ESL Speaking

Games + Activities to Try Out Today!

  • Adult Activities
  • Kid Activities
  • Textbooks
    • ESL Textbooks for Adults
    • ESL Textbooks for Children
  • Teacher Resources
    • Resources
    • Online TEFL Course
  • Learn English
    • Learn English
    • Confusing English Words

in Activities for Adults

ESL Restaurant and Ordering Food Activities, Games, Worksheets

If you’re looking for some of the best ESL restaurant and ordering food activities, games, role-plays, lesson plans and worksheets, then you’re in the right place. Keep on reading for everything you need to teach this unit on eating out in style.

esl-restaurant-dialogue-activities

Ordering food games

Ordering Food ESL Activities and Games

Let’s get into the best ESL restaurant games and activities to try out with your students today.

#1: Practice Ordering Food with Roleplays

The best way to give students some practice with ordering food is of course to do some role-plays. I like to give students some situations and conversation starters and then let them get to work. Consider bringing in some fake money to make this exercise even more realistic.

All the students can do the same situation or it’s also possible to come up with a few different ones to put on cards so students can have a chance to practice in various situations. Of course, mix it up so that students each get a chance to practice ordering as well as taking an order.

With a smaller class, the teacher can take a bigger role is being the person who takes the order with each of the students getting a chance to order their meal. There are a number of different things to do related to this so get creative and have some fun!

#2: ESL Fruit and Veggies Quiz

If your students need some review about basic food vocabulary, have a look at this simple online quiz:

#3: Restaurant ESL Running Dictation

A nice way to give students some practice with ESL restaurant dialogues is to do running dictation. Find (or write) a dialogue related to ordering food at a restaurant and then paste pieces of it around the room. Students have to work in pairs to dictate the conversation and once done, put the strips of paper in the correct order.

It’s challenging, engaging and interactive. Give it a try and I’m confident that your students will love it! Find out all the details about it here:

ESL Running Dictation Activity.

101 ESL Activities: For Teachers of Kids (6-13) Who Want to Have Fun, Engaging and Interactive...
101 ESL Activities: For Teachers of Kids (6-13) Who Want to Have Fun, Engaging and Interactive...
  • Amazon Kindle Edition
  • Smith, Jennifer Booker (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 133 Pages - 03/31/2016 (Publication Date)
Check Price on Amazon

#4: Telephone English Speaking Game

Try out this fun ESL speaking game for kids to get some practice with common phrases that they might use to order food at a restaurant. You may have played this game as a kid.

The way it works is that students have to pass a message down the line and then compare what the last person has with the original one. The results are usually hilarious!

In this case, the phrase or sentence should be something related to ordering food. Check it out here:

ESL Telephone Game.

#5: ESL Restaurant Dialogue Substitution

New vocabulary is often introduced through a dialogue. However, maybe your students are kind of like mine and just blow through it without really paying attention to what they’re reading. It’s really not their fault, it’s mostly that they don’t have a reason to read.

A way to give students a reason to read is to remove some of the key words. Then, it turns this activity from a simple reading one into one that involves meaning as well. Find out more about it:

ESL Dialogue Substitution Reading Activity.

#6: More Ideas for Food and Drink Games and Activities

#7: Countable/Uncountable Nouns and Ordering Food

A natural fit for the unit on ordering food at a restaurant is countable and uncountable nouns. Students can get lots of practice with these kinds of nouns with things like:

  • A glass of water
  • Some water
  • A small bowl of soup
  • 2 orders of fries
  • Etc.

One idea is to bring in some restaurant menus and then have students look for examples of various kinds of nouns. Or, have students do a role-play where they order food, paying careful attention to this grammar point.

#8: Restaurant Menus and Likes/Dislikes

A natural fit for language related to likes and dislikes is using a restaurant menu. Students can take a look at the menu and then decide which dishes they like and would order as well as ones that they wouldn’t consider and why.

#9: Simple Food Vocabulary Quiz

#10: Restaurant ESL Warm-Up

A nice way to introduce this topic is to show a restaurant menu on the PowerPoint. Then, elicit some details from students. For example:

  • What they’d like to order
  • What they wouldn’t order
  • Kind of restaurant
  • Cheap or expensive
  • Could kids eat there
  • Etc.

Find out more about this activity here:

Dialogue Substitution Activity.

#11: Task-Based Teaching Ideas for Restaurants and Eating Out

I like to incorporate some task-based ESL teaching and learning into my classes. It’s a nice change of pace from the mostly communicative style of activities that are found in most ESL textbooks. Related to this topic, here are some things to consider doing with your students:

  • Information gap activities where students work together to figure out someone’s order at a restaurant. Each student only has half the information and they need to get the complete picture through talking with each other.
  • A project where each group has to plan a dinner at a restaurant for the class. They have to find information like food options, prices, operating hours, whether or not the restaurant takes reservations, etc. and then make a presentation to the class.
  • Role-plays where students take turns ordering food and taking orders at a restaurant.

