Learning how to order a coffee in Spanish is an essential skill for anyone visiting or living in a Spanish-speaking country. Not only does it help you get your daily caffeine fix, but it also opens up opportunities to practise your Spanish and interact with locals!
In this blog post, we’ll cover how to order a coffee in Spanish, along with useful phrases and tips for interacting in shops and cafés to sound like a native speaker.
The Coffee Break Spanish Show is a series of video and audio podcast episodes, in which we discuss tricky but useful topics for Spanish learners. In this episode, Anabel and Concha talk about the most natural phrases to use to order food and drinks like a native Spanish speaker.
To get the most out of this article, we’d recommend listening to the podcast episode as you read. Once you reach the end, look out for your free worksheet download to put your new knowledge to the test. ¡Vamos allá!
How to order a coffee in Spanish in a café or in a shop
Let’s look at the basic, but most natural ways to deal with common interactions in a café and a shop.
In a café
When you’re in a café and ready to order, there are a few key phrases that will come in handy. Let’s start with the most straightforward way to order a coffee in Spanish.
Can I have a latte, please?
Informal:
Ponme un café con leche, por favor.
Polite:
Póngame un café con leche, por favor.
Using ponme or póngame puts your request in the imperative form, which is commonly used in everyday Spanish to make requests. The imperative can sound a bit direct, but adding por favor (“please”) makes it polite. If you’re not too familiar with the conjugation and the uses of the imperative, we have another episode of The Coffee Break Spanish Show on the imperative in Spanish, which will help you expand your knowledge on this topic.
Once you’ve got your coffee sorted, you might need something else, like sugar or the bill:
Can you bring me some sugar?
Informal:
Tráeme un poco de azúcar, por favor.
Polite:
Tráigame un poco de azúcar, por favor.
The bill, please.
La cuenta, por favor.
In the shop
Can I have a bag, please?
Informal:
Dame una bolsa, por favor.
Polite:
Deme una bolsa, por favor.
Alternatives:
Una bolsa, por favor.
¿Me puedes dar una bolsa, por favor?
Example conversations: how to order a coffee in Spanish
Let’s put these new phrases into context by looking at some example conversations. Remember that you can watch the video episode, or listen to the podcast version, to hear them spoken out loud by Anabel and Concha.
We’ll start with two examples of how a typical conversation might go in a café.
Conversation 1
Server: Buenas, ¿qué te pongo por aquí?
You: Pues mira, a mí ponme un zumo de naranja, por favor. Y tráeme un vasito de agua también cuando puedas.
Ponme un zumo de naranja.
Can I have an orange juice?
Tráeme un vasito de agua.
Can you bring me a little glass of water?
Conversation 2
You: Cuando pueda.
Server: Hola, ¿qué va a tomar?
You: Un café con leche, por favor, y a mi hijo póngale una leche con cacao.
Póngale una leche con cacao.
Could you bring him some chocolate milk?
Conversation 3
Here’s one more example of how a typical conversation might go in a shop.
Cashier: Son 35,50€.
You: Vale, con tarjeta, y dame una bolsa también, por favor.
Cashier: Aquí tiene.
You: Gracias.
Dame una bolsa.
Can I have a bag?
Other expressions you can hear when ordering food
Finally, let’s see some other useful expressions that you may hear in a café or shop, which appeared in our short dialogues above.
What can I get you?
Informal:
¿Qué te pongo por aquí?
Polite:
¿Qué le pongo por aquí?
Informal:
¿Qué vas a tomar? (singular) /¿Qué vais a tomar? (plural)
Polite:
¿Qué va a tomar? (singular) /¿Qué van a tomar? (plural)
Whenever you have a moment.
Informal:
Cuando puedas.
Polite:
Cuando pueda.
Here you go. / Here you are.
Informal:
Aquí tienes.
Polite:
Aquí tiene.
To truly master how to order a coffee, how to order food, ask for a bag or catch your server’s attention, practise these phrases! Try them out in different scenarios, whether in a café, a restaurant, or a shop. The more you use them, the more natural they will become.
If you found this post interesting, make sure to listen to the full episode with Anabel and Concha on The Coffee Break Spanish Show. This is the series in which we look at a range of topics for Spanish learners, so make sure to subscribe to our podcast feed and our channel on YouTube to find out when the next episode is available.
Looking for more help with your Spanish? To get regular, free Spanish lessons straight to your inbox, you can sign up for our short (coffee-break-sized) email lessons which will help you improve your Spanish. Look out for the sign-up box, and we hope that you enjoy your first free Spanish lesson.
Interacting with native speakers in the same way that they interact with one another is a practical skill that also shows respect for the local language and culture. So, next time you find yourself in a Spanish café, you’ll know exactly how to order a coffee in Spanish like a native speaker.
Buena suerte, and happy Coffee Breaking!
