English for restaurant waiters: Giving the bill/check and saying goodbye exercise

In this online exercise you will learn English vocabulary and phrases that are used after you have served/given customers their food to when the customers leave the restaurant. You'll learn professional and polite phrases for asking if they want dessert, giving them their bill/check, them paying the bill/check and saying goodbye.

This is the third part of three online exercises on English vocabulary for restaurant waiters/waitresses. If you want to learn what to say when taking orders and serving food, do our exercise on 'English for restaurant waiters: Taking orders and serving food'.

To learn what to say when customers arrive and serving drinks, do our exercise on 'English for restaurant waiters: When customers arrive'.

To learn food and drink vocabulary, see the online exercises we have on the website in the 'food & drink exercise menu'.

Exercise:

In the following conversation in a restaurant in Spain, a waiter is speaking to two customers after he has served/given each of them their main course dish. This conversation is a continuation of what was said in the second part of this exercise when the waiter took the customers' orders and served them their food.

Focus on the words/phrases which are in bold in the text and from using the context, decide both what they mean and what their purpose is. Do the quiz/test at the end to make sure that you are right.

Waiter:'Is everything fine with your meal?'

Customer 2:'Yes. It's very nice, thank you.'

Customer 1:'Would you mind bringing us another glass of red wine and a Pepsi-Cola?'

Waiter:'Of course, sir.'

15 minutes after serving the customers their drinks

Waiter:'Have you finished?'

Customer 1:'Yes, we have.'

Waiter:'Would you like to have a dessert?'

Customer 1:'No, we're fine thanks.'

Waiter:'Or a tea or coffee?'

Customer 1:'No. We'd like the bill, please.'

Waiter:'Of course. I'll just go and get it for you.'

3 minutes later: The waiter returns with the bill

Waiter:'Here you are.'

Customer 2:'Thank you.'

3 minutes later:

Customer 2:'Could we pay, please?'

Waiter:'Of course, madam. How would you like to pay, cash or card?'

Customer 2:'By card, please.'

1 minutes later:

Waiter:'That will be €65.00, please. If I can have your card, please.'

Customer 2:'Here you are.'

Waiter:'Thank you.'

1 minutes later:

Waiter:'If you could sign this, please.'

Customer 2:'You want me to write my signature on the piece of paper?'

Waiter:'Yes.'

20 seconds later:

Waiter:'Thank you. Here's your card and your receipt.'

Customer 2:'Thank you.'

Waiter:'I hope you enjoyed your meal.'

Customer 1:'Yes, we did. It was lovely.'

Waiter:'Enjoy the rest of your evening.'

Customer 1:'Thank you. Bye.'

Waiter:'Goodbye.'

Quiz:

Below is a definition/description of each of the words in bold from the above text. Now choose the word/phrase from the question's selection box which you believe answers each question. Only use one word/phrase once. Click on the "Check Answers" button at the bottom of the quiz to check your answers.

When the answer is correct, two icons will appear next to the question which you can press/click on. In the first icon, , you can find extra information about the word/phrase (e.g. when, where and how to use etc...). In the second, , is where you can listen to the word/phrase.

1. A phrase used to confirm to a customer how much money they have to pay for the meal, is

That will be €65.00, please:
(phrase) If a customer is going to pay the bill/check by card, before you take their card from them you can confirm how much money you are going to take from their account for the meal. It is not necessary to say this (because they will already know how much from having looked at the bill/check), but it sounds professional to do so.

You can also use this phrase to tell a customer how much they have to pay if you don't give them a bill/check.

For example:

'That will be $10.45, please.'

In Spanish: "son €65.00, por favor".

That will be €65.00, please:

2. What you should ask a customer(s) before you remove the plates of the dishes they have just eaten, is

Have you finished:
(verb) It is both polite and professional to make sure that a customer has finished eating something before you remove the plate(s) from the table. To do this, just say 'have you finished?'. If they say 'yes', then you take the plate(s) away. If they say 'no', you don't.

You should also say this for drinks as well.

If you don't ask them this and just take the plates and glasses away without asking, it is seen as rude and unprofessional by many people (especially for people from Britain, America, Australia etc...).

In Spanish: "habéis terminado".

Have you finished:

3. A polite phrase that a customer uses to tell a waiter/waitress that they don't want something that has been offered or suggested to them, is

No, we're fine thanks:
(phrase) This is basically a politer way of saying 'no'. It is commonly used in English as a response/reply to an offer or a suggestion.

For example:

'Would you like a coffee?'

'No, we're fine thanks.'

The opposite of this is 'yes, please'.

In Spanish: "no, estamos bien gracias".

No, we're fine thanks:

4. A phrase you use with a customer when you want them to write their signature/name on a small piece of paper when they are paying by bank/credit card, is

If you could sign this, please:
(phrase) In English, 'sign' is a different way of saying 'write your name/signature'. If a customer is paying for something with a bank or credit card in a shop, restaurant etc..., they will either have to write their name on a small piece of paper or enter their bank card PIN number to confirm that it's their card.

