Spanish for restaurant staff: greet guests, take orders, and bring the check
Learn polite Latin American Spanish phrases restaurant workers use to greet guests, ask about seating, take orders, check understanding, and offer the bill.
By MarcusFood & cafés · Yapr Learn
If you work in a restaurant, your Spanish needs to do four jobs fast: welcome people, find them a table, take their order, and close the visit politely. This lesson gives you reusable staff questions, not just travel vocabulary. You will practice polite address with usted, distinguish your questions from customers' ordering phrases, and see how a short exchange flows from the door to the check. Examples use broadly useful Latin American Spanish, with regional notes where wording changes.
By the end, you can…
- greet guests and ask how many people are in their party using polite usted forms.
- take a simple food and drink order, confirm it, and offer the bill in Spanish.
Listen once. Try it slowly. Then say it without looking.
Checking available voices…
Buenas tardes, bienvenidos. ¿Mesa para cuántas personas?
Good afternoon, welcome. A table for how many people?
BWEH-nahs TAR-dehs, byehn-beh-NEE-dohs. MEH-sah PAH-rah KWAHN-tahs pehr-SOH-nahs
Standard polite greeting and seating question. Buenas tardes works roughly from midday until dark; use buenos días earlier and buenas noches later.
¿Prefiere adentro o en la terraza?
Do you prefer inside or on the terrace?
preh-FYEH-reh ah-DEHN-troh oh ehn lah teh-RRAH-sah
Offers two real seating areas. If your restaurant has no terrace, substitute otra área or afuera where smoking or outdoor seating exists.
¿Qué le gustaría tomar?
What would you like to drink?
keh leh goos-tah-REE-ah toh-MAR
Polite way to start the drink order. The indirect pronoun le matches usted. For a group, you can say ¿Qué les gustaría tomar?
¿Me confirma su pedido, por favor?
Could you confirm your order for me, please?
meh kohn-FEER-mah soo peh-DEE-doh, pohr fah-BOR
Use this to read back the order before sending it to the kitchen. It checks understanding without sounding demanding.
¿Le traigo la cuenta ahora o después?
Should I bring you the check now or later?
leh TRY-goh lah KWEHN-tah ah-OH-rah oh deh-SPWEHS
A natural closing question. In most of Latin America and in Spain, la cuenta is the standard word for the bill. La adición is used in some Andean regions (notably Colombia and parts of Peru), so adapt to local usage.
Pronunciation guides are approximate. Slow playback keeps the original pitch.
Make it make sense
Useful pattern
The core staff pattern is a polite question with usted: ¿Le gustaría...? (Would you like...?), ¿Me confirma...? (Could you confirm...?), and ¿Le traigo...? (Shall I bring you...?). The pronoun le refers to one guest politely; les refers to several guests. Compare ¿Le traigo algo de tomar? (Shall I bring you something to drink?) with ¿Les traigo algo de tomar? (Shall I bring you all something to drink?). Notice that Spanish often uses a question where English uses a modal request, so ¿Me confirma su pedido? is a natural service question, not a literal translation of 'Can you confirm?'.
When to use it
Use usted forms with guests you do not know, especially in formal restaurants or with older customers. Use tú only if the restaurant culture is casual and the guest has already used tú with you. When taking an order, separate drinks from food: first ¿Qué le gustaría tomar?, then ¿Y para comer? (And to eat?). If a guest orders with Quisiera... or Me gustaría..., that is a customer phrase meaning 'I would like...', not a staff question. To check understanding, repeat the item and ask ¿Así está bien? (Is that okay?) or ¿Algo más? (Anything else?).
Listen to each line, then take one part and reply out loud.
Buenas noches, bienvenidos. ¿Mesa para cuántas personas?
Good evening, welcome. A table for how many people?BWEH-nahs NOH-chehs, byehn-beh-NEE-dohs. MEH-sah PAH-rah KWAHN-tahs pehr-SOH-nahsPara dos, por favor. Quisiera una mesa cerca de la ventana.
For two, please. I would like a table near the window.PAH-rah dohs, pohr fah-BOR. kee-SYEH-rah OO-nah MEH-sah SEHR-kah deh lah behn-TAH-nahClaro que sí. ¿Qué les gustaría tomar?
Of course. What would you like to drink?KLAH-roh keh see. keh lehs goos-tah-REE-ah toh-MARDos limonadas, por favor. Y después le pedimos la comida.
Two lemonades, please. And later we will order the food.dohs lee-moh-NAH-dahs, pohr fah-BOR. ee deh-SPWEHS leh peh-DEE-mohs lah koh-MEE-dahA little context goes a long way
In much of Latin America, a simple buenas works at any time of day and is common in casual service. Buenas tardes and buenas noches are safe formal choices. Tipping and service charges vary by country and establishment, so follow local workplace practice rather than assuming one rule. In Spain, usted is less common among younger guests in casual places, but it remains polite and safe for staff.
One thing to watch for
Using ¿Qué quieres? with a guest because it matches the English 'What do you want?'
Try this instead: ¿Qué quieres? uses tú and can sound too direct with a customer. Use the polite usted form: ¿Qué le gustaría tomar? or ¿Qué desea ordenar? For example, say ¿Qué desea ordenar? (What would you like to order?) rather than ¿Qué quieres ordenar?
Your turn
Try answering out loud before checking a possible answer.
1A party of four arrives. What polite question asks how many people are in the party?
Show a sample answer
¿Mesa para cuántas personas?
This directly asks the size of the party and uses a polite, neutral tone. You could also say ¿Para cuántas personas? in a shorter form.
2You want to confirm one guest's order before sending it to the kitchen. What phrase do you use?
Show a sample answer
¿Me confirma su pedido, por favor?
This asks the guest to confirm the order politely. ¿Está correcto su pedido? is another valid check, though it asks about correctness rather than confirmation.
3The guests have finished eating. How do you ask whether to bring the check now or later?
Show a sample answer
¿Le traigo la cuenta ahora o después?
This offers both timing options and uses the polite le form. In some regions, la adición is used instead of la cuenta, so adapt to local usage.
Keep your service Spanish polite and simple: greet with buenas, ask ¿Mesa para cuántas personas?, take the order with ¿Qué le gustaría tomar?, confirm with ¿Me confirma su pedido?, and close with ¿Le traigo la cuenta ahora o después?
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