You'll need to use numbers in this lesson... so maybe, for once in your life, you shouldn't scroll right past these:

一、二、三、四、五、六、七、八、九、十、十一、十二
いち、に、さん、し、ご、ろく、しち、はち、きゅう、じゅう、じゅういち、じゅうに
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

十二、十一、十、九、八、七、六、五、四、三、二、一
じゅうに、じゅういち、じゅう、きゅう、はち、なな、ろく、ご、よん、さん、に、いち
12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

一つ、二つ、三つ、四つ、五つ、六つ、七つ、八つ、九つ
ひとつ、ふたつ、みっつ、よっつ、いつつ、むっつ、ななつ、やっつ、ここのつ
1 (thing), 2 (things), 3 (things), 4 (things), 5 (things), 6 (things), 7 (things), 8 (things), 9 (things)

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In the last lesson, we looked at how to get recommendations from a server at a restaurant.

Let's imagine that you understood whatever the server said. Maybe you got lucky, and she pointed to specific words or pictures on the menu. Or maybe you're just awesome at Japanese and understand everyone all the time. In the former case, you could point at the item on the menu she recommended and say...

じゃあこれ一つください。
じゃあ　これ　ひとつ　ください。
I’ll have this, then, please. // Please give me one order of this, then.
Literally: “well then, + this + one (thing) + please.”

Or if she recommended something verbally, you could respond with:

じゃあそれ一つください。
じゃあ　それ　ひとつ　ください。
I’ll have that, then, please. // Please give me one order of that, then.
Literally: “well then, + that + one (thing) + please.”

Let's break down these sentences...

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じゃあ is an interesting phrase. Aside from meaning something like "well, then..." as we see it being used here, it can also mean goodbye. As you part ways with someone, you can say:

じゃあね！
じゃあ　ね！
See you!
Literally: "well then, + ね!"

Then we have これ and それ.

We have covered this in other lessons, but これ、それ、and あれ are nouns meaning "this," "that," and "that (over there)," respectively.

これ is something close to the speaker. それ is something close to the listener but not the speaker. And あれ is something that's not close to either the speaker or the listener. They can also be used figuratively — for example, when "that" is not a physical object but instead a certain topic or idea — which is when I tend to mess up and choose the wrong word.

These words are often taught early in one's studies because knowing them makes it very easy to request things you'd like to purchase.

All you need is これ・それ・あれ, your standard Japanese counters (e.g. 一つ [ひとつ]、二つ [ふたつ]、etc.), which we've already seen repeatedly, and the word ください, meaning "please."

Some examples:

これ一つください。
これ　ひとつ　ください。
One of these, please.
Literally: “this + one (thing) + please.”

それ二つください。
それ　ふたつ　ください。
Two of those, please.
Literally: “that + two (things) + please.”

あれ三つください。
あれ　みっつ　ください。
Three of those, please.
Literally: “that (over there) + three (things) + please.”

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You and I are language nerds, though, yeah? We don't want to settle for the simple sentences.

We want fancy.

Maybe we want to say:

生ビール二つと、これひとつください。
なまビール　ふたつ　と、　これ　ひとつ　ください。
Two draft beers, and one (order of) of these, please.
Literally: “draft beer + two (things) + と (=and), + this + one (thing) + please.”
Note: When saying これ, you'd be pointing at an item on a menu.

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A lot of Japanese restaurants, and especially izakaya, allow you to gradually order food bit by bit throughout your visit. I love this custom because it allows me to really relax and enjoy a lengthy meal, often with some fantastic company. I especially love doing this at sushi restaurants.

In the U.S., the preference seems to be getting people to order everything all at once, maybe getting an appetizer in first, then dumping a bunch of food in front of customers. Turn tables, they say. It increases revenue.

Anyway, this sentence comes in handy at a Japanese restaurant:

とりあえずはそれでいいです。
とりあえず　は　それ　で　いい　です。
That’s all for now.
Literally: “for the time being + は + that + で + good + です.”
Note: The nuance is that you might order more later.

You could also say:

とりあえずそれだけお願いします。
とりあえず　それ　だけ　おねがいします。
Just that for now, please.
Literally: “for the time being + that + only + please.”

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In our earlier sentence, did you notice that 生ビール (なまビール // draft beer) literally means something like "raw/fresh" (生) "beer" (ビール)?

It is possible to drop the word "beer" while ordering, too. For example, way back in [NDL #56] - Cool Phrases for Izakaya & Restaurants, we saw this phrase:

とりあえず生二つください。
とりあえず　なま　ふたつ　ください.
Could we get two beers to start, please?
Literally: "for the time being + raw / draft + two + please."

Have fun ordering your next meal at a restaurant in Japan! ^_^

By the way, we're keeping this lesson short because you should be able to reproduce all of these phrases when at a restaurant in Japan. For example, it might help to read a sentence, then try to repeat it with your eyes closed. If you can't do that, then you certainly won't be able to say it when the big moment comes, yeah?