I agree with all who say it is a cultural difference. In this part of the UK, restaurants (not high flown) usually allow 2 hours between bookings and will not take reservations after 9pm, staying open until the last diner finishes several hours later. Fresh cutlery is provided for each course and we expect to request the bill when we are ready for it. If we need to hurry we happily go to the till and pay.
Tipping customs are mixed and frequently cause confusion and embarrassment. Sadly US habits of leaving jars/saucers for tips on cafe counters are becoming more frequent here. I will not tip unless in a country where it is clearly the custom. I am not sure whether that is courtesy or cowardice! We consider that all staff should be fully paid for the job that they do and the price should reflect that. We were shocked when on a family holiday (6 people) that many Californian restaurants imposed an 18% surcharge for parties of 6 and then expected staff tips. The excessive attention of some serving staff was found to be at best intrusive and at worst pathetically funny or irritating.Tipping is demeaning. The labourer is worthy of his/her hire - or should be. Cultural differences again.
Interesting how so many here feel Europe is the be all end all that should dictate all norms and customs in the us.
As a former waitress I liked the opportunity to make more money. I liked the idea that I was essentially working on commission. I tend to think positive towards opportunity, not as the worst case scenario and needing protection. I made more waiting tables than I did at first as a college grad.
We enjoyed eating out in Europe very much (the FOOD - amazing) . . . but I have to admit it was a little disconcerting to think that we needed 2.5-3 hours for dinner sometimes.
I tend to like the tipping model, but I’ve been annoyed lately with the suggested tip starting at 18%. When I was in high school and college, and waiting tables, 18% was for superior service.
I also dislike restaurants where the plate is scooped up the micro-second you put your fork down. I am a slow eater and often feel pressured. Yet I don’t want to chastise the server because I know it’s just their training.
I ask for the check all the time in restaurants here in the US. Maybe it’s regional? Or I just eat at high end restaurants? (That or BBQ where we often pay up front at a counter.) When we were in Germany service was nearly always a separate item on the receipt and Germans did tip, but it was a tiny tip, basically just rounding up to the nearest round number. I remember one meal at one of the two best (Michelin 3 star) restaurants where we actually went for a walk between courses. I think it took four hours to eat that meal!
British periodicals like the Economist and the Guardian seem obsessed recently with American tipping customs. I’m not sure why it’s so important to them. I don’t find tipping particularly confusing or onerous. I’ve heard foreigners complain of the “added” cost of tipping, but if there were no tipping, the meal itself would just be more expensive. Either way, the diner will pay. Tipping is part of the cost of eating at sit-down places here. If you don’t want to tip, go to a food court.
I have noticed that there has been an uptick in mandatory “service charge” restaurants in touristy US areas. I guess it’s a way of making sure that the waiter who draws the shortest straw, i.e. the table of cheap European tourists, doesn’t get stiffed.
Just want to clarify that European tourists are not “cheap” - they are simply not well informed.
I’d rather have a system where I pay the same amount for my steak as the tip evader Joe at the next table. Because in the end, I will have to pay for Joe’s tip, too, when the restaurant makes up the tip shortage by hiking up the cost of dishes.
S3 is a bartender/waiter and is not interested in the no tip establishments. He says unless they pay $30/hr he will lose. He is good and regularly clears over 20% even tipping out his support staff. Even when there are the ones that don’t tip 20%. The service charge does not go to the waiter. If you read the details, the 20% service charge is distributed to everyone including the management. I’ll be curious to see if those restaurants can keep their best servers.
Our experiences dining in Europe have varied. I can’t recall any actual bad or slow service , but I can say that after paying our bill ( and tipping ) the waitstaff became friendlier and I have walked out of the restaurants with various gifts to bring home.
We were in Italy in an area where local European tourists visit more so than Americans. It was right before Easter and the first of our two nights there, we got to talking to the owner and some of the locals. We left with a bottle of Limoncello , a basket of Easter chocolates from an artisan candy shop , argan oil from a hairdresser and a bottle of Chianti.
