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In Europe, it's still common to give a small tip. In Germany, it's called "trinkgeld" (literally "drink gold"). Usually, it's just rounding up to the nearest

In Europe, it's still common to give a small tip. In Germany, it's called "trinkgeld" (literally "drink gold"). Usually, it's just rounding up to the nearest Euro or 5 Euros. Japan is better: there's absolutely no tipping, at all. The price you see advertised is the price you pay, and they won't even take your tip. (There are a few exceptions: some American-style cafes have been putting tipping jars at the register; very annoying.) The only caveat is the tax: that's not always counted in the price, so many restaurants show two prices, the pre-tax price and the post-tax price just below it (usually in a smaller font). The other thing that's MUCH better about Japan vs. Europe is that water is free. In Europe, if you want any drink with your meal at all, you have to ask for it, and if you ask for water, they'll bring a fancy glass bottle of very expensive bottled water. If you ask for tap water they'll give you dirty looks. In Japan, it's more like America: water (tap water, but it's really good) is free, and usually given without asking. Some places put a giant carafe of iced water on your table, which is great during this ridiculously hot summer. The other thing that's much better about Japan (this isn't really about restaurants, though it does apply to the food court restaurants in malls) is that public bathrooms are free. In Europe, they usually expect you to leave a tip or some kind of fee for the cleaning people. Japan is again more like America: public bathrooms are just that: open to the public, for free. The big differences are that 1) there's a washlet on most toilets, and 2) they're actually clean.

bmicraft 3y ago
> literally "drink gold" "Geld" is not gold, its money. "Gold" is gold.
LelouBil 3y ago
In France, lots of restaurant give you a carafe, and they are obligated by law to give you free water if you ask (and you ordered something).
- 6510 3y ago
  In the Netherlands, if a stranger shows up at your door and asks for water you are obligated to give it to them.
  - sneak 3y ago
    This is true everywhere on Earth, just perhaps not codified into law.
  - Thiez 3y ago
    Really? Could you point me to that law? I think it's a cool rule but can't find it. Unless you mean in emergencies?
    - r0b1n 3y ago
      In Germany, there is "case law" to that effect. Letting someone suffer of thirst is "unterlassene Hilfeleistung", roughly translated "neglecting to give aid". Not giving someone suffering of thirst any water is considered as an example in legal literature, however, I know of no real case where someone was convicted solely for that. And it isn't really straightforward to argue that a restaurant not serving tap water would fulfil the criteria of "unterlassene Hilfeleistung", at least because the usual restaurant-goer isn't suffering that badly. Also, aforementioned aid doesn't have to be free, the person benefiting from your aid owes you the cost of that aid.
Shaanie 3y ago
Tap water is expected to be included for free in Sweden, and I would be slightly surprised if that didn't also apply to our neighbors (Norway, Denmark and Finland). Getting charged for water is just as big a cultural shock for us as it is for you.
- midoridensha 3y ago
  Interesting; I guess Germany is just different that way. I haven't been to Scandinavia yet.
- LeonidasXIV 3y ago
  Tap water is unfortunately not included in Denmark; getting charged 25kr per person is not uncommon. Its a bit of a disgrace, honestly. But at least public toilets tend to be free whereas I believe in Sweden these tend to cost money.
johnnyanmac 3y ago
yeah, public bathrooms have to be free. But as always it tends to come with an asterisk: for various reasons they may lock the doors and require a customer to ask for a key. IDK how legal it is but it's not uncommon to require purchasing food before using some public restrooms (not necessarily for fast food/grocery chains, but not unusual in either higher class dining or smaller mom and pop shops).
OfSanguineFire 3y ago
I think that one of the reasons you have been downvoted is because you are generalizing too much about Europe. Neither the tip culture nor ordering water works the same across the continent, not even across all Western European countries. There are European countries where one does not even round up the bill unless one really wants to, and countries where it is totally commonplace to order a big pitcher of tap water.
- midoridensha 3y ago
  Fair enough. But I was replying to a comment that also generalized all of Europe as having no tipping culture. It just isn't true. I've been presented with credit card slips asking for a tip in multiple EU countries, exactly like when I go to a restaurant in the US. This is something you will never find in Japan. Sure, you can say that you aren't "required" to tip in these cases, or that they're taking advantage of tourists who don't know better, but still, they're asking for a tip. To me, "no tipping culture" means that tipping simply does not exist. Europe has a tipping culture; it's just different than the US's.
  - vladvasiliu 3y ago
    > I've been presented with credit card slips asking for a tip in multiple EU countries, exactly like when I go to a restaurant in the US. I haven't seen it in this form in France (yet?). But I do see more and more payment terminals that are asking for a tip when they're presented to you. The amounts usually seem fixed, and you have the option of picking 0. I've mostly seen this in bars and similar situations. Some stores may also ask you to "round up" to give to some charity. Fun fact: these didn't use to work with Apple Pay, so if you said yes, the assistant would have to cancel and restart the payment process.
kergonath 3y ago
> In Europe, it's still common to give a small tip. No, it’s not. Europe is more than one country, and there are local differences. And even in several places where it is common, nobody is going to be upset if you don’t tip, because they have their salary regardless. > The other thing that's MUCH better about Japan vs. Europe is that water is free. In Europe, if you want any drink with your meal at all, you have to ask for it, and if you ask for water, they'll bring a fancy glass bottle of very expensive bottled water. Depends on the country, I assume, but in most of those I know they are happy to bring you some tap water. In France, they are required by law to offer tap water for free but IIRC that’s not the case in the Netherlands or Germany, for example. So generalisations are not helpful.
- barrotes 3y ago
  I was specifically thinking of France, and how you just have to ask for "une carafe d'eau", to get free water at restaurant. In most parts of Italy, especially in the south, you usually get free water at the bar, if you are ordering something else, and even if you don't order anything (just ask it kindly).
- qwytw 3y ago
  > I assume, but in most of those I know they are happy to bring you some tap water I find it very annoying that even have to ask. Especially when in many places they'd just bring you a €3-4 tiny glass bottle (which IMHO might be the most idiotic consumer product to ever exist) if you just asked for water. You have to explicitly ask for tap, which is just awkward so way to often I just end up ordering a beer.. which is not ideal either.
- 221qqwe 3y ago
  > because they have their salary regardless. To be fair that's also the case in New York, California and some other states (and minimum wage in these states is higher than in pretty much any European country).
NicoJuicy 3y ago
> Usually, it's just rounding up to the nearest Euro or 5 Euros. It's not exactly common. In Belgium, the behavior is like when they thought it's really good or if people worked on a restaurant before. But nobody expects that anyone would tip. Last time I went to Hungary it was added to the bill though Ps. A bottle of water is free in France and some other places. Giving 50 cent for a restaurant when only using the bathroom is just a sign of good behavior in my view. Depends if I'm hurried, but I'll usually buy a glass of water. Then I'm a customer ;)
- midoridensha 3y ago
  >Giving 50 cent for a restaurant when only using the bathroom is just a sign of good behavior in my view. Why? If you're already eating there, why should you pay to use the toilet? And if you're not eating there, then why are you there to use the toilet? Just use a public one. If there aren't sufficient public toilets, that sounds like a failure of the municipal government. Any good city should have lots of public toilets outside, in train stations, or in large shared buildings.
  - NicoJuicy 3y ago
    Restaurants don't charge you when you're already there as a customer ( as mentioned in my last example)? They charge you when you need to go and use them as a public toilet sometimes ( eg. when it's urgent).
    - midoridensha 3y ago
      Again, why would you do this? Just go to one of the countless public toilets outside. How often are people trying to use the toilets in a restaurant without eating there? It seems insane they would even worry about this. Also, my experience in Germany at a mall food court is that they DO charge you to use the toilet there, even though I was eating there.
      - LeonidasXIV 3y ago
adhesive_wombat 3y ago
Europe is a broad brush. Tap water is free (by law) in the UK, and there are only two places I've ever paid for a public toilet: a handful of stations cost 20-50p and a handful of nightclubs might have a bouncer who you appear to be expected to tip £1 in exchange for a spritz of cologne. I'm not sure I'd say either of those chargeable toilet scenarios is well correlated to clean toilets, but I assume mostly they do that to try to avoid various kinds of mischief.

