Ordering Food In A
Spanish Restaurant
Adapted From a Website by David Jamieson
Introduction
You and your friends have just won a free trip to Spain! You are excited about
visiting this beautiful, diverse, friendly country that is so historically and culturally
rich and is the cradle of the Spanish language. You are particularly excited about
the opportunity to use your newly acquired Spanish language skills, but are
somewhat concerned about your ability to communicate, especially when it
comes to that most important and enjoyable activity - eating! Will you be able to
order food in Spanish at a restaurant or will you starve? What kind of food do they
eat? Do they eat tacos, enchiladas and guacamole, like Mexicans do? What
happens if I think I am ordering noodle soup and they bring me cow brains? Do
they eat meals at the same times we usually do? What kind of currency do they
use and will I know if something is too expensive?
In this project, we will explore issues such as food and restaurant vocabulary in
Spanish, eating customs, currency valuation and comparing Spanish with
Mexican cuisine in order to prepare ourselves to order food at a Spanish
restaurant. You will research some of these topics and do a variety of activities
that will help prepare you for the culminating activity: to create and act out a
restaurant skit in Spanish.
¿A qué esperas? ¡Manos a la obra! ¡Vamos a trabajar!
Task
You have several tasks in this project, some of which will be done individually and
some of which will be done in groups of 3-4, which will be assigned by the
teacher. The culminating assessment is to create and perform a skit in Spanish,
which is centered in a Spanish restaurant. However, there are a number of prior
activities that will help you to acquire the skills and knowledge to make the skit.
All of these activities will form part of your final project grade and are outlined in
detail in the "Process" section of the outline.
Process
Individual Assignment #1: Due by the end of class on
Wednesday 2/12/14
If you read a menu in a Spanish restaurant, would you find items such as tacos,
enchiladas and tamales? Click on the links in section A to read about Spanish and
Mexican cuisine. Then create a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the two
cuisines.
A. Read these articles:
Spanish Cuisine-
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Mexican Cuisine-
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
B. Fill in your Venn diagram and write at least 10 things (for each country!!)
that differ about their foods. Then find 10 similarities that the two countries’
cuisines share and write them on your diagram . There should be thirty
entries in all.
Focus on:
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



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How food varies from region to region
Methods of food preparation
Meats/Seafood
Cheeses
Fruits & Veggies
Spices
Individual Assignment #2: Due by the end of class on Friday
2/14/14
In the United States, most people eat dinner at around 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. If you
were to look for a restaurant in Spain at that time, would you have problems
finding one open?
A. Read the following articles and websites to gather information about the eating
customs of Spaniards.
1.
Click on this link  “Spanish Eating Customs” and read the article.
Also click on the links at the bottom of the page and read about
 Tapas
 Churros
 Tortilla Española
2.
Then, read the “Dining in Spain Article” posted on my wikispace.
3.
Use the following links to read about and understand some of the most
typical dishes (like tortilla española and jamón serrano) that one would find
in most restaurants in Spain.
Link 1
Link 2
Link 5
Link 6
Link 3
Link 4
B. Complete the graphic organizer that outlines the eating customs of Spain and
answer the questions about what you have read.
Group Assignment #3 & #4: Due by the end of class on Friday
2/21/14
Assignment #3: As a group, design a menu for your Spanish restaurant on your
Google Drive using Presentation or Docs.
“Share” it with all of your group members & Sra. Phua by entering their gmail
address (andrea.rykovich@thompsonschools.org) and clicking “can edit” so
everyone can make changes/edit as needed. Unclick “Notify people via email”
otherwise we’ll get emails every time an edit is made!
The menu must include:
 5 different categories (ie: entradas/aperitivos, tapas, bebidas, etc.)
 List at least 3-5 different traditional Spanish foods/beverages that you
learned about in your research under each category w/ingredients. (ie:
chorizo con pan, etc.)
 Create prices for each item (in Euros)- $1USD = .73 EUR
 Hours & days of operation
 Name of restaurant, address, phone number & web address
 Pictures, color and creativity in the menu a MUST!
Assignment #4: Your final task will be the creation and presentation of a
restaurant-based skit. Follow this process to create your skit using Google docs
in your Drive and sharing it w/your group & Sra. Phua just as you did w/the menu:
1. Pre-skit preparation.
You will use your vocabulary list with helpful restaurant phrases. Look it over
and think about authentic sounding dialogue that you could create with those
expressions.
2. Skit preparation. Your group needs to create a skit based in a Spanish
restaurant, which fulfills the following criteria:


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dialog must be written completely in Spanish
skit should last 3-4 minutes, without time gaps/long pauses
each group member must speak at least 5 lines
Customers must:
a) reference the time that Spaniards eat the meal they chose
b) ask your friends if they are thirsty/hungry
b) ask the server for the menu
c) ask your friends what they want to order to drink and/or eat
c) each order different authentic Spanish dishes & drinks (use the
research you’ve done to help you!-Venn Diagram, & Graphic
Organizer)
d) order 3 courses (ie: tapa/appetizer/soup, main meal & dessert)
d) ask for something that the server forgot and/or have there be a
problem (ie: fly in soup, hair in food, etc.)
e) tell the server how the food is
f) ask for the bill
g) thank the server
Servers must:
a) welcome the customers to the restaurant
b) ask each customer what they would like to drink
c) ask each customer what they would like to eat
d) ask if they need more of something / anything else
e) ask how the food is
f) apologize for forgetting item and/or the problem
g) tell customers you will bring missing item/new food right away
h) ask customers if they would like to order dessert
i) thank customers for coming
*Feel free to add anything else! (Have a conversation amongst the customers, add
how often you eat something, server tell customer to enjoy their meal, etc.) This is
how you score above and beyond and achieve 8’s on the rubric!
You may also find additional restaurant vocabulary at the following sites:
http://www.smartphrase.com/Spanish/sp_food-drink_voc.shtml
http://cuip.net/~djamieson/spanrestvocab.html
3. Skit rehearsal. Now the skit is written. What's next? You have to practice the
skit! Practice makes perfect. Don't just "wing it" on the day of the performance.
Make sure that all team members have a copy of the skit with which to rehearse.
Rehearse to get feel of the flow of the performance, practicing reactions, facial
expressions and body movements that are appropriate to the situation.
3. Skit performance. Don't leave your enthusiasm at the door. All acting hams
are welcome! One note for audience members: be quiet and respectful during the
performance. Encourage each other; no negative criticism, please. I look forward
to the performance!
4. You will be graded using the Presentational Speaking Rubric and given an
individual grade although you are working together as a group. As always, this
assessment counts as 100 pts. in the 60% category for your overall grade.