“Is this place any good?”

English Lesson: Is this place any good?

You're looking for a restaurant to eat dinner at with your girlfriend. You pass by a restaurant which you've never been to, but your girlfriend says she's eaten there. You ask her this about the restaurant.

Is this place any good?

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a place

You can call a restaurant a "place" in casual conversation:

There's a place on 6th Street that's pretty good.

You can also describe what kind of restaurant it is:

Have you been to that new pizza place up on 83rd Street?

There's this amazing Italian place we go to sometimes. I have to take you there.

And you can call a bar or dance club a "place" as well:

Do you want to have a drink? I know a place nearby.

Is (something) any good?

This question means "Is ___ good?" or "Is ___ good at all?"

Use "any good" in spoken English. Use it to ask about something that you don't know anything about, or that you don't have any opinion on.

For example, you can ask about a movie that you've seen previews for:

Oh, you've seen it? Is it any good?

You could also ask:

Oh, you've seen it? Is it good?

...but that might makes it seem like like you expect the movie to be good, and you're just asking for to confirm that your expectation is correct.