Complete Guide on How to Order Food in Spanish: 100+ Must-know Phrases

Mastering Spanish food vocabulary is a necessary first step on your way to ordering food in Spanish.

But to have a basic conversation with your waiter, you’ll need to learn some Spanish phrases and expressions.

In this post, you’ll learn exactly how to order food in Spanish with over 100 must-know phrases, plus cultural notes and sample dialogues.

Contents

• Ordering Food in Spanish: Quick Answer
• Spanish Phrases for Arriving at the Restaurant
• • Sample Dialogue
  • Cultural Notes
• Ordering Your Food & Drinks in Spanish
• • Sample Dialogue
  • Cultural Notes
• Spanish Phrases to Use During the Meal
• • Sample Dialogue
  • Cultural Notes
• Asking for the Check in Spanish
• • Sample Dialogue
  • Cultural Notes

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Ordering Food in Spanish: Quick Answer

Before diving into the many useful Spanish phrases you can use when eating out, let’s get these basics down:

• Me da…  — Can you get me…
• Me gustaría… — I’d like…
• Para mí / para él / para ella… — I’ll have, he’ll/she’ll have…
• ¿Puede traer el menú, por favor? — Could you please bring the menu?
• ¿Qué me recomienda? — What do you recommend?
• Eso es todo, gracias. — That will be all, thanks.

While there are a few ways to begin your order, in Spanish, you can actually just go ahead and state what you want when the waiter indicates they’re ready to take your order.

In English we like to start by saying “could I have…” or “can I please order…” but in Spanish this is not necessary. For example, you may simply just say: El pollo asado, por favor (The roast chicken, please). 

But if you’re an English speaker, it might feel strange to order without some formalities leading into it—and in that case, you can use some of the phrases we shared above!

Now that you’ve learned the essentials, let’s look at ordering food in Spanish in more detail.

Spanish Phrases for Arriving at the Restaurant

The moment you arrive at a restaurant is often the most stressful, but it’s also the easiest to handle!

Just learn a couple of greetings in Spanish. Make use of the phrases below and you’ll be ready to get the conversation started.

What you can say:

What you might hear:

Keep in mind that different Spanish-speaking countries can have various meal times for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper. For example, Spaniards eat supper around 10-11 p.m., while Venezuelans do around 7-8 p.m.

Make sure you get to know the locals’ eating habits and meal times beforehand to avoid unpleasant surprises.

In some countries, it’s common for restaurants to have separate places for people who want to eat lunch or dinner and those who only want to have a drink.

Sample Dialogue

Waiter: Buenas tardes. Bienvenidos a Casa Pepe. (Good afternoon. Welcome to Casa Pepe.)

You: Hola, buenas tardes. Una mesa para dos, por favor. (Hello, good afternoon. A table for two, please.)

Waiter: ¿Para comer? (Are you going to eat?)

You: Sí. ¿Tienen alguna mesa libre en la terraza? (Yes, we are. Do you have any free table on the terrace?)

Waiter: Un momento, por favor. Déjeme revisar. (Just a moment, please. Let me check.)

Waiter: Nos queda una. Por aquí, por favor. (We have one left. This way, please.)

You: Gracias. (Thank you.)

Cultural Notes

There are various ways to refer to a waiter in each Spanish-speaking country and, in some instances, you can even use more than one word in the same country.

Here you have some examples:

• Camarero in Spain, Ecuador and Peru (rarely)
• Mesero in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Chile (in a bar), Puerto Rico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru
• Mesonero in Venezuela
• Salonero in Panama, Nicaragua and Costa Rica
• Mozo in Argentina, Uruguay and Peru
• Garzón in Chile (in a restaurant)

If memorizing six (and more) different ways to say “waiter” sounds daunting to you, I recommend picking one or two Spanish dialects you want to focus on. It’s good to recognize the other words, but if you have a favorite dialect, you’ll only need to use one or two yourself.

Also, use an immersion program like FluentU. With this language learning program you can watch tons of authentic Spanish videos (like music videos, vlogs and news reports) from different countries, allowing you to learn new words that are relevant to you and in the dialect(s) you choose.

Each video comes with interactive subtitles and other learning tools, so you learn much more effectively than when you go it alone.

Plus, it’s available as an iOS and Android, making it a flexible study option. 

Ordering Your Food & Drinks in Spanish

Your next step will be to order what you want to eat and drink.

This is probably when the biggest part of your conversation will take place, and the moment your Spanish food and drink vocabulary will most come in handy.

What you can say:

Note: You normally use copa when referring to wine and vaso when referring to water and soft drinks.

What you might hear:

Note: The verb tomar literally means to take or to consume. In Spain, it can be used to refer to both eating and drinking. However, in Latin America it’s normally used to refer to drinking alcohol so, when in doubt, use comer (to eat) and beber (to drink) instead.

