In this lesson of our English Spanish Parallel Texts course and we are going to practice ordering in a Spanish restaurant. Start by reading the texts in Spanish below. The English translations are provided later but please try not to look at them until you have read the Spanish versions various times and tried your best to understand them.

There may be some words and phrases in the text that you are unfamiliar with, but you should be aiming to capture the main essence of what is happening. There will always be words and phrases popping up in real-life situations that you have never heard before, so it is important never to get too distracted by details.

If you want to investigate some of the words you don’t know with a dictionary that would be great, please do, but do this after trying your best to understand with what you already have in your head.

Check out this video lesson with information relevant to this topic:

In a Spanish restaurant

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

Spanish Text

Text in Spanish:

Camarero: Hola buenas tardes. Bienvenidos al restaurante ‘Mira Mar’. Yo soy Alfredo. Soy su camarero.
Alicia: Hola Alfredo. Encantada.
Miguel: Buenas tardes Alfredo. Mucho gusto. ‘Mira Mar’ es un restaurante muy bonito. ¡Qué vistas!
Camarero: Sí las vistas al mar son impresionantes aquí. ¿Qué quiere beber señora?
Alicia: Para mí, un vaso de vino blanco.
Miguel: Y para mí, un gin tonic.
Camarero: Muy bien. Los menús.
Alicia: Gracias.

Camarero: Bien, aquí tiene el vino blanco, y para usted señor su gin tonic. ¿Y para comer?
Miguel: ¿Qué tal es el marisco?
Camarero: Pues, excelente. El restaurante está al lado del mar y nuestro marisco es siempre fresco.
Miguel: Vale. De primero quiero los mejillones y de segundo quiero la langosta con una ensalada.
Camarero: Perfecto.
Alicia: Y para mi, de primero quiero la sopa del día y de segundo quiero la pasta pesto.
Camarero: Muy bien. ¡Marchando!
Alicia: Perdona Alfredo, ¿de dónde eres? ¿No eres de aquí, verdad?
Camarero: Es cierto. Soy de Venezuela. Pero vivo aquí con toda mi familia.
Alicia: ¡Qué bien!

English Text

Text in English:

Waiter: Hello, good afternoon. Welcome to the restaurant ‘Mira Mar’. I am Alfredo. I’m your waiter.
Alicia: Hello Alfredo. Delighted to meet you.
Miguel: Good afternoon, Alfredo. Pleased to meet you. ‘Mira Mar’ is a very nice restaurant. What views!
Waiter: Yes, the sea views are impressive here. What would you like to drink, ma’am?
Alicia: For me, a glass of white wine.
Miguel: And for me, a gin and tonic.
Waiter: Very good. The menus.
Alicia: Thanks.

Waiter: Well, here is the white wine, and for you, sir, your gin and tonic. And to eat?
Miguel: How is the seafood?
Waiter: Well, excellent. The restaurant is next to the sea and our seafood is always fresh.
Miguel: Ok. For first course I would like the mussels and for second course I would like the lobster with a salad.
Waiter: Perfect.
Alicia: And for me, for first course I would like the soup of the day and for second course I would like the pasta pesto.
Waiter: Very good. Coming right up!
Alicia: Excuse me Alfredo, where are you from? You’re not from here, right?
Waiter: It’s true. I am from Venezuela. But I live here with all my family.
Alicia: Great!

So, how did you get on? How much did you understand of the original text before checking the translation? Please let me know in the comments section below…

Don’t worry if you didn’t understand that much, practice makes perfect! Be patient and keep reading, hearing, writing, and speaking Spanish. See you next time!