A menu is often the first thing you read in Spanish on a trip. Learn the words you see on most menus, and how to ask about a dish you don't know.
You can probably guess most of these. What are they?
Soup, salad, tacos, orange juice. Many menu words are close to English, and the rest you learn quickly.
The main idea
Words on the menu
jugo sounds like HOO-go and frijoles like free-HO-les: the j is a breathy h. pollo is PO-yo. agua is feminine, but it takes el and un: el agua, un agua mineral.
Two small words do a lot of work on a menu:
In Mexico, agua natural is still water and agua mineral is sparkling water. Agua de jamaica (ha-MY-ka) is a cold drink made from hibiscus flowers, one of the aguas frescas you see on many menus.
Read: lunch near the office
Ben, from Denver, works in Mexico City for a few weeks. At lunch he reads the menu of a small café near his office.
| Platillo | Precio |
|---|---|
| Sopa de tortilla | $65 |
| Ensalada de pollo | $95 |
| Tacos de pescado | $120 |
| Enchiladas verdes | $110 |
| Arroz con frijoles | $45 |
| Agua de jamaica | $35 |
| Café de olla | $40 |
| Flan | $50 |
Which dish has fish?
pescado is fish; pollo is chicken.
How much is the agua de jamaica?
$35 on a Mexican menu is thirty-five pesos.
Which one is a dessert?
Flan is a sweet custard. Café de olla is a drink, and arroz con frijoles is rice with beans.
Ask about a dish
Ben doesn't know two things on the menu, so he asks the waitress.
Lleva (YEH-vah) is from llevar, "to carry": a dish carries its ingredients. ¿Pica? asks whether something is hot. jitomate is the Mexican word for a red tomato.
vegetariana matches la sopa. For a dish whose word is masculine, it is vegetariano: ¿El arroz es vegetariano? To talk about yourself, say Soy vegetariano. or, for a woman, Soy vegetariana.
El menú, la carta, la comida corrida
el menú and la carta both mean the menu. Many small places in Mexico also serve la comida corrida, a set lunch at a fixed price, usually soup, a main dish and a drink; in many other countries it is el menú del día.
Quick check
Ask what's in a dish, with llevar:
¿Qué lleva?: "What's in it?"
How do you say orange juice?
The main word comes first: jugo, then de and what it is made of.
You want your tacos without onion. Complete: Tacos ___ cebolla, por favor.
sin is "without", con is "with".
A dish on the menu is new to you. Ask what it is, what's in it and whether it's spicy.
¿Qué es…?, ¿Qué lleva? and ¿Pica?
Take with you
Learn menu words with el or la, and when a dish is new to you, ask ¿Qué lleva?