What does “está rico” mean in Spanish?

Rico looks like the English word “rich,” and it can mean wealthy when you talk about a person. But when you talk about food, rico means “tasty” or “delicious.” So el helado está rico is “the ice cream is delicious,” not “the ice cream is rich.” You pair it with estar because it describes how the food tastes right now, in this moment.

In the clip the speaker eats a scoop and says el helado está rico (“the ice cream is tasty”). You will hear it everywhere: la comida está muy rica (“the food is really good”). A scoop, by the way, is una bola de helado — literally “a ball of ice cream.”