esl lesson on food

Food – A Complete ESL Lesson Plan for Beginners

Food is something everyone can relate to. Learning vocabulary about food will enable students to talk about their likes and dislikes and many other things. 

This page is a complete ESL lesson plan to teach food vocabulary and expressions to beginner English language learners. In this lesson, students will learn how to talk about what food they like and don’t like. This lesson can, however, be adapted to use with other expressions to do with food. All the materials for the activities in this lesson can be downloaded below.

Materials for this lesson:

• Food Guessing Game (YouTube)
• Flashcards – Food
• Student Cards – Food
• Board Game – Food

Food Lesson Plan for Beginner ESL Students

Introduction and warm up.

A great way to start your lesson about food is to play a fun food guessing game. This ‘Hidden Picture’ game from Games4esl is perfect for introducing food vocabulary. Simply play the video in class and ask students to try to guess what the food is. 

If they don’t know the English word at this point, it’s okay for them to use their native language. The purpose of this activity is just to introduce the topic in a fun way and to activate students’ existing knowledge about food and food vocabulary. 

Next, ask students about what other food they know in English and write those words on the board. Once you have a few examples on the board, survey the whole class as to whether or not they like those foods. 

To do this, you can simply ask students to show a thumbs up or thumbs down to indicate if they like or dislike the food. This will help to put the lesson about likes and dislikes into context so students can better understand the lesson’s key expressions.

Practice Keywords And Sentences

Using these  food flashcards , practice the keywords by showing the flashcards and asking students to repeat after you. Then, ask students to try to say the words on their own. Once students have practiced enough, drill some more with the key expressions. 

The key sentences we will use in this lesson plan are ‘Do you like (salad)?’ – ‘Yes, I do. / No, I don’t.’. You can, of course, use the activities in this lesson plan with different expressions. Here are some other example sentences about food you might want to use: 

• I like/don’t like (chicken).
• What’s your favorite food? – My favorite food is (pizza). 
• What do you want to eat? – I want (salad), please.
• Do you want some more (pizza)? – Yes, please. / No, thanks. 

Activity 1: Line Bingo – Listening Activity

Before the class, print out and cut these  food student cards . Give one set of cards to each student or pair of students. Next, ask students to place the cards in a horizontal line in any order they wish. Once students have made a line with their cards, the line bingo game can begin. 

To play this game, the teacher must choose one of the foods and then say that word out loud while using the key expression. For example, if the teacher chooses the ‘steak’ card, he/she would say, ‘Do you like (steak)?’. Then, students must look at their cards and find where the steak flashcard is. If it is on the left or right end of the line of cards, then the students turn it over and say, ‘Yes, I do.’ 

If the card is in the middle of the line, they don’t turn it over and must say, ‘No, I don’t.’ The aim of the game is to turn over all the cards. The first student to turn over all the cards has bingo and is the winner. This activity is a wonderful listening game and students, especially kids, love it. 

You can play this game with many different topics. For more printable mini-flashcards on many topics,  click here . 

Activity 2: Board Game – The Dice Game

This  printable board game  is best played in pairs and is designed to get your students to speak about what food they like or don’t like. Each pair of students needs one board game and one dice to play. To begin, students should place their eraser on the ‘Start’ square. 

Then one student should roll the dice and move his/her eraser. If they land on one of the food pictures, then the students should make a dialogue based on that picture. For example, if a student lands on the pizza picture, then he/she should ask their partner, ‘Do you like pizza?’, and their partner can answer, ‘Yes, I do. / No, I don’t. 

The aim of the game is to get to the center star to win a point. The only way to get to the center star is to land on the middle squares (the ones with the arrows). After arriving at the middle star, the student gets one point and then moves his/her eraser back to the start. Stop the game after 10 minutes or so, and the student with the most points is the winner. 

Activity 3: The Spy Game

This final activity is a fun speaking game that will get your students out of their seats and talking with their friends. In this activity, students must find a partner who has the same card. But, students must be careful because their partner may be a spy!

HOW TO PLAY: 

First, prepare the cards for the game. In this game, students will find their partner, so you must make sure that there are enough pairs of cards for this to be possible. For example, if you have 16 students in your class, then you need 8 pairs. You can use the same  student cards  that were used in the line bingo game above.

Next, give each student one card and tell them that they are not allowed to show their card to anyone else. Then, tell students they must find a partner with the same card as them without showing their card. 

To do this, students will walk around and ask each other, ‘Do you like…?’ and answer, ‘Yes, I do. / No, I don’t.’. For example, a student who has a ‘pizza’ card would ask a classmate, ‘Do you like pizza?’. If their classmate has the same card, they would answer, ‘Yes, I do.’. If the card is different, they would answer, ‘No, I don’t.’ 

