Ordenar vs. Pedir when ordering food

Question

I looked up "order" in the SD dictionary and was surprised to find that in some countries the word "pedir" is used in reference to ordering food and in other countries the word "ordenar" is used.

¿En España, nunca se dice, "Quisiera ordenar entremeses"? Siempre se dice, "...pedir entremeses"?

¿En México, es cierto que se puede decir, "Quisiera ordenar entremeses"? También se puede decir, "...pedir entremeses", no? Cuál dicen con más frecuencia?

El diccionario dice que se usan "ordenar" así en México y Puerto Rico. ¿Y en cuales otras países?

Interesting question alba - patch, Jul 7, 2017

In fact, I'm not sure if "entremeses" is a word used all over. In my country it's "saladitos - polenta1, Jul 7, 2017

Apart from that, "entremés" is an old word for a kind of theater play. - polenta1, Jul 7, 2017

I'd never heard "entremeses" until the word of the day post the other day. In Mexico, they'd say "botanas". Maybe it's entremeses in Spain. - alba3, Jul 7, 2017

Yes, it seems we have many words, botanas, entremeses, canapés, saladitos and who knows how many more. - polenta1, Jul 8, 2017

In Spain, appetizer & hors d'oeuvre are tentempié or piscolabis. - NKM1974, Jul 8, 2017

Answer 1

We use "pedir" in Uruguay and probably in all the Southern Cone of South America.
Yo pedí pollo con papas.

People would understand "ordenar" but we use "pedir". We use "ordenar" normally in other situations like: I ordered my books. Ordené mis libros. (yes, arrange them properly)
The general ordered his soldiers. El general ordenó a sus soldados.
but

I ordered the waiter. Yo le pedí al mozo/mesero/camarero.
I'm editing the sentence after patch's correction. I ordered a steak to the waiter.
Yo le pedí un churrasco al mozo.

By the way if a store "orders" merchandise, we use "pedir" and if the "order " is number 234 we say "pedido" 234.

Thanks! In English, you would say "I put my books in order" if you mean arranged them properly. - alba3, Jul 7, 2017

yes, put my books in order. - polenta1, Jul 7, 2017

I ordered the waiter......to me this means you want to eat the waiter (!) - patch, Jul 8, 2017

lol I ordered a steak to the waiter would be ok??? - polenta1, Jul 8, 2017

I ordered a steak from the waiter would be better. You can say I ordered the waiter to bring me a steak, but that sounds demanding. :) - bosquederoble, Jul 8, 2017

Answer 2

Hi Alba,

Ir certainly makes sense that native speakers in Uruguay and some other South American states make a distinction between pedir and ordenar because you would need to distinguish between requesting food and commanding somebody to bring you some food!

Although we use the word 'order' in English, when we are asking for food in a restaurant, this refers not to commanding a waiter /waitress to bring you something in a tone of voice like a sergeant major, but it really means requesting or putting in an order for food.

I have primarily learnt peninsular or european Spanish.

ex: " Queremos (pedir) cuatro ensaladas, por favor

We want (to order) four salads, please.

Me gustaría pedir un filete con patatas fritas y una cerveza, por favor

ex: "I would like to order a steak and chips, with a beer, please!"

Although in Spain the natives would use the word pedir in preference to ordenar, often it is not necessary to use either verb but just to say We want/ would like in Spanish....followed by the desired dish.

The verb (to) 'order' is therefore implied and need not be explicitly stated!

Corrijan mi español si es necesario, por favor : )

Feliz: a nitpick. Let's see if others agree. I would say "y una cerveza" not "con una cerveza" sounds like beer is part of the dish. I think filete con patatas fritas is OK, because that is a common combination plate, like arroz con pollo. Not sure. - DilKen, Jul 8, 2017

An order of fries would be un pedido de fritas. - polenta1, Jul 8, 2017

Dilken is probably right. Arroz con pollo y una cerveza. - polenta1, Jul 8, 2017

Thank you for your comments, Ken I agree about using y (not con ) una cerveza - FELIZ77, Jul 8, 2017

....and I have corrected my mistake. :) - FELIZ77, Jul 8, 2017

Thank you, Polenta :) - FELIZ77, Jul 8, 2017

Feliz: I'm guessing you knew this one and it was sort of like a typo. :) - DilKen, Jul 8, 2017

Then again, maybe you would like your steak and French fries to be doused with a beer. Sounds pretty good. :) - DilKen, Jul 8, 2017

Trying to form an example of your last point: - joshuamarc, Jul 9, 2017

So could I say, for example, "Quisiera una torta, por favor" ? - joshuamarc, Jul 9, 2017

@joshuasoltribe, you are correct. This is common in the Americas, "¿Quisiera una torta, por favor?". In Spain, it's "¿Me gustaría una torta, por favor?" Since I'm unable to explain it, type these words on the Q&A search engine: "quisiera gustaría". - NKM1974, Jul 10, 2017

Answer 3

So it seems, according to the links that NKM kindly posted, that I should never say ordenar when ordering food in Spain. If I "ordenó entremeses" in Spain I've just arranged the appetizers in a fancy manner on my plate if I managed to get the waiter to bring me some.

However, in Puerto Rico, Argentina, Cuba, and most if not all of Mexico, I can ordenar or pedir my food at a restaurant. Anywhere else?

Could it be that "ordenar" is like an influence coming from English? It happens many times. - polenta1, Jul 7, 2017

I wondered that too, Polenta. It could be widespread Spanglish. - alba3, Jul 7, 2017

To order food in Romance languages. In Portuguese, same in Spanish is pedir. In Italian, it's ordinare. In French, it's commander, passer une commande & choisir. - NKM1974, Jul 8, 2017

In Mexico among educated people it´s "pedir". Only recently I have heard "ordenar" used in the US. I think you are right about spanglish - 005faa61, Jul 8, 2017

You know in the Spanish-speaking versions of the TV program Masterchef they call them "comandas" but it must be restaurant jargon coming from the French k"commander NKM speaks about. - polenta1, Jul 8, 2017

Answer 4

Hello!

Here are links that was discussed before on Spanishdict & wordreference forum.

• Spanishdict
• wordreference

Hope this helps.

Regards!

Thanks! That does help :) - alba3, Jul 7, 2017

Answer 5

Mexico is highly influenced by the proximity to the US. "Ordenar" in pretty much every other Spanish speaking country would mean either to arrange or to order but like giving an order, not ordering stuff.