restaurant practices

Question

Ok, i have a couple questions pertaining to restaurant customs and expressions. At many small restaurant, one orders, eats, and then just goes up to the counter and the ring you up on the honor system, and/or by matching what you said to a ticket in their stack.

What would be a couple good ways to introduce what you had, as opposed to just blurting out a list of food names?

Tuve una quesadillas y una cerveza? O Pedí una quesadillas....? O Comí una...

No sé cual verbo o expresión es mejor.

Second. Often, when we want to say something is "a little too spicy" or similar, we shorten it and just say "it is a little spicy", and the "too" is implied.

¿Cómo es en español?

Se puede decir simplemente "es un poco picante" O ¿Se debe decir todo? : Es un poco demasiado picante.

Muchas gracias por ayudar me.

May I ask why "ayudar me" is not one word? - PeterRS, Feb 7, 2013

Maybe it should have been. Mea culpa? I was thinking ¨for helping me¨ as in a gerund, vs attaching to an infinitive, so I wasn´t sure it should be attached. Otoh, gerunds are the infinitive in Spanish, so maybe I messed up. Dunno. - rogspax, Feb 7, 2013

Answer 1

There are no specific terms, so you can say anything you want - just as you have here.

Just make sure that articles correspond with their nouns, ie: "unas quesadillas", etc.

The only thing that doesn´t make sense is "Es un poco demasiado picante" because "poco" and "demasiado" are contradictory terms.

Also: "Picante" is an adjective that describes the nature of certain foods and sauces, ie: "tenemos tres tipos de salsa picante." We use "picoso" to indicate that the food is too spicy, ie: too much sauce was put on your tacos. (Son muy picosos los tacos. ¿No sería tan amable de traerme dos más de lo mismo pero con menos salsa?)

But there rwally is no such thing as demasiado picoso. So.... ¿Hay una salsa más picoso? is often my question. - gringojrf, Feb 7, 2013

So how would one then express that something was to hot (picoso) but only by a very small amount. - rogspax, Feb 7, 2013

Thanks. Just the kind of feedback I needed. A little too hot works perfectly in English, but apparently not in Spanish. - rogspax, Feb 7, 2013

Jualian, what on earth are these quesadillas? - annierats, Feb 7, 2013

Answer 2

If I may, I would like to add a question to this thread. What is a very polite way to order your meal? Simply "quiero" could be used but I think I have also heard "quiero pedir." Comments?

You can soften "quiero" with "quisiera" o "me gustaria", both mean "I would like" rather than "I want".. - cheeseisyummy, Feb 7, 2013

At a taco stand or mom and pop place smile and be friendly and quiero is just fine. For formal or more upscale dining use quisiera. Tone of voice and attitude is the real key to politeness more than anything. - rodneyp, Feb 7, 2013

Thank you both. That helps. - kirk1, Feb 7, 2013

I think I get it. Using a subjunctive mood shows recognition that I may want something but that it does not mean that it will always happen? And why the imperfect subjunctive? I really feel like a beginner at this right now. - kirk1, Feb 7, 2013

Me too. This is just one of them I know and use (I think picked up from the Pimsleur tapes, which use it a lot) without having really questioned the grammar behind it. But, we do about the same in English... - rogspax, Feb 7, 2013

When the waiter comes, we can say ¨I wanted to have (or to order) the combo¨ or some such. In general, it seems as if a lot of languages are polite by saying things less directly. A common thread. - rogspax, Feb 7, 2013

Answer 3

Picante in Spain, can be high praise, it has a lot of flavour.

I gave a young friend some mature cheddar cheese and he exlaimed :¡ Me pica! This was, I hope, a compliment.

When it comes to paying, just say : ''La cuenta, por favor!'' If this fails, wave your credit card. If this fails, leave the premises, fast.

Answer 4

I´ve heard both ¨Me gustaría pedir¨ and ¨Quisier pedir¨

Which I think are pretty much both equiv of saying ¨would like¨ instead of ¨want¨

Oh, and I talked to a couple waiters last night after this thread, and they both agreed they´d normally say, when going up to the counter to pay after a meal ¨El mio es...¨ - rogspax, Feb 7, 2013

Another one of those things you can´t translate too literally, because we´d always use the past ¨I had the...¨ - rogspax, Feb 7, 2013