¡Hola a ti! Good to see you back, here on The Spanish conversation Podcast! Hoy we will trabajar on ordering food at a restaurante. Now this is just one of many scenarios you will encounter while traveling, which, by the way, if you are looking to prepare for an upcoming trip, you gotta check out my online course called Travel Spanish for Gringos, where you will find 250+ vocabulary words, dialogues, and practice across ten topics like hotel, tours, and the taxi. Click the link in the description to get access! Okay back to the tema del día: Today tenemos ocho questions, all about ordering at a restaurant. As you hear them, feel free to repetir, out loud, to warm up that voz! If you’re not en el carro, yo recomendaría taking some notes or trying to think of a potential response as you hear each prompt. The questions will be traducidas first, with algunas ideas of how to answer, and then given in random order. The episodes are purposefully short so you can take your time with it so go back if you need to. If you want to read along as well, the transcripts with the whole episode written out are in the link in the description! alrighty, let’s kick off with palabras and frases that might ayudar: 1. una botella de vino tinto = a bottle of red wine 2. el mesero / la mesera = waiter 3. traer = to bring 4. la cuenta = the bill 5. añadir / agregar = to add 6. el término = cook (for a steak) 7. vegetariano = vegetarian 8. el aceite = oil 9. la mantequilla = butter 10. cambiar = to change 11. cocer = to cook So, let’s imagine you are in another país and trying to get a bite to eat. You might ask or answer the following preguntas: 1. ¿Me podrías traer…?– Could you bring me…? This is polite but still informal with tú, asking if the person could bring something, instead of commanding it. This is conditional tense of poder, and its irregular, so you may want to just memorize the template of [removed] and then you can put in a verb and noun from there. 2. ¿Tienes alguna recomendación de las sopas?– Do you have any recommendation from the soups? If there are multiple options in a category (like soup) you could ask for help deciding. Alguna is any, adjusted as an adjective for recommendation. You can even just ask for a recomendación in general, and leave off the soup part. 3. ¿Ofrecen opciones vegetarianas?– Do you all offer vegetarian options? Here we are talking to one person, but it’s common to ask if they all / the restaurant as a whole has something, like vegetarian options for example. Ofrecer means to offer, but tener, if that’s easier, will work fine too. 4. ¿Cómo está cocido el pescado, en aceite o mantequilla? –How is the fish cooked, in oil or butter? Some are concerned with ingredients for many reasons, others just have a preference (for instance, not fried, or no frito) but either way, asking how it is cooked is the cómo está cocido, here its masculine singular for pescado, but you’ll need to change it for la carne, for instance. 5. ¿Cuál es el mejor, el flan o el pastel? –Which is the better one, the flan or the cake? If we have two choices, or even a few, you can use cuál to create a which scenario, controlling the choice that the person provides. This is great when you are new to Spanish, because you are providing the answers you want to hear, instead of a vague question which could receive any type of reply. 6. ¿Puedo tener la ensalada de la casa por favor? – Can I have the house salad please? Can I have is puedo tener, and we can make it nosotros / we if you’re ordering for the table, still using present tense of poder. Hint though, its podemos for nosotros, since we don’t stem change to ue. 7. ¿Es posible cambiar vegetales por las papas fritas? – Is it possible to switch the vegetables for French fries? Es posible is a great way to start a request. You are wondering if it is possible, and usually its to change (cambiar) or maybe to add (añadir). Be prepared to be told its an extra cost, or not possible. 8. ¿De cuál término quieres tu bistec? – How would you like your steak cooked? Now, this is a question you are more likely to hear than to ask. You will likely hear it from the waiter, mesero. Some choices are bien cocido, well done, tres cuartos, médium, or rojo, rare. Bistec is steak, although there are some variations. 9. ¿Quieres agregar servicio a la cuenta? – Do you want to add a tip to the Bill? You may have learned propina, and sure, you may hear that, but usually in a restaurant, I hear some version of the above, using servicio instead of propina. Be prepared to provide a number, or, if you would rather a percentage, a good one is [removed]. Okay, listo, ready? Here come the questions in random order. Make sure you pause during the break if you don’t have enough time to reply. ¿De cuál término quieres tu bistec? PAUSE Mi respuesta es / My answer is: Prefiero el término tres cuartos por favor. (do you remember the different cooks of a steak?) ¿Puedo tener la ensalada de la casa por favor? PAUSE Mi respuesta es: Si señorita, por supuesto, ¿cuál aderezo quieres? (the waiter says por supuesto for of course, and aderezo is dressing). ¿Cuál es el mejor, el flan o el pastel? PAUSE Mi respuesta es: Los invitados normalmente prefieren el pastel, es muy ligero con una salsa de maracuyá local super buena. (Which is preferred by invitados or guests? Why is it good? Oh, and maracuyá is passionfruit, you gotta try it) ¿Quieres agregar servicio a la cuenta? PAUSE Mi respuesta es: Sí, muchas gracias por ayudarnos esta noche. Agrega veinticinco por ciento por favor (Am I good tipper? What was the first sentence?) ¿Cómo está cocido el pescado, en aceite o mantequilla? PAUSE Mi respuesta es: Típicamente cocinamos el pescado en aceite vegetal, pero podemos hacer un cambio a algo diferente si quieres (How is it cooked? Is that able to change?) ¿Ofrecen opciones vegetarianas? PAUSE Mi respuesta es: Sí, tenemos una pasta con berenjena y queso en página dos de la carta. (La carta or el menú are both menu, berenjena is eggplant). ¿Es posible cambiar vegetales por las papas fritas? PAUSE Mi respuesta es: Sí, tenemos papas fritas, puedo cambiar sin problema. ¿Me podrías traer una botella de vino tinto? PAUSE Mi respuesta es: Con gusto, señor. Tenemos una botella de la casa, es un rioja de España, ¿suena bien? (Did the waiter make a recommendation? Suena bien is sounds good) Alrighty that’s all for now, I hope this episode makes it easier to order your meal on your next trip! Don’t forget to check out the online course link if you are hungry for more travel scenarios. For the cost of a fancy cocktail could change your trip completely! Okay that’s it for now, see you in the next episodio!