Tapas in Spanish: ordering tapas, raciones and pintxos, and the bar customs of each region of Spain
Going for tapas in Spain means moving from bar to bar, a drink and a small plate at each, standing more than sitting. The words are short and the barman is quick, and the customs change from one region to the next: in Granada the tapa comes free with your drink, in San Sebastián you help yourself from the counter, in Madrid you order most of what you eat. Below: ordering, the sizes, the classic dishes, the regional customs, the drinks, paying, and what you will hear at the bar. The Spanish here is Spain’s: vosotros for a group, tú to the barman.
Tapa, ración, pincho
The size is the first thing to get right.
| Spanish | What it is | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| una tapa | A small plate, a few bites | The unit of a tapas crawl |
| una media ración / una media | Half a full plate | Not every bar offers it; ask ¿hay medias? |
| una ración | A full plate, to share | Two or three raciones feed two people |
| un pincho / un pintxo | A bite on bread, often on a stick | Pintxo is the Basque spelling |
| un montadito | A small open or closed sandwich | Common in Andalusia |
| una banderilla | A skewer of pickles, olives, anchovy | |
| una tabla | A board of ham, cheese or cured meats | |
| una cazuelita | A small earthenware dish, served hot | |
| un bocadillo | A baguette sandwich | A meal, not a tapa |
Pincho de tortilla, a slice of Spanish omelette, is sold at bars all over Spain as a morning or midday snack. Outside the Basque Country, pincho usually means this kind of single portion.
Ordering
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| A beer and a tapa of…, please | Una caña y una tapa de…, por favor. | |
| Give me… | Ponme… | The everyday form at a bar, with or without por favor |
| Give us… | Ponnos… | For a group |
| What do you have for tapas? | ¿Qué tenéis de tapas? | Tenéis, vosotros, to the bar staff |
| What’s in it? | ¿Qué lleva? | |
| Does the drink come with a tapa? | ¿La caña lleva tapa? | |
| Is it a tapa or a ración? | ¿Es tapa o ración? | |
| A ración of calamari to share | Una ración de calamares para compartir. | |
| A half of croquettes | Una media de croquetas. | |
| Another one of these | Otra de estas. / Otra igual. | Point |
| Two more beers | Dos cañas más. | |
| In the middle, to share | Al centro. | Tells the waiter to put it between you |
| Is it spicy? | ¿Pica? | Most Spanish food is not |
| Is there anything vegetarian? | ¿Hay algo vegetariano? | |
| I’m coeliac | Soy celíaco / celíaca. | Many bars mark sin gluten on the menu |
Ponme is not rude in Spain. It is the ordinary imperative at a bar counter, and staff say ¿qué os pongo? back. At close range, you get attention with oye or perdona.
Standing at the bar is the default in a busy tapas bar. La barra is the counter, and ordering there is quicker and often cheaper than la terraza, the outdoor tables, where some bars charge more.
The classics
| Spanish | What it is |
|---|---|
| tortilla de patatas / tortilla española | Potato omelette, with or without onion; con cebolla or sin cebolla is a real debate |
| croquetas | Croquettes; de jamón is the classic, then de pollo, de bacalao, de setas |
| patatas bravas | Fried potatoes with a spicy sauce; Madrid’s signature |
| patatas alioli | Potatoes with garlic mayonnaise |
| jamón / jamón ibérico | Cured ham; ibérico comes from the Iberian pig |
| queso manchego | Sheep’s cheese from La Mancha |
| gambas al ajillo | Prawns in garlic and oil, served sizzling |
| pulpo a la gallega | Octopus with paprika and oil, Galicia’s dish |
| pimientos de Padrón | Small fried green peppers |
| boquerones en vinagre | Anchovies in vinegar |
| boquerones fritos | Fried anchovies |
| calamares a la romana | Battered squid rings |
| chopitos | Small fried squid |
| albóndigas | Meatballs in sauce |
| ensaladilla rusa | Potato salad with tuna and mayonnaise |
| pan con tomate | Bread rubbed with tomato and oil; pa amb tomàquet in Catalan |
| morcilla | Blood sausage; the Burgos version has rice |
| chorizo a la sidra | Chorizo cooked in cider, from Asturias |
| salmorejo | Thick cold tomato soup from Córdoba, topped with egg and ham |
| berenjenas con miel | Fried aubergine with cane honey, from Andalusia |
| champiñones al ajillo | Mushrooms with garlic |
There is a saying about pimientos de Padrón: unos pican y otros no, some are hot and some are not.