If they have to write their signature/name, you should tell them what they have to do when giving them the small piece of paper and where they have to do it. To do this, you use the phrase 'if you could sign this, please' or 'please sign this'.

In Spanish: "firme la boleta, por favor".

If you could sign this, please:

5. When a customer has asked you for the bill/check, it is polite and professional to respond/reply by saying

Of course. I'll just go and get it for you:
(phrase) You would use this phrase when a customer has asked you for the bill/check. You use it to both confirm that you heard what they said and tell them that you going to bring it to them.

For example:

'Can we have the bill, please?'

'Of course. I'll just go and get it for you.'

In Spanish: "por supuesto, os la traigo".

Of course. I'll just go and get it for you:

6. A polite phrase you say to a customer(s) when they are leaving the restaurant after paying the bill/check, is

Enjoy the rest of your evening:
(phrase) This is a polite and professional thing to say to customers when they have paid the bill/check and are leaving (or getting ready to leave) the restaurant.

You should use this phrase if the customers have just had dinner (because it uses 'evening'). If the customers have just had breakfast or lunch, then you would replace 'evening' with 'day'. For example, 'enjoy the rest of your day'.

If the customers are tourists, no matter what the time is, you can also say 'enjoy the rest of your stay'. Which means enjoy the rest of the time you are in the city or town where you are.

In Spanish: "qué pasen buena tarde".

Enjoy the rest of your evening:

7. A phrase you use when you return a customer's bank card to them and give them a small piece of paper that says how much they have spent, is

Here's your card and your receipt:
(phrase) In English, when you give a customer something in a restaurant or bar which is for them, you normally start by saying 'here's your'. For example, 'here's your change', 'here's your drink', 'here are your menus' etc... You would say 'here's your card and your receipt' to a customer after you have taken out the money from their bank account for their meal and you are giving them back their bank card and the receipt (the small piece of paper that says what they have bought and how much it cost).

If the customer has paid with cash (notes and/or coins), when you are giving them their change (the money you return to the customer when they have paid for something with more money than it costs), you replace 'here's your card' with 'here's your change' in the phrase.

For example:

'Here's your change and your receipt.'

In Spanish: "aqui tiene su tarjeta y su recibo/ticket".

Here's your card and your receipt:

8. When you want to make sure before they have finished eating that there are no problems with the dishes you have served the customers, you ask them

Is everything fine with your meal:
(phrase) It is both polite and professional to ask customers if there are any problems with their food. To do this, you should ask them 'is everything fine with your meal?'. I recommend that you only ask this after you have served them their main course (also called 'second course') and they have started eating it.

I don't think it's necessary to ask them this when they are eating their starter (also called 'first course') or dessert.

In Spanish: "está todo bien".

Is everything fine with your meal:

9. A polite phrase a customer asks when they want the waiter to get/give them something (like another bottle of wine, a glass, bread etc...), is

Would you mind bringing us:
(phrase) This is basically a politer and more formal way of saying 'can/could we have' (which is commonly used). Customers don't use this type of phrase when they are ordering food, but when they want other types of things (e.g. some bread, a knife, a fork, a glass, a bottle of water, the bill/check etc...).

For example:

'Would you mind bringing us a bottle of water, please?'

In Spanish: "le importaría traernos".

Would you mind bringing us:

10. A polite phrase you use to ask customers after they have finished their meal if they liked it, is

I hope you enjoyed your meal:
(phrase) This phrase is used to be both polite and professional. You can say this either when you are giving them their bill/check or after they have paid (it's your choice).

In Spanish: "espero que hayan disfrutado de la comida".

I hope you enjoyed your meal:

11. A polite way to ask customers after they have finished their main course if they want to order a sweet dish (e.g. apple pie, cake etc...), is

Would you like to have a dessert:
(phrase) This is basically a formal and polite way of saying 'do you want a dessert?' ('would you like' is a formal way of saying 'do you want'). Instead of this phrase, another phrase which is also formal and polite that you can use, is 'would you like to see the dessert menu?'. But I would only use this if you have a menu which is specifically for desserts.

In Spanish: "quieren postre".

Would you like to have a dessert:

12. A polite way to ask a customer(s) what way they want to pay for the meal, is

How would you like to pay, cash or card:
(phrase) After you have given the customer(s) the bill/check and they've looked at it, it is professional to ask them by what method they want to pay it. 'cash' means with physical money (notes/bills or coins) and 'card' means with a bank or credit card.

If you don't accept payment by bank or credit cards in your restaurant, then you shouldn't use this phrase. If this is the case, you should probably tell the customer(s) before you give them the bill/check that they can only pay in 'cash'.

In Spanish: "cómo van a pagar, en efectivo o con tarjeta".

How would you like to pay, cash or card:

Click to see more vocabulary exercises for jobs & work

Practice

Now that you understand the vocabulary, practise it by speaking to a customer in the restaurant you work in.

This is me, Chris Clayton, the owner and main writer for Blair English. I'm also a part-time English teacher in sunny Spain. I have a love of history and the web. I hope you find the website useful.