How To Order Food in Spanish Like a Pro: 100+ Must-know Phrases

Deborah Cater once said, “You have to taste a culture to understand it.”

It’s no secret that food plays a vital role in the vibrant cultures of Spanish-speaking countries.

Whether you’re planning a vacation for a week, a homestay for six months or a permanent move, you’ll quickly find that you need to know how to order food in Spanish (or at the very least, talk about it!).

In this post, you’ll learn exactly how to order food in Spanish with over 100 must-know phrases, plus cultural notes and sample dialogues.

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Important Words and Phrases for Ordering Food in Spanish

1. Ordering Food in Spanish: Quick Answer

Before diving into the many useful Spanish phrases you can use when eating out, let’s get these basics down:

While there are a few ways to begin your order, in Spanish, you can actually just go ahead and state what you want when the waiter indicates they’re ready to take your order.

In English we like to start by saying “could I have…” or “can I please order…” but in Spanish this is not necessary. For example, you may simply just say: El pollo asado, por favor (The roast chicken, please). 

But if you’re an English speaker, it might feel strange to order without some formalities leading into it—and in that case, you can use some of the phrases we shared above!

If you learn well by watching, the YouTube video below is a great complement to this post:

Now that you’ve learned the essentials, let’s look at ordering food in Spanish in more detail.

2. Spanish Phrases for Arriving at the Restaurant

The moment you arrive at a restaurant is often the most stressful, but it’s also the easiest to handle!

Just learn a couple of greetings in Spanish. Make use of the phrases below and you’ll be ready to get the conversation started.

What you can say:

What you might hear:

Keep in mind that different Spanish-speaking countries can have various meal times for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper. For example, Spaniards eat supper around 10-11 p.m., while Venezuelans do around 7-8 p.m.

Make sure you get to know the locals’ eating habits and meal times beforehand to avoid unpleasant surprises.

In some countries, it’s common for restaurants to have separate places for people who want to eat lunch or dinner and those who only want to have a drink.

Sample Dialogue

Waiter: Buenas tardes. Bienvenidos a Casa Pepe. (Good afternoon. Welcome to Casa Pepe.)

You: Hola, buenas tardes. Una mesa para dos, por favor. (Hello, good afternoon. A table for two, please.)

Waiter: ¿Para comer? (Are you going to eat?)

You: Sí. ¿Tienen alguna mesa libre en la terraza? (Yes, we are. Do you have any free table on the terrace?)

Waiter: Un momento, por favor. Déjeme revisar. (Just a moment, please. Let me check.)

Waiter: Nos queda una. Por aquí, por favor. (We have one left. This way, please.)

You: Gracias. (Thank you.)

3. Most Common Foods and Drinks in Spanish

You’ll need to be familiar with the most common food and drink options when you finally arrive at the Spanish restaurant, so now, we’ll learn a few items that are pretty much guaranteed to show up on the menu.

For a full, in-depth list of Spanish restaurant food and drink vocabulary, check out our post here:

4. Ordering Your Food & Drinks in Spanish

Your next step will be to order what you want to eat and drink.

This is probably when the biggest part of your conversation will take place, and the moment your Spanish food and drink vocabulary will most come in handy.

What you can say:

Note: You normally use copa when referring to wine and vaso when referring to water and soft drinks.

What you might hear:

Note: The verb tomar literally means to take or to consume. In Spain, it can be used to refer to both eating and drinking. However, in Latin America it’s normally used to refer to drinking alcohol so, when in doubt, use comer (to eat) and beber (to drink) instead.

Sample Dialogue

Waiter: Buenas tardes. ¿Les pongo algo para beber? (Good afternoon. Shall I bring anything to drink?)

You: Para mí una cerveza y para ella agua sin gas, por favor. (I’ll have a beer and she’ll have still water, please.)

Waiter: Ahora/Ahorita mismo se lo traigo. (Right away.)

Waiter: ¿Están listos para pedir? (Are you ready to order?)

You: Un momento, por favor. (One moment, please.)

Waiter: No hay problema. Vuelvo en unos minutos. (No problem. I’ll be back in a few minutes.)

(…)

Waiter: ¿Saben ya qué van a tomar/comer? (Do you know what you’re going to have?)

You: Sí. Para mí pollo con ensalada. Para ella espaguetis a la carbonara. (We do. I’ll have the chicken with a salad. She’ll have the spaghetti carbonara.)

Waiter: Perfecto. ¿Cómo quiere el pollo? (Perfect. How do you want the chicken cooked?)

You: Muy hecho, por favor. (Well-done, please.)

Waiter: Muy bien. ¿Algo más? (Very well. Anything else?)

You: No, gracias. Eso es todo. (No, thanks. That’ll be all.)

