run down real quick, Michelle, what did we teach our listeners last time?
We did guacamole.
We did salsa.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We did... I'm looking for the list now.
Pico de Gallo, Sriracha, hummus, honey mustard, buffalo sauce, and ranch.
And there's so many more.
Yeah.
Yeah, these are the really, really typical sauces and add-ons that you would see in any very common American bar or restaurant.
Casual.
You know, these are casual.
This is bar food here, right?
Definitely.
But the point is Michelle, I mean once our listeners know what these things are.
Maybe they've tried them over the weekend.
Now, how do they ask for them or how do they ask for a substitute?
Right.
That's what we're here for today.
I mean, you know, we can go over so many of these words and.
But every once in a while you still get something where you go and like I'm thinking of being even not necessarily at a bar, but also, let's say, you're at like a salad place, or you're at a place like a fast food place.
And that's what our listener was asking about fast food.
And they have like all these sauces out or all these dips out.
And you're like uh, and they say oh, you can choose a sauce, right and and they're going quick and usually there's like this long line and that's kind of it's very intimidating.
They're fast fast, foods are fast.
You're talking about okay, you're talking about like fast casual, right where you go down the line.
And yeah, there's a new trend in the States fast, casual super common, where you have some kind of a bowl made up for you or some kind of a burrito or a.
It's a little different from like McDonald's, right.
Where you would just go, I want the number five and they put it together with the fries.
This is the new version of fast food.
But yeah, you have to quickly be able to say what kind of sauce you want.
Exactly.
Right.
Right.
So I mean, you know our listener was asking about that.
You know how to kind of that.
Sometimes it's hard to understand what the people are saying because it's so fast.
And maybe also like I'm not sure if they mentioned this specifically, but I think that this is important is to not be afraid to ask and you know, and to be able to get into more of it, because maybe you actually see a sauce and you don't know what it is.
Um, and now we've taught some of the basic ones, but even Like if I were to see a whole, you know, like just like a bunch of sauces lined up, I might not be able to tell what they are exactly.
Yeah.
And keep in mind that native speakers do ask about this.
I mean, you know these brands, their business model is to keep you moving fast, but they still have to deliver some level of service and it's totally okay to ask things like you know what is the best thing to go.
We're going to show you guys, the phrases.
It's okay to ask this just because it's going to dictate how your entire meal tastes.
It's the sauce that goes on top right, it's going to change everything, That's right.
That's right.
So Lindsay, what's something that you can say if, like let's say they're, you know, the meal goes to the you know usually like kind of goes through this whole assembly line.
The person has put maybe your rice down and then you get to all the sauces and the dips.
Yeah, exactly.
So and you see them and they're kind of looking at you like, what do you want?
You know, right.
What would you say?
So you can point at one of them if it looks a little weird and you can say what is that sauce or what is that dip?
OK, that's one thing.
Yeah, right.
Or you could say like like let's say they tell you maybe or maybe they say, which one do you want?
You could say something like, oh, well, what goes best with my meal?
Like, yes, you know, basically, what do they recommend?
Exactly.
And that's a good one to do, because they'll know right away and it's fast and quick and you don't have to decide.
They decide for you.
Exactly.
Exactly.
And let's say they tell you like oh, this is hummus.
Or let's say they say this is pico de gallo or whatever it is, and you've never had it before.
What could you say?
Yeah, I've never had that before.
What does it taste like?
That's one thing you could say.
And I would also say, you know, I don't think it's the worst thing to ask for a little sample.
I mean, it might throw them off.
But I don't think that that's outside of your rights as a customer.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, you could say, can I try it or can I have a taste or a sample?
I mean, you would do that when you go to get ice cream, right?
I always get samples, even if I already know what I'm going to get.
Haha, Lindsay.
I have to.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
I love it.
So don't be afraid.
Just take that next step, guys, and ask.
It's good to put our foot down and ask for things in the world, I think.
Yeah.
Definitely.
Definitely.
So don't be afraid to do that.
And then you could also say, is it spicy?
You know, maybe you don't like spicy sauces or maybe or maybe you do.
And you just want to know.
You want to get a sense of the general taste and definitely asking if something is spicy is an easy way to get the main idea.
Exactly.
Exactly.
And then the last thing you could do is is that, if you can ask for a substitute, right by saying, for example, can I get or can I substitute something instead, right?
So you're going to swap in, meaning you're going to exchange instead of what it comes with.
Sometimes you can order like, still order like a set one, the set meal.
I'm thinking of Sweet Greens number five, right?
They have a name for it.
It comes with, let's say, it comes with aioli, but you want salsa instead, and then you would substitute.
Right, right.
Exactly.
And that's fine to do.
I mean you.
Every once in a while you get to a restaurant that says no substitutions, but I don't think a fast food is one of those places.
No, definitely not.
Definitely not.
Okay.
What else, Michelle?
What else?
So, you know, just because the listener did ask about, you know, that it's hard to understand.
So some things that you might hear, some things that you might be asked at the restaurant, just so you can have a heads up, guys.
So they might say to you, like, which kind of dip do you want or which kind of sauce do you want?
Do you want?
Yeah.
Or they might say, do you want, for example, honey mustard sauce?
Because if that's what comes with the meal that you ordered, they may just confirm that you want that.
Yeah, yeah.
