Questions · Summer BBQ

Summer BBQ questions for the backyard crowd

Conversation starters for a backyard cookout: the friends who brought the chips, the neighbors you wave at all year and never talk to, and the evening that stretches long after the grill is off.

  • 17 questions
  • EN + TL on every card
  • Free in the app
Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

Kumustahan is a bilingual conversation card app: 1,200 questions in English and Filipino across 7 decks, with a short reflection on the back of every card.

Getting to know№ 04

When you try a place to eat, what makes it feel worth visiting again?

Kapag may tinry kang kainan, ano yung nagpapaisip sa'yo na worth balikan ito?

Tap to flipkumustahan
A note

It could be taste, comfort, price, people, or memory. Places become favorites for different reasons.

Puwedeng lasa, comfort, presyo, tao, o memory. Iba-iba yung dahilan kung bakit may places tayong binabalikan.

Tap to returnkumustahan

The questions

17 summer BBQ conversation starters

Every question in English and Filipino/Tagalog, word for word from the Kumustahan decks. Open “Back of the card” for the reflection printed on the other side.

Around the grill

6 questions

Food opinions for the crowd standing near the smoke.

  1. Name one harmless opinion you take seriously, like food, movies, habits, or small preferences.

    Magbanggit ng isang harmless opinion na seryoso ka, like food, movies, habits, o small preferences.

    Back of the card

    Harmless opinions are a safe place to be dramatic. The stakes are low, but the conviction can still be strong.

    Safe maging dramatic sa harmless opinions. Low stakes lang, pero pwedeng strong pa rin ang conviction.

  2. If someone were choosing a snack or drink for you, what’s one choice that would almost always work?

    Kung may pipili ng snack o drink para sa'yo, ano yung halos laging okay sa'yo?

    Back of the card

    Tiny preferences can be an easy way to know someone better. It feels good when people remember the simple things.

    Minsan sa small preferences tayo mas nakikilala. Nakakatuwa rin kapag may nakakaalala ng simple things about you.

  3. Tell us a food combo you like that people might question.

    I-share yung food combo na gusto mo pero baka kuwestiyunin ng iba.

    Back of the card

    Questionable does not always mean wrong. Some pairings just need one brave person to admit they work.

    Hindi porket questionable, mali na agad. Minsan kailangan lang ng isang brave person na umaming masarap siya.

  4. What food is too messy for you to eat while chatting with friends?

    Anong pagkain ang mahirap kainin nang maayos habang nakikipagkuwentuhan sa friends?

    Back of the card

    This meal may need a pause button for the conversation.

    Baka kailangan munang i-pause ang kuwentuhan habang kinakain ito.

  5. When you try a place to eat, what makes it feel worth visiting again?

    Kapag may tinry kang kainan, ano yung nagpapaisip sa'yo na worth balikan ito?

    Back of the card

    It could be taste, comfort, price, people, or memory. Places become favorites for different reasons.

    Puwedeng lasa, comfort, presyo, tao, o memory. Iba-iba yung dahilan kung bakit may places tayong binabalikan.

  6. Who do you enjoy eating with, even if the food is simple?

    Sino yung masarap kasamang kumain kahit simple lang ang pagkain?

    Back of the card

    The company can change the meal. Some people make even ordinary food feel warmer.

    Iba ang pagkain kapag okay ang kasama. May mga taong kahit simpleng meal, gumagaan yung moment.

Neighbors and new faces

5 questions

For people who live fifty feet apart and have never had a real conversation.

  1. How could you help a friend who was new to a school or neighborhood?

    Paano mo matutulungan ang friend na bago sa isang school o lugar?

    Back of the card

    Being shown where things are or having someone stay nearby — either might help.

    Puwedeng makatulong ang ituro kung nasaan ang mga bagay o ang samahan lang sila.

  2. What small things make a room feel welcoming to you?

    Anong maliliit na bagay ang nagpaparamdam sa'yo na welcome ka sa isang room?

    Back of the card

    Welcome can come from tone, space, food, faces, or small signals that say you do not have to prove yourself.

    Puwedeng galing sa tono, space, pagkain, mukha ng tao, o maliliit na sign na hindi mo kailangang patunayan ang sarili mo.

  3. Imagine a place to stay: tiny with a great view or huge but far from everything. Which do you choose?

    Isipin ang titirhan mo: maliit pero maganda ang view o malaki pero malayo sa lahat. Alin ang pipiliin mo?

    Back of the card

    Put one favorite thing in your new place. What belongs there?

    Maglagay ng isang paborito mong bagay sa bagong titirhan mo. Ano iyon?