#12: Dictogloss ESL Ordering Food Activity

If you teach more advanced students, try out this challenging activity. Find (or write) a dialogue of someone ordering food at a restaurant. Throw in a few complicated things like substitutions, etc.

Then, put students into pairs and read it out at a faster than normal pace for the level of the students. They have to take notes and then compare with their partner to try to recreate what they heard. Read it out again quickly and students do the same. Finally, they can compare what they have with the original version.

Want to give it a try? Here are all the details:

Dictogloss 4-Skills ESL Activity.

If your students are learning how to order food in a restaurant with a textbook, it might be the case that it’s introduced through a dialogue. Here is a simple way to increase the level of difficulty of that.

#13: Menu Activity for English Learners

#14: Disappearing Text with ESL Restaurant Phrases

If you want to help students remember some key phrases related to ordering food, try out this quick review activity. Write a sentence on the board and have students read it out loud all together. Then, erase the first word or two and students have to say it again. Keep going until the entire sentence is gone but students are able to remember what it is.

Learn more about it:

ESL Disappearing Text Speaking Activity.

ordering-food-esl-activities-roleplays

Ordering food activities ESL

#15: ESL Menus

If you want to give students a chance to practice ordering food in a real-life kind of setting, be sure to use some menus and set up some role-plays. Just Google, “ESL menu” and you’ll see a myriad of options for any age and kind of food that you want to focus on.

This is a really nice food activity! Try it out with your students.

#16: Would You Rather Food Questions

I love to have my students discuss would you rather questions related to food. They are a fun way to get students talking, and of course, everyone has a strong opinion about what they like to eat!

ESL Restaurant Role Play Cards

One of the best ways to teach English learners how to order food is by using some restaurant roleplay. Check out some of the top recommendations for this:

ESL Printables

Boggles World

FluentU

ESL Restaurant Worksheets

Restaurants, eating out, and reading a menu worksheets can be quite a useful resource for our students. Here are some of the top recommendations for this:

ISL Collective

ESL Printables

ESL Flow

ESL Restaurant Dialogues 

If you’re looking for some good ESL restaurant dialogues to use, have a look here at some of my favourite options:

ThoughtCo

ESL Fast

Ordering Food and Eating Out ESL Lesson Plans

If you’re a teacher then I’m sure you like to save time. One of the best ways to do this is to use lesson plans that other teachers have created. Here are some of the top picks for ESL restaurant lessons to choose from:

ESL Lesson Plans

Lingua House

ThoughtCo

ESL Restaurant Vocabulary 

esl restaurant vocabulary

Most important ESL restaurant vocabulary

Here is some ESL restaurant vocabulary to consider teaching:

  • main course
  • starter
  • appetizer
  • dessert
  • drink
  • bill
  • tipping
  • share
  • split
  • cafe
  • cafeteria
  • course
  • eat in
  • take out
  • fast food
  • reservation
  • fast casual
  • menu
  • special
  • vegan
  • vegetarian
  • gluten-free
  • wine list
  • waiter
  • waitress
  • chef
  • cook

Did you like these Restaurant Activities and Games?

101 ESL Activities: Games, Activities, Practical ideas, & Teaching Tips For English Teachers of...
101 ESL Activities: Games, Activities, Practical ideas, & Teaching Tips For English Teachers of...
  • Amazon Kindle Edition
  • Bolen, Jackie (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 148 Pages - 03/09/2016 (Publication Date)
Check Price on Amazon

Yes? Thought so. Then you’re going to love this book that you can easily find on Amazon: 101 ESL Activities for Teenagers and Adults. The key to better English lessons is a wide variety of interesting, engaging and student-centred TEFL activities and games and this book will help you get there in style. There is enough material to make it through an entire semester without having to repeat an activity!

The best part is that the book is well-organized into sections so you should be able to find what you’re looking for in seconds. Pick up a copy to keep on the bookshelf in your office to use as a handy reference guide. Or, take the digital version with you to your favourite coffee shop for some serious lesson planning on the go.

Yes, it really is that easy to have better English lessons. Pick up a copy of the book and get ready for some ESL teaching awesome in your life. Head over to Amazon now:

shop-now-amazon

Have your say about the Best Restaurant and Ordering Food Activities and Roleplays

What’s your top pick for an ordering food game or activity? Is it one of the options from this list or do you have another one that you’d like to recommend? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. We’d love to hear from you.

Also be sure to give this article a share on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. It’ll help other busy teachers, like yourself, find this useful resource for ordering food ESL.

