Day 7 of 90
Ordering a meal
A restaurant is the first place most learners have to hold a real exchange with a stranger who is busy. The whole thing runs on about ten sentences.
Sitting down
The first thirty seconds, in both directions.
la carta and el menú are the trap. In most of the Spanish speaking world la carta is the list of everything available and el menú, or el menú del día, is a fixed price set meal. Asking for el menú may get you the special of the day rather than the choice you expected, which is often the better lunch anyway.
Ordering
Two shapes that carry every order you will ever place.
para mí uses mí with an accent, which marks it as the me that follows a preposition rather than the mi meaning my. It is one of a small set of words where the accent is the only difference in meaning, alongside tú and tu, and él and el. In speech there is no difference at all, so context does the work.
Finishing
Paying is where the exchange most often goes wrong.
In most Spanish speaking countries bringing the bill before it is asked for is rude, because it implies you should leave. So the bill will not come, and the waiter is not ignoring you, they are being polite. You have to ask, and asking is expected rather than pushy.
Lunch is the main meal in most of the Spanish speaking world and it runs late by British and American habits, roughly one to three in Latin America and two to four in Spain. Dinner is later still and lighter. A restaurant that looks closed at seven in the evening is usually not closed, it is early.
Check yourself
Eight questions. Get 5 of them right to finish the day.
More from this course
Weeks 1 to 2: first words, first sentences.
See all 90 days of the course →