En resumen (the short version)
- A tapas night (ir de tapas) usually means a few bars, one drink and a tapa or two in each, mostly standing at the bar.
- Order with ¿Me pones…? and leave out the obvious words: una de bravas, dos de croquetas.
- Friends often take turns paying rounds. Esta ronda la pago yo is the phrase that makes you very popular 😄
✌🏼 ¡Hola aventurero!
It's nine in the evening, the bar is full, there's a blackboard covered in words you half know, and three people are already waving at the waiter. Where do you even start? 🫒
Right here. These are the tapas bar Spanish phrases you'll use on a real night out in Spain, in the order you'll need them: getting in, ordering, choosing, and paying at the end.
I'm based in Granada, where tapas are taken muy en serio 😄
How a tapas night works
Ir de tapas (going for tapas) isn't one long dinner in one place. It usually goes like this:
- You go to one bar, have a drink and a tapa or two.
- You move on to the next bar. And maybe the next one.
- You share everything, and you often stand at the bar instead of sitting at a table.
In some cities, including Granada, a small tapa comes free with every drink, and the bar usually chooses it for you. In most of Spain you pay for each tapa, so if you're not sure, ask: ¿La tapa va con la bebida? (Does the tapa come with the drink?)
Getting a spot
Busy bar, no table in sight. These help:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¿Hay sitio para tres? | Is there room for three? |
| ¿Está libre esta mesa? | Is this table free? |
| ¿Podemos sentarnos en la terraza? | Can we sit outside? |
| Vale, en la barra. | OK, at the bar. |
Ordering: ¿me pones…?
Teacher bit 🤓 The verb you'll hear most at the bar is poner, "to put". When you say ¿Me pones una caña?, you're literally asking "will you put me a beer?", because the waiter puts it down in front of you. The waiter uses it too: ¿Qué os pongo? (What can I get you all?)
It's a normal, polite question in Spain. With an older waiter, or somewhere a bit more formal, you can use usted: ¿Me pone una caña, por favor?
Beer comes in different sizes, so it helps to know which is which:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| una caña | a small draught beer |
| un doble | a bigger draught beer (about double) |
| un botellín | a small bottle (20cl) |
| un tercio | a 33cl bottle |
| una sin | an alcohol-free beer |
Not a beer person? Try un tinto de verano (red wine with lemonade) or un mosto (grape juice, no alcohol).
For the second round, you don't need to remember what everyone had. Just say Lo mismo, por favor (The same again, please), or Otra ronda (Another round).
Reading the board
Here are some tapas you'll see on blackboards all over Spain:
| Spanish | What it is |
|---|---|
| patatas bravas | fried potatoes with a spicy sauce |
| tortilla de patatas | Spanish omelette, with potato and egg |
| croquetas | croquettes, often with ham or chicken |
| boquerones en vinagre | fresh anchovies in vinegar |
| pimientos de Padrón | small fried green peppers |
| gambas al ajillo | prawns in hot garlic and oil |
| ensaladilla rusa | potato salad with tuna and mayonnaise |
| montadito | a small piece of bread with something on top |
Then there's the size. A tapa is a small plate. A ración is a full plate for sharing. A media ración (or just una media) is half of one.
And now another little grammar trick. When it's obvious what you mean, Spanish drops the noun and keeps the de. So una ración de bravas becomes una de bravas, and dos raciones de croquetas becomes dos de croquetas. You'll hear this at every bar in Spain, and it makes ordering much quicker.
There's a saying about them: unos pican y otros no (some are hot and some aren't). Most are mild, then one surprises you 🌶️ If spice isn't your thing, ask before you order anything: ¿Pica mucho? (Is it very spicy?)
Asking about the food
When you don't recognise something on the board, or you want a recommendation:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¿Qué lleva? | What's in it? |
| ¿Cuál es la tapa de hoy? | What's today's tapa? |
| ¿Qué nos recomiendas? | What do you recommend for us? |
| ¿Es mucho para dos? | Is it a lot for two? |
| ¿Tenéis algo sin gluten? | Have you got anything gluten-free? |
¿Qué lleva? is the one to remember. Llevar usually means "to carry" or "to wear", but with food it means "to have in it": La ensaladilla lleva atún.
When it arrives and it's good, say ¡Está buenísimo! For more food words, read how to describe food in Spanish.
Paying as a group
In Spain, the bill doesn't come until you ask. And with friends, people often take turns paying for each round, or everyone puts money into a bote (a kitty) at the start of the night.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¿Me cobras? | Can I pay? (to the waiter) |
| ¿Qué te debo? | What do I owe you? |
| Esta ronda la pago yo. | This round's on me. |
| La próxima es mía. | The next one's mine. |
| Te invito. | My treat. |
| ¿Hacemos un bote? | Shall we put money in a kitty? |
Look at Esta ronda la pago yo. When Spanish puts the thing first (esta ronda), it adds a little la before the verb to point back to it. And yo at the end puts the stress on who's paying: me.
A night at the bar
Here's how it can sound in a bar in Granada. A is ordering for three friends, and B is the waiter:
Notice the media de bravas: the noun's gone again. Once the drinks arrive, the small talk starts, and that's in small talk in Spain.
Pick your usual order now: one drink and one tapa. Then say it out loud until it comes out without thinking: Una caña y una de croquetas, por favor. When you're standing at a busy bar, you'll be glad it's ready.
Before your next tapas night
Learn three things from the board
Choose three tapas from the board table that you'd actually order, and say each one with una de: una de bravas, una de boquerones, una de croquetas.
Practise one question
Pick one question, like ¿Qué lleva? or ¿Pica mucho?, and say it out loud a few times, so it's ready next time you're at a bar.
If you're planning a move, not just a trip, there's lots more in the Spanish phrases you'll use every day living in Spain.
Recap ✨
- Ir de tapas means a few bars, a drink and a tapa or two in each, often standing at the bar.
- Order with ¿Me pones…? It comes from poner, "to put", and it's perfectly polite.
- A tapa is small, a ración is for sharing, a media is half. Drop the noun: una de bravas.
- Ask ¿Qué lleva? about any dish, and ¿Pica mucho? if you're not sure about the spice.
- Take turns paying with Esta ronda la pago yo and La próxima es mía.
If you'd like eating out and the other everyday situations in order, with games, speaking prompts and cheat sheets, have a look at my Roadmaps 🗺️
Now I'm curious 👀 What's going to be your usual at a tapas bar: drink and tapa? Cuéntame in the comments!
¡Un abrazo!
Lucía ☕
Lucía · Linguist, translator, Spanish teacher and author of the Visual Spanish Grammar Book.
Come and learn Spanish with me and other aventureros like yourself at skool.com/learnspanish 🎉