 

Last update on 2022-10-15 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

About Jackie

Jackie Bolen has been teaching English for more than 15 years to students in South Korea and Canada. She's taught all ages, levels and kinds of TEFL classes. She holds an MA degree, along with the Celta and Delta English teaching certifications.

Jackie is the author of more than 60 books for English teachers and English learners, including 101 ESL Activities for Teenagers and Adults and 1001 English Expressions and Phrases. She loves to share her ESL games, activities, teaching tips, and more with other teachers throughout the world.

You can find her on social media at:
YouTube
Facebook
TikTok
Pinterest
Instagram

« English Classroom Rules: Top 5 Rules for ESL/EFL Classes
10 Fun Road Trip Activities for All Ages »

Comments

  1. ramya says

    at

    I’m teaching my students about how to order food in a restaurant and found all your activity ideas really helpful. Thank you and keep up the great work!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Great Debates for ESL/EFL: 39 Important Debating Topics for English Learners
Great Debates for ESL/EFL: 39 Important Debating Topics for English Learners
Check Price on Amazon
103 Fun ESL Games & Activities for the Classroom : Interactive, Minimal Prep TEFL Ideas for All Ages
103 Fun ESL Games & Activities for the Classroom : Interactive, Minimal Prep TEFL Ideas for All Ages
Check Price on Amazon

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. What does this mean? I recommend products (only ones that I like) and if you purchase a product through that link, I earn some money.

Search this site

39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities: For English Teachers of Teenagers and Adults Who Want...
39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities: For English Teachers of Teenagers and Adults Who Want...
Check Price on Amazon
101 Activities and Resources for Teaching English Online: Practical Ideas, Games, Activities & Tips...
101 Activities and Resources for Teaching English Online: Practical Ideas, Games, Activities & Tips...
Check Price on Amazon
101 ESL Activities: Games, Activities, Practical ideas, & Teaching Tips For English Teachers of...
101 ESL Activities: Games, Activities, Practical ideas, & Teaching Tips For English Teachers of...
Check Price on Amazon

ESL Phrasal Verbs: Games, Activities, Lesson Plans & Worksheets

ESL Conversation Activities for Adults | ESOL Speaking Activities Adult

Adverbs of Frequency ESL Activities, Games, Worksheets, Lesson Plans

Tell a Story, ESL style | ESL Speaking Adults

Choose your Own Adventure ESL Writing Activity

Online TEFL Courses

Get Certified Entirely Online

67 ESL Conversation Topics with Questions, Vocabulary, Writing Prompts & More: For English Teachers...
67 ESL Conversation Topics with Questions, Vocabulary, Writing Prompts & More: For English Teachers...
Check Price on Amazon
Scatter Sheets for Intermediate-Advanced Students to Improve Fluency: ESL Speaking & Vocabulary...
Scatter Sheets for Intermediate-Advanced Students to Improve Fluency: ESL Speaking & Vocabulary...
Check Price on Amazon
1001 English Expressions and Phrases: Common Sentences and Dialogues Used by Native English Speakers...
1001 English Expressions and Phrases: Common Sentences and Dialogues Used by Native English Speakers...
Check Price on Amazon
39 ESL Warm-Ups: For English Teachers of Kids (7+) Who Want to Get their TEFL Classes Started Off...
39 ESL Warm-Ups: For English Teachers of Kids (7+) Who Want to Get their TEFL Classes Started Off...
Check Price on Amazon
Jackie Bolen

Disclosure Statement

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

  • Adult Activities
  • Kid Activities
  • Textbooks
  • Teacher Resources
  • Learn English

Our Top-Seller

Sale 39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities: For Teenagers and Adults (Teaching ESL Conversation and...
39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities: For Teenagers and Adults (Teaching ESL Conversation and...
Check Price on Amazon

Search

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

More ESL Activities

easy trivia questions

50 Easy Trivia Questions for Kids with Answers

present-perfect-for-and-since

Present Perfect For and Since Activities, Worksheets, Lesson Plans

road trip activities

10 Fun Road Trip Activities for All Ages

ESL classroom rules

English Classroom Rules: Top 5 Rules for ESL/EFL Classes

About, Contact, Privacy Policy

Jackie Bolen has been talking ESL speaking since 2014 and the goal is to bring you the best recommendations for English conversation games, activities, lesson plans and more. It’s your go-to source for everything TEFL!

About and Contact for ESL Speaking.

Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Email: [email protected]

Facebook

Pinterest

TikTok

YouTube

LinkedIn

Address: 2436 Kelly Ave, Port Coquitlam, Canada

Copyright © 2023 Jackie Bolen + ESL Speaking. All Rights Reserved.