How to Eat in Spain as a Visitor – Part 1 of 3
January 26, 2009 by Ivan Larcombe | 310 views | 3 Comments
A few tips
Most of the time, restaurant etiquette is about social norms that are common knowledge for the locals and often impossible to discover for the casual visitor. I’m not a local – yet – but I do have some experience in Spanish restaurants and I may be able to help.
This short series is aimed at helping first-time visitors to Spain get more out of eating out.
Where I learned about tipping in Spain
Tipping is a big concern. Asking your server how much to give them could be quite embarrassing and lead to more miscommunication than it’s worth depending on language barriers. It’s also not always best to ask advice from an interested party.
I have seen a lot of wildly different advice out there about whether or not to tip in Spain and how much is appropriate. I’ve had two experiences that might shed some light.
- I was once amazed when I had a telephone line installed in Madrid and my roommate tipped the technician roughly 15 Euros even after he left a great big hole in the wall
- I worked as a waiter in Spain myself and I was never offended when I got a tip for giving good service.
picture of cafeteria in Valencia by Richie Diesterheft, published under Creative Commons.
A general rule of thumb is to “round up” or leave the small change. You shouldn’t feel obligated to do more ‚Äì or to leave anything ‚Äì if you don’t want to. Even I ‚Äì the ex-waiter ‚Äì won’t leave anything if I’ve been treated rudely, though that rarely happens.
Different Expectations
My wife and I came from consumer-centric North America and found that things were different here. Some observation that you may find useful:
Eating times
In general eating times are later here than elsewhere and restaurants are often only serving food during the following hours: 1 PM to 4 PM and 8 PM to 11 PM. Of course this varies by region and restaurant – here in Valencia we were recently turned away at 1:40 PM. That said, you can often find offers of sandwiches (bocadillos) until late morning as the Spanish tend to have an almuerzo – mid-morning snack – to keep them going until lunch.
Getting the Bill
You must ask for it directly. No one will bring it otherwise, no matter how finished you are.
Quality Check
Don’t expect anyone to ask you if you like your food. The assumption is that you’ll let them know if you don’t.
Food descriptions can fool you
A lot of salads have surprised us by arriving covered in tuna, for example. We were also taken aback by a plate of steamed mussels served just as described, steamed, with nothing else at all. (A purism we didn’t expect.) If you have questions, it’s time to practise your Spanish.
Kids
No one seems to mind how much noise they make. We are definitely the most uptight parents on the block and have been told to relax time and time again.
Too hungry to keep reading?
Go get something to eat! I’ll be back next week with more ramblings about eating out in Spain.
And by the way, we offer take-out! Just sign up for our Eat In Valencia feed and you’ll get hot-off-the-press content sent right to your e-mail. No tip required!
Ivan Larcombe – Bio
After years of experience in the hospitality trade focusing on restaurants and even the Canadian wine industry, Ivan thought that he had gained nothing but the certainty that these were not the career paths for him. Now he combines his first love, the written word, with all that he has learned over the years to approach food and wine from a very different perspective.
A recent, but devoted, arrival in Valencia, Ivan is working hard to learn and share everything there is to know about the gastronomical offering of this beautiful region.
Ivan can be contacted directly through his blog: http://www.ivaninvalencia.com/.
Good stuff.
My wife vacation in Portugal and Spain every two years. Once, we took my mother along. I remember having to rein her in on several occasions while eating out as she anxiously scanned the restaurant wondering why it was taking the waiter so long to bring us the check.