At the Café in Spanish (pt. 3) – Lesson 50

At the café in Spanish: part 3

Welcome to lesson 50, and the final part of the café! In part 1 you learned how to order coffee and tea, and in part 2 the popular food and drinks. Today: the extras on the table, ordering in full sentences, and paying.

Extras on the table

Most of these you’ve seen before, in the food lessons. A little repetition never hurts! New today: la miel (honey), great in your tea. And remember: the h in hielo is silent: “YE-lo”.

Ordering in full sentences

Let’s put everything together and make some real sentences:

Let’s break it down. ¿Me trae…? literally means “could you bring me…?”: me (me) + trae (you bring, from traer, in the polite usted form). Then un bocadillo (a sandwich) + de jamón y queso (of ham and cheese) + por favor.

Me gustaría (I would like) is the most polite way to order, from the restaurant lesson. And a croissant in Spanish is un cruasán (or just un croissant).

Puedo from poder + pedir (to order): an auxiliary verb + infinitive, just like in lesson 45! And sin (without) is perfect for allergies or things you don’t like.

Para mí = for me (with a tilde on mí!). Great when you’re ordering for a group and you just want one thing.

Paying the bill

Both are completely normal ways to ask for the bill. We saw them in the restaurant lesson too.

Together or separately?

Out with a friend? The waiter might ask if you want to pay together or separately. Or if you want to treat your friend:

The receipt

In a café or shop in Spain, you’ll often hear el tique (or el ticket). For an official invoice, for example for your business, ask for la factura.

Recap: at the café (part 3)

Spanish	English
el azúcar	the sugar
la miel	the honey
el vinagre	the vinegar
¿Me trae…?	Could you bring me…?
Me gustaría…	I’d like…
■■■■■■■■	■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■■	■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■■	■■■■■■■■

+ 7 more words & phrases

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Practice: at the café

Say it out loud first, then click to check.

1. Ask the waiter to bring you a ham and cheese sandwich.

¿Me trae un bocadillo de jamón y queso, por favor?

2. Say you’d like a coffee and a croissant.

Me gustaría un café y un cruasán, por favor.

3. Ask if you can order the salad without arugula.

¿Puedo pedir la ensalada sin rúcula?

4. Your friends order food, you only want a beer.

Para mí, solo una cerveza, por favor.

5. Ask for the bill.

La cuenta, por favor.

6. You want to pay separately.

Por separado, por favor.

7. Treat your friend.

Invito yo.

Quiz: at the café (part 3)

8 questions to finish the café topic.

Before you go to the next lesson

That’s lesson 50 and the end of the café topic: you can now order, eat, drink and pay at any café in Spanish. Amazing work getting this far! Grab the free reference sheet below. ¡Hasta la próxima!