Ordering coffee in Portugal: 25 words for cafés and pastelarias

🇵🇹 PortugueseA1–A225 words

The café is the heart of daily life in Portugal, and its vocabulary is surprisingly specific: a "bica", a "meia de leite" and a "galão" are three different drinks. Learn these words and you can order breakfast, a snack or a small beer like a local.

Where you will use it: Ordering coffee, breakfast and snacks at the counter.

Portuguese café and pastelaria words — The word list

Meanings and translations are in English.

Portuguese	Meaning and example
a meia de leite	Coffee with milk served in a cup.“Queria uma meia de leite, por favor.”I'd like a coffee with milk, please.
a torrada	Thick slices of toast, usually buttered.“Uma torrada com pouca manteiga, por favor.”Some toast with a little butter, please.
a tosta mista	Toasted ham and cheese sandwich.“Queria uma tosta mista para levar.”I'd like a toasted ham and cheese sandwich to take away.
a imperial	Small draught beer (common term in southern Portugal).“Uma imperial, se faz favor.”A small draught beer, please.
o fino	Small draught beer (common term in northern Portugal).“Pedimos dois finos numa esplanada no Porto.”We ordered two small draught beers at an outdoor café in Porto.
o pingado	Espresso with a dash of milk.“Queria um pingado e uma torrada.”I'd like an espresso with a dash of milk and some toast.
o abatanado	Long black coffee served in a larger cup.“Um abatanado sem açúcar, por favor.”A long black coffee without sugar, please.
o descafeinado	Decaffeinated coffee.“Tem descafeinado?”Do you have decaffeinated coffee?
o café curto	Short espresso.“Queria um café curto, por favor.”I'd like a short espresso, please.
o café cheio	Espresso with extra water in the small cup.“Prefiro um café cheio.”I prefer an espresso with extra water.
a chávena	Cup.“Pode aquecer a chávena?”Could you warm the cup?
o pires	Saucer.“A colher está no pires.”The spoon is on the saucer.
a colher de chá	Teaspoon.“Pode trazer uma colher de chá?”Could you bring a teaspoon?
o guardanapo	Napkin.“Preciso de um guardanapo, por favor.”I need a napkin, please.
o pacote de açúcar	Sugar sachet.“Basta um pacote de açúcar.”One sugar sachet is enough.
a manteiga	Butter.“Queria a torrada sem manteiga.”I'd like the toast without butter.
a bola de Berlim	Portuguese doughnut, often filled with custard.“Esta bola de Berlim tem creme?”Does this doughnut have custard inside?
o croquete	Meat croquette.“Queria um croquete para levar.”I'd like a meat croquette to take away.
o rissol	Breaded savoury pastry with a filling.“Este rissol é de camarão?”Is this a prawn pastry?
a empada	Small savoury pie.“Ainda tem empadas de frango?”Do you still have chicken pies?
a queijada	Small sweet tart, often made with fresh cheese.“Vou levar uma queijada para o lanche.”I'll take a sweet cheese tart for my afternoon snack.
a esplanada	Outdoor café seating area; terrace.“Podemos sentar-nos na esplanada?”Can we sit outside on the terrace?
a vitrina	Display cabinet.“Queria aquele bolo da vitrina.”I'd like that cake from the display cabinet.
para levar	To take away.“Os bolos são para levar.”The cakes are to take away.
a pastelaria	Pastry shop; café selling pastries.“Encontramo-nos na pastelaria da esquina.”Let's meet at the pastry shop on the corner.

Tips for learning Portuguese words

Learn the article with the nounWrite o comboio or a paragem, not just the noun: the article tells you the gender, and adjectives agree with it.
Listen before you speakEuropean Portuguese swallows many unstressed vowels, so words sound shorter than they look. Play the audio and repeat each example aloud.
Type the accentsIn WordNest a missing accent counts as a mistake. Typing água, não and amanhã correctly from the start saves relearning them later.

European, not Brazilian Portuguese

Portugal and Brazil share one language but differ in everyday words, pronunciation and grammar: a train is a comboio in Portugal and a trem in Brazil, and "I am eating" is estou a comer rather than estou comendo. WordNest teaches the Portugal variety — example sentences, pronunciation and AI corrections all follow Portugal's norms.

Add five or six of these words a day rather than the whole list at once, keep the example sentence on the card, and review them when they come due. WordNest schedules each word across seven growing intervals — same day, then 1, 3, 7, 14, 30 and 60 days — so the list is still with you months later. Read how spaced repetition works if you want the reasoning behind those numbers.

European vs Brazilian Portuguese: 50 everyday words that differ →How to learn European Portuguese with WordNest →

Questions about this list

Is this European or Brazilian Portuguese?

European Portuguese, as spoken in Portugal. Where Brazil uses a different word, the list gives the Portugal one — for example comboio instead of trem.

How do I practise Portuguese café and pastelaria words?

Start with five words, listen and say each example aloud. Then recall the Portuguese word from its English meaning and review it over several days.

How many words are in this list?

This list contains 25 words and phrases with English meanings and example sentences. It is a starting set, not a complete course.

Study these words with spaced repetition

Create a free account, choose Portuguese as a study language and add these words to your own deck.