Abstract：With the rising of economy and political position in the international communication, restaurant industry in china begins to rapidly develop and is widely accepted by western countries like America and the UK. Because of the differences of culture and language between western countries and China, how to communicate properly with the guests is related to the quality of service and the image of restaurant as well as the future of china restaurant industry. What the workers say and what they do not only represent themselves but also represent the image of the whole restaurant. A small mistake may cause misunderstanding even arbitration. So the most important thing is to give a good impression to the guests. In order to successfully communicate with guests, the workers of restaurant industry should not only have a grasp of English but also learn about the cultural differences between western countries and China. 

Politeness or courtesy language is important to communication. It is necessary to learn about both English and Chinese politeness principles in order to give a good impression to the guests. By the analysis of problems of the politeness principles existing in restaurant English, we can put forward some methods to solve them.

According to the analysis of some examples in restaurant industry, this paper puts forward the problems existing in using politeness principles. By analysis of the problems that how the workers of restaurant industry use politeness principles to communicate with foreign guests, this paper puts forward some suggestions, including how the workers properly use politeness principles and strategies of politeness to communicate with guests.

Key words:  restaurant English  politeness principle  culture difference  cross-cultural communication  courtesy language