Ordering food in Portuguese is easy!

Read this page, and order food for you and your friends in Portuguese.

Olá! Bom apetite!

Are you hungry? Do you want to start ordering food in Portuguese now? Do you want to get one of those delicious Portuguese or Brazilian dishes?

Ok! Read on then.

Either in Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique or any other Lusophone country, ordering food in Portuguese requires pretty much the same words.

The mos useful word is "Queria" [kree-ah]. Please mind the way you should pronounce it - [kree-ah]. This means "I would like".

When you sit down in a café or lanchonete, you may have access to a menu "a lista" in Portugal and Africa or "o cardápio" in Brazil.

So, you can look at the menu, select what you want to eat/drink and you can begin ordering what you want by starting your sentences by "Queria" [kree-ah].

In some places you may need to pay first at the counter "na caixa de pre-pagamento" and select a table. In other places the waiter would come to you and you'll pay at the end.

Let's take the following menu from the "Ramar Cafe" as an example, and let's start ordering some food in Portuguese: (If you cannot read, you can press the "Ctrl" key plus "+" to increase the size of the picture).

So, when the waiter approaches you it will be very likely hearing him saying something like:

já pediu? [djah pay-dee-oo?] - Have you ordered? or

já pediram? [djah pay-dee-roong?] - Have you (guys) ordered?

The way you must reply is

já [djah] - if you have ordered, or

Ainda não? [aeen-dah naoong] - Not yet.

Then you'd be ordering your food. Say you want " uma tosta de queijo" - a cheese toast - and "uma sopa de legumes". so the conversation would be like this:

You = Y Water = W

W: - Bom dia. Já pediu?

Y: - Ainda não.

W: - Então, o que deseja?

Y: - Queria uma tosta de queijo e uma sopa de legumes.

W: - E para beber?

Y: - Uma cerveja, por favor.

W: - Mais alguma coisa?

Y: - Não. É tudo.

And that's it. In 5 minutes you'll have your food ready.

Then, you just have to ask for the bill - "A conta, por favor".

Now, try to repeat this pattern with the other foods of this menu. Fake it until you make it. ;-)

Grab a friend of yours and practice it with him/her.

And next time you are in a Portuguese speaking country you will be ready to speak to the waiter ordering food in Portuguese.

I hope you have enjoyed this exercise.

Rafa x

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