How to Read a Spanish Menu — Tapas, Raciones & More
Spain trips up visitors twice before they have even chosen a dish. The first trap is the word menú, which does not mean menu. The second is portion size, where the same dish is sold at three different scales and the board often prints only one price. Get those two right and Spanish menus become the most generous and best-value eating in Europe.
How a Spanish menu is organized
Ask for the menú and you may be handed a fixed-price lunch deal. The document listing everything the kitchen makes is la carta. Both exist at the same restaurant, usually printed separately, and the deal is almost always the better buy at midday.
| Spanish | Pronunciation | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| La carta | la KAR-ta | The full menu of everything available |
| Menú del día | me-NOO del DEE-a | Fixed-price weekday lunch, several courses |
| Para picar | PA-ra pee-KAR | Things to nibble, for the table |
| Entrantes | en-TRAN-tes | Starters |
| Ensaladas | en-sa-LA-das | Salads |
| Sopas y cremas | SO-pas | Soups, hot or cold |
| Arroces | ar-RO-thes | Rice dishes, usually for two or more |
| Carnes | KAR-nes | Meat |
| Pescados y mariscos | pes-KA-dos | Fish and shellfish |
| Guarniciones | gwar-nee-thee-O-nes | Side dishes |
| Postres | POS-tres | Desserts |
| Sugerencias | soo-he-REN-thee-as | Today's suggestions, often on a chalkboard |
The menú del día is the single best-value meal in the country. For one fixed price you get a first course, a second course, bread, a drink and either dessert or coffee. It runs on weekday lunchtimes only, it is a legacy of a law requiring affordable worker lunches, and it is what the people around you are eating. You choose one item from a short list at each stage, so the whole thing is usually recited by the waiter rather than printed.
Portion size is the other half of the menu. The same plate is sold as a tapa (a few bites for one), a media ración (half plate, shared by two), a ración (a full plate for the table) or a pincho / pintxo (a bite on bread, held with a stick). Small-plate culture in Spain is a subject of its own and deserves a fuller treatment than this piece can give it; for menu-reading purposes, what matters is asking which size a printed price refers to before you order several things.
Where you eat changes the price of the identical dish. The barra, the bar counter, is cheapest and most local. A mesa, an inside table, carries a small surcharge. The terraza, the outside tables, costs the most, sometimes markedly so. This is printed on the menu in small type and nobody will mention it.
Common dishes you'll see on the menu
| Spanish | Pronunciation | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| paella valenciana | pa-E-ya | Rice with rabbit, chicken, beans | The original; seafood paella is a variant |
| arroz negro | ar-ROTH NE-gro | Squid-ink rice | Black, served with garlic mayonnaise |
| fideuà | fee-de-WA | Paella made with short noodles | Valencian coast |
| tortilla española | tor-TEE-ya | Potato and egg omelette | Served warm or at room temperature |
| jamón ibérico | ha-MON ee-BE-ree-ko | Cured acorn-fed ham | Sliced to order, priced high |
| gazpacho | gath-PA-cho | Chilled tomato soup | Summer only, drunk from a glass |
| salmorejo | sal-mo-RE-ho | Thicker cold tomato soup | Córdoba, topped with egg and ham |
| sopa de ajo | SO-pa de A-ho | Garlic and bread soup | Castilian, with a poached egg |
| cocido madrileño | ko-THEE-do | Chickpea and meat stew | Served in stages, a full meal |
| fabada asturiana | fa-BA-da | White bean and sausage stew | Rich, northern, winter food |
| lentejas | len-TE-has | Lentil stew | Common first course on the menú del día |
| pisto | PEES-to | Stewed peppers, tomato, courgette | Often with a fried egg on top |
| escalivada | es-ka-lee-VA-da | Roast pepper and aubergine | Catalan, served cool |
| pulpo a la gallega | POOL-po | Octopus with paprika | On potato, with oil and coarse salt |
| merluza a la plancha | mer-LOO-tha | Griddled hake | The default light main |
| bacalao al pil pil | ba-ka-LA-o | Salt cod in emulsified oil | Basque, deceptively simple |
| marmitako | mar-mee-TA-ko | Tuna and potato stew | Basque fishermen's dish |
| almejas a la marinera | al-ME-has | Clams in white wine | Bread comes for the sauce |
| chipirones | chee-pee-RO-nes | Small squid | Fried, or cooked in their ink |
| chuletón | choo-le-TON | Large aged beef chop | Priced by weight, shared |
| secreto ibérico | se-KRE-to | Grilled Iberian pork cut | Marbled, served pink |
| cochinillo asado | ko-chee-NEE-yo | Roast suckling pig | Segovia and Castile |
| rabo de toro | RA-bo de TO-ro | Braised oxtail | Andalusian, slow-cooked |
| callos | KA-yos | Tripe stew | Madrid classic, not for everyone |
| pimientos de padrón | pee-mee-EN-tos | Blistered green peppers | Roughly one in ten is hot |
| revuelto | re-VWEL-to | Soft scrambled eggs | With mushrooms, prawns or greens |
| migas | MEE-gas | Fried breadcrumbs with pork | Rural, filling, often at breakfast |
| crema catalana | KRE-ma | Custard with burnt sugar crust | Lighter than crème brûlée |
| tarta de Santiago | TAR-ta | Almond cake | Galician, marked with a cross |
| arroz con leche | ar-ROTH kon LE-che | Rice pudding | With cinnamon and lemon |
Words that repeat on every menu: a la plancha (griddled), a la brasa (grilled over coals), al horno (baked), frito (fried), guisado (stewed), relleno (stuffed), pan (bread), pollo (chicken), cerdo (pork), ternera (beef or veal), cordero (lamb), gambas (prawns), setas (mushrooms), picante (spicy). Rice dishes are usually cooked to order for a minimum of two people and take a good half hour, which the menu often notes.