Once a student has found their partner, they should go to the teacher and then show their cards to the teacher. After practicing ‘find your partner’ one or two times, it’s time to introduce a ‘spy’ card. On one of the cards, write the word ‘spy’ and then hand out the cards to the students. 

Again, remind students not to show their cards to anyone else. Tell the students that if they have the ‘spy’ card, then they can lie about what card they have. The spy’s job is to try to make a partner with anyone. The other students should try to find their partner without becoming a partner with the spy. 

Kids really enjoy this game, especially if they get to be the spy. After playing one or two times, you can introduce more spies to make it even more fun.

Before finishing the class, review the food vocabulary and expressions that they have learned. A great way to do this is with a fun drawing game. Draw a food that you like on the board and ask students to guess what it is.

To guess, students can ask the teacher, ‘Do you like (pizza)?’. When a student guesses correctly, invite that student to come to the front to draw food that he/she likes. Again, the other students should try to guess what food is drawn on the board by asking the student, ‘Do you like (fish)?’.

Related Resources

• Food Worksheets
• Food Board Games And Flashcards
• Food Likes / Dislikes PPT
• Food Hidden Picture PPT
• Food Matching Game PPT
• Top 10 Food Songs for Children

ESL Activities

ESL Games, Activities, Lesson Plans, Jobs & More

in Icebreakers + Warm-Ups · Listening · Reading · Speaking

ESL Food Games and Activities | Fun Food and Drink Games for ESL

The food unit is a classic in most ESL textbooks, especially for beginners and intermediates. However, it can get a little bit boring for the students, and the teacher as well, so mix things up with some of these ESL food games. They are perfect for ESL food lessons for kids as well as adults.

ESL Food and Drink Activities

ESL Food Activities and Games

Let’s get into the best ESL food and drink games and activities to try out with your students that are ideal for an ESL food lesson plan.

#1: Easy Food Vocabulary Quiz

Have some fun with this quick warm-up or review activity.

#2: Odd One Out

This quick warmer or ESL review game is ideal for beginner students who may be learning simple vocabulary like different fruits and vegetables.

The way it works is that you write 4 words in a group. For example:

Apple, Orange, Carrot, Banana

Then, students have to choose the odd one out and say why. This one would be carrot because it’s not a fruit.

Check out one of the best ESL Food games right here: Odd One Out ESL Warm-Up .

#3 ESL Food Activities: The Mystery Box Game

A fun way to introduce some food things with little kids is to do the mystery box game. Choose your objects carefully. They should be hard, and not prone to breaking or squishing. Some of the best things to include are:

• Harder vegetables like carrots, celery, etc.

Then, put them all inside a box and the students have to reach their hand in to see what they can feel. Once they do that, they have to guess what each object is. Find out all the details here:

Mystery Box ESL Food Game .

• Amazon Kindle Edition
• Bolen, Jackie (Author)
• English (Publication Language)
• 148 Pages - 03/09/2016 (Publication Date)

#4 ESL Food Games: Dictogloss

This is a classic 4-skills ESL activity that’s ideal for just about any topic, including food. The way it works is that you find a short reading in your ESL book , or online, or make one yourself.

Then, you read it out quickly and the students have to work together to re-create the story, either through writing or speaking. You read it again and the students work to improve what they have until it’s close to the original.

If you want, you can make it a bit of a competition to see which team comes the closest. Learn more here:

Dictogloss ESL Activity .

#5: Food Videos

There are a ton of videos on both YouTube and English Central related to food. They make a nice warm-up or lead-in to the food unit. Or, you can use it a round-up at the end of class. Consider using them for your units on Christmas or Easter as well, which of course are ALL about the food.

Either way, don’t forget to use some activities related to the video to get the most value out of it. Check it out for yourself here:

Videos for ESL Students .

#6: ESL Food Surveys

Just ask my students and they’ll tell you that surveys are one of my go-to ESL activities. I like to use them at least once a month in my classes. The best part? This versatile activity lends itself well to many topics, including food.

It takes just a few minutes to design a survey related to food and then your students will have an awesome activity to participate in. Plus, it’s one of the best WH questions activities . Learn more about it here:

Surveys for ESL Students .

#7: Food Idiom Activity

There are a ton of food idioms in English. Like literally hundreds, if not thousands of them. They can be a fun way to introduce some cultural things to your students that you might not otherwise have a chance to.

You can have some fun with idioms too. Check out this activity for doing just that: ESL Idiom Activity.

#8 ESL Food Activity: Menu Scanning

When we read something like a travel brochure , bus timetable or restaurant menu, we scan the menu for what we’re looking for, instead of reading word for word. This saves a ton of time and we can often find exactly what we’re looking for in seconds.