bmicraft 3y ago

> literally "drink gold" "Geld" is not gold, its money. "Gold" is gold.

LelouBil 3y ago

In France, lots of restaurant give you a carafe, and they are obligated by law to give you free water if you ask (and you ordered something).

6510 3y ago
In the Netherlands, if a stranger shows up at your door and asks for water you are obligated to give it to them.
- sneak 3y ago
  This is true everywhere on Earth, just perhaps not codified into law.
- Thiez 3y ago
  Really? Could you point me to that law? I think it's a cool rule but can't find it. Unless you mean in emergencies?
  - r0b1n 3y ago
    In Germany, there is "case law" to that effect. Letting someone suffer of thirst is "unterlassene Hilfeleistung", roughly translated "neglecting to give aid". Not giving someone suffering of thirst any water is considered as an example in legal literature, however, I know of no real case where someone was convicted solely for that. And it isn't really straightforward to argue that a restaurant not serving tap water would fulfil the criteria of "unterlassene Hilfeleistung", at least because the usual restaurant-goer isn't suffering that badly. Also, aforementioned aid doesn't have to be free, the person benefiting from your aid owes you the cost of that aid.

Shaanie 3y ago

Tap water is expected to be included for free in Sweden, and I would be slightly surprised if that didn't also apply to our neighbors (Norway, Denmark and Finland). Getting charged for water is just as big a cultural shock for us as it is for you.

midoridensha 3y ago
Interesting; I guess Germany is just different that way. I haven't been to Scandinavia yet.
LeonidasXIV 3y ago
Tap water is unfortunately not included in Denmark; getting charged 25kr per person is not uncommon. Its a bit of a disgrace, honestly. But at least public toilets tend to be free whereas I believe in Sweden these tend to cost money.

johnnyanmac 3y ago

yeah, public bathrooms have to be free. But as always it tends to come with an asterisk: for various reasons they may lock the doors and require a customer to ask for a key. IDK how legal it is but it's not uncommon to require purchasing food before using some public restrooms (not necessarily for fast food/grocery chains, but not unusual in either higher class dining or smaller mom and pop shops).

