How do I order food for someone else in English?

Name the dish, say who it is for, and repeat their restriction in their own words.

My colleague is having the chicken, and she can't have dairy — could you check whether the sauce has butter in it? The name does the work: the server knows which plate belongs to whom, and the restriction stays attached to a person.

If the person you are ordering for has not arrived yet, order that dish last and ask the server to hold it. A line such as The last one is for a colleague who is ten minutes away — could it go in a little later? keeps the plate hot and keeps it identifiable when it lands. If the table is loud, write the six orders on your phone and hand the screen over instead of repeating them: reading removes the pronunciation risk, and it removes the chance of correcting somebody else's dish into your own.

Ordering Food in English for a Group: One Order, Six People →