Portuguese Food and Ordering

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Order confidently in any Brazilian or Portuguese café: the key phrases, table words, and the coffee rules.

Full course. Authored Portuguese content, part of the free EkGuru Portuguese course. Audio is your browser’s computer voice, not a native recording.

Ordering: queria and gostaria

The polite ordering verbs are queria (I would want) and gostaria de (I would like): Queria um café, por favor (I would like a coffee, please). Staff ask O que vai ser? or O que desejam? (what will it be?). To get attention: Com licença! (excuse me!). In Portugal, se faz favor (if it pleases) does the work of "please" and "excuse me" combined.

Coffee has rules

In Brazil, cafezinho (little coffee) is a ritual — small, strong, sweet, often offered free in shops. Café com leite is coffee with milk. In Portugal, order um café for an espresso, um galão for a milky glass, and never order milk coffee after a meal in front of a purist. Tea is chá; juice is suco (BR) or sumo (PT) — the same word means something else across the Atlantic, so mind which country you are in.

At the table and paying

Table words: o cardápio (BR) / a ementa (PT) for menu, o copo (glass), a xícara (cup), o prato (plate), os talheres (cutlery). The bill is a conta: A conta, por favor. In Brazil a 10% service charge (taxa de serviço) is often added but legally optional — you may ask to remove it. In Portugal, rounding up or leaving small change is the norm.

Hunger, thirst and taste

Hunger and thirst use ter: Tenho fome (I am hungry), Tenho sede (I am thirsty). Core words: o pão (bread), o queijo (cheese), a água (water — com gás sparkling, sem gás still), o arroz (rice), o feijão (beans — the Brazilian staple). Delicious is delicioso/deliciosa, or the warmer que gostoso! (how tasty!).

Phrase	Meaning
Queria…, por favor	I would like…, please — the ordering phrase
O cardápio / A ementa	the menu — Brazil / Portugal
A conta, por favor	the bill, please
Quanto custa?	how much is it?
Tenho fome / sede	I am hungry / thirsty
Que gostoso!	how tasty!

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