  4. Would you rather know the exact weather or the exact traffic before leaving home?

    Bago umalis, alin ang gusto mong siguradong alam: lagay ng panahon o lagay ng traffic?

    Back of the card

    Imagine you check before a day out. What would you pack differently?

    Isipin na nag-check ka bago ang lakad. Ano ang iibahin mo sa mga dadalhin mo?

  5. If your afternoon suddenly became free, how would you spend it?

    Kung biglang naging free ang hapon mo, paano mo ito gagamitin?

    Back of the card

    Free time shows what you reach for when nobody is asking for anything. It can be rest, fun, errands, or nothing at all.

    Makikita sa free time kung saan ka kusang pupunta kapag walang kailangan sa'yo. Puwedeng pahinga, saya, errands, o wala lang.

The long summer evening

6 questions

Vacations, free hours and the best part of a hangout, once the plates are stacked.

  1. Would you rather have one long vacation or several short ones?

    Mas gusto mo ba ng isang mahabang bakasyon o ilang maiikli?

    Back of the card

    Give your break a title, as if it were a movie.

    Bigyan ng pamagat ang break mo, na parang movie.

  2. You receive one free round-trip ticket. Where are you going first?

    May libre kang round-trip ticket. Saan ka pupunta?

    Back of the card

    Choose one thing you would want to do before flying home.

    Pumili ng isang gusto mong gawin bago bumiyahe pauwi.

  3. You wake up on a peaceful island with food and shelter ready. What do you do first?

    Nagising ka sa tahimik na isla na may pagkain at matutuluyan na. Ano ang una mong gagawin?

    Back of the card

    Imagine you find a path across the island. Would you follow it or stay where you are?

    May nakita kang daan sa isla. Susundan mo ba ito o mananatili ka muna sa kinaroroonan mo?

  4. Which part of your day do you look forward to?

    Anong part ng araw mo ang inaabangan mo?

    Back of the card

    The part you look forward to can be a clue. It shows where your day still gives you a little life.

    Clue din yung part na inaabangan mo. Ipinapakita niya kung saan may konting buhay pa sa araw mo.

  5. If you and your friends had just one free hour, how would you spend it together?

    Kung isang oras lang kayong lahat libre, ano ang gagawin ninyo?

    Back of the card

    Save a few minutes at the end for one thing you would not want to rush.

    Puwede kang maglaan ng ilang minuto sa dulo para sa bagay na ayaw mong madaliin.

  6. After the main plan ends, which part of the hangout do you enjoy most?

    After ng main plan, which part ng hangout ang pinaka-enjoy mo?

    Back of the card

    The after-plan part can become the real memory. Looser moments sometimes carry the easiest stories.

    Minsan yung after ng main plan ang nagiging totoong memory. Mas loose kasi, kaya mas madaling magka-kwento.

How to use them

Before you ask

A summer BBQ is mostly standing around, which makes it great for conversation and terrible for starting one. A question about food is the easiest way in: everyone near the grill already has an opinion about burgers, sauce or which food is too messy to eat while talking.

Backyard cookouts also bring together people who don’t usually mix: a coworker’s partner, the family across the street, the friend of a friend who came with a cooler. Easy questions about weather, places and how people spend a free afternoon let them find something in common before anyone asks what they do for work.

The best part is usually after. The grill cools, the kids are running around in the dark, and the adults pull their chairs into a circle. That’s the moment for the slower questions about vacations and favorite summer hours.

Good for

  • Backyard cookouts with friends
  • Neighborhood BBQs and block parties
  • Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends
  • Pool parties and lake days
  • Hosting new neighbors for the first time

Tips

  1. Introduce people with a question, not a job title: “You two should argue about this.”
  2. Pull the chairs into a circle once the food is done. Rows of chairs kill conversation.
  3. Let the person at the grill ask the questions; everyone comes to them anyway.
  4. Invite the new neighbors and give them a question that’s about the neighborhood.
  5. Keep it light until the sun goes down. Summer evenings do the rest.

Decks for this

Summer BBQ

Frequently asked questions

What do you talk about at a summer BBQ?

Start with food, since everyone near the grill has an opinion. Then ask easy questions about places, weather and free time, and save vacation and summer-memory questions for the evening when chairs pull into a circle.

How do I get neighbors talking at a backyard BBQ?

Ask questions that give neighbors a shared topic: what makes a place feel welcoming, how they would help someone new to the area, how they spend a free afternoon. Common ground comes fast when you live on the same street.

Can I use these questions at a BBQ on my phone?

Yes. Pass one phone around with the free Kumustahan app open on the Icebreakers deck. It doesn’t need a connection, so a weak backyard signal is no problem.

Bring a better question to the table.

Free on iPhone and Android. 420 cards free, no account, works offline.

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play