Languages / English / Level 3 · Unit 4

What Would You Do If You Owned a Restaurant? — 2nd Conditional Practice

Lesson 89 of 170 · Level 3 of 6All lessons
In this lesson

You are learning 2nd conditional practice: you will read the scene it happens in, learn 10 words and phrases, take apart the pattern behind them (second conditional: extended practice with questions and mixed situations), hear them in a conversation, rehearse them, and finish by saying one thing out loud to be graded.

The scene

Shake Shack, Madison Square Park (original location), summer afternoon

The Shake Shack Dream

Shake Shack started as a hot dog cart in Madison Square Park. Danny Meyer, the entrepreneur behind it, had a simple concept: great burgers, great shakes, great service. If he hadn't kept it simple, it might never have grown into a global chain. Today we're eating at the original location.

My friend Omar and I are playing the 'what if' game over our ShackBurgers. 'What would you do if you opened a restaurant?' he asks. I think about it. 'If I owned a place, I'd focus on one thing and do it perfectly. Like Shake Shack — just burgers and shakes.'

Omar disagrees. 'If I opened a restaurant, I'd do a huge menu with food from everywhere.' I tell him that if he tried to do everything, he might not do anything well. He laughs. 'Okay, what would you call your place?' If I could name it anything, I'd call it something simple.

We finish our burgers and sit in the park. 'If money weren't an issue,' Omar says, 'I'd eat here every day.' I agree. If the line weren't always so long, I probably would too.