Dining Out Customs in Mexico

 

The table is yours for the duration -- It doesn't matter what time of day or for which meal you attend the restaurant.  From the minute you are seated, that table is yours until the restaurant closes or until you are ready to leave. It is common in Mexico dining culture for a family to take over one or two tables at a beach palapa restaurant and spend the day enjoying the beach and eating all meals for the day at that restaurant table. 

 

As a restaurant guest, you will never be asked to leave, so sit back, enjoy the food and an afternoon of cervezas or margaritas!

 

La cuenta por favor -- we gringos often wonder why it takes so-o-o-o long to get the bill after the meal. Reason is, in Mexico dining etiquette, it is the

height of rudeness for the waiter to foist the bill on the restaurant guest.  After all, the table is yours for the day, so why would he rush you out?  This is why the bill will never be brought to you until you ask.

 

 

If you catch the waiter's eye from across the room, you can make the gesture of signing your name on your hand. This is universally understood in all of Mexico as a request for the bill, and he may respond by putting his thumb and forefinger together which is the universal sign "momentito", meaning one quick moment. If your waiter is nearby, you can simply ask for "la cuenta por favor" , which means 'check, please'!

 

 

Of course, once you get the check, you may be sorry you asked! 

 

Understanding some basic dining out customs in Mexico will lessen some cultural confusion and add to your enjoyment of the experience!