How to Order a Hamburger in Chinese

Chinese food is great, but sometimes you just want a juicy hamburger. There is only problem though: how do you order a hamburger in Chinese?Has this ever happened to you while you were in China?

In this post, we give you the complete guide on how to order a hamburger in China. Hamburger in Chinese is called 汉hàn堡bǎo包bāo, or just 汉hàn堡bǎo for short. Talking about hamburgers, McDonald’s might come to mind, right? In China there are many McDonald’s, and they are especially popular among children and young people. McDonald’s is called 麦mài当dāng劳láo in China. If you enter 麦mài当dāng劳láo and want to order something, perhaps the easiest way is to order a 套tào餐cān (combo meal), because that way you don’t need to talk so much. 🙂

Nowadays, most McDonald’s have touchscreen menu’s where you can order your meal. You can probably get by with just pictures – but where’s the fun in that? Every time you go to a shop it’s a great chance to practice and improve your Chinese. If you do decide to go with the touchscreen, see if you can recognize the characters of the food that you order. 

And now you can order! Easy, right? If you don’t want a combo, but want to 单dān点diǎn (order single items), what should you do? The simplest way is just to point at the menu and say “ 我wǒ要yào这zhè个ge (I want this)”.

Of course, if you know the names of things you can say them as well. Let’s have a look at McDonald’s menu in Chinese.

McDonald’s Menu in Chinese

Using the above list, you can order like this:

Then you can say 就jiù这zhè些xiē了le (that’s all) to finish your order. And you may also let the cashier know if you want to 带dài走zǒu (take out) or 在zài这zhè’r儿chī吃 (eat here). Oftentimes they will ask you if you want to take it to go or eat in, so you might as well be ready to let them know your preference.

Tips

In China, if you want some ketchup you have to ask for it. You’ll want to specify the number of ketchup packet you would like. Too many times I’ve forgotten to ask for enough ketchup and I run out of it before I finish my fries! You can ask like this:

Ketchup

fān qíe jiàng 番茄酱

Straw

xī guǎn 吸管

Napkin

cān jīn zhǐ 餐巾纸

If you order coffee, the cashier might ask if you want milk and sugar. Have a look at our previous post to learn more about ordering coffee.

Personally, I find McDonald’s in China to quite possibly be the best in the world. The price is cheaper than in the U.S. (or Europe) and the taste is excellent. That’s right, I think the taste of McDonald’s in actually better in China. Maybe it just has something to do with the limited amount of American food options, or maybe it really is better. Now you’re ready to enjoy ordering yourself a hamburger in Chinese. 

That’s it! Now go get your food and enjoy!

This is the accompanying blog post for our newbie lesson “Ordering at McDonald’s“.