Insights:

  • Be ready to order food in Spanish now with two simple phrases
  • With just a couple more phrases, you can ask the server to hold the onions and add extra cheese, please!

Are you curious how people really order at a restaurant in Spanish?

Are you a foodie eagerly planning a trip to Mexico? Or maybe you’d just like to use Spanish to order food in a local Guatemalan restaurant? Whatever your reason, Immerse is here to show you how to place an order in Spanish.

Even if you’re a beginner, learning just a few simple phrases will let you order like a pro!

Formal

¿Puede darme…?

Basically, puede darme translates to “Can you give me…” and it’s the formal way of asking for something.

Informal

Quiero…

¿Puedes darme…?

Puedes darme also means “Can you give me…” but it uses the informal verb form puedes instead of the more formal puede.

Quiero means “I want…” but you can use it the same way you use puedes darme.

So, all you have to do is add the name of the item you want from the menu. Here’s what that might look like in actual sentences:

-¿Puedes darme una hamburguesa? - Can you give me a burger?

-¿Puede darme unas papas fritas? - Can you give me some french fries?

-Quiero una hamburguesa con queso y lechuga. - I want a burger with cheese and lettuce.

A banner image with an extra tip: Did you know? Generally speaking, employees tend to use formal language when speaking to clients. On the other hand, many customers speak informally to employees. In more casual places it may not be considered rude to speak informally, but when in doubt use formal speech with strangers.

Don’t stop here! Read on for more useful phrases for placing an order/making a request…

Ready for more? Here are a few more phrases that might come in handy in a restaurant:

➜ ¿Está listo/a? - Are you ready to order?

  • Si, estoy listo/lista. -  Yes, I’m ready.
  • No, necesito más tiempo. - No, I need more time.

➜ Con queso - with cheese

➜ Sin cebollas - without onions

And by the way, these phrases are not just for ordering food. Use puedes darme or puede darme anywhere you might buy something - train tickets, balloons, or a t-shirt, for instance.

Practice makes perfect!

If you’re learning Spanish, interacting with other people is the best way to practice. There’s no better way to get skilled at ordering food than to actually order in a restaurant.

So go practice in a real restaurant, or…

Come practice with us in Immerse!

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