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Lesson Transcript

Mexican Restaurant, Part 4: Placing an Order
Finally, you’ve got a seat at a table. Now it’s time to order!
In this lesson, we'll cover how to ask for a menu and then order your food and drinks.
Normally you have to catch the waiter’s attention, perhaps by raising your right hand a bit. Then you’ll ask for a menu by saying:
¿Puedo ver el menú, por favor?
Let’s break it down:
(slow) ¿Pu-e-do ver el me-nú, por fa-vor?
Once more:
¿Puedo ver el menú, por favor?
Puedo means "may I" or “can I”
(slow) Pu-e-do.
Puedo.
Ver is the verb “to see”
(slow) ver
ver
El means “the”.
(slow) El.
El.
And Menú means “menu”.
(slow) Me-nú.
Me-nú.
And por favor means “please.”
Here’s the whole expression again:
¿Puedo ver el menú, por favor?
“May I see the menu, please?”
If you want to say a simpler sentence, you can say:
El menú, por favor.
(slow) El me-nú, por fa-vor.
El menú, por favor.
“The menu, please.”
In most of the cases, the waiter or waitress will begin by asking what you’d like to drink:
¿Qué le gustaría beber?
Let’s break it down:
(slow) ¿Qué le gus-ta-rí-a be-ber?
Once more:
¿Qué le gustaría beber?
Qué is how you say "what” in Spanish.
(slow) Qué.
Qué.
Le gustaría is a form of the Spanish verb "to like" which means “would you like to”
(slow) Le gus-ta-rí-a.
Le gustaría.
Beber means “to drink”.
(slow) Be-ber.
Beber.
Again, the whole question is -
¿Qué le gustaría beber?
Now let’s take a look at some typical drinks that Mexican restaurants might have:
Água meaning “water”
(slow) Á-gua.
Água.
Refresco meaning “soda”
(slow) Re-fres-co.
Refresco.
Cerveza meaning “beer”
(slow) Cer-ve-za.
Cerveza.
Vino meaning “wine”
(slow) Vi-no
Vino.
Once you have looked at the menu, you can finally call the waiter for the order.
Now let’s take a look at some typical dishes you might find on a Mexican menu. They are very common and you should not miss out on them if you come to Mexico.
Tacos (soft tortilla filled commonly with meat)
(slow) Ta-cos.
Tacos.
Enchiladas (filled fried tortilla cooked in chilli sauce)
(slow) En-chi-la-das.
Enchiladas.
Quesadillas (grilled tortilla with cheese)
(slow) Que-sa-di-llas.
Quesadillas.
When you order in Mexico, you can just say the name of the dish you want and add por favor, which means “please”
Let’s say you want to order a beer and “enchiladas”. You should say to the waiter:
Cerveza y enchiladas, por favor.
(slow) Cer-ve-za y en-chi-la-das, por fa-vor.
Cerveza y enchiladas, por favor.
In this sentence the word y means “and.”
To close out today's lessons, we’d like you to practice what you have just learned. I’ll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you’re responsible for shouting it out loud. You’ll have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so !buena suerte! which means “Good luck!” in Spanish.
“May I see the menu, please?”
(3 sec) ¿Puedo ver el menú, por favor?
(slow) ¿Pu-e-do ver el me-nú, por fa-vor?
¿Puedo ver el menú, por favor?
“The menu, please.”
(3 sec) El menú, por favor.
(slow) El me-nú, por fa-vor.
El menú, por favor.
“What would you like to drink?”
(3 sec) ¿Qué le gustaría beber?
(slow) ¿Qué le gus-ta-ría be-ber?
¿Qué le gustaría beber?
“Beer and enchiladas, please.”
(3 sec) Cerveza y enchiladas, por favor.
(slow) Cer-ve-za y en-chi-la-das, por fa-vor.
Cerveza y enchiladas, por favor.
Alright! That's going to do it for this lesson. Hasta luego.

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