Galician Culture Lesson #2: We want to eat!

This second installment is called We want to eat! It may well apply to all of Spain, not just Galicia, but I have only experienced it here.

First, it should be clear that there are two types of eating establishments: cafés and restaurants. Most cafés only serve food until 4 or 5 in the afternoon, and restaurants typically don't open until 9/9:30 p.m. Therefore, if you are hungry between the hours of 5 and 9, there aren't too many choices for you. We spent a few starving nights figuring this out before adjusting to the Spanish eating schedule.

The other phenomenon worth mentioning is how you're supposed to ask for food/a menu. Our first few attempts at lunchtime meals were a little frustrating, to say the least. We noticed that if you sit down and just order a drink, they will not bring you a menu and will not come back to your table without being flagged down. It's assumed that you only wanted something to drink.

To solve this problem, I thought, "I'll just tell them we'd like to eat, and they'll know to bring us a menu or ask what we would like." Since Queremos comer means "We want to eat", I thought this would be the easiest way to let them know we'd be needing menus. Wrong! We went to a smaller café in the area and said that we wanted to eat, they told us they didn't have anything, but when we looked around, a few people were eating sandwiches or other small things. The only explanations I could think of were that they suddenly ran out of food, or realized we were Americans and didn't want us there. So, we made our way to a second place, saw food coming out of the kitchen, tried again, and got the same response. At this point, I was completely baffled, hungry, and frankly, a little pissed.

Here is the explanation: Lunch is the biggest meal of the day in Spain, so many cafés serve big combination plates or 3-4 course meals*. Not all of them do, though...some just serve sandwiches and snacks. Little did I know that saying Queremos comer in this cultural context meant we wanted to have a big lunch, not the basic meaning of "We want to eat". After clearing this up with a friend, I discovered that we have to say Queremos picar "We want to snack/graze" or ask for their carta "menu"** if we want to order something smaller.

Master these conventions, and you should be able to eat what you want when you want.



*One interesting thing to note: if you do order one of these big meals, you get a table cloth, cloth napkins, silverware, oil/vinegar/salt&pepper, and bread. If you don't, you get nothing.
**Be advised that asking for the menú, which is what they call the 3-4 course meals, will also cause confusion.