Cocktail 鸡尾酒
It is quite usual to drink cocktails before lunch and dinner in America and somewhat less usual, except in California, to drink wine with a meal. You can either have a cocktail in the bar, if there is one, while you wait for a table or for friends, or you can have one served before your dinner comes. At some restaurants the waiter/waitress will come to your table as soon as you sit down to ask if you want a cocktail, and you can then drink this while deciding what to order to eat. At others, there may be a separate cocktail waiter or waitress. In this case, you do not normally order wine from him or her but from the normal waiter- or the wine waiter is there is one.
Do not hesitate to order Californian wines. They can be excellent and in many parts of the country are cheap.
Salad 色拉
It is usual to have a salad with your meal, and a separate plate is provided for this purpose. The normal practice in America is to eat the salad before the main course. A wonderful American invention is the salad bar. In restaurants that have these salad bars the waiter does not bring your salad. You go to the salad bar and help yourself, usually to as much as you want. This is normally done after you have ordered your meal; you eat the salad while the main course is being cooked.
Leftovers 吃剩的食物
You have probably heard that in American restaurants, if you can't finish your meal, you can put the remains in a "XXXX" and take them home. This is quite true. If you leave some meat, in particular, your waiter may ask you if you'd like him to put it into "a little bag", or you can ask him to do this。
美国主食吃什么
鸡尾酒
在美国他们经常在午饭或者晚饭之前喝一杯鸡尾酒。然而加利福尼亚州的人除外，他们喜欢在吃饭的时候喝葡萄酒。当然，如果有当地有酒吧的话，当你一个人的时候，或者是等朋友，你也可以去酒吧里喝点鸡尾酒或者是葡萄酒，一般情况下，在你喝酒之前，你会的到一个很好的服务。在一般的酒店里，当你刚坐下的时候就会有一个服务员来到你跟前为你是否需要一杯鸡尾酒，你可以点一点吃的东西。有些地方，他们会有一个单独的服务员。在这种情况下，你不需要向他们点酒或者是其他的，他们就是专门为你服务的。
不要犹豫是否点一杯加利福尼亚州的葡萄酒。这种葡萄酒非常的好喝，而且在好多的地方都非常的便宜。
色拉
美国人经常在吃饭的时候专门放一盘沙拉。他们一般在吃主食之前吃沙拉。一个非常赞的创意就是沙拉吧台。有一些酒店有一些沙拉吧台，但是服务员不会自己拿给你，你需要自己去拿，需要多少就拿多少。不过你必须在你点完菜之后才能拿到沙拉。你可以在等着饭菜的时候吃点沙拉。
吃剩的食物
你可能听说在美国的一些酒店里，如果你没有吃完你的食物，你可以把剩余的食物带回家。这样做是正确的。尤其是你留下了一些食物的时候，服务员会为你是否愿意让他帮你把没吃完的食物放到一个小袋子里，你可以让他们这样做。