ordering food

hi,

suppose that i am in a restaurant and i want to ask the waiter if i need to pay before eating or the other way round.

how should i ask him?

"do i have to pay before?"

"do i have to pay in advance?"

is "before" a good word for this sentence?

thanks!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jctgf

hi,

suppose that i am in a restaurant and i want to ask the waiter if i need to pay before eating or the other way round.

how should i ask him?

"do i have to pay before?"

"do i have to pay in advance?"

is "before" a good word for this sentence?

thanks!

---

Hmmmm....I have never been in a restaurant where this was a problem. Of course, in a cafeteria style restaurant one does pay after you get your food and before you eat it, but you know this before going into the place.

I suppose if there was some doubt about how payment was made for the meal I would ask the maitre de or waiter about the policy of the restaurant towards paying for the meal.

I would probably ask "Do we pay for this meal before or after we have eaten?"

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Naamplao

Hmmmm....I have never been in a restaurant where this was a problem. Of course, in a cafeteria style restaurant one does pay after you get your food and before you eat it, but you know this before going into the place.

I suppose if there was some doubt about how payment was made for the meal I would ask the maitre de or waiter about the policy of the restaurant towards paying for the meal.

I would probably ask "Do we pay for this meal before or after we have eaten?"

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hi!

thank you very much.

it actually happened to me the last time i was visiting the usa.

i was in a grocery and there was a cashier (*) at a side and a counter (*) at the other side where a lot of people were having lunch.

just by looking at i didn't know how to proceed.

then i asked the cashier "do i have to pay before?"

what i wanted to know is if this sentence, said just like this, is bad english.

does a native who listen to a question like this understand what i mean?

thanks

(*) are these words appropriate for this situation?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jctgf

hi!

thank you very much.

it actually happened to me the last time i was visiting the usa.

i was in a grocery and there was a cashier (*) at a side and a counter (*) at the other side where a lot of people were having lunch.

just by looking at i didn't know how to proceed.
then i asked the cashier "do i have to pay before?"
what i wanted to know is if this sentence, said just like this, is bad english.
does a native who listen to a question like this understand what i mean?

thanks

(*) are these words appropriate for this situation?

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I see now...This is not a normal restaurant, rather it seems to be a small diner which also sells some convenience store groceries on the side.

Usually such places are arranged such that you sit down at the counter (yes this is the right term) and order your meal from the waitress. The cook will prepare your meal and give you your bill showing what you ate. You would take this bill to the cashier(this is correct as well) and they will charge you the appropriate amount for what you have eaten.

Now when you get the bill from the waitress, you could ask her, "Do I give you the money for the bill or do I go to the cashier?" She will tell you....make sure you leave her a tip :-)