Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Lesson 1
Lesson 1
Lesson 1
¿Nos puedes dar un minuto más, por favor? = Can you give us one more
minute, please?
“Una mesa para (number) personas, por favor.” = “A table for (number) people,
please.”
For example, if you are with three other people, you would say:
“Una mesa para cuatro personas, por favor.” = “A table for four people, please.”
Asking If There’s Any Room Available
If a restaurant looks busy, you might want to check if there is any room available
before you wait to be seated. You can ask:
If you haven’t made a reservation, and you’re asked about it, you can say:
“¿Hay otra hora disponible más tarde?” = “Is there another time available later?”
“Regresamos otro día, gracias.” = “We will return some other day, thank you.”
Lesson 2: Common Types Of Drinks and Food
In most restaurants in Mexico, it is common to order drinks before food. Common
bebidas = drinks you might want to order are:
Agua = Water
Agua mineral = Sparkling water
Refresco = Soda
Limonada = Lemonade
Café = coffee
Té = Tea
Agua fresca = Fresh fruit blended with water and sugar.
Ordering Drinks
When you are ready to order your drinks you can use the phrase Te encargo… This is
a very useful phrase for just about anything you might need. It’s common in Mexico,
Guatemala, and Costa Rica. There is no exact translation in English for this phrase,
but you hear it a lot at restaurants and for some reason, it is never in any Spanish
textbook. Here are some examples of how you can use it:
Remember, if the waiter/waitress looks older than you, use Le instead of Te. You can
say:
Te encargo un café y una cerveza para él. = Can I get a coffee and a beer for him?
Ordering Food
Now for the main meal. These are the most common situations you’ll encounter for
ordering food in Spanish.
If you know what you want to order, then you can reply:
But you are not ready to order food yet, you can use any of these phrases:
¿Me puede(s)* traer…, por favor? = Could you bring me…, please?
¿Me puede(s)* dar…, por favor? = Could you give me…, please?
Quiero…, por favor.** = I want… please.
** I know it may feel rude to say quiero, but as long as you say por favor and use a
nice tone of voice, it’s just fine.
If you’re sensitive to spicy food, you might want use one of the following phrases:
¿Lo pueden hacer sin chile? = Can you make it without chile/spice?
¿Se puede hacer sin chile? = Can it be made without chile/spice?
¿Tienes otra opción similar sin chile? = Do you have another similar option
without chile/spice?
¿Tienes otra opción que no pique? = Do you have another similar option
without chile/spice?
The words con = with and sin = without are also very useful. They allow us to add or
take away ingredients from our dish.
Con:
Sin:
When the waiter/waitress comes back with your food, they’ll probably ask who
ordered what. When they ask about yours, you could say:
Is Everything Alright?
While you are at the restaurant, the waiter/waitress may approach you every now and
then to make sure everything is alright. They may ask things like:
¿Algo más que les haga falta? = Is there anything else you need?
¿Todo bien? = Is everything alright?
¿Necesitan algo? = Is there anything you need?
Te encargo otra bebida, por favor. = I’d like another drink, please.
¿Me puedes traer un vaso de agua, por favor? = Can I have a glass of water,
please?
¿Nos puedes dar más servilletas, por favor? = Could you give us more napkins,
please?
Ordering Dessert
In the video, we didn’t order dessert because we were really llenos = full, but this is
how you can ask about a dessert menu:
¿Puedo ver el menú de postres? = Can I take a look at the dessert menu?
¿Tienes postres en el menú? = Do you have any desserts in the menu?
¿Qué postres tienen? = What desserts do you have?
You can use either Te/Le encargo… or Va a ser… to order dessert. For example:
DON’T FORGET TO ASK FOR THE CHECK IN SPANISH WHEN YOU’RE FINISHED
EATING AT A RESTAURANT. REMEMBER, MANY RESTAURANTS IN MEXICO ONLY
TAKE CASH. SO IT HELPS IF YOU ASK FIRST EITHER THEY TAKE CASH OR A
CARD.
There is also a non-spoken way of asking for the check. It consists of raising your
hand to get the waiter’s attention and then moving your hand as if you were writing
something down. If you’re looking to practice your Spanish, then I would recommend
the previous options, but this might come handy in noisy places or when the waiter is
far away.
Also, bear in mind that there are many restaurants in Mexico where they only take
cash. So, if you want to check whether you can pay by card or not, you can ask:
If they don’t take cards, they’ll reply sólo efectivo = cash only.