Useful phrases for ordering
| Spanish | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| La carta, por favor | la KAR-ta | The menu, please |
| ¿Tienen menú del día? | tee-E-nen me-NOO | Do you have a fixed-price lunch? |
| ¿Qué me recomienda? | ke me re-ko-mee-EN-da | What do you recommend? |
| ¿Esto es tapa o ración? | TA-pa o ra-thee-ON | Is this a tapa or a full plate? |
| Una media ración | ME-dee-a ra-thee-ON | A half portion |
| Para compartir | PA-ra kom-par-TEER | To share |
| Sin carne, por favor | seen KAR-ne | Without meat, please |
| Soy alérgico a... | soy a-LER-hee-ko | I am allergic to... |
| Otra ronda | O-tra RON-da | Another round |
| ¿A qué hora abre la cocina? | a ke O-ra A-bre | When does the kitchen open? |
| La cuenta, por favor | la KWEN-ta | The bill, please |
| ¿Se puede pagar con tarjeta? | tar-HE-ta | Can I pay by card? |
Prices, paying and tipping
Menu prices include tax, and bread, whether or not you asked for it, is often charged as a small line item. That is normal practice rather than a trick, though it is worth glancing at the small print on the menu, where any bread or terrace surcharge is disclosed.
Tipping is modest and optional. Spaniards commonly leave nothing at a bar and round up or leave small change after a sit-down meal. A larger tip after an expensive dinner is appreciated but never expected, and no service percentage is added automatically at ordinary restaurants.
At a bar you usually pay at the end, at the counter, telling the bartender what you had. At a table, ask for la cuenta — it will not arrive on its own. Cards are accepted almost everywhere in cities, but small neighbourhood bars sometimes set a minimum, so keep some cash for a tapas crawl.
The eating clock is the thing that costs visitors the most meals. Lunch, the main meal of the day, runs roughly from two until four in the afternoon. Kitchens then close completely, often until half past eight or nine, and a bar that looks open at six is only pouring drinks. Dinner starts around nine and busy places fill closer to ten. Arriving at seven gets you an empty room and whatever the kitchen has left.
Etiquette worth knowing
- Meals are long, and the table is yours for as long as you want it. Nobody will hurry you, and nobody will bring the bill until you ask.
- Calling a waiter with a raised hand and perdona is normal. Bars are loud and brisk service is not rudeness.
- In the Basque Country the counter is covered in pintxos you take yourself, and staff tally the cocktail sticks left on your plate when you pay. Count honestly; it works on trust.
- In Granada and León a free small plate arrives with every drink and you do not choose it. This is a local custom, not a national rule.
- Sangría is largely a tourist order. Locals drink wine, beer, vermouth before lunch, or tinto de verano in the heat.
When the menu has no English at all
The places worth finding are the ones with the day's cooking chalked on a board in handwritten Spanish, or a waiter reciting four first courses and four second courses at speed. The printed English menu, where it exists at all, is usually shorter, more generic and more expensive than the board next to it. Photographing that board and reading it back in your own language is the difference between the dish the kitchen is proud of and the one dish whose name you happen to recognize.
FAQ
What exactly is the menú del día? A fixed-price multi-course lunch offered on weekdays, including a first course, second course, bread, drink and dessert or coffee. It is the cheapest full meal in Spain and the most common thing locals eat at midday. Ask whether it is available before opening la carta.
Is a tapa always free? No. A free tapa with every drink is a regional custom found mainly in Granada, León and parts of Andalusia. Everywhere else a tapa is a small paid portion, and the same dish is also sold in half and full plates.
What time should I show up for dinner? Nine at the earliest, and half past nine or ten in Madrid and the south. Kitchens generally shut between lunch and dinner, so if you need to eat in the late afternoon, look for a bar advertising cocina continua or eat pintxos instead.