Help your students with this important reading skill in English by using restaurant menus. Check out this activity here. It’s for travel brochures, but you can easily adapt it to a menu:

Brochure Scanning ESL Reading Activity .

#9: The ESL Food Unit, for Korean Students

I lived in South Korea for 10 years and one of the things that I loved best about that country was the food. So, so delicious and even though I live in Canada now, I still regularly eat Korean food.

The problem with food units in textbooks and Korean students is the standard appetizer, main course, dessert thing just doesn’t really work because Koreans don’t really eat that. Or, meat, potato and vegetable.

That’s why there’s a better way. Find out what I did in my classes to adapt the food unit to their unique culture: Korean Students and the Food Unit .

#10: ESL Thanksgiving Activities

Thanksgiving is ALL about food and family, right? When this holiday comes around, I like to do a class about it and share some American and Canadian culture with my students. Here are some recommendations for the activities and games to consider:

ESL Thanksgiving Games and Activities .

For more ideas related to culture, have a look here:

Discussion Questions about Culture .

• 279 Pages - 07/12/2020 (Publication Date)

Also be sure to check this out: Language and Culture .

#11 Food Activity: Word Association

Do your students already know lots of vocabulary related to food? Then considering using this quick warm-up to help activate prior knowledge. The way it works is that students shout out some of the food words they know and think about how they relate to each other.

For example, you may have a branch for fruit, veggies, grains, dairy, restaurant things, cooking at home, etc. Learn more here: Word Association for ESL Students .

#12 ESL Food Activity: Just a Minute

If you’re looking for a warm-up related to food for more advanced level students, then consider Just a Minute. It’s easy to adapt it to food related topics.

#13: Flyswatter ESL Food Game

This is a really fun ESL game that you can use for just about any topic and it lends itself especially well to food. The way it works is that you write a bunch of words on the board and then you give hints to 2 students with flyswatters. The one to hit the correct words gets the point for their team.

Learn more about it here: Flyswatter ESL Food Game .

#14: Concentration ESL Memory Game

This is another fun ESL game for beginners that can easily be related to food. Make flashcards , half with pictures and then the other half with the corresponding word. The students mix them up, and place them face down.

Then, the first student chooses two cards. For example, a picture of a carrot, and the word apple. Not a match so they put them back down. And so the game continues.

You can find out all the details here: Concentration Memory Game .

Top 13 ESL Food Activities

#15 ESL Food Lesson: Use Yes/No Questions

If you teach beginners, one of the first grammar points you’ll typically find in most ESL/EFL lesson is the “be” verb. It’s relatively straightforward, but can get a little bit tricky with questions.

You’ll often find that food is one of the first topics students learn as well as it’s extremely concrete and can be easily conveyed using pictures. So, combine these yes or no activities with food and you’ll certainly have a winning lesson plan!

More details here: Yes and No Question ESL Activities .

#16: Typhoon Game

A nice way to review just about anything, including food and cooking vocabulary is with the typhoon game. Have a look here:

#17: Present Perfect Food Questions

For more advanced learners, the food unit is often combined with the present perfect. After all, food lends itself extremely well to these types of questions. For example,

• Have you ever tried any unusual food?
• What’s the best thing you’ve ever tried?
• Where’s the best restaurant you’ve ever eaten at?

There are a ton of activities you can use when teaching the present perfect to your students. You can learn more about it right here: Present Perfect ESL Games and Activities .

#18: Jigsaw Activities for Food

#19 ESL Food Activities: What are you Cooking?

Put students into groups of three and tell them to write down items from each of the following categories:

• 1 Dairy product
• 3 vegetables
• 1 Green vegetable
• 1 tin of some kind of food
• 1 jar of some food
• Something salty
• Something sweet
• 3 herbs or spices

Then, collect the papers from the students and redistribute them to the other groups. Then, each group has 10-15 minutes to make a three course meal with their ingredients, along with cooking oil, salt and pepper. However, they are not required to use all the ingredients if they don’t want to. It should consist of an appetizer, main course, and dessert.

When each group is finished, give them some time to prepare for their presentation. Each group will present their menu to the class. I usually require that each student in the group talks about one course.

Students can vote on their favourite menu that’s not their own! You can prepare a small prize for the winning team.

Procedure for this ESL Food Activity:

1. Put students into groups of three. They have to write down the required ingredients in each category. 2. Collect the papers and redistribute them to another team. 3. Each team must make a three course menu with their ingredients (appetizer, main course and dessert). They don’t have to use all the ingredients. 4. The teams do a short presentation about their menu, and the class votes on their favourite.

