Ordering food in Spanish in Peru
In Peru you order from the menú del día, which is a fixed-price set lunch of entrada, segundo and refresco. You order with "para mí, el..." rather than "quiero", ask for the bill with "la cuenta, por favor", and takeaway is "para llevar".
Draft copy. Every claim needs a native-speaker check before publishing — the byline is what makes this citable, so it has to be earned.
El menú
The single most useful word, and a false friend. El menú in Peru is not the list of dishes — that is la carta. El menú is the fixed-price set lunch: usually a starter, a main, a drink, and often a soup, for a price that is a fraction of ordering separately.
- la carta — the printed list of everything
- el menú / el menú del día — today’s set lunch
- la entrada — the starter
- el segundo — the main course. Literally “the second”
- el refresco — the included drink, usually chicha morada or maracuyá
- la sopa — soup, which often comes before the entrada
So “¿Tiene menú?” means “do you do a set lunch?” and is asked constantly at midday.
How to actually order
The textbook gives you quiero — I want. Nobody is offended by it, but it is blunter than what people around you will say. The usual forms:
- “Para mí, el lomo saltado.” — for me, the lomo saltado. This is the most common construction in the country
- “Me trae un ceviche, por favor.” — bring me a ceviche
- “Voy a pedir el menú.” — I’m going to order the set lunch
- “¿Qué me recomienda?” — what do you recommend
If you are ordering for a table, “para mí” and “para él / para ella” does the whole job.
Asking about a dish
- “¿Qué trae?” — what does it come with. Traer rather than tener is the normal verb for what a dish includes
- “¿Es picante?” — is it spicy. Worth asking. Ají is served on the side far more often than mixed in, but not always
- “¿Viene con arroz?” — does it come with rice
- “Sin cebolla, por favor.” — without onion
The end of the meal
- “La cuenta, por favor.” — the bill
- “¿Puedo pagar con tarjeta?” — can I pay by card
- “¿Aceptan Yape?” — Yape is the phone-to-phone payment app that a very large share of Peru now runs on, including tiny establishments
- “Para llevar” — to take away. “Para acá” or “para comer aquí” is the opposite
- “Está rico” / “estuvo rico” — it’s good / it was good. Rico is the default compliment for food and is not the same as delicioso, which sounds slightly formal in speech
One grammar note worth having
Está rather than es for how the food tastes right now: “la sopa está salada” — the soup is salty, this particular bowl. “La sopa es salada” would mean soup is a salty kind of thing in general. This is ser and estar doing something you can hear the difference in.
Topics Food and marketsGetting aroundRegister and politeness
Ordering lunch
Eight on getting fed in Peru — the set lunch, the phrase everyone actually uses to order, and the two verbs that decide how your soup gets described.
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1It is one o'clock and you ask a small restaurant *¿tiene menú?* What have you asked?
Answer
Do you do a set lunch? — *El menú* in Peru is the fixed-price set lunch — starter, main and a drink. The printed list of everything is *la carta*, which is the false friend that catches everyone.
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2You actually want to see the printed list of dishes. What do you ask for?
Answer
*la carta* — *La carta* is the list. Asking for *el menú* will get you today's set lunch described out loud, which is a different and usually cheaper thing.
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3You are at a table of four and it is your turn to order the lomo saltado. Which is the most natural?
Answer
*Para mí, el lomo saltado.* — *Para mí, el...* is the commonest construction in the country and handles a whole table — *para él*, *para ella*. *Quiero* offends nobody but is blunter than what you will hear around you.
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4You want to know what a dish comes with. Which verb do Peruvians use?
Answer
*¿Qué trae?* — *Traer* is the normal verb for what a dish includes — *¿qué trae el segundo?* *¿Viene con arroz?* is the other everyday way to ask.
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5You want it to take away. What do you say?
Answer
*Para llevar.* — *Para llevar* is takeaway; *para acá* or *para comer aquí* is the opposite. Both are asked of you constantly at lunchtime.
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6You taste your soup and this particular bowl is too salty. What do you say?
Answer
*La sopa está salada.* — *Está* describes the state of this bowl right now. *La sopa es salada* claims that soup as a category is a salty kind of thing, which is not your complaint.
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7On a set lunch, what is *el segundo*?
Answer
The main course — Literally “the second”, because it follows *la entrada*. A *menú* is usually soup or *entrada*, then *segundo*, then *refresco*.
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8You have no cash and the place is tiny. What do you ask?
Answer
*¿Aceptan Yape?* — Yape is the phone-to-phone payment app that a very large share of Peru runs on, including very small establishments. It is often accepted where a card is not.