My first attempt at ordering in Spanish at a restaurant

Question

This evening I made my first attempt at ordering in Spanish at a Restaurant (a local Mexican restaurant in Minneapolis where Spanish is spoken much more frequently than English), even though I wasn't sure if I was ready to do so. I thought about my words before jumping in, and I remembered to properly roll my Rs.

I guess I did pretty well for a beginner, even though I had to crank out a few sentences in English. I ask you good folks to critique the following sentence that I used there:

"Quiero que el pequeño tamaño de la ensalada por favor."

I'm not sure if that was the most polite way to order, or if the grammar was entirely correct.

Answer 1

Did you get what you wanted? If so, you successfully communicated, and that's what really matters.

Coffeelate's sentence is more grammatically correct. I probably would have said, "Me gustaría la ensalada pequeña, por favor.", which is a little more formal.

You are right! - 00a4c226, Sep 25, 2011

I did get what i wanted, thanks. The waitress seemed accustomed to Spanish learners attempting to order with varying degrees of success. - trip2themoon, Sep 25, 2011

Answer 2

Hi! You can say ¨quiero una ensalada pequeña por favor¨.

Thanks, in English I would normally say "I'd like" instead of "I want," but I'm not sure how to say that in Spanish, or even if it's really proper. - trip2themoon, Sep 25, 2011

Sure! You can say ¨me gustaria...¨ - 00a4c226, Sep 25, 2011

Answer 3

Hey if they brought you what you intended to order then you were successful!

When I order food at our local Mexican restaurant, I always say "Me gustaría...." I find it's a little more polite than "Quiero".

Good for you for stepping out on the limb! Now you'll have the confidence to do it more often!

gustaría would be a future tense, correct? I realize that but have not studied the future tense much so far in my lessons. Thanks for answering. - trip2themoon, Sep 25, 2011

It's "I would like." (Conditionel rather than future) - Luzbonita, Sep 25, 2011

Answer 4

A mi, mi gustaría...................................una ensalada pequeña

I would like....................................a small salad

A mi, mi gustaría una cerveza...

You shouldn´t use " mi " after " a mi ". You should use " me ", that is the correct phrase. - ricardo_1967, Sep 25, 2011

I think you mean: "A mi me gustaría una ensalada pequeña"... Me is the indirect object pronoun for this first party reference, not mi. - trip2themoon, Oct 4, 2011

Answer 5

I would lose the que. What made you want to put that there ? Just quiero ..........

I guess I read "quiero que" somewhere *chuckle*...It just came out that way. - trip2themoon, Sep 25, 2011