AdultLingoSpanish course › Section 1 › Unit 2
🍸 At the Bar & Drinks in Spanish
Navigate nightlife venues and cocktail culture. Order drinks, offer to buy someone a drink, toast with flair, nightlife etiquette.
“Joe here. Skip the tourist bars on the Gran Vía; tonight we drink where Madrid drinks, and you'll order like you've lived here for years.” — Joe, your host for this unit
Practise this unit free ➔Key Spanish words and phrases
| Spanish | Meaning |
|---|---|
| la caña | small draught beer |
| un tinto de verano | red wine with lemon soda |
| el chupito | a shot |
| la copa | a mixed drink; a (wine) glass |
| el agua | water |
| agua con gas | sparkling water |
| poner | to put; to serve (at a bar) |
| ¿qué te pongo? | what can I get you? (bartender) |
| por favor | please |
| el vermut | vermouth |
| ¿me pones…? | can I get…? (ordering) |
| otro | another, other |
| invitar (a) | to treat someone, pay for them |
| ya tengo | I've already got one |
| que lo pases bien | have a good time |
| vale | okay |
| tomar | to have (a drink) |
| otro día | another time |
| pagar | to pay |
| siguiente | next |
| ¡por nosotros! | to us! (toast) |
| ¡salud! | cheers! (lit. health) |
| brindar | to toast, drink to |
| ¡chinchín! | clink clink! (toast) |
| el brindis | a toast |
| levantar | to raise, lift |
| la última | the last one (drink of the night) |
| ¿estás bien? | are you okay? |
| irse | to leave, go (home) |
| la casa | house; home (a casa) |
| la cuenta | the bill |
| el vaso | glass (tumbler) |
| me voy a casa | I'm heading home |
| a medias | split (half each) |
| escribir | to write; to text |
| cobrar | to charge (someone), take payment |
| llegar | to arrive, get (somewhere) |
Example sentences
Two draught beers, please.
Can I get another beer
Can I buy you a drink?
The next round is on me.
Look me in the eyes when we toast.
Everyone, raise your glasses!
Shall we have the last one?
Text me when you get home.
A conversation from this unit
Sunday, one o’clock: vermouth hour on a terrace in La Latina. Joe spots Malèna at the next table.
Joe: Hola, Malèna. Es la hora del vermut. ¿Te invito a uno?Hi, Malèna. It's vermouth time. Can I buy you one?
Malèna: Gracias, Joe. Pero hoy, para mí, agua con gas.Thanks, Joe. But today, for me, sparkling water.
Joe: Vale. ¿Me pones un vermut y un agua con gas, por favor?OK. Can I get a vermouth and a sparkling water, please?
Joe: ¿Brindamos? Ah, no… con agua no se brinda.Shall we toast? Oh, no… you don't toast with water.
Malèna: ¿Por qué no?Why not?
Joe: Dicen que da mala suerte.They say it's bad luck.
Joe: ¡Jaja! Vale. ¡Salud, Malèna!Haha! OK. Cheers, Malèna!
Malèna: Salud. Y mírame a los ojos, Joe.Cheers. And look me in the eyes, Joe.
Culture notes
Anya asks Joe how people in Madrid usually ask someone out for the first time. What's the classic first date in Spain?
Meeting for a drink or two at a bar or terrace.
In Spain a first date is usually low-key: quedar para tomar algo, meeting for a drink at a bar or on a terrace. It's easy to say yes to, easy to end after one, and easy to stretch into dinner if it's going well.
Say it like a local: ¿Te apetece tomar algo? — Do you fancy a drink?
Joe orders two cañas in an old tiled bar in Madrid. The bartender sets them down with a little plate of olives. Do they have to pay for the olives?
No: traditional bars often bring a small free snack with a drink.
Many traditional bars in Madrid bring a little free tapa with each drink: olives, crisps, a bite of tortilla. It isn't guaranteed, and fancier places skip it. In cities like Granada, León or Jaén a free tapa with every drink is a famous local tradition. Tips are small in Spain, if any: rounding up is plenty.
Say it like a local: ¿Me pones otra caña? — Can I get another caña?
Third round at a neighbourhood bar in Madrid. Nobody has paid for anything yet. Is that a problem?
No: in most bars you pay when you leave, and the bartender keeps track.
In most Spanish bars and cafés you don't pay round by round: the staff keep track, and you settle up at the end. To pay at the counter, catch the bartender's eye and ask ¿me cobras? ("will you charge me?"). Clubs and busy cocktail bars are the exception: there you usually pay as you order.
Say it like a local: ¿Me cobras, por favor? — Can I pay, please?
A summer terrace in Madrid. Anya is about to order a jug of sangría for the two of them. What would most locals order instead?
Tinto de verano: red wine with lemon soda, over ice.
Sangría is mostly for tourists and big parties at home. On a summer terrace, locals tend to order tinto de verano: red wine topped up with lemon soda or gaseosa, over ice. Simpler, cheaper, and almost every bar makes it.
Say it like a local: Un tinto de verano, por favor. — A tinto de verano, please.
Anya isn't drinking alcohol tonight. At the bar, she worries that ordering water will look rude. How does that go down in Spain?
Completely normal: water, a soft drink or an alcohol-free beer are everyday orders.
Nobody blinks. Drinking in Spain usually goes with food and conversation, and getting drunk isn't the point of a night out. Spain is one of Europe's biggest markets for alcohol-free beer (ask for una sin), and agua con gas is an ordinary order. Anyone who pushes a drink on you after a no is the rude one.
Say it like a local: Para mí, agua con gas, por favor. — Sparkling water for me, please.
Learn it properly
In the app, Joe takes you through this unit in short lessons: multiple choice, matching and building sentences from tiles, with audio, plus listening scenes, chats that react to your replies, read-the-room choices, culture cards and a drama episode. Words you learn come back in review right before you'd forget them. It's free and there's no account: progress stays in your browser.
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