Eating Out - Lesson 1 - Conversation:
En la Barra de un Café
(At a Café Counter)
(photo
by GothPhil used
under terms of Creative Commons license.)
Camarero: |
Buenas
tardes. ¿Qué van a tomar? |
Good
afternoon. What are you going to have? |
Jim: |
Yo, una caña. ¿Y tú Manolo? |
I, a beer. And you Manolo? |
Manolo: |
Un chato. |
A glass of wine. |
Jim:
|
¿Qué tapas hay? |
What [kind of] hors d'oeuvres
are there? |
Camarero: |
Las que ustedes ven. También hay patatas fritas,
chorizo, boquerones.... |
The ones you see. There are
also potato chips, chorizo, boquerones .... |
Jim: |
Póngame aceitunas y boquerones. |
Give me olives and |
Manolo: |
Para mí, chorizo y patatas fritas. … |
For me, chorizo and ... |
Jim: |
¿Otro chato, Manolo? |
Another glass, Manolo? |
Manolo: |
Pues, sí. |
Well, sure. |
Jim: |
Camarero, otro chato para mi amigo y otra caña
para mí. |
Waiter, another glass of wine
for my friend and another beer for me. |
Camarero: |
¿Más tapas? |
More hors d'oeuvres? |
Jim: |
¿Te gustan los chipirones, Manolo? |
Do you like [the] chipirones,
Manolo? |
Manolo: |
Sí, mucho. |
Yes, a lot. |
Jim: |
Pues... una ración de chipirones y otra de gambas.
|
Then, an order of chipirones
and [another] one of shrimp. |
Jim: |
La cuenta, por favor. |
The check, please. |
Camarero: |
Son doscientas setenta pesetas. |
It's two hundred and seventy
pesetas. |
Jim: |
Aquí tiene. Quédese con la vuelta. |
Here you are. Keep the change. |
Camarero: |
Muchas gracias. |
Thank you very much. |
Notes on conversation
En la barra...
In
¿Que van a tomar? Literally: "What are you going to take?"
Una caña is literally "a glass." This is used in bars to order a beer.
Un chato is a small glass. This is used to order wine.
Tapas are "hors d'oeuvres," assorted tidbits and appetizers served with beer, wine, or mixed drinks. They are also called pinchitos. A larger portion is called una ración.
Some cafés and bars have tapas and raciones menus. A good way of spending an evening is ir de tapeo, or ir de pincheo. To Americans "tapa hopping" is going from bar to bar trying their special tapas with a drink.
Chorizo is a semi-dry, spicy sausage with a characteristically bright red color.
Boquerones are small pickled or fried fish.
Póngame..., "put on here," is said when one, sitting at a counter, orders some tapas and/or drinks. Traigame ..., "bring me," is used when a person orders from a table.
Chipirones are squid. They are small fried or cooked squid with a sauce and served as hors d'oeuvres.
¿Te gustan los chipirones? "Do you like squid?" Noticethat in Spanish you must use los ("the").