Ir de tapas
Going out for tapas — ir de tapas — means moving from bar to bar with friends, with a drink and a small plate in each one. Una tapa is a small dish; in many bars it comes free with your drink. In the north, the counters are lined with pinchos: small snacks, often on a slice of bread.
| On Fridays we go out for tapas. | Los viernes vamos de tapas. |
| What tapas do you guys have? | ¿Qué tapas tenéis? |
| A pincho of Spanish omelette, please. | Un pincho de tortilla, por favor. |
What to drink
| you ask for | what you get |
|---|---|
| una caña | a small glass of draught beer |
| un refresco | a soft drink |
| agua con gas | sparkling water |
| agua sin gas | still water |
| Two small beers and a tapa, please. | Dos cañas y una tapa, por favor. |
| Sparkling or still water? | ¿Agua con gas o sin gas? |
| This soft drink has no fizz. | Este refresco no tiene gas. |
A coffee and a slice of toast in the morning are more a thing for la cafetería (the café) than for the bar — though in Spain the line between the two is thin.
| I have breakfast at the café. | Desayuno en la cafetería. |
¡Qué rico!
You know rico as rich. With food it means tasty: with a person, ser rico is to be rich; with food, use estar rico for the dish in front of you, though ser rico also works for a food in general (el chocolate es muy rico). It agrees like any adjective — rica, ricos, ricas — and it is the everyday word for food you like.
| rich (a person) | tasty (food) | |
|---|---|---|
| verb | ser | estar (this dish) / ser (in general) |
| example | El señor es rico. | La tortilla está rica. |
| How tasty the Spanish omelette is! | ¡Qué rica está la tortilla! |
| The tapas in this bar are very tasty. | Las tapas de este bar están muy ricas. |
Eating and paying
For a cheap full meal, bars and cafés serve el plato combinado: meat or eggs, potatoes and salad together on one plate. When the food arrives, people wish each other ¡que aproveche! — enjoy your meal! Here que has no accent: it is a wish, not the ¡qué…! of an exclamation. A small propina (tip) is welcome, but nobody expects much.
| The combination plate has egg, potatoes and meat. | El plato combinado tiene huevo, patatas y carne. |
| Enjoy your meal, guys! | ¡Que aproveche, chicos! |
| We leave a tip on the table. | Dejamos una propina en la mesa. |