Tortilla in Spain is the potato omelette, not a flatbread. A Mexican tortilla is una tortilla mexicana.
Free tapas: where the drink comes with food
In some cities every drink comes with a tapa at no extra cost, and it is real food. In others you get olives or crisps and pay for the rest.
| Where | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Granada | A tapa with every drink, and each round brings a different one. You do not choose it at many bars |
| Jaén | A tapa with every drink, often a generous one |
| Almería | A tapa with every drink, and many bars let you choose from a list |
| León | A tapa with every drink, especially around the Barrio Húmedo |
| Madrid | Often a small free tapa with a drink, olives, crisps or a bite of something; the rest you order |
| Seville, Barcelona, Valencia | Tapas are ordered and paid for |
In the free-tapa cities, the tapa is tied to the drink. You often get one with a water or a soft drink too. Ordering extra food is una ración or una tapa aparte.
¿La caña lleva tapa? is how to find out anywhere. Nobody takes it badly.
The Basque Country: pintxos
In Bilbao, San Sebastián (Donostia in Basque) and Vitoria (Gasteiz), tapas are pintxos, and the bar works differently.
- The cold pintxos are on the counter. Ask for a plate, ¿me das un plato?, and help yourself. Some bars prefer that you ask staff to serve you; watch what others do.
- The hot pintxos are on a board behind the bar, cooked to order. Ask for them by name: ¿me pones un pintxo de txangurro?, a spider-crab pintxo.
- You pay at the end. Tell the barman what you had, dos pintxos y un txakoli, and trust is part of the system. In some bars the toothpicks on your plate are counted.
- Move on after one or two. The custom is a pintxo and a drink at each bar, then the next bar.
| Spanish | What it is |
|---|---|
| un txikito | A small glass of wine; ir de txikitos is to go round bars for them |
| un zurito | A small glass of beer |
| txakoli | Basque white wine, slightly sparkling, poured from a height |
| la Gilda | Olive, anchovy and pickled chilli on a stick, San Sebastián’s classic |
| el pintxo-pote | An evening, usually once a week, when bars sell a drink and a pintxo together at a fixed price; the day depends on the neighbourhood |
| el poteo | Going from bar to bar for a drink |
Tx in Basque sounds like the English ch: txikito is chi-KEE-toh.
Other regions
Andalusia has pescaíto frito, mixed fried fish, and tortillitas de camarones, crisp shrimp fritters from Cádiz. Seville’s bars are known for montaditos and espinacas con garbanzos, spinach with chickpeas.
Galicia has pulpo á feira, the Galician name for octopus with paprika, and Ribeiro wine served in small white bowls, cuncas.
Asturias has sidrerías, cider houses, where the waiter pours cider from above his head in a thin stream so it foams. That is escanciar, and you drink the small amount in the glass at once. Cachopo, two breaded veal fillets with ham and cheese, is a ración for two, not a tapa.
In Catalonia people say tapes in Catalan, and bars serve bombas, fried balls of potato and meat with spicy sauce, a Barcelona dish. Hacer el vermut, having a vermouth before Sunday lunch, is a Barcelona habit, and in Madrid people do the same, as la hora del vermú.
