What a menú del día is and how to offer one.

What's included in a menú del día?

Most follow the same shape. Guests pick one dish from each course:

• Primer plato (first course): soup, salad, a vegetable dish, rice or pasta.
• Segundo plato (second course): usually meat or fish.
• Postre (dessert): fruit, flan or something homemade. Many places let you have coffee instead.
• Bread and one drink: water, a soft drink, a beer or a glass of house wine.

National Geographic notes that fresh fruit is the most common dessert, and that most cooks "build their daily offerings around the cheapest, fresh ingredients they can get from local purveyors." That's how the price stays low. The dishes change daily, or close to it.

It's a weekday lunch, served in the long Spanish lunch hours, often from about 1:30 to 4:30 pm, according to Wikipedia. Many restaurants also sell a medio menú, a half menu with one course fewer, for less money.

How much does a menú del día cost?

Spain's hospitality association, Hostelería de España, checks prices every year with the meal-voucher company Edenred. Its 2026 survey, reported by Euro Weekly News, put the national average at €14.70, up from €14.20 a year earlier. Prices depend on the region:

Xataka, which published the full regional table, adds that the same lunch averaged €11.70 in 2016. The survey also found that 47.1% of restaurants offer a medio menú. About four million menús are still served each weekday, and the association's president called it "a practical, healthy and varied solution."

Where did the menú del día come from?

It started as a rule for tourists. Many articles say it began in 1965, but the first rule came a year earlier. A circular from Spain's tourism department, printed in the official gazette (BOE, July 6, 1964), told every place serving food to offer a menú turístico (tourist menu) from August 1, 1964. It had to include at least:

• a starter, a soup or a cream soup;
• a main dish with a side, from a choice of at least three: an egg dish, a fish dish and a meat dish;
• a dessert of fruit, something sweet or cheese;
• a quarter liter of local wine, sangria, beer or another drink, and bread.

At first, each restaurant set its own price. An order of March 17, 1965 on restaurants freed most prices but kept the menú turístico compulsory, with its price set by the ministry. Euro Weekly News says it was rebranded for Spanish diners in the early 1970s, and it became the menú del día. According to Xataka, a 2010 change ended the national requirement and left it to the regions. Plenty of restaurants kept serving it anyway.

How is it different from a menu du jour or tapas?

Both "of the day" menus are set meals that change daily. Our menu du jour guide covers the French version. Tapas are a different way to eat altogether: small plates, often shared, with no set price for the meal.

How to offer a menú del día outside Spain

You don't need to be Spanish to run one. The idea is a full, fast weekday lunch at one fair price.

• Keep the choice small. Three dishes per course gives guests a real choice. Two works for a small kitchen. Make one of the mains vegetarian.
• Include bread and a drink. That's what makes it feel generous. Water or a soft drink is the simple option. If you include beer or wine, check your local alcohol rules first.
• Cook from cheap, seasonal food. Lentil stews, chicken thighs and whatever vegetables are cheapest that week.
• Price the most expensive combination. Add up the food cost of the priciest first course, second course and dessert, plus the drink, and price from that. Our guide on how to price menu items explains the math.
• Offer a half menu. One course plus dessert or coffee keeps light eaters coming back.

The prices are an example for a mid-priced Spanish city in 2026. Outside Spain, price it in your own currency, against your own costs and the lunch deals on your street.

Show today's menú on every phone

Guests decide on a menú del día by reading the day's dishes, so put them where people look. With Menupresso, give the menú its own section, switch off Individual dish prices, and write the price and what's included in the section introduction. Change the dishes each morning and press Publish changes; the QR code stays the same. You can write a Spanish and an English version yourself, and guests switch language on the menu. If your lunch dishes repeat on a weekly pattern, see our guide to the cycle menu.