I've had that happen a lot before.
They'll say you know, it's like It's funny, because it's like if you don't ask for a substitution, you would think that they won't have to ask.
But sometimes they do.
And it's good, actually, because...
You know, the menus, it's hard to read those things.
Sometimes they're so small and it's so and you're going so fast and there are so many people and you're not paying attention.
So if it's something on there where it's like a spicy sauce, you know, they may double check.
I agree.
I agree.
This is good to be ready.
I mean, we'll talk at the end about the takeaway and what to come away with today, guys.
But I mean, for now, let's do a little role play.
What do you think, Michelle?
Let's do it.
So guys, we're not going to use every single one of these, but we're going to give you a taste, a taste of how this might be used.
So, Lindsay, you are ordering from my fast food restaurant.
Oh, OK.
Your restaurant.
Cool.
All right.
So, hey, I'll take the turkey sandwich.
But what's sriracha?
Oh, it's a sauce that comes on top of it.
Do you want sriracha or no?
Maybe.
Is it spicy?
Very spicy.
Okay, never mind.
Can I get hummus instead?
Yes.
Okay.
Wow, I've never heard of sriracha on top of turkey in a sandwich.
Is that a thing?
Uh, I would do it.
I don't know.
I make all sorts of weird things.
I mean, maybe it's an aioli.
I don't know.
Maybe they had mixed it with a mayonnaise and made it into a whole turkey sandwich situation.
But, um...
Yeah, guys.
So this is you're imagining.
It's like you've seen something on the menu and it says it was with this kind of sauce, right?
Yeah.
And now that I think about it, we said this in the last episode.
It is kind of funny that we've stopped saying mayonnaise.
Like on the fancier menus, they don't say with mayonnaise.
They say with a roasted red pepper aioli.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
Oh, my God.
Exactly.
I always... I don't know.
Dan and I have a thing where we um, where we kind of make fun of the aioli too, because it's just like everything's an aioli, so yuppie, it's so, yuppie it is, it is yeah.
So all right, get back to it, here we go.
Yes, but interesting lindsey, i realize that we're both pronouncing this word differently.
Which one?
The sriracha?
I'm pronouncing it sriracha and you're pronouncing it sriracha.
I know.
I don't know.
I've only heard sriracha.
I don't know.
Now you're throwing me off.
I don't know which one it is.
Guys, if you know, let us know because maybe I'm saying it wrong or maybe it's both.
I don't know.
I don't know.
Yeah, I would be interested to know.
Guys, let us know.
Come back to our blog.
This is going to be episode 1294.
So come back to allearsenglish.com slash episodes and tell us how to pronounce it correctly.
But I have heard both, so yeah, so.
So lindsey yeah, here you said oh, i want the turkey sandwich, but what is sriracha right?
And then i said do you want?
Do you want that or no?
And what do you ask?
I say, maybe.
Is it spicy right?
And then i said very spicy, and you don't like spicy stuff?
No, yeah.
So i said, never mind, can i get hummus instead?
Perfect nice, okay.
Yeah, i think this is a pretty typical exchange and yeah, i think that this is this is very typical of what might happen um, in a fast food place, lindsey.
So yeah, this is this has been good.
Lindsey, what's the takeaway for today?
Yeah.
I mean in the first part of this series, part one, guys.
Last week we talked more about how these are used in the bar.
I think I was kind of veering more in my head towards bar food, which is totally it is what it is.
These are found in the bar.
But another place, again, is the fast casual restaurant.
And I want to challenge you guys if you can understand 80 to 90 of this podcast, you can step into one of those fast casual restaurants and order.
It might be scary because the line moves very fast, but I think you should consider it a goal for the year to go in there and do it, even if you feel scared to do it in English.
What do you think, Michelle?
Definitely definitely yeah, go out and try these things and, you know don't, don't be afraid, don't be afraid to ask.
If you don't know what something is, you're paying for it right, i know it can get intense because there is usually a long line and people are behind you, but you know what the other people in the line would do the same thing.
So exactly, i mean, people are people expect it, People expect it.
I mean, and I think there's something to be said about practicing our English when we're a little bit under pressure.
And this would be a perfect example of a scenario.
Just make a choice into what time you go, right?
Maybe if you live in New York City, maybe don't go to Sweet Greens in Union Square at 1 p.m., right?
Because that would be insane.
There's going to be a massive lunch crowd there, right?
Right.
But maybe go on at 3 pm or something, when it's going to be a little quieter.
But you're still under pressure of being in that line and you have to listen and respond.
It's going to be an amazing exercise.
That would have been a cool thing to do for our urban adventures, to have our listeners get in one of those lines.
Oh, yeah, that would have been fun.
That would have been fun.
Yeah, well, we'll do more live events in the future, guys.
Don't worry.
Michelle, how can our listeners get our transcripts if they don't have iOS?
How can they still get them by email?
Okay.
If you want to get our transcripts by email, you can go to allearsenglishcom.
Forward slash subscribe.
Yeah, exactly.
So guys, go on over there, sign up.
We'll send you them every Monday for the upcoming week.
All right.
Very cool.
Awesome.
Lindsay, this has been so much fun and I'm going to go get dinner now.
Sounds good.
Me too, Michelle.
I'll talk to you soon.
Have a good one.
Bye.
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