Updated on March 1, 2024 by Lou Mac
If you’re going to a Spanish-speaking country, one of the first things you should learn (aside from the most common words in Spanish) is how to order food and drinks.
In fact, I’d bet that ordering things will form the majority of your interactions in Spanish!
In this post, I’ll go over the most important words and phrases you need to know to successfully order drinks in Spanish, plus some of the most common beverages you may want to drink.
How to Order Drinks in Spanish: The Essentials
If you’re short on time and just need to know the essentials, memorise the following phrases. I’ve put the waiter’s questions first as you’ll need to understand what they’re asking you before you can actually make the order!
What the Waiter Will Ask You
There are lots of ways that a waiter can take your order, but for the sake of efficiency, let’s just learn the most common ones!
I’d recommend going over them enough that you can recognise them when they’re spoken quickly – because chances are these phrases will be spoken very quickly.
- ¿Qué te gustaría tomar? – What would you like to drink?
- ¿Qué quieres beber? – What do you want to drink?
- ¿Qué te pongo? – What can I get you? (Spain)
- ¿Algo para tomar? – Anything to drink?
Examples:
Hola, buen día! ¿Qué te gustaría tomar? (Hi, good morning! What would you like to drink?)
Bienvenidos, ¿quieren algo para tomar? (Welcome, do you want anything to drink? – Note that this phrase is addressing a group, as quieren means “you (all) want”)
How to Respond and Order Your Drink
Now it’s your turn!
One of the great things about ordering in Spanish (drinks, food etc) is that you don’t actually need to say much when you order – you can just state what you want and leave it at that. While in English it might be considered rude, in Spanish it’s perfectly acceptable. (But you should follow it with por favor, of course!)
- Me gustaría… I would like…
- Quiero… I want…
- Para mi… For me…
- Me gustaría… I’d like…
- Tomaré… I’ll have…
- Dame… Give me…
- Ponme… Get me… (Spain)
- Me traes… Bring me…
Examples:
Hola, para mí un jugo de naranja por favor (Hi, an orange juice for me please)
Nos gustaría una botella de vino tinto por favor (We’d like a bottle of red wine please – Note this is in the plural form, as nos gustaría means “we would like”)
How to Order Different Types of Drinks in Spanish
The next step in learning how to order drinks in Spanish is to learn the names of your favourite drinks.
If it’s a lot of information at once, don’t worry about memorising it all – the more you see and use the vocab, the better you’ll be able to commit it to memory.
Wine in Spanish
If you’re anything like me, learning some wine-related vocabulary will be essential – especially if you’re visiting Spain, Argentina or Chile, countries which excel at wine-making.
- Vino tinto – Red wine
- Vino blanco – White wine
- Vino rosado – Rosé
- Cava – Sparkling wine
- Champán – Champagne
- Reserva – Reserve
- Seco – Dry
- Dulce – Sweet
Beer in Spanish
Spanish-speaking countries aren’t necessarily renowned for having excellent beer, but you’ll still be able to order a refreshing beer all the same.
You’ll need to learn the names of different beers, plus various sizes. But if the sizes confuse you, you can usually start with just Una cerveza por favor (One beer, please) and the waiter will usually offer the sizes available.
Types of Beer
- Cerveza – Beer
- Birra – Beer (Argentina)
- IPA (pronounced eep-ah) – IPA
- Lager – Lager
- Cerveza negra – Dark ale
- Cerveza rubia – Blonde ale
- Cerveza roja – Red ale
- Michelada – Michelada (beer with lime juice, assorted sauces, spices, and chilli)
Sizes of Beer
- Caña – Small glass (Spain)
- Jarra – Large glass
- Botella – Bottle
- Mediana – Medium size
- Schop – Close to a pint (Chile)
Cocktails and Spirits in Spanish
If a wine or a beer can’t quite quench your thirst, you’ve got more options!
Generally speaking, in Spanish-speaking countries they’re pretty generous with the amount of spirits that they put into cocktails and mixers. Overall I’d say it’s a good thing, but just a word of caution!
Spirit-related vocabulary
Luckily most spirits are the same in Spanish as they are in English – they’re just pronounced with Spanish pronunciation (click here to learn the basics of Spanish pronunciation if you’re not already familiar).
- Vodka – Vodka
- Ginebra/gin – Gin
- Whisky – Whiskey
- Ron – Rum
- Pisco – Pisco (a spirit from Chile/Peru)
- Fernet – Fernet (a very popular a bitter, aromatic spirit drunk in Argentina)
- Tequila – Tequila
- Chupito – Shot
- En las rocas – On the rocks
- Doble – Double
Names of Cocktails
- Gin-tonic – Gin tonic
- Margarita – Margarita
- Piña colada – Pina colada
- Mojito – Mojito
- Pisco sour – Pisco sour (Chile & Peru)
- Daiquiri – Daiquiri
- Caipirinha – Caipirinha
- Sangria – Sangria
Non-Alcoholic Drinks in Spanish
And of course, not every drink you’re going to order will be alcoholic, so here we have drinks in Spanish that don’t include alcohol.
- Un té – tea
- Un café – Coffee
- Agua sin gas – Still water
- Agua con gas – Sparkling water
- Un jugo – Juice (LatAm)
- Un zumo – Juice (Spain)
- Un refresco/una bebida/una gaseosa – Soft drink
- Un batido – Shake
- Una limonada – Lemonade
Saying Cheers in Spanish
When drinking with locals it’s important to be able to join in the cheersing with them! The most common way to say “cheers” Spanish is salud, which actually means “health,” but there are other ways you can say it too.
- ¡Salud! – Cheers!
- ¡Chinchín! – Cheers!
- ¡Arriba, abajo, al centro y pa’ dentro! – Up, down, centre and in (you do this while moving your glass up, down, to the middle and then taking a drink!)
Now, next time you find yourself in a Spanish-speaking locale, you can confidently order your preferred drink and say ¡salud!
¡Hasta la próxima! (Until next time!)