How to Ask “What Do You Recommend?” in Spanish
Ask for a restaurant recommendation in Spanish, add a food preference, and respond to the suggestion. Practice informal and formal versions without mixing them.
Ask ¿Qué me recomiendas?
¿Qué me recomiendas? means “What do you recommend?” when you are speaking informally to one person. In a more formal exchange, use ¿Qué me recomienda?
Both include me, indicating that you are asking for a recommendation for yourself. A friendly por favor can be added, but you do not need to pile several polite expressions onto every sentence.
Use the informal form with a friend in practice. For a service interaction where you choose a formal register, keep recomienda consistent with other formal requests.
Give the person a useful preference
A recommendation is easier to make when you add a little context:
- Me gustaría algo ligero. — “I'd like something light.”
- Prefiero algo sin carne. — “I prefer something without meat.”
- ¿Qué plato es el más popular? — “Which dish is the most popular?”
These are not identical questions. Your personal preference and the most popular dish may lead to different suggestions. A preference sentence is also not a complete way to communicate a serious dietary restriction or verify ingredient safety.
Turn a suggestion into an order
A: ¿Qué me recomienda?
“What do you recommend?”
B: La sopa de verduras está muy buena.
“The vegetable soup is very good.”
A: ¿Lleva carne?
“Does it contain meat?”
B: No.
“No.”
A: Entonces, la sopa, por favor.
“Then the soup, please.”
Here, lleva asks what the dish contains. The example shows a basic food-preference exchange, not an allergy protocol.
A common English-shaped mistake
Avoid translating “What do you recommend me?” word by word or leaving a verb in its dictionary form. The practical sentence is ¿Qué me recomiendas?, not ¿Qué recomendar? Learn the whole question first; analyze the verb ending after it feels familiar.
Practice accepting and declining
Ask the question aloud, imagine a suggestion, and accept it with Eso suena bien — “That sounds good.” In the next round, try ¿Tiene otra opción? — “Do you have another option?” You can ask a follow-up without pretending to like the first suggestion.
If you are the one giving advice, use recommending a restaurant.
Explore Saystep Spanish, the official Spanish-learning site for English speakers. You can also practice this article's dialogue independently, without using an app.