The next night , we ate at another place and the waiter gave us another bottle of Limoncello and a bag of pasta. Not sure why , but they seemed interested to talk to us because of where we were from. Yes, we did tip , about 20% of the bill and I don’t think they have that happen all too often.
They also seem to take a very long time to get through a meal as compared to here.
I have eaten at restaurants in Scandinavia more than anywhere in Europe. We know that the meal doesn’t come with bread , salad or anything extra and costs more than an average dinner out here in the USA. Our recent trip to Sweden had us eating out before visiting brother in-law and his stingy wife…I really wanted some veggies , so I requested what they call " pizza salad " think of it as shredded cabbage with oil and vinegar. We did give the waiter a tip, which seemed to surprise him.
I think if restaurant are forced to pay a minimum wage and go the way of socialized countries, tips will be reported as income ( and patrons won’t just magically stop tipping )
It might make people reconsider working as wait staff / bartenders and service will go down in quality.
Tips are already reported as income. The restaurant has to report the tips to the IRS. They see the credit card ones and a server caught not reporting the cash tips would be short lived in that restaurant.
I can assure u that socialism has nothing to do w tipping. In more Darwinian countries in Asia (e.g. Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong) there is no tipping, and the restaurant service is great.
Really GMT ?
I have relatives in socialized countries, some of whom work in restaurant and bar/pub settings and they have expressed differing opinions. Two of them really wanted to come work in this country because they know they would make more money , specifically tips. And they have said that tips are far more of a motivation for faster , better service than if they are making the same wage for fast food, non table service.
I have no point of reference for Asian countries so I can’t make a comparison . I also work in the tourism industry in my area , and work alongside business neighbors which gives me a lot of exposure to J-1 seasonal workers .They prefer working in restaurants here even if the wage is less than $3 an hour because cash tips ( which they do not report, despite government regulations whether American or not )
Our family has become close to several of these people and they also work as wait staff in European countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Austria and GB ) They tell me that they work a lot harder when motivated for tips than they do for standard wages.
^^^ You can call it that…but the potential and reality for higher income is a huge motivation. Who doesn’t want to make more money and pay less in taxes ?
A bit off-topic, but can someone say what’s the protocol at gas stations? I live in PA and always go self service, but when I’m in NJ, it appears they only have full service. The attendant usually tops off the gas to the next dollar - so if the charge comes to, say, 32 bucks, do you add anything to it if you pay in cash? Thanks.
We always tip a buck or two when getting gas in NJ, which isn’t very often. Gas is so cheap in NJ and the full service is a nice treat vs pumping your own, that I’m happy to kick the guy a buck or two. They are always very grateful which leads me to believe a lot of people probably don’t tip.
There definitely seems to be a trend in the no-tip casual dining world. Panera Bread, Qdoba, Chipotle, Pei Wei, Noodles & Company to name a few. There’s something to be said for walking in, ordering what you want, getting it with no fuss, and eating at your own pace.
Oh, I’m not sure about that. They know they should tip here. They just don’t want to bother to figure it out (it’s not rocket science), and then they clothe their reluctance in sanctimony about exploitation, feudal gestures, etc. It’s provincialism masquerading as cosmopolitanism. If I am visiting a different culture, I try to act in accordance with what is good manners in that culture, even if I don’t personally agree with it. I don’t mount a media campaign to change those customs.
I have a problem w the entire concept of tipping. Just charge more for the meal already and pay your staff more.
God forbid if other professions expected a tip for just adequate performance. Can u imagine lying in pre-op w your surgeon thrusting his/her hand in your face before being wheeled into the OR? Or a Broadway chorus line performer expecting a tip as a condition of an adequate performance?
The idea that tipping is necessary; otherwise, good waiters will go into some other profession, is BS. Fine. Let’em go do something else. Waiting tables may be hard work, but it sure ain’t rocket science. Others will fill the void.