Drinks
| Spanish | What it is | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| una caña | A small draught beer, about 200 ml | The standard |
| un doble | A larger draught | Bigger than a caña; size varies by bar |
| un tercio | A 33 cl bottle | |
| un quinto / un botellín | A 20 cl bottle | Madrid and Castile |
| una clara | Beer with lemon soda or lemonade | |
| un tinto de verano | Red wine with lemon soda | What Spaniards drink in summer more than sangría |
| un vino / un tinto / un blanco | A glass of wine | Name the region: un rioja, un ribera, un verdejo |
| un vermut / un vermú | Vermouth, often on tap | With an olive and orange slice |
| un mosto | Grape juice, non-alcoholic | The drink for non-drinkers |
| una cerveza sin | Alcohol-free beer |
Paying
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| How much is it? | ¿Qué te debo? / ¿Cuánto es? | ¿Qué te debo?, what do I owe you, is the usual form |
| Can you charge me? | ¿Me cobras? | Said at the bar when you are ready to leave |
| Together | Todo junto. | |
| Separately | Por separado. | |
| Can I pay by card? | ¿Se puede pagar con tarjeta? | Most bars take cards |
You pay at the end. The staff keep track, often in their heads, sometimes in chalk on the counter. Nobody brings the bill unasked.
Tipping is small or nothing: the coins from your change, or rounding up. It is not expected at the bar.
What you will hear
| You will hear | It means |
|---|---|
| ¿Qué os pongo? | What can I get you? (to a group) |
| ¿Qué te pongo? | What can I get you? (to one person) |
| ¿Algo para picar? | Anything to eat with it? |
| ¿Algo más? | Anything else? |
| ¡Marchando! | Coming right up |
| ¡Una de bravas! | One order of bravas! Called to the kitchen |
| Se ha acabado. / No queda. | It’s run out |
| Hoy tenemos… | Today we have… |
| ¿Estáis juntos? | Are you together? |
| Son doce con cincuenta. | That’s twelve fifty |
Timing
Lunch tapas run from about one to four. Evening tapas start around eight and go on past eleven. Many bars close their kitchen between lunch and evening. Before one or between five and eight, expect a bar that serves drinks and little else.
Ir de tapas, tapear and ir de cañas all mean going round bars with friends. People usually go to two to four bars, and some make it their dinner.
Ten sentences you can say tomorrow
- Ponme una caña y una tapa de tortilla, por favor. A small beer and a portion of tortilla, please.
- ¿Qué tenéis de tapas hoy? What tapas do you have today?
- ¿La caña lleva tapa? Does the beer come with a tapa?
- Una ración de croquetas y otra de bravas para compartir. A plate of croquettes and one of bravas to share.
- ¿Hay medias raciones? Do you do half portions?
- ¿Me das un plato? Can I have a plate? (Basque Country, at a pintxo bar)
- Dos zuritos y un txikito. Two small beers and a small wine. (Basque Country)
- Otra ronda, y nos pones unas aceitunas. Another round, and some olives for us.
- ¿Qué te debo? What do I owe you?
- ¿Me cobras, por favor? Can I pay, please?
Questions people ask
Are tapas free in Spain? In Granada, Jaén, Almería and León, a tapa comes free with every drink. In Madrid a small tapa often comes with the drink. In most other places you order and pay for them.
What is the difference between a tapa and a ración? A tapa is a small plate for one or two bites. A ración is a full plate to share. A media ración is half of one.
What is a pintxo? A Basque tapa, usually on a slice of bread, often held with a stick. In pintxo bars you take the cold ones from the counter and pay at the end.
How do you order tapas in Spanish? Ponme una tapa de… or una ración de…, with the dish name. In a group, ponnos….
What time do people eat tapas in Spain? From about one to four at lunch and from eight to eleven or later in the evening.
Do you tip for tapas in Spain? Not much. Leave the small coins or round up, if anything.
What does “¿qué os pongo?” mean? What can I get you, said to a group. Os is the vosotros object pronoun used in Spain.
How many tapas should I order? Two or three tapas each, or two or three raciones for two people. Order a first round and add more.
Practise these words
tapa, ración, barra, compartir, poner, deber, cobrar, llevar, plato, ronda, quedar, caña, pincho. Vozelu is a free website for practising Spanish, and it has each of these. You see a sentence with one word missing, you type the word, and a native voice reads the sentence back. Practise the words on this page.