• 85 Pages - 02/02/2020 (Publication Date)

#20: ESL Quantifier Activities

Food and quantifiers like many/much/some/any are a natural fit which is why they’re often taught together in ESL textbooks. If this is the case for you and you want to spice things up a bit, check out these fun things you can do with your students.

Quantifier Activities for ESL .

#21: Games Involving Food and Drink

If you’re looking for a fun game that involves food, then you’ll want to try this “toilet paper” icebreaker. However, instead of using TP, you’ll want to use some small candies. I generally prefer wrapped candies for sanitary reasons, but you could also use something like Skittles or M & M’s.

The way it works is that students take a certain number of candies within a range. Then, for each candy they took, they have to say a fact about themselves, or they can also ask a follow-up question to another student. With each question or fact, they get to eat the candy!

Do you want to find out more details about one of the best games with food? Check it out for yourself right here: ESL Icebreaker Activity .

ESL food and drinks games

#22: Reading Lesson Plan About Food

In ESL textbooks, a common way that new vocabulary, including food is introduced is through a reading passage. However, instead of just quickly breezing through it, it’s possible to plan an entire lesson around it. Want to find out how? It can be a nice change of pace from most English classes which are heavy on the speaking and conversation.

ESL Reading Lesson Plan Template .

#23: Fruit and Vegetables Quiz

Try out this simple quiz for fruits and veggies:

#24: Ball Toss ESL Food and Drink Game

In this game, students toss a beach ball around the classroom and take turns speaking in English. In this case, you’d want to write a bunch of questions related to food on the ball such as the following:

• What’s your favourite food?
• Is there a food that you hate?
• Do you like to snack at night?
• What do you think about vegetables?

Find out more here about one of the best ESL food games:

Ball Toss ESL Speaking Activity .

#25: Vocab Auction

#26: Food Role Plays for ESL Students

A nice way to get beginners practicing using food and drink vocabulary is to do some role-plays. Students can take turns ordering food at a restaurant or coffee shop. Check out some of my favourite ideas:

ESL Role Play Activity .

#27: Drinks Vocabulary

Check out these fun ideas for teaching students the names of common beverages:

Drinks Vocabulary List .

#28: Speaking Fluency Activity

To use this activity with the food unit, have students talk about their favourite food or restaurant.

#29: Me Too!

This is a simple listening and speaking activity for beginners. Students can take turns saying a food that they like or don’t like. If another student has the same like or dislike, they can stand up and say, “Me too!” Find out more here:

#30: Would You Rather Questions

There are a million and one would-you-rather questions related to food and drink . Check out this resource for some ideas:

• 81 Pages - 12/19/2022 (Publication Date)

#31: List of Vegetables in English

Check out these images and a helpful summary chart if your students want to learn some new vocabulary:

List of Vegetables in English (with pictures) .

#32: Food Advertisements and Packaging

Analyze food advertisements and packaging materials with your students. Discuss persuasive techniques, food labeling, and nutritional information. Students can create their own advertisements or design food packaging using English slogans and product descriptions.

#33: Vegetables in English

#34: Food-Related Songs and Rhymes

Introduce catchy songs or rhymes related to food. Focus on lyrics that include food vocabulary, healthy eating, or table manners. Sing or recite the songs together, encouraging students to participate and practice pronunciation.

#35: Reading Food-Related Texts

Use food-themed reading materials such as recipes, restaurant reviews, food blogs, or articles about nutrition. Assign reading tasks and comprehension questions to improve reading skills, expand vocabulary, and stimulate discussion.

#36: Fruit Guessing Game

How well do your students know their fruits? Find out here with this fun quiz!

#37:  Cultural Potluck or Food Festival

Organize a class potluck or food festival where students bring dishes from their culture to share. This is a great way to celebrate diversity and practice English in a practical context.

#38: Field Trips

If possible, take your students on a field trip to a local farmer’s market, grocery store, or international food market. This real-world experience enhances learning.

ESL Food Vocabulary

If you’re looking for some food words to use in these games and activities or to teach your students, here is a list of some of the most common words you’ll want to include:

And of course, the individual kinds of food you’ll want to include as well if your students don’t already know them.

Food for Today Textbook

If your students are at a high enough level, you may consider using this textbook: Food for Today. It’s a lab-based nutrition program for high school students and could work well for near-fluent ESL high school or university students who want to dive deep into the food that they eat. Check it out here:

• Hardcover Book
• McGraw Hill (Author)
• 768 Pages - 03/15/2005 (Publication Date) - McGraw Hill (Publisher)

Icebreaker Questions Related to Food

Almost everyone likes talking about food! Here are some of the best food-related icebreaker questions to get the conversation going.

