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Tipping as many of us know is a U.S. tradition that has managed to work its way overseas. Unfortunately in the process, something was lost; the reason for the tip. Generally, when traveling in Europe the service is slow at the standard cafés and restaurants. I recently watched a documentary on Amsterdam and one of the jokes the host made was about waiting 20 minutes at a café for service. Having been to Amsterdam I can validate that he was a little more serious than joking.
I recently had lunch in the heart of Prague. We sat down, waited for a while, and were eventually brought menus and asked for our drink orders. Eventually, they brought the drinks and took the food order. They also brought bread with the food. Since it was a warm nice day, we sat and had a second drink. Ordering the second drink involved flagging someone down, and at no point through the meal did they come to check on us. After we were done they came and took the plates. They didn't bring the check though which is standard through Europe. Very rarely do they bring the check after the meal; generally you have to flag someone down for it. After receiving the check, I noticed it was very high. It also had things on it that I didn't order. So I flagged the waiter down and asked. One of the items was the bread. We didn't order it but were charged for it. I didn't feel like arguing over the bill, so I agreed to pay it. After doing so, the waiter pointed out at the bottom of the bill it said, in English, "Tip not included."And it's a good thing that it wasn't included, because he didn't deserve one, and he didn't get one.
Mr. Czech Waiter - Just because someone deals with tourists all day doesn't give you the right to be a rude jackass, and New York is proof of that. I went to New York a while back, and in the city that is known for its rudeness, I found some of the nicest people. The waiters/waitresses were always super friendly and they always got a good tip from me.
Tipping is for service. If you do a good job, you get tipped. If you do a bad job you don't get tipped. That's how it works in Europe.
Maybe that’s why so many European cafés and restaurants include the tip in the bill. My guess is when they don’t include it they don’t get tipped.
I recently had lunch in the heart of Prague. We sat down, waited for a while, and were eventually brought menus and asked for our drink orders. Eventually, they brought the drinks and took the food order. They also brought bread with the food. Since it was a warm nice day, we sat and had a second drink. Ordering the second drink involved flagging someone down, and at no point through the meal did they come to check on us. After we were done they came and took the plates. They didn't bring the check though which is standard through Europe. Very rarely do they bring the check after the meal; generally you have to flag someone down for it. After receiving the check, I noticed it was very high. It also had things on it that I didn't order. So I flagged the waiter down and asked. One of the items was the bread. We didn't order it but were charged for it. I didn't feel like arguing over the bill, so I agreed to pay it. After doing so, the waiter pointed out at the bottom of the bill it said, in English, "Tip not included."And it's a good thing that it wasn't included, because he didn't deserve one, and he didn't get one.
Mr. Czech Waiter - Just because someone deals with tourists all day doesn't give you the right to be a rude jackass, and New York is proof of that. I went to New York a while back, and in the city that is known for its rudeness, I found some of the nicest people. The waiters/waitresses were always super friendly and they always got a good tip from me.
Tipping is for service. If you do a good job, you get tipped. If you do a bad job you don't get tipped. That's how it works in Europe.
Maybe that’s why so many European cafés and restaurants include the tip in the bill. My guess is when they don’t include it they don’t get tipped.
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