🍽️ Restaurants - Restaurantes
Beginner Spanish · Eating at a restaurant
Restaurant Spanish
A restaurant visit gives you a useful sequence to practice: get a table, look at the menu, ask questions, order food and drinks, request what you need, and pay the bill.
Your next small win: handle a simple restaurant visit in Spanish from arrival to payment.
Step 1 · Arrive
Getting a Table
You can handle many arrivals with just a reservation phrase or a request for a table.
A table for two, please.
I have a reservation under the name García.
Do you have a table near the window?
How long is the wait?
Arrive without a reservation
You need a table for two.
Una mesa para dos, por favor.
Step 2 · Choose and order
Ordering Food and Drinks
These phrases cover seeing the menu, asking for a recommendation, and placing a simple order.
Can I see the menu, please?
What do you recommend?
I would like to order the dish of the day.
To drink, I would like water, please.
Useful ordering pattern: quisiera is a polite way to say what you would like. Pedir means to ask for or order something.
Ordering a meal
Do you know what you would like to order?
Yes, I would like the chicken with rice, please.
And to drink?
Water, please.
Place an order
Order the dish of the day and ask for water to drink.
Quisiera pedir el plato del día.
Para beber, quisiera agua, por favor.
Step 4 · During the meal
Ask for What You Need
Short, polite requests can solve many common restaurant situations.
Can you bring me more water, please?
I need another fork, please.
Can you bring me the salt?
Everything is delicious.
Ask for two things
You need more water and another fork.
¿Me puede traer más agua, por favor?
Necesito otro tenedor, por favor.
Step 5 · Finish the meal
Paying the Bill
Finish the restaurant visit by asking for the bill and choosing how to pay.
The bill, please.
Can I pay by card?
Can we pay separately?
Is the tip included?
Paying by card
The bill, please.
Of course. Will you pay in cash or by card?
By card, please.
Practical note: tipping customs vary across Spanish-speaking countries. If you need to know whether a charge is already included, ask ¿Está incluida la propina?
Supporting vocabulary
Restaurant Words Worth Knowing
Restaurant
Menu
Table
Reservation
Bill / check
Tip
More dining vocabulary
Starter / appetizer
Main course
Dessert
Drink
Specialty
To go / takeout
Regional restaurant vocabulary
Waiter, depending on region
Waitress, depending on region
Words used for a restaurant menu
Regional Spanish: camarero is common in Spain, while mesero is widely used in many Latin American countries. Usage varies by region.
Your turn · 8 quick questions
Practice: At a Restaurant
Follow the restaurant visit from arrival to payment. Choose the phrase that best fits each situation.
Practice complete
You can handle a basic restaurant visit in Spanish.
A few restaurant phrases to revisit
One last step: eat out without choices.
Imagine a complete restaurant visit. Ask for a table, order one dish and one drink, make one request during the meal, and ask for the bill.
Una mesa para dos, por favor.
Quisiera el pollo con arroz, por favor.
Para beber, quisiera agua.
¿Me puede traer más agua, por favor?
La cuenta, por favor.
You arrive without a reservation and need a table for two. What do you say?
- Una mesa para dos, por favor.
- Tengo una reserva a nombre de García.
- ¿Tiene una mesa cerca de la ventana?
- ¿Cuánto tiempo hay que esperar?
Una mesa para dos, por favor is a simple request for a table for two.
Una mesa para dos, por favor.
You want to look at the menu before ordering. What do you ask?
- ¿Puedo ver el menú, por favor?
- ¿Qué me recomienda?
- ¿Qué lleva este plato?
- ¿Este plato es picante?
¿Puedo ver el menú, por favor? politely asks to see the menu.
¿Puedo ver el menú, por favor?
You want the server to suggest something. What do you ask?
- ¿Qué me recomienda?
- ¿Qué lleva este plato?
- ¿Tienen opciones vegetarianas?
- ¿Puedo pagar con tarjeta?
¿Qué me recomienda? asks the server what they recommend.
¿Qué me recomienda?
The server asks what you want. You would like chicken with rice. Which response fits?
- Sí, quisiera el pollo con arroz, por favor.
- Sí, quisiera el plato del día, por favor.
- Para beber, quisiera agua, por favor.
- ¿Qué me recomienda?
Quisiera el pollo con arroz, por favor politely states the dish you want to order.
Sí, quisiera el pollo con arroz, por favor.
You want to know what ingredients a dish contains. What do you ask?
- ¿Qué lleva este plato?
- ¿Este plato es picante?
- ¿Qué me recomienda?
- ¿Tienen platos sin gluten?
¿Qué lleva este plato? asks what the dish contains.
¿Qué lleva este plato?
Your glass is empty and you would like more water. What do you say?
- ¿Me puede traer más agua, por favor?
- Necesito otro tenedor, por favor.
- ¿Me puede traer la sal?
- Todo está delicioso.
¿Me puede traer más agua, por favor? politely asks for more water.
¿Me puede traer más agua, por favor?
The meal is finished and you want the bill. What do you say?
- La cuenta, por favor.
- ¿Está incluida la propina?
- ¿Podemos pagar por separado?
- ¿Puedo pagar con tarjeta?
La cuenta, por favor is the standard short request for the bill.
La cuenta, por favor.
The server asks whether you will pay in cash or by card. You want to use a card. What do you say?
- Con tarjeta, por favor.
- En efectivo, por favor.
- ¿Podemos pagar por separado?
- ¿Está incluida la propina?
Con tarjeta means by card. En efectivo means in cash.
Con tarjeta, por favor.