How to Use Spanish in a Hispanic Restaurant

Going out to eat is fun, relaxing and a good way to see other aspects of life. When eating in a Hispanic restaurant, the experience can be even more meaningful and memorable if you manage to communicate one or several ideas to your waiter or waitress in Spanish. Better yet, if you can do this in front of family and friends, they may look at you with at least a little awe and wonder! Following are some simple phrases you can use, followed by phonetic spelling, in parentheses, to help you approximate accurate Spanish sounds. Where the phonetic spelling is in capital letters, that indicates where you should stress the word more as you say it.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Ask for a table. "Waiter, a table for two." In Spanish you'll say "Camarero, una mesa para dos." (cah-mah-RAY-roh, OO-nah MAY-sah PAH-rah dose). Always follow such phrases with the polite "Please" or "Por favor" in Spanish (pour fah-VOR).

2. Tell the waiter that you would like to see the menu. "Quisiera" (kee-see-AY-rah) is an all-purpose polite way to say "I would like." Follow this with whatever you like, such as, in this case, "the menu". In Spanish, the word is spelled the same: "el menú" but pronounced slightly differently (el meh-NOO).

3. Let the waiter know you want to order by saying "We would like to order, now." In Spanish, this would be "Quisiéramos pedir ahora" (kee-see-AY-rah-mohs pay-DEER ah-OH-rah). Again, you should precede or follow the phrase with "Por favor."

4. Find out what the waiter suggests, in a couple of ways. "What do you recommend for us today?" would be "¿Qué nos recomienda hoy?" (kay nohs ray-ko-mee-END-ah oy). Or you can say "What do you suggest?" which is "¿Qué sugiere usted?" (kay soo-hee-AY-ray oo-STEAD).

5. Request drinks by simply saying, "And to drink, we would like…" by saying "Y para tomar, quisiéramos…" (ee PAH-rah toh-MAR kee-see-AY-rah-mohs…).

6. Inquire of the waiter "What wine do you recommend with this meal?" by saying "¿Qué vino recomienda con esta comida?" (kay BEE-noh ray-koh-mee-EN-dah cone EH-stah koh-MEE-dah).

7. Call the waiter over to give you the bill with a simple hand signal and the phrase "La cuenta, por favor" (lah KWAYN-tah pour fah-VOR).

Tips & Warnings

• If you have a waitress, she would be called "camarera" (cah-mah-RAY-rah). Another common word to use is "mesera" (may-SAY-rah) or "mesero" (may-SAY-roh). The "a" on the end makes the word feminine, and the "o" makes it masculine.
• Some common food words that may help you include the following: carne (meat); pescado (fish); mariscos (seafood); bebidas (drinks); postres (desserts).
• If you want your meat well-done, you say "La quiero muy hecha" (lah kee-AY-roh mwee AY-chah). If you want it medium, you can say "La quiero media hecha" (…MAY-dee-ah AY-chah). If you want it rare, you can say "La quiero poco hecha" (…POH-coh AY-chah).
• If you're in a restaurant in Spain or Spanish America, you only tip if you want to. Typically servers are paid a decent standard wage, so they aren't in need of tips as servers are in the United States.
• The letter "V" is most often pronounced as a "B" in most Spanish-speaking countries. The sound can be softer, closer to our "V" when it comes in between vowels.

Resources

• A great site to help you learn and improve your Spanish.