A polite way of ordering food to go on the phone.
Latino staff members working in the service industry are the people I try to speak Spanish with most often. Usually when I steal away for my lunch hour, I visit (on rotation), a select network of restaurants where the Latino staff members are most willing to engage in small talk as I practice my spanish. Often, I fumble for words and they are usually quick to offer guidance.
I live in South Florida where there is a diverse mix of Latino's from many different South American countries. This makes it tough sometimes because just when I think I have a "frase básica" down, someone corrects me, that I "need to say it like this".
I would like to outline the context for my question by riffing on a standard scenario:
I call up one of my go-to restaurants and ask the person, "May I place an order for pick up."
How to say this? hmmm.
The online translators came up with perhaps a spanglish spirited "Puedo colocar una orden para llevar". But when I put this in production, it seemed to inspire confusion and I learned why "colocar" wasn't the right choice. So I took my questions to "Las Callas".
Someone from Puerto Rico said to say it something like: "Peudo poner una orden para llevar". I had pretty good success from that for a while until somebody from Peru insisted it was better to say something like "Puedo poder una orden para llevar." - though I could have sworn she was pronouncing it Puedo "podir".
Perhaps I am over thinking it as these phrases often differ from country to country, but which is correct?
3 Answers
For me, none of the expressions you mention sound natural, although I understand the matter of regional usage. I also have to disagree with Daniela about everyone in Mexico saying "ordenar". It is used a little but "pedir" is much more common, at least in Mexico City, so we would say something like: "Quisiera pedir algo para llevar" and after they answer you can tell them what the order will be.
I can´t imagine anyone anywhere in the Spanish speaking world saying "puedo pedir". This comes directly from the nonsense of "political correctness" of English. In Spanish we know how to be polite without asking for permission to ask something.
Although all the textbooks say that the proper word for "to order" (as in a restaurant) is "pedir" and the order itself is called "la pedida," In California, and as far as I know in Mexico, everybody says "ordenar" which originally meant "to put/place in order--as in first, second, third, etc. "
So when ordering by phone, I use: "Quiero ordenar (xxxxxxxxxx) para llevar."
she would have been saying, puedo pedir una orden para llevar. which is can a order/ ask for an order to take away.
in your original worded question there are too many words which are just not correct when translated into spanish. Firstly May, this is too polite, no need , just say i want, quiero, or can I, puedo or slightly more polite could I, which is podría ! Then you had "place" they dont use that in this context, place is a location un lugar !!
Likewise pick up, you are not lifting anything up, you are collecting it or as has been used they have said for to take/ carry away, para llevar. Collect is recoger.
