Do you want to enjoy a Spanish tapas bar or a restaurant and handle yourself like a Spaniard by learning some important phrases? Well, today we are going to teach you some very important phrases that will help you order food in a Spanish restaurant like a local. We’re going to give you lots of tips so you can feel totally comfortable and local in the bars and restaurants of Spain.
There’s nothing more local than handling yourself like a local in a tapas bar or restaurant, that’s what today is all about. Having some Spanish will really mean you can access those places and have a super deep experience while you’re there and even in some of the bigger cities.
If you know a little bit of Spanish, you’ll get the cred of the waiter – You get the kudos. Sounds fun, doesn’t it? So, let’s get started.
1. Getting a table
The first thing when you walk into a tapas bar or restaurant in Spain is, you need somewhere to sit, you need a table, so how do you ask for a table for two in Spanish? “Hola, Una mesa para dos, por favor.” – (Hi, A table for two, please). So you walk in the door and that’s the first thing you say.
What if you’re traveling on your own? “Una mesa, por favor” – (A table, please).
In some places, it’s actually cheaper the prices in the bar than they are in the restaurant, and they’re definitely quicker at the bar. It’s a lot louder though, but it is the real Spanish experience. So if you want to stay at the bar, then say “Nos quedamos en la barra” – (We’ll stay at the bar).
2. Getting the menu
Now we need a menu. So how would you ask for the menu? “La carta, por favor” – (Can I have the menu, please). So that’s how you ask for the menu.
But there’s another word that you will see, that looks like a menu in English and that’s “menú”, but that doesn’t mean the physical menu, the “menú” is actually the “menú del día” or a kind of a fixed price, multiple-course meal, that’s what “menú” means. The word for a physical menu is “carta”.
3. Asking for the Menu
So you’ve got the menu, but you want some wine. So, how do you get the wine list? “La carta de vinos, por favor” – (Can I have the wine list, please).
What you’ll often find is the wine list won’t be just given to you by default, sometimes you’ll have to ask for it, so if you don’t see any wine on the main menu, then you have to ask for “La carta de vinos por favor”.
4. Ordering wine and beer
You want to order your wine now. How do you order a bottle of red wine? Just say “Una botella de vino tinto por favor.”
What if you wanted to get a bottle of Rioja, that famous wine region, for example? Then you say, “Una botella de Rioja, por favor” – (A bottle of Rioja, please). Let’s Say you want a glass of red/white wine, how do you ask for that? “Una copa de vino tinto/blanco, por favor” – (A glass of red/white wine, please).
Now you don’t even want wine, you want a beer. For a beer of small size, you say “Una cerveza, por favor” or “Una caña, por favor” – (A glass of draft beer please). What if you want a large beer, then you say “Una doble por favor” – (A large glass of draft beer, please).
5. Asking for water
Okay, So now you have wine, you have beer. Now you need water. So how do you ask for water? “Agua, por favor.” – Or “Un vaso de agua, por favor” – (A glass of water, please). Or what about a bottle of water? “Una botella de agua, por favor” – (A bottle of water, Please).
Now here’s the thing, we are highly environmentally conscious these days, bottled water is a disaster for the planet, as we hope you all agree, so what about tap water? How do you ask for tap water? “Agua de grifo, por favor” – (Tap water, please).
Tip: The tap water doesn’t taste very good in Barcelona, you are going to be drinking bottled water and that’s perfectly normal.
6. Ordering Food
It’s time to order food; you’ve got a menu in front of you, but a menu is going to be divided in Spain, depending a little bit on the region, but there are kind of three terms you’re going to see. Those are “tapas”, “medias raciones” and “raciones”.
Depending on the region, you might only see one of those or you might see two of those, for example, in Madrid, you generally won’t see “tapas” on a menu; you’ll see “medias raciones” and “raciones”.
Maybe you want to get a plate of calamari and some anchovies, some fried anchovies, so how would you order “raciones” of those? “Una ración de calamares/boquerones, por favor” – (A large plate of calamari/fried anchovies, please).
What if you wanted a half “ración” or a “tapa” of “boquerones” of anchovies? “Media ración de boquerones, por favor” – (Half plate of fried anchovies, please).
7. Ordering more food
So you’ve been eating, but you just haven’t ordered enough, you want to order more food and it’s actually quite a good idea; you should never order all your food at once in a tapas bar, order it bit by bit.
So how do you say to the waiter, I want to order something extra? “Quería pedir algo más, por favor” – (I’d like to order something else, please).
Now you want dessert. If you want to get dessert, you might say what desserts are there? “¿Qué postres tenéis?” – (What is there for dessert?).
8. Paying the bill
So you’ve had the dessert, you’ve had your drinks, you’ve had your food, and now comes the sad part, you have to pay for it. So how do you ask for the bill, “La cuenta, por favor” – (Can I get the bill, please).
If you’ve enjoyed the food. Try to leave a tip. It will leave a nice impression.
9. The Farewell
Okay, so you’ve paid, what do you do next Do you just walk out, or should you say thank you? You should compliment them on the quality of the food. So you know, maybe you want to go back and you want to leave a nice impression. How would you say that? – you say “Muchas gracias. ¡Estaba muy rico!” – (Thank you so much and it was delicious!).
Hope you’ve liked this article. If it is, don’t forget to like the post and comment your opinion. We appreciate your suggestions for us to improve our content, feel free to reach out if you have any questions.
