At the Café in Spanish (pt. 1) – Lesson 44

At the café in Spanish: part 1

New blue vocabulary topic: the café! We already covered the restaurant and food and drinks, so I won’t repeat all of that. This topic has 3 parts, and today we start with the basics: eating in or taking away, tea, coffee and milk.

To eat or to drink?

At a café, you don’t always go to eat. The waiter might ask if you’re there to eat or just to drink. Say para comer and they’ll probably bring you a menu. Just want a coffee? Solo para beber.

Para means “for” here (remember por and para?), so literally “for eating” and “for drinking”.

A little repetition: the meals

We saw these in the food lesson: a little repetition never hurts! I left out la cena (dinner), because you don’t usually go to a café for dinner. And remember: in Spain, la comida is also the word for lunch.

For here or to go?

You’ll hear this question a lot when you order. Llevar means “to take (with you)”, so para llevar = “to take away”. And aquí = here, from lesson 38.

Tea

On many menus, especially in Spain, you’ll see a separate section for infusiones: herbal teas like chamomile (manzanilla) or mint (menta). Té is regular tea: black or green.

Coffee: the different types

I’m honestly not a big coffee drinker myself, but I did some research for you. Here are the most popular types you can order:

Spanish	What it is
café solo	an espresso, no milk (Spain)
café negro	black coffee (Latin America)
café americano	an espresso with extra water
café cortado	an espresso with a splash of milk
café con leche	coffee with (lots of) milk
café con hielo	iced coffee

Be careful with café solo: in Spain you’ll get a small, strong espresso, not a big cup of black coffee. If you’re picky about your coffee, I recommend Googling these to see exactly what each one looks like.

Types of milk

In Latin America, soy milk is often leche de soya. And the pattern from part 1 is back: “milk of oats”, “milk of cow”.

Putting it together

Recap: at the café (part 1)

Spanish	English
para comer / para beber	to eat / to drink
¿Para aquí o para llevar?	For here or to go?
el té	the tea
la infusión	herbal tea
el café	the coffee
■■■■■■■■	■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■■	■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■■	■■■■■■■■

+ 7 more words & phrases

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Practice: at the café

Say it out loud first, then click to check.

1. The waiter asks if you want to eat. You only want a drink.

Solo para beber.

2. The barista asks “¿Para aquí o para llevar?”. You want it to go.

Para llevar.

3. Order a coffee with milk.

Un café con leche, por favor.

4. Order a coffee with oat milk.

Un café con leche de avena, por favor.

5. You want an espresso in Spain. What do you order?

Un café solo, por favor.

6. Ask for a herbal tea.

Una infusión, por favor.

Quiz: at the café (part 1)

8 questions. ¿Un cafecito?

Frequently asked questions

Is it “solo” or “sólo”?

Today’s official spelling is solo, without a tilde, as we saw in lesson 27. You’ll still see sólo on some menus, and both are understood.

What’s a “cafecito”?

“A little coffee”. Adding -ito makes something small or cute, and Spanish speakers use it a lot: ¿Un cafecito? is a friendly way to invite someone for a coffee.

Before you go to the next lesson

That’s part 1 of the café. Parts 2 and 3 follow a few lessons from now. Grab the free reference sheet below, and next time you’re at a café, order in Spanish! ¡Hasta la próxima!