Comment by watwut
3 days ago
I think that you are projecting some online subculture opinions on whole world. Most people do not even know what B1 or B2 means. In the context of ordering food, B2 is useless.
You can try to order the food in local language. And if they respond in English, you switch to English (if you know it), it is not an insult nor situation you should overthink.
You do not have to assume the worst possible attitudes just because someone is young. Yes, some do dislike foreigners in principle, but that applies no matter which language you use.
Lots of ordinary people in Europe know what B1 and B2 mean, because these are the codes used in standard European CVs, and many countries have language tests for citizenship (or, for non-EU citizens, permanent residency) requiring skills at one of these levels.
Not sure why you think B2 is useless for ordering food. B2 is the level at which one can work in an office environment in the local language, it is already beyond ordering food.
I meant "uselessly high". Expecting yourself to be able to have office job entirely in foreign language before you brave to order beer and steak is absurd.
Also, I had to explain those labels to Europeans enough times to think the labels are not known by random people.