• What is your favorite cuisine, and why?
• If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
• What is the weirdest food combination you’ve ever tried?
• Do you prefer cooking at home or dining out?
• What is your go-to comfort food?
• Have you ever tried a food that you initially thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving?
• What’s the most memorable meal you’ve ever had?
• Do you follow any specific dietary restrictions or preferences?
• If you could have dinner with any famous person, living or dead, who would it be and why?
• What is the most exotic food you’ve ever eaten?

ESL Food Worksheets

Are you looking for some ESL food and drink worksheets for your students? Then you’ll definitely want to check out some of our go-to sources for extra practice for food vocabulary:

ISL Collective

Busy Teacher

ESL Food Lessons 

If you’re looking for some ready-made ESL food lesson plans, then you’re in the right place. Here’s our recommendation for the top places to look for lesson plans for kids as well as adults:

ESL Menu Resources

If you’re looking for an ESL menu as the basis of a lesson plan, there are a ton of great resources out there. Most ESL textbooks that are covering the food unit will typically have a simple ESL menu with prices for students to talk about.

However, if your textbook doesn’t have this, there are lots of other resources out there. First of all is a simple Google Image search for “ESL menu.” You should easily be able to find what you’re looking for in a printable format. Besides that, consider the following: ISL Collective, ESL Flow or Stickyball.net.

Tips for Teaching the ESL Food Unit

Here are a few simple tips for teaching foods ESL.

Start with Vocabulary Building

Begin by introducing and practicing essential food-related vocabulary, such as fruits, vegetables, meats, and common dishes. Use flashcards, visuals, and real-life examples to reinforce understanding.

Use Realia and Visuals

Incorporate real food items, images, and props in your lessons. Show pictures of dishes, fruits, and vegetables, or bring in actual food for a sensory experience.

Cultural Exploration

Explore different foods from around the world to introduce cultural diversity. Share information about food customs and traditions in various countries. This can spark interest and open up discussions.

Cooking Activities

If possible, organize cooking activities where students can prepare simple dishes from different cuisines. It’s a fun and practical way to learn food-related vocabulary and concepts.

Food and Nutrition Discussions

Talk about the nutritional aspects of food. Discuss healthy eating, food groups, and the importance of a balanced diet. You can even compare government food guides from around the world.

Did you Like these Food Related Games and Activities?

• 145 Pages - 03/10/2016 (Publication Date) - CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (Publisher)

Yes? You liked these ESL food games? Thought so. Then the book you’re going to love is this one over on Amazon: 101 ESL Activities for Teenagers and Adults . The key to engaging English lesson is a wide variety of interesting games and activities and this book will help you do just that. You’ll be able to easily make it through an entire semester in style and your students will keep coming back for more.

The best part is that the book is well-organized into various sections. This means that you should be able to find what you’re looking for in just a minute or two. If that’s not some ESL teaching awesome, then I’m not sure what is. It’s lesson planning made easy, guaranteed.

Does it sound like exactly what you need to level up your English teaching game? Head on over to Amazon to learn more about the book right here:

FAQs about Food Related Games and Activities

There are a number of common questions that people have about teaching this unit. Here are the answers to some of the most popular ones.

How can I introduce food vocabulary to ESL learners?

Introduce food vocabulary through visual aids such as flashcards, real objects, or pictures. Start with basic categories like fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy products, gradually expanding to more specific items.

How can I teach food-related expressions or phrases?

Teach expressions like “I’m hungry,” “I’m full,” or “Can I have…?” by providing real-life situations or dialogues. Use contextualized practice activities to help learners understand and use these phrases appropriately.

Should I teach cultural aspects of food alongside vocabulary?

Yes, teaching cultural aspects of food can enhance learners’ understanding and appreciation of different culinary traditions. It provides insights into cultural practices, etiquette, and the significance of certain foods.

How can I incorporate speaking practice with food vocabulary?

Organize role-plays where learners order food in a restaurant, describe their favorite dishes or discuss their cooking experiences. Pair or group work activities allow for meaningful interaction and application of food-related vocabulary.

How can I integrate food vocabulary into writing activities?

Assign writing tasks such as recipes, food diaries, or restaurant reviews to encourage learners to use food-related vocabulary in written form. This allows for creativity and practical application of language skills.

Should I incorporate food-related cultural celebrations or holidays?

Yes, incorporating food-related cultural celebrations or holidays can add excitement to the lessons. Teach vocabulary and customs related to specific celebrations like Thanksgiving, Lunar New Year, or Christmas to provide cultural insights.

How can I assess learners’ understanding of food vocabulary?

Assess understanding through activities like vocabulary quizzes, labeling food items, or oral tasks where learners describe specific dishes. Assess writing skills through tasks that require learners to write about their favorite foods or a recipe.