OfSanguineFire 3y ago

I think that one of the reasons you have been downvoted is because you are generalizing too much about Europe. Neither the tip culture nor ordering water works the same across the continent, not even across all Western European countries. There are European countries where one does not even round up the bill unless one really wants to, and countries where it is totally commonplace to order a big pitcher of tap water.

midoridensha 3y ago
Fair enough. But I was replying to a comment that also generalized all of Europe as having no tipping culture. It just isn't true. I've been presented with credit card slips asking for a tip in multiple EU countries, exactly like when I go to a restaurant in the US. This is something you will never find in Japan. Sure, you can say that you aren't "required" to tip in these cases, or that they're taking advantage of tourists who don't know better, but still, they're asking for a tip. To me, "no tipping culture" means that tipping simply does not exist. Europe has a tipping culture; it's just different than the US's.
- vladvasiliu 3y ago
  > I've been presented with credit card slips asking for a tip in multiple EU countries, exactly like when I go to a restaurant in the US. I haven't seen it in this form in France (yet?). But I do see more and more payment terminals that are asking for a tip when they're presented to you. The amounts usually seem fixed, and you have the option of picking 0. I've mostly seen this in bars and similar situations. Some stores may also ask you to "round up" to give to some charity. Fun fact: these didn't use to work with Apple Pay, so if you said yes, the assistant would have to cancel and restart the payment process.

kergonath 3y ago

> In Europe, it's still common to give a small tip. No, it’s not. Europe is more than one country, and there are local differences. And even in several places where it is common, nobody is going to be upset if you don’t tip, because they have their salary regardless. > The other thing that's MUCH better about Japan vs. Europe is that water is free. In Europe, if you want any drink with your meal at all, you have to ask for it, and if you ask for water, they'll bring a fancy glass bottle of very expensive bottled water. Depends on the country, I assume, but in most of those I know they are happy to bring you some tap water. In France, they are required by law to offer tap water for free but IIRC that’s not the case in the Netherlands or Germany, for example. So generalisations are not helpful.

barrotes 3y ago
I was specifically thinking of France, and how you just have to ask for "une carafe d'eau", to get free water at restaurant. In most parts of Italy, especially in the south, you usually get free water at the bar, if you are ordering something else, and even if you don't order anything (just ask it kindly).
qwytw 3y ago
> I assume, but in most of those I know they are happy to bring you some tap water I find it very annoying that even have to ask. Especially when in many places they'd just bring you a €3-4 tiny glass bottle (which IMHO might be the most idiotic consumer product to ever exist) if you just asked for water. You have to explicitly ask for tap, which is just awkward so way to often I just end up ordering a beer.. which is not ideal either.
221qqwe 3y ago
> because they have their salary regardless. To be fair that's also the case in New York, California and some other states (and minimum wage in these states is higher than in pretty much any European country).

NicoJuicy 3y ago

> Usually, it's just rounding up to the nearest Euro or 5 Euros. It's not exactly common. In Belgium, the behavior is like when they thought it's really good or if people worked on a restaurant before. But nobody expects that anyone would tip. Last time I went to Hungary it was added to the bill though Ps. A bottle of water is free in France and some other places. Giving 50 cent for a restaurant when only using the bathroom is just a sign of good behavior in my view. Depends if I'm hurried, but I'll usually buy a glass of water. Then I'm a customer ;)

midoridensha 3y ago
>Giving 50 cent for a restaurant when only using the bathroom is just a sign of good behavior in my view. Why? If you're already eating there, why should you pay to use the toilet? And if you're not eating there, then why are you there to use the toilet? Just use a public one. If there aren't sufficient public toilets, that sounds like a failure of the municipal government. Any good city should have lots of public toilets outside, in train stations, or in large shared buildings.
- NicoJuicy 3y ago
  Restaurants don't charge you when you're already there as a customer ( as mentioned in my last example)? They charge you when you need to go and use them as a public toilet sometimes ( eg. when it's urgent).
  - midoridensha 3y ago
    Again, why would you do this? Just go to one of the countless public toilets outside. How often are people trying to use the toilets in a restaurant without eating there? It seems insane they would even worry about this. Also, my experience in Germany at a mall food court is that they DO charge you to use the toilet there, even though I was eating there.
    - LeonidasXIV 3y ago

adhesive_wombat 3y ago

Europe is a broad brush. Tap water is free (by law) in the UK, and there are only two places I've ever paid for a public toilet: a handful of stations cost 20-50p and a handful of nightclubs might have a bouncer who you appear to be expected to tip £1 in exchange for a spritz of cologne. I'm not sure I'd say either of those chargeable toilet scenarios is well correlated to clean toilets, but I assume mostly they do that to try to avoid various kinds of mischief.