Order at a Restaurant in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to order at a restaurant in Spanish! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• ask for a table

• order food for yourself and someone else

• ask for and pay the bill

Vocabulary

Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!

Nouns

Spanish	English
el azúcar	sugar
el café	coffee
la carta	menu
la cena	dinner
el desayuno	breakfast
la ensalada	salad
la leche	milk
el mesero	waiter
la pasta	pasta
el pescado	fish
el plato del día	dish of the day
el postre	dessert
el restaurante	restaurant
la sopa	soup
el té	tea

examples
¿Dónde está el mesero? Where is the waiter?
Pedimos tacos. We order tacos.
¿Cuál es el plato del día? What is the dish of the day?

Numbers

Spanish	English
ochenta	eighty
noventa	ninety

examples
Son ochenta pesos. It’s eighty pesos.
Son noventa euros. It’s ninety euros.

Adverb

Spanish	English
normalmente	normally

examples
Normalmente pido tacos. I normally order tacos.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

Beber

Beberis a regular -er verb that means to drink.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	bebo	I drink
tú	bebes	you drink	informal singular you
vos	bebés	you drink	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	bebe	he, she drinks
usted	bebe	you drink	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	bebemos	we drink
vosotros, vosotras	bebéis	you drink	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	beben	they drink
ustedes	beben	you drink	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Pedir

Pediris stem-changing verb. That means that its "stem," pe, changes to pi in all forms except for the vos, nosotros/nosotras, and vosotros/vosotras forms. It means to order.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	pido	I order
tú	pides	you order	informal singular you
vos	pedís	you order	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	pide	he, she orders
usted	pide	you order	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	pedimos	we order
vosotros, vosotras	pedís	you order	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	piden	they order
ustedes	piden	you order	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Servir

Serviris stem-changing verb. That means that its "stem," se, changes to si in all forms except for the vos, nosotros/nosotras, and vosotros/vosotras forms. It means to serve.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	sirvo	I serve
tú	sirves	you serve	informal singular you
vos	servís	you serve	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	sirve	he, she serves
usted	sirve	you serve	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	servimos	we serve
vosotros, vosotras	servís	you serve	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	sirven	they serve
ustedes	sirven	you serve	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Phrases

Here are some of the phrases used in these lessons!

Spanish	English
¿Está incluida la propina?	Is the tip included?
La cuenta, por favor.	The check, please.
¿Qué recomienda?	What do you recommend?
¡Salud!	Cheers!
Una mesa para dos.	A table for two.

Culture

Mealtimes in some parts of the Spanish-speaking world are often different from those in the English-speaking world! For example, in Spain, the biggest meal of the day is lunch, which most people eat at some point between 1 and 3 pm!