“Edibles & Potables” is F&D’s Sunday space for peering beyond our metropolitan Louisville coverage area—or not, as the case may be. Setting the table, legendary travel guru Rick Steves writes about tipping in Europe.
Here’s a tip: Don’t stress over tipping. While tips are appreciated no matter where you travel, tipping in Europe isn’t as automatic nor as generous as it is in the US, and in many countries, tips aren’t expected at all. The proper amount depends not only on the country you’re in, but, just as in the US, on your resources, tipping philosophy, and the circumstances.
Steves adds: ” If your bucks talk at home, muzzle them on your travels. As a matter of principle, if not economy, the local price should prevail. Please believe me — tipping 15 or 20 percent in Europe is unnecessary, if not culturally ignorant.”
But, emphatically, and trust me on this one, the USA is not Europe. American exceptionalism reigns in a great many ways, and gratuities are among these cultural differentiations.
Robin Garr, dean of Louisville “foodie writers,” recently dove into the deep end of “the way we tip.” No one does it better ’round here, so click through and absorb the entirety of it. As for me, after all this time in the food and drink biz, I’m an extravagant tipper with a floor of 30% for most sit-down meals. Living with myself ranks higher than splitting hairs over a few bucks.
I’d prefer to be a European, but the drunken stork erred back in 1960, so we make the best of the hand we’re dealt.
PANDEMIC PROMPTS A FRESH LOOK AT THE WAY WE TIP (LouisvilleHotBytes.com)
Here’s a great way to start a noisy debate: Ask a group of friends what they think about tipping. How much? On what? Should we have to do it at all? Ask ten people, get eleven opinions.
And that was before the pandemic.
After Covid-19 shut down indoor dining at Kentucky restaurants in March 2020 and a handful of operations went out of business, there was a lot of talk about how those of us who love the local food scene could help. “The region’s restaurants are struggling against this gut punch, and they deserve all the help we can give them through carryout, curbside, and home delivery, I wrote in a column a couple of months later. “Not to mention generous tipping.”
I’ve always tried to support restaurant servers well, as a matter of personal ethics and, in my reviews, to set an example. I usually tip 20% on food and drink, rounding up from there if service was exceptional. During the pandemic I tried to add a bit more still, and at less expensive places to forget the percentage rule entirely. If your meal at a modest diner cost $7, why not tip $7 more? I can’t think of any reason not to.
