Dining Culture: Guide to Eating Out in the United States

Written by Jack Ngo

Eating out in the United States is not much different than eating out in other parts of the worlds. There are still fast food chains such as McDonalds and KFC for those hamburgers, French fires, and fried chicken. However, what makes the restaurants in the US unique is that there is a cultural diversity of restaurants serving food from almost every parts of the world. When you arrive in Irvine, and travel around the city, you will find many restaurants of many different cultures, ranging from European, to the Middle East and Asia.  So, when you first arrived and are not comfortable trying different food yet, there are always restaurants close by that offers the food you prefer.

Finding a Restaurant

Now how do you find those restaurants and know if they are good or not? The most common way is through the internet. In the US, most restaurants can be found through a smartphone app called Yelp. It is a commonly used search engine for restaurants and its very convenient to use!  All you need is to enter the cuisine you want such as “Indian, Sichuan, Sushi, Vegetarian,etc.” and the location you are in and it will show all the local restaurants offering that cuisine. In addition, each restaurant on there is also rated and reviewed by some of their past customers. Other convenient information includes their phone numbers, direction, opening hours, pictures, and menu. At some restaurants, you can also sign up for the waiting list through the app to save time!

Food Delivery to your Home

If you don’t have access to a car or don’t have time to go out and eat, there are food delivery services available. Traditionally, pizza is the most common food for delivery, but nowadays, with the rise of peer-to-peer delivery and transport services, there are many options. Some delivery services you can try are DoorDash, UberEats, or Postmates. All you would need to do is just make free account, select the restaurants on their webpage, order from the menu, and enter your address to have the food delivered to your home. They usually have a delivery discount the first time you sign up for an account so make sure to take advantage of that!

Billing, Tipping, Smoking, and Alcohol

The dining culture in the United States is very different than the rest of the world. The four topics that foreigners are generally not accustomed to are billing, tipping, smoking, and alcohol.

At a full-service restaurant, you eat before you pay, and the bill is generally handed to you at the end of your meal. Most restaurants accept credit cards and debit cards, but make sure carry some cash in case you dine in a restaurant with a “Cash Only” sign or a restaurant that does not accept certain credit card company. If you pay with a card, there is usually two receipts: A merchant copy and customer copy. The merchant copy is the one you write the bill amount plus tip, signed, and the customer copy is the one you get to keep for reference.

Tipping is where a customer leaves a tip for their server. This is always done at a full-service restaurant where you sit in and have a wait staff serve you, (not fast food restaurants where you order food over the counter and pick up your own food). The reason is that most American restaurants do not include a gratuity charge to the bill, so it is expected that the customer leave a tip for their server and tip according to their performance. Commonly, a tip of 15% of the total bill is left for satisfactory service, 20% for superior service, and 10% for poor service.

Smoking inside a restaurant or near any public buildings is prohibited in many places in the US. Smoking is socially less acceptable in the US compared to many parts of the world. The widely acceptable rule is if you are indoor in any public places such as restaurants, you are not allowed to smoke. The only exceptions are in places such as casinos, nightclubs, and some bars. The legal smoking age in the US is 18, so be prepared to show your ID if you look young when purchasing cigarettes.

For alcohol, most restaurants except fast food places have a license to serve beer and wine. At some restaurants, there are also full bars where hard liquors, such as vodka, are available. However, be careful about being too drunk as most bars and restaurants will kick you out for health/safety reasons. Also, never drive when under the influence or you will get arrested.

Casual Dining with Friends

When eating out with friends, there are usually no enforced rules or etiquettes. But, it is always good to know some common dining habits to prevent unnecessary arguments and enjoy good food without going broke.

One of the most obvious advice is to ask each person in your group what they prefer to eat. It may be tedious and time consuming, but it allows everyone to feel included and prevent unnecessary problems ordering food. Also, this is important if there are anyone in your group who has a dietary restriction such as a vegetarian or someone who has allergic reactions to certain type of food.

If you have a large group, always try to make a reservation if possible, especially if the restaurant you are going to is popular. This is as simple as calling the restaurant ahead of time and make a reservation. This allows a guarantee to your table, saving everyone wait time (if everyone arrives on time).

Another commonly perceived problem is splitting the bill between friends. Some restaurants allow splitting the bill between two or three people but not for a large group. One commonly and conveniently used solution is through a phone app called “Venmo.” This is a very popular transaction app and it is a straightforward and secure way for splitting the check. All you need to do is create an account and link it to your bank account. Once that is done, you can add each of your friends who also has a Venmo account. How this method works is that one person in the group pays for the bill, then divides it, and have each person pay back through the app.

Fine Dining and American Table Manners

If you ever got an invitation to a dinner party or a request to attend a business/conference meeting at a restaurant, you may need to understand proper American dining etiquette. Below are some commonly acknowledged etiquettes.

The first rule is to dress appropriately. It is always good to dress for an important event taking place at a restaurant.

At a continental American restaurant, after you are seated at a table, the napkin should be placed on your lap and kept there until after the meal. When food is served it is a common courtesy to wait for everyone to receive their plate before starting to eat.

The utensils used are generally a fork and a knife. For cutting food such as steak, the fork is used to hold the meat using your left hand while you cut with the knife in your right hand. After cutting, the knife is put down and the fork is switched to your right hand to eat the food.

While eating try to keep chewing noise to a minimum and chew with your mouth closed. Also, do not talk while you are chewing as this is impolite and unpleasant to watch.