Recently I was having a discussion about tipping with a friend. Eventually, it somehow evolved into tipping practices in Britain.
I stated that it a tip is not expected at bars in the UK. Provided you didn’t order food…food gets tipped, of course. HOWEVER, my friend emphatically insisted that tipping was expected in the UK. He said he has been to bars where he didn’t get served because of not tipping. I said that I tipped at the first pub I went to in London and was laughed at by my British friends who told me I was an idiot. He then said I must not have been going to very high class bars. At which point I rolled my eyes and changed the subject.
So who is right? Is tipping expected in the UK? Or did I go to low-class bars with low-class, cheap friends? And how about the rest of Europe? Is tipping expected there?
Don’t tip in pubs in the UK. When I first arrived in the UK, I had bartenders walk out from behind the bar to give me my tip back. Others won’t be that vehement, but tipping isn’t expected by any means. If you want to thank your 'tender, offer to buy him/her a pint instead.
My rule for the rest of Europe (or at least France): tip if the bartenders are young and international, because chances are they’re not seeing any of the service compris. I bartended in Paris for a while last year, and this was the case throughout the city. At a brasserie or other such place, don’t tip.
I don’t think tipping at bars is traditionally all that common in the UK (unless you’re talking about the occasional ‘and one for yourself barman’), but maybe some of the trendier places are trying to slip it in. Certainly I’ve never heard of it being expected in pubs.
At the risk of “me too” ( since this is GQ not IMHO), I have never been to a pub in England where tipping was expected or even accepted, for drinks or food ( and I’ve been to all ranges of pubs from the proverbial dive to the very classy). The closest I’ve seen is the “and one for yourself” where the barman/barmaid is included in the round.
I can’t speak for Britan… but… in Europe… where people in general make a decent wage in the food service industry from the start, tipping is minimal if not at all. Usually you just round up to the nearest coin. Or… 3-5%… Sounds crazy, but, they don’t count on tips being there so the managment pays them accordingly.
Plus, they are not as nearly of a service orientated society as the USA. So, waiting 20 minutes to get your check can also be common.
No, it’s just that in Europe you’re expected to ask for it when you’re ready to leave. The American practice of throwing the bill on the table before you’re even finished your meal is considered somewhat obnoxious here.
Some bars in the UK hand you your change on a small plate, which I guess might be a hint to leave some coins as a tip. I’ve never seen anyone do it and I’ve never done it.
Yet another European chiming in that tipping is not expected. (And can sometimes be seen as rude: “Look, I make so much more money than you, poor waitress! Here, let me feel superior by handing you some of this small cash, that doesn’t mean anything to me, but will probably make your day, you little person” ;))
And that goes for food as well as drinks.
(At least in northern Europe. In the south a small tip/leaving the change is not frowned upon.)
Well, kind of. Don’t tip for drinks. It’s not really necessary to leave a tip for a meal in a pub. But at a restaurant people generally leave a 10 per cent or so tip on the table.
To confirm: you don’t tip for food in bars or pubs if it’s just light snacks, but you do tip for proper meals in restaurants and ‘gastropubs’. A good rule of thumb is that if you have to pay up front, don’t leave a tip.
Beer in pubs in mainland Europe…I normally tip. Round off or whatnot. In Hungary, tipping is generally expected on beers. However, tipping standard here are generally 10% or even less. So if I pay 850 ft for a couple of drinks, I’d leave either 900 or 1000, depending on my mood.
However, in Britain I’ve been expressly instructednot to tip. Since being told this, I’ve realized that I’ve never seen anyone successfully leave a tip with a British bartender. It seems to be some point of pride or tradition or something.
In UK restaurants, watch out for the “Optional Service charge of 12.5%” added to the bill. The total (meal+service charge) appears on the credit card slip, which just happens to have the gratuity line empty, inviting you to tip again.
If the service or food warrants it, trying to opt out of paying the service charge is often a challenge … but can be great fun.
I have never ever heard of anyone tipping a bartender in an British pub. I would usually tip restaurant waiting staff about 10% - assuming that service has been reasonably good, and they’ve been nice and friendly! As Go Alien says, watch out for places that automatically add the tip to the bill. Once I had to start huge argument to get it removed, because the service had been so bad, I refused to tip.
Tipping is expected for bar staff in the Czech Republic, but two things were pointed out to me by locals. One, don’t over-tip; tourists apparently pay far too much in tips. I was advised to round up to the nearest decent figure, but conservatively - e.g. rounding up from 475 kc to 500 kc is fine, even though the tip would be about 50p in the UK. Two, don’t leave money on the table as it’s considered impolite. When the waitress (or barman) takes your money to make change, tell her/him how much change you want back.
“Me, too”, but want to adda few observations:
The so called service charge is the wages. Tipping is showing your gratitude, In Sweden, one generally rounds of the tab. It all depends on where you’re at, and what you’ve been doing. Many bars set the price for a pint o’beer to help the staff get a tip. A pint might be sek 48 (around $5.). This encourages me to leave to sek 2, which is only $0.20, but the guy tending bar sells an awfal lot of these in a night. I tend not to do this, since it so obviously is rigged.
A good meal in a medium restaurant usually gets rounded of to a larger bill. Two people, dinner, tab comes to sek 860. I’ll leave 900. I’m also cinsiderad an over tipper.
Many places share all tips, and I ask about this sometimes. All people working in bars/restaurants are minimum wage. If I enjoyed the meal/atmosphere I want to make shure the chef gets some money too. I might buy him a beer and send it to the kitchen or whatever.
I don’t tip with my credit card, as this might end up with the management/owner. I usually pay the exact amount with the CC, and slip the waiter a bill.
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Anyone else think those portable credit card readers I’ve only seen in France are nifty? I can see what’s being done with my card. I like that.
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[anecdote]I went out for a wonderful Italian meal on Saturday with my wife (it was our tenth anniversary); the food was amazing and the service was beyond excellent; the bill came and I stuffed a handful of notes on the plate, telling the waitress to keep the change as her tip (inwardly congratulating myself on my generosity).
It wasn’t until Sunday morning, when I happened to pull the bill out of my pocket that I noticed I must have misread the thing (either that or had one of those peculiar mental hiccups of the type that make you think that you have an hour to go shopping between connecting trains of 3:25 and quarter-to-four); the (change)tip I had given was only £0.90.
Cringe, groan, guilt, shame… groan some more.
I wrote to the restaurant manager yesterday and enclosed a proper tip.