Have your Say about these ESL Food Activities and Games

What’s your top pick for an ESL food game? Or, have you tried any of the food activities from this list? Leave a comment below and let us know. 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 teaching resource.

Food and Drinks ESL

Last update on 2022-07-17 / 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 Business English Vocabulary Builder and 39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities for Teenagers and Adults . She loves to share her ESL games, activities, teaching tips, and more with other teachers throughout the world.

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ESL Speaking

Games + Activities to Try Out Today!

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.

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 .

• Amazon Kindle Edition
• Smith, Jennifer Booker (Author)
• English (Publication Language)
• 134 Pages - 03/31/2016 (Publication Date)

#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
• A small bowl of soup
• 2 orders of fries

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

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 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!

#17: Different Kinds of Drinks

If your students want to learn the names of the different drinks in English, refer them to this helpful resource:

Drink name list in English .

#18: Storytelling

Have students create stories involving a restaurant visit. They can write or orally share their stories, including details about the restaurant, the meal, and any interesting experiences they had.

#19: Food Vocabulary Bingo

Create bingo cards with food items instead of numbers. Call out descriptions of the food, and students mark the corresponding item on their cards. This is a great way to reinforce food vocabulary.

#20: Cooking Class

Organize a cooking class where students learn how to prepare a simple dish from a specific cuisine. This hands-on activity not only teaches vocabulary but also cultural aspects of food.

#21: YouTube Restaurant Reviews

Show students short restaurant review videos from YouTube. Discuss the content and expressions used in the reviews, and then have students create their own video reviews or written reviews for a restaurant they’ve visited or would like to visit.

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

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 Restaurant Dialogues 

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

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

ESL Restaurant Vocabulary 

Most important ESL restaurant vocabulary

Here is some ESL restaurant vocabulary to consider teaching:

• main course
• reservation
• fast casual
• gluten-free

Did you like these Restaurant Activities and Games?

• Bolen, Jackie (Author)
• 148 Pages - 03/09/2016 (Publication Date)

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:

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 2024-02-01 / 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 100 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.

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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!

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Food Lesson for an ESL Learner

From discussion to purchasing food to making a tasty dish

• Basic Conversations for English Language Learners
• Pronunciation & Conversation
• Writing Skills
• Reading Comprehension
• Business English
• Resources for Teachers
• TESOL Diploma, Trinity College London
• M.A., Music Performance, Cologne University of Music
• B.A., Vocal Performance, Eastman School of Music

Learning about food is an important part of any ESL or EFL class. This food lesson provides some fresh approaches to help students practice speaking, writing and dealing with everything related to food . Before using this lesson, it is a good idea to have students learn some basic food vocabulary including vocabulary related to different names of food, measurements, and containers, ordering food in restaurants, and preparing food. Once students are comfortable with this vocabulary, you can move on to some more inventive activities such as writing recipes in English and having students describe their favorite meals to each other in class.

Use this lesson as a way to review and expand all the various vocabulary and expressions related to food that you've explored with students in your class. The premise of this lesson is that students identify a new type of dish they'd like to prepare, research and write a recipe and make a list of ingredients. Finally, students make a trip to the supermarket - virtually or in the "real world" - to price items. You'll need access to computers to complete this lesson, or you can do the old fashioned way by actually going to the store with students. It makes a fun, if slightly chaotic, class excursion.

