Spanish lessons – Ordering food

When you are on a holiday in Spain you most likely consider going out for dinner at least once during your stay. Especially in Seville it is definitely worth it to visit a typical tapas bar. But in Spain not every waiter in the restaurants speaks English. Therefor it might be helpful to know how to order food in Spanish! We made a small list for you to get started.

To start you want the waiter to come to your table so you can order your food. You can use "¡oiga, camarero!" and after that ask for the menu: “¿podría traerme la carta por favor?”. When you get the menu it might not make any sense to you if that also is in Spanish. To help you we have some words below that might be on the menu:

el aperitivo - the aperitif
el digestivo - the digestive
la tapa - the snack
la bebida alcólica - the strong drink
el primer plato - the appetizer
la cerveza - the beer
el vino blanco - the white wine
el vino rosado - the rosé wine
el vino tinto - the red wine
la sopa - the soup
la ensalada - the salad
el segundo plato - the main course
la carne - the meat
el té - the tea
el pescado - the fish
el café - the coffee
el postre - the dessert
el refresco - soft drink
el helado - the ice
el agua - the water

Once you have made your choice, it is time to order your dish. You can use "tomaré" for this. If you want to refer specifically to a type of dish, put "de primero (starter) / segundo (main) / postre (dessert) ." in front of it. For example, to order a steak as a main course, say it like this: "de segundo tomaré un filete." Another way of saying the same thing is "para mí un filete."

Did you enjoy the food? With the phrase "la comida estaba muy buena" you say the food was delicious. After the last dish, you still have to ask for the bill. One possibility is "¿me puede traer la cuenta por favor?" You can also simply say "la cuenta, por favor".

Now that you have completed reading this blog, you can make a simple order in a Spanish restaurant in the future. Do you want to learn some more useful Spanish phrases? Be sure to read our other blog https://atdspain.com/en/news/spanish-lesson-basics