Sample Dialogue

Waiter: Buenas tardes. ¿Les pongo algo para beber? (Good afternoon. Shall I bring anything to drink?)

You: Para mí una cerveza y para ella agua sin gas, por favor. (I’ll have a beer and she’ll have still water, please.)

Waiter: Ahora/Ahorita mismo se lo traigo. (Right away.)

Waiter: ¿Están listos para pedir? (Are you ready to order?)

You: Un momento, por favor. (One moment, please.)

Waiter: No hay problema. Vuelvo en unos minutos. (No problem. I’ll be back in a few minutes.)

(…)

Waiter: ¿Saben ya qué van a tomar/comer? (Do you know what you’re going to have?)

You: Sí. Para mí pollo con ensalada. Para ella espaguetis a la carbonara. (We do. I’ll have the chicken with a salad. She’ll have the spaghetti carbonara.)

Waiter: Perfecto. ¿Cómo quiere el pollo? (Perfect. How do you want the chicken cooked?)

You: Muy hecho, por favor. (Well-done, please.)

Waiter: Muy bien. ¿Algo más? (Very well. Anything else?)

You: No, gracias. Eso es todo. (No, thanks. That’ll be all.)

Cultural Notes

You’ll most likely be asked how you want the meat cooked if you order a meat dish.

You can say:

• Poco hecho/Poco cocido — rare
• Al punto — medium
• Bien hecho/Muy hecho/Muy cocido — well-done

Spanish Phrases to Use During the Meal

You might need something during the meal or the waiter comes to your table to check if everything’s fine.

Use these moments to practice your Spanish further!

What you can say:

What you might hear:

Sample Dialogue

Waiter: ¿Todo bien por aquí? (Is everything OK around here?)

You: Sí. Está todo riquísimo, gracias. (It is. Everything’s delicious, thanks.)

Waiter: Perfecto, me alegro. ¿Está el pollo bien cocinado? (Perfect. I’m glad [to hear]. Is the chicken cooked properly?)

You: Sí. Justo como me gusta. (It is. Just how I like it.)

Waiter: Excelente. ¿Les traigo algo más? (Excellent. Shall I bring anything else?)

You: Otra cerveza, por favor. Oh, y un poco de pan. (One more beer, please. Oh, and some bread.)

Waiter: Marchando. (Right away./Coming up.)

Cultural Notes

When I say tortilla to any of my Spanish students, they all think I’m talking about the Mexican tortilla by default.

The funny thing is that for me as a Spaniard, tortilla first and foremost means a Spanish tortilla, not the Mexican thin bread.

So, if you travel to Spain, make sure you say tortilla española or tortilla mexicana depending on what you want to eat.

However, chances are you’ll only get Mexican tortillas in Spain if you go to a Mexican restaurant. Anywhere else, they’ll only have the Spanish ones.

Asking for the Check in Spanish

It’s time to pay and leave the restaurant.

Hopefully, you’ll be wanting to come back soon and put your Spanish to the test again!

What you can say:

What you might hear:

Sample Dialogue

You: ¿Nos trae la cuenta, por favor? — Could we get the check, please?

Waiter: Ahora mismo. ¿Cómo van a pagar? — Right away. How are you paying?

You: Con tarjeta. — With credit card.

Waiter: Perfecto. Ya vuelvo. — Perfect. I’ll be right back. (Lit. I already come back.)

(…)

Waiter: Muchas gracias. Esperamos volver a verlos pronto. — Thank you very much. We hope to see you again soon.

You: ¡De seguro volvemos! Ha sido un placer. — We’ll be back for sure! It’s been a pleasure.

Waiter: El placer ha sido nuestro. Vuelvan pronto. — The pleasure has been ours. Come back soon.

You: ¡Hasta pronto! — See you soon!

Cultural Notes

Tipping (dar/dejar propina) can be a very delicate topic for some people.

When traveling to a Spanish-speaking country, there’s not an established compulsory percentage you have to tip, but the amount that’s normally accepted as a good tip is 10% of the total value of the check.

However, pay special attention to your check.

Some places add a tip (propina) or “service included” fee (servicio incluido) to the check automatically, so you’re not expected to add an additional tip to that unless you want to.

If the check says servicio no incluido, that means the service fee hasn’t been included in the check.

This is often a subtle way to remind you they’d like to get a tip.

Whatever you do, remember you’re not obligated to leave a tip anywhere.

If the tip is compulsory, it’ll be already included in the check, but if it’s not compulsory, then no one will tell you anything.

Just remember to be polite and say thank you. For waiters, being rude is much worse than not tipping!

See? That wasn’t hard at all!

You’ve managed to arrive at a restaurant, order food and drinks, chat with the waiter and pay like a boss. A Spanish boss.

Stay curious, my friend, and as always, happy learning!