Researching a recipe from A to Z

Working in teams to identify, research, plan and shop for an exotic meal

Beginner to intermediate English learners

• As a class, begin the discussion by describing a delicious meal you have had. Go into as much detail as you'd like, students will enjoy this unless it's dinner time!
• Have students get in pairs or small groups of three or four. Each group should share their own experiences with great meals.
• Once students have shared their experiences, ask them to decide on one of the meals that have been discussed.
• Each group should then use a computer to find an image that fits one or more of the dishes in the chosen meal. Suggest students google the dish and click on 'images' to find the image. Each group should print out their chosen image.
• Tape the image of each group to the wall.
• Ask students to take a piece of paper and circulate around the room to choose a dish that looks tasty. Once they've chosen the dish, students should write down the ingredients they feel are necessary to make the dish.
• When students have made their choice and written down the necessary ingredients, group students by who has chosen which image. Students should then compare notes on the necessary ingredients. Note that students should be taking down the ingredients for a new dish based on an image that appealed to them from another group.
• Next, have students find a recipe for their chosen dish by using a cookbook (old school), or by choosing a recipe online.
• Ask students to compare their list of ingredients to the recipe and make any changes or additions necessary.
• Once students have created their list, it's time to go shopping. As a class, you can visit an online grocer such as Safeway, or you can take the class on a field trip to a local supermarket.
• Students then go shopping. They take note of the products they need, the price, etc. I like to insist that students include the name of the container to help practice this type of vocabulary.
• As a class, have each group report back on how many containers, boxes, heads of a certain produce item, etc. were bought and how much they paid including the total.
• Optional: For truly adventurous classes - Ask students to actually go shopping and purchase, cook, and serve up the dish they have chosen. This would make a great pot-luck lesson for all to enjoy which would be tied into a specific learning objective.
• Short Field Trips for ESL Lessons
• ESL Lesson Plan: Travel Plans
• Food Vocabulary for English Learners
• ESL Lesson for Creating a New Product
• Class Job Fair ESL Lesson Plain
• Creating a Newscast as an ESL Lesson
• Writing English Drama Scripts in ESL Class
• ESL Job Interview Lesson and Worksheet
• How to Teach the Present Continuous to ESL Students
• Standard Lesson Plan Format for ESL Teachers
• Dear Abby Lesson Plan
• Relative Clause ESL Lesson Plan
• Introducing Phrasal Verbs to ESL Students
• Teenage Problems
• CALL Use in the ESL/EFL Classroom
• Word Game for the ESL Classroom

Food, Restaurants and Cooking Listening, Speaking and Vocabulary Exercises

• Food, restaurants, cooking and ingredients exercises are a great way of getting students engaged with the English language at elementary levels.
• They also provide eternally topical material that can be used for surveys, questionnaires and role plays.
• In addition, food-related topics are the easy to teach because there is a wealth of great visual material available to spice up lessons.

Vocabulary exercises for food & restaurants

13 food, eating and restaurant listening.speaking and  vocabulary  exercises (PDF)

7 kitchen and cooking vocabulary exercises (PDF)

Food vocabulary pronunciation exercise (PDF)

Food for thought crossword

English language teaching ideas for ordering in & talking about restaurants

Problem with a booking in a restaurant

Food Lessons for British Food , Eating Habits Habits & Holidays, Sayings

Understand English Through Famous Food Sayings

Food (About.com) Basic Ordering Food lesson plan

Food quizzes

Collection of food quizzes

Food Safety True/False Test

Restaurant role plays & surveys

Chef interview roleplay (PDF)

Restaurant role-play waiter sheet (PDF)

Food/eating habits vocabulary & discussion worksheet (PDF)

Food questionnaire-advanced (PDF)

Food & restaurant activities for talking about food

Food saying discussion worksheet (PDF)

Food/cooking brainstorming worksheet (PDF)

Methods of preparing food and cooking worksheet (PDF)

A collection of restaurant/food dialogs

Food and diet questions

English Vocabulary Word Groups – Food

Cooking Your Favorite Meal

Passive toast

Lesson plan:”British food is the best in the world”

Making a banana milkshake process exercise (PDF)

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Cooking ESL Lesson Plans: 5 Food-related Activities to Improve Vocabulary and More

Hey, want to cook up some new ESL activities for your students?

Everyone likes talking about food, but how do you bring that into the classroom?

If your ideas are only half-baked, you might need a little help. We’ve got just the tips to get your next class sizzling .

With these fun activities, you’ll learn how to teach your students all the essential  language they need to know for talking about cooking and preparing food—plus, take a look at three example cooking ESL plans to help inspire your own lessons.

5 Fun Cooking ESL Activities

1. describing food, 2. write your own recipe, 3. foods of the world, 4. cooking competition, 5. tv chefs, example cooking esl lesson plans.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

You can use a combination of the following activities to create your own cooking ESL lesson plan. Each activity tackles different skills, so choose based on the needs of your class.

This is a vocabulary building exercise that introduces students to adjectives related to food and gives them a chance to use them.

To set the theme, ask your students to describe different foods. There are several ways you can do this, depending on the size and ability of your class. Here are some of them:

• Show flashcards with pictures of different types of food
• In groups or as a class, ask students to list one food for every letter of the alphabet
• Ask students to discuss their favorite foods in groups and why they like them

As students describe the food presented on the cards, they may already be able to use words like spicy,   sweet  and delicious.  However, they’re likely to struggle to give you more than those basic descriptions, and this is an opportunity for you to fill the gaps in their vocabulary.

Provide a worksheet with lots of different words to describe food. You can easily whip this up with Microsoft Word. At the top of the sheet, list lots of different food-related words. Underneath that, leave empty boxes with headings like:

• Preparation

Then, let students separate the words into the appropriate boxes. Have them guess first, providing clues if you need to. After they’re done, go through the correct answers with the class.