5. Spanish Phrases To Use During the Meal

You might need something during the meal or the waiter comes to your table to check if everything’s fine.

Use these moments to practice your Spanish further!

What you can say:

What you might hear:

Sample Dialogue

Waiter: ¿Todo bien por aquí? (Is everything OK around here?)

You: Sí. Está todo riquísimo, gracias. (It is. Everything’s delicious, thanks.)

Waiter: Perfecto, me alegro. ¿Está el pollo bien cocinado? (Perfect. I’m glad [to hear]. Is the chicken cooked properly?)

You: Sí. Justo como me gusta. (It is. Just how I like it.)

Waiter: Excelente. ¿Les traigo algo más? (Excellent. Shall I bring anything else?)

You: Otra cerveza, por favor. Oh, y un poco de pan. (One more beer, please. Oh, and some bread.)

Waiter: Marchando. (Right away./Coming up.)

6. Asking for the Check in Spanish

It’s time to pay and leave the restaurant.

Hopefully, you’ll be wanting to come back soon and put your Spanish to the test again!

What you can say:

What you might hear:

Sample Dialogue

You: ¿Nos trae la cuenta, por favor? — Could we get the check, please?

Waiter: Ahora mismo. ¿Cómo van a pagar? — Right away. How are you paying?

You: Con tarjeta. — With credit card.

Waiter: Perfecto. Ya vuelvo. — Perfect. I’ll be right back. (Lit. I already come back.)

(…)

Waiter: Muchas gracias. Esperamos volver a verlos pronto. — Thank you very much. We hope to see you again soon.

You: ¡De seguro volvemos! Ha sido un placer. — We’ll be back for sure! It’s been a pleasure.

Waiter: El placer ha sido nuestro. Vuelvan pronto. — The pleasure has been ours. Come back soon.

You: ¡Hasta pronto! — See you soon!

Cultural Notes When Ordering Food in Spanish

• There are several ways to refer to a waiter in each Spanish-speaking country. Sometimes, you can even use more than one word in the same country. Here you have some examples:

Camarero in Spain, Ecuador and Peru (rarely)

Mesero in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Chile (in a bar), Puerto Rico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru

Mesonero in Venezuela

Salonero in Panama, Nicaragua and Costa Rica

Mozo in Argentina, Uruguay and Peru

Garzón in Chile (in a restaurant)

• Tipping (dar/dejar propina) can be a very delicate topic for some people. When traveling to a Spanish-speaking country there’s not an established percentage you have to tip, but the amount that’s normally accepted is 10% of the total value of the check.

  But remember that you’re not obligated to leave a tip anywhere! If the tip is compulsory, it’ll already be included in the check, but if it’s not, no one will tell you anything.

• Pay special attention to your check. Some places add the tip (propina) or “service included” fee (servicio incluido) to the check automatically, so you’re not expected to add a tip on top of that unless you want to. If the check says servicio no incluido, the service fee hasn’t been included.
• Just remember to be polite and say thank you. For waiters, being rude is much worse than not tipping!
• Meals are usually served at specific times of day. In countries like the United States we can usually go out for a meal any time we please. However, in many Spanish-speaking countries—like Spain—restaurants serve meals during specific time windows, just like you’d expect in a family’s home. For example, restaurants usually open for lunch between 1pm and 3pm, whereas dinner is served at 9pm and later.

FAQs When Ordering Food in Spanish

How Do You Order Food for Pickup in Spanish?

If you want to take your food to-go at a Spanish restaurant, you’d say para llevar, which literally means “for take.”

If you’re calling to order food and you want to specify it’s for you to pickup later, you can say Quiero pedir comida para llevar (I want to order food for takeout/to go).

What Is the Word to Order Food in Spanish?

The verb “to order” in Spanish is pedir. For example, Quisiera pedir comida, por favor means “I’d like to order food, please.”

How Do You Politely Order Food in Mexico?

If you want to sound more polite than yo quiero (I want), one of the politest ways you can order food in Mexico (and Spanish in general) is by saying me gustaría… (I’d like…).

For example:

Me gustaría pedir el pollo con arroz, por favor. (I’d like to order the chicken with rice, please.)

How Do You Politely Order Food in Spain?

Ordering politely in Spain can be done the same way as in Mexico—by using me gustaría or quisiera (which also means “I’d like”). You should also use the formal way of addressing the waiter, which is to use usted and its conjugations.

And of course, don’t forget to add a simple por favor (please) to the end of your request!

See? That wasn’t hard at all!

You’ve managed to arrive at a restaurant, order food and drinks, chat with the waiter and pay like a boss. A Spanish boss.

Stay curious, my friend, and as always, happy learning!