Santiago de Compostela Travel Forum

I will be visiting this Saturday for 3 days. Is it hard to find restaurants where waiters speak english or where menus are printed in english. If so can anybody recomend restaurants where english is well spoken.
Regards
Dermot

Dermot
You are correct in thinking that not so many locals speak English, well not like those on the Mediterranean coast that is. It will be possible of coarse.
Like the above poster says just walk along the Rua do Franco. The other tourist restaurants are located in the Rua da Reina, even some in the Rua de Vilar. (Note we have not added the letter stresses for clarity on this forum).
A note of warning. If you stay in this area to eat you will find the food quite expensive. There are a lot better areas to eat in, however English will not be found.
Maybe time to purchase a translator?

Ian and Irene

I think this is not a question to post. In all Spain most of restaurants have the menus printed in some diferent languages especially in touristic places and if they don't have printed in english or they don't know to speak english fluently, what happens?? you can comunicate with the people in many ways, and normally in the restaurants waitressess know a bit of englsih. So ask for one restaurant where the english is poken is a bit ridicoulus enjoy the trip and be more adventourous. Spain is a modern country you are not goint to Africa.

just back from Luxor,Egypt. They waiters speak english in all restaurants

Dermot
Please do not confuse a touristy location like Luxor with underdeveloped (tourist wise) Galicia.
If you truly want English speaking restaurants in Spain you will find the majority along the Med. coast.

Ian and Irene

Dermot, but why you want restaurants where the waiters speak in english??? is so necessary?? I think , and sorry about this, the stupid tourist. If you go to a restaurant and they don't speak english what's the problem? it will be terrible? It's like you can't comunicate in other ways? I don't know man but it sounds me like ridicoulus

Just Back from Saantiago and had a wonderful time.I had no problem finding restaurants where english was understood. These were mostly TOURIST restaurants. I would have liked to eat in the less touristy areas as quality of food would probably have been better,(thes places were the ones packed with Local people)but I was unable to as waiters could not explain what food was on menus. If they could write menu in english as well as Galacian it would be a big help.THe Old city is Fantastic and I enjoyed visiting the fantastic churches and Monastaries and the atmospohere in the place is wonderful.I hope to come back sometime and see some more of Galacia. Dermot

Glad you loved SdC.
Thanks for confirming what you found. It helps other forum members if they are looking for information on the city.
The current Galician government is strong on self-rule. For example: they are pushing the language a lot. We feel this could be to the detriment of the tourist industry, as most visitors will have a smattering of Castelaño. Hardly any visitor to the area speaks Gallego.


Ian and Irene

To Riberia sacra

I thin that to push your own language is very good, in other way it would disappear. About the english language on menús is normal that in some places in some notouristic places there are restaurants which don't have its menus in english only in spanish or gallego. I think it is completly normal and it happens too in other parts of spain or other countries where in the less tpruristic places resaurants only have their menus in the local language, I mean in the language from the country. So is not a question because of the govern is pushing very much the Galego it is because in the les touristic places it happens. To resolve this the govern or the owners of the locals can add a menu in english language apart of galego and castellano (spanish) but that some restaurants don¡t have an english menu is not a fault of the govern for pushing galego.

Found this thread by chance looking for something else... but I would like to add my 2 cents.

I like that not all restaurants having English menus and being touristy oriented!! And I think this has nothing to do with governement normatives about languages to be protected. And I do not mean only in Spain.

This way, anyone can choose between 2 kind of places: touristy, where the "typical tourists" concentrate, serving the same plastic food at rip-off prices, and the real gems where locals eat... and where any tourist who made a very little effort to buy a phrasebook (pointing at a line is not so difficult) or even better learning a few words are more than welcome.

I did this in places like Croatia, Morocco or Greece (to say a few where the local lingo has nothing to do with any of the ones I spoke), and definitely the best meals were in the places without English menus. In another trip, due to a language mistake we had a good laugh with the waiter of a tiny place, we start speaking in "portuñol" and signs, he invited us to a drink after dinner, and recommended us a wonderful small club we would never had found.

This what I reccomend to my friends visiting Spain too... so Dermot, the next time I would suggest you to be a little more adventurous. The worst can happen is you don't like a dish, but hey, this should not ruin your trip! I bet than for each time you get something you don't like, 10 times you'll have great experiences you are otherwise missing.