If you want some ready-made materials to help you with this lesson, you can use Kaplan’s food vocabulary lesson  or ISL Collective’s worksheet for describing food . Both are great for coming up with a list of less-common food descriptions.

Once the class has learned the meanings of these words, you can use the vocabulary covered to create a guessing game. Individual students can take turns to describe foods, while others try and guess what they’re talking about.

Finally, have your students use this vocabulary to write an elaborate, descriptive menu . For example, “smoked salmon salad” would become “Norwegian smoked salmon on a bed of fresh baby spinach”. Explain that students need to make their menus sound as appealing as possible. You can help them here by showing them some samples of menus. Most restaurants post their menus on their website, so simply search for a restaurant that you like on Google and download their menu.

This activity is a great way to practice describing sequences and writing instructions. They’ll learn how to use words like: first, next, after that, until and later— all within the theme of cooking.

Start off by asking your students a simple question: “Do you know how to fry an egg?”

While everyone should know the answer, describing it in English might be a little difficult. Walk them through the recipe, asking for steps and writing the correct vocabulary and structure out on the board. This should include the ingredients, equipment and method that need to be used.

After everyone is comfortable with the concept, put your students into groups and have them come up with their own recipes. They can use the one already written on the board as a guide, and ask you for help with vocabulary along the way. Just make sure they choose something a little more complex than a fried egg!

If your students need a little more structure and guidance with this activity, you can use some worksheets for support. You don’t have to make them yourself, though. Here are some places where you can download ready-made worksheets:

• OneStopEnglish has a recipe writing worksheet  where students can fill in the blanks and practice using sequence words correctly.
• LinguaHouse offers a worksheet  on cooking, drinking and eating, which comes with an audio clip which can be used as an extra listening activity. However, you’ll have to create an account on the site to get access to it.
• BBC has a “Cooking Test” lesson plan , in which students have to create a recipe with a random selection of ingredients. This includes some strange ones for an extra challenge.

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language lessons.

This is a conversation activity which gives students the freedom to practice fluency when talking about food.

To kick things off, brainstorm different countries then have students write different foods and drinks from each one. Students can use this to discuss which ones they’ve tried, which ones they haven’t, and which ones they would like to try. This can include some “bizarre” foods, like fried ant eggs from Thailand, balut from the Philippines and black pudding from the UK.

If you need some inspiration, the British Council has a “World’s Weirdest Food” lesson plan for this purpose.

If you have the facilities to cook in the classroom, give your students hands-on cooking experience. This is a great way to get them active and engaged with something different. Simply provide the recipe and equipment, then put students into groups. At the end of the class, taste each group’s food, then give feedback and proclaim a winner.

Kids’ cooking recipes always work well for younger students. This lets you choose something easy, so you’re able to keep everything under control. Plus, you’ll have to spend more on your ingredients. And keep in mind, if you try something too complicated, you might not have enough time to finish cooking before the class finishes.

Get your students to practice their presentation and public speaking skills in this cooking class! This activity is a great way to combine all of the vocabulary and grammar students have learned in the previous activities in a fun, practical activity. Plus, it’ll also get them working in teams.

TV Chefs works as an extension or a follow-up lesson after the cooking competition. Students can get to cooking again, but this time, they’ll have to create a video at the same time. Have them prepare a simple dish in groups. As they do so, they’ll have to record a video and describe what they’re doing, as if they were presenting a cooking show.

This will involve some preparation time. You’ll have to provide some ingredients, but if you’re comfortable, you can give them creative freedom with the recipe. You’ll also have to help them write the scripts to follow when they’re recording.

To do all of this, you can use the British Council lesson plan on TV chefs .

If you want more inspiration for ESL activities related to cooking, check out these example lesson plans below:

• “How do you like it cooked?” — english4tutors: In this lesson, students will learn about the terms for different cooking methods, food idioms and linking words that can be used within recipes. They will also have a chance to practice their listening skills with a video exercise.
• “What are you cooking?” — ESL Speaking: This lesson will ensure your students can practice their writing, speaking, reading and listening skills. You can divide the class into smaller groups and allow them to plan a three-course-meal, which they can then present to the class.
• “Authentic cooking experience” — EnglishClub: This lesson will give your students the chance to actually prepare some food items after working through the language used in the preparation instructions. This helps them retain the information they learn in the lesson by putting it into practice.

ESL food activities are perfect for injecting some energy into the classroom. As well as learning some new sentence structures and vocabulary, students can use their imaginations and create something new. Most importantly, they can get out of their seats and move around the classroom.

In active classes , students are happier, more engaged, and more able to learn. Try implementing that principle into some of your other lessons, too.

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Simple Sentences

Students learn food vocabulary through various writing and speaking activities. They also practice question formation and learn common expressions used when talking about and ordering food.