This post contains the second half of the scenario we began in Part 1, where Bob Miller and his wife Gloria stop into a restaurant for a bite to eat while on a trip to Panama City. Both Part 1 and Part 2 were taken from our Spanish Headstart conversational Spanish course. To access more lessons like these, check out Spanish Headstart and our flagship One Month Spanish course.
If you are ready to learn how to order food in Spanish like a native, then read on!
In This Lesson:
The waiter brings the Millers their drinks and appetizers and returns to take their order for the rest of their meal.
Objectives:
- Order a meal in a restaurant.
- Ask about certain dishes and understand the answers.
- Order dessert.
- Ask for the bill.
Press play on the audio below listening to the conversation, and then follow along using the written transcript below:
Waiter:
What are you going to order?
¿Qué van a pedir, señores?
order pedir
Gloria:
For me, avocado and shrimp salad…
Para mí, ensalada de aguacate con camarones…
salad la ensalada
avocado aguacate
with con
shrimp camarones
and grilled sea bass.
y corvina a la parrilla.
on the grill a la parilla
Waiter:
And you, sir?
¿Y usted, señor?
Bob:
What’s the soup of the day?
¿Cuál es la sopa de la casa?
what, which cuál
the soup la sopa
of the house de la casa
Waiter:
Today we have sancocho.
Hoy tenemos sancocho.
Bob:
What’s that?
¿Qué es eso?
Waiter:
It’s a chicken soup.
Es una sopa de pollo.
With yucca, green plantain and a lot of spices.
Con yuca, plátano verde y muchas especias.
banana plátano
green verde
spices especias
It’s delicious.
Es deliciosa.
delicious deliciosa
Bob:
OK. Give me sancocho and lobster in butter.
Está bien. Deme sancocho y langosta en mantequilla.
Waiter:
And to drink?
¿Y de tomar, señores?
Bob:
Bring us a bottle of white wine. – Lancers, please.
Tráiganos una botella de vino blanco. – Lancers, por favor.
bottle botella
wine vino
white blanco
Waiter:
Are you going to want dessert?
¿Van a querer postre?
Gloria:
Yes, give me chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream.
Sí, deme cake de chocolate con helado de vainilla.
ice cream helado
vainilla vanilla
Bob:
I don’t want dessert.
Yo no quiero postre.
Just bring me a cup of coffee and the check, please.
Solamente tráigame una taza de café y la cuenta, por favor.
the cup la taza
coffee café
the check la cuenta
Lesson Notes:
- Note how Bob and Gloria use the verbs dar (Deme sancocho… ) and traer (Traigame una taza de cafe) to order their food and drinks. These are some of the most common ways to order food in Spanish. In English, we often use phrases like “I will have…” or “Can I have…?” to order food at a restaurant. A frequent mistake is to try to translate these expressions literally using tener, e.g. Voy a tener… or ¿Puedo tener….? However phrases like these should almost always be avoided.
- ¿Cuál es la sopa de la casa? Literally translates to, “Which is the soup of the house?”
- Plátano is a variety of large banana. It is cooked and used in many Panamanian dishes.
Quick Review:
How do you say each of the following:
- What are you going to order?
- Bring us a bottle of wine.
- Give me chocolate cake.
Want access to more practical Spanish lessons like this? Check out Spanish Headstart or our flagship One Month Spanish course.
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