Tipping At Restaurants

Hi, Giangilberto from Milan, I'm telling you this as an Italian. I lived in NYC for almost two years, so I know your culture quite well, especially when it comes to tipping, and above all, I know my own perfectly.
My answer to your question is no.
I don't think the custom of tipping is catching on, it's not part of our history, our culture. I'll explain what's happening, from my perspective.
What's changed isn't the Italian custom: it's the terminal.
Since 2022, POS terminals have been mandatory by law, with no minimum threshold. Within two years, all restaurants have changed their machines, and the new terminals, almost all from international operators, have the tip screen activated by default.
The waiter isn't asking for it, the machine does it for them, and that's exactly why they seemed embarrassed and specified that it's not mandatory, they're subjected to that screen too.
In Italy, we already pay a cover charge, one or three euros per person on the bill, it's the historical equivalent of service, and it's the reason why tips have never been expected.
You can safely skip the screen, no one will be offended, and leaving a few coins if you're satisfied remains what it always has been a gesture, not an obligation.
The fact that the waiters were uncomfortable is proof that this isn't an Italian innovation, but a software innovation.
Some studies have shown that in Italy there's a sharp increase in tips left via POS, but I can assure you that the phenomenon is due to foreign users.
We don't do it, and if we do, we do it in cash, not via POS.

Leave NO TIP even if the handheld POS machine has the option to add it.

One way to avoid it is not to ask for the check to be brought to the table. Simply do what Italians do. Walk to the cash register, tell the person (usually the restaurant owner or manager) which table you were sitting on, and pay. You will be using that POS machine at the cash register, and in my experience so far they never had the option to add the tip.

If you feel obliged to leave something to the waiter because of the exceptional service you received, leave some euro in cash (be aware that you may have already paid for cover charge and service in the bill). I never did but some people (usually non Italians) might leave 5 to 10% in some upscale restaurants.

There is a danger that adding the tip to the POS machine may result in your waiter seeing none of it. The reasons are explained by this lawyer in the article below. Basically there is a high chance the owner will pocket the tip money from the POS, and the waiter will pocket zero (use Google Translate if you don’t speak Italian)

https://www.lacucinaitaliana.it/article/lasciare-mancia-con-pos-come-fare-avvocato-spiega/

cejohnson, I have visited Italy at least annually since 2021 including a monthlong stay, and I usually pay with my phone, and yet no waiter has ever mentioned a tip to me (even to say it’s not required). I can’t explain why my experience is different from yours. Often I pay at the cash register instead of at the table. Maybe the trattorie where I usually eat have not configured their POS terminals to default to a tip screen. That said, if I did encounter a tip screen I would have no qualms about skipping right past it, because I don’t want tipping culture taking root in Italy.

The only place where a tip was expected was in a restaurant in the RS guidebook that was all tourists except two tables in 2023. There the waiter tried to strong arm us, but unsuccessfully. Americans can be targeted when using a US credit card. No, it hasn’t changed. We’ve been to Italy every year since and haven’t run into this. We’re dropped a couple euros into a tip jar once on Christmas Day.

We just overlooked the tipping option and no waiter ever seemed offended. If we’re going to tip, we follow custom and leave a small one in cash.

Regarding tipping, we have something similar here with the introduction of these machines when paying at pubs. Here you would never leave a tip when just ordering drinks but the tip screen still comes up and you can just skip it. Sometimes here people will even skip that screen for you.

I’m currently on the tail end of two weeks in Sicily and I have never seen a POS give me the option to add a tip. The only exception was at lunch at the Four Seasons San Domenico in Taormina yesterday. There was the option on the receipt but the waitress only charged my total amount. After a €148 bill, I wasn’t about to give them more money considering the cover was €8 haha.

Although I will say I’ve seen some eateries have a little tip jar near the bar area. I’ve left some waiters a Euro here or there, but as an American I think the tipping culture has gotten way out of control and it’s nice to visit a destination where it’s not required.

Giangilberto and Roberto, It is always nice to have an Italian weigh in. We always do what you recommend: cash on the table or directly to the server if we want to be certain they receive it.

I wish the POS terminals were mandatory in the US. We still have to hand over our cards and we have one compromised at least once a year.

In Italy I always pay at the register on my way out. So it's like paying for groceries with a card at a grocery store. You are the one tapping the card in the terminal, your credit/debit card stays in your hands and your hands only, and nothing gets compromised.
About a year ago, at an Italian restaurant I go often in the Bay Area, a waiter went back to process my payment (inclusive of the tip) and changed the amount of tip I had left in the receipt. Basically he committed fraud. I've never seen that waiter again (I think he got fired as he probably did the same with other patrons). The way I discovered it is because I always leave a tip so that the total is a round number with no cents, and when I saw the card statement I noticed that the total for that restaurant charge was not a round number but had cents. When I checked my receipt (which I still had) I discovered the amount had been modified. I didn't dispute it with the card since it was only a few dollars, but that is another risk you run with this tip added to the card business. Now with these new POS I select the option to leave a custom tip amount (not 20% or 25% as suggested in the POS). My total must always be a round number so I enter a specific tip to make that happen.

”I wish the POS terminals were mandatory in the US. We still have to hand over our cards and we have one compromised at least once a year.”

Laurel, use ApplePay to pay at US restaurants’ cash registers. You won’t have the risk of your card being compromised.

How can we get this in America? Just charge more for the food. Pay the waitstaff full wages. It's insanity. Italy has this right!

As the article linked below explains, the tipping custom of the US is wrong in many respects.

Unfortunately customs are hard to die, and restaurateurs find it more beneficial to underpay their staff and show a lower than actual price on the menu.

In Italy it's even mandatory to show the price all inclusive of sales tax (value added tax).

Doing the American way is false advertising if you ask me.

But the most outrageous thing is when I heard the boss of a hotel chain who said in an interview that people should tip the hotel chambermaids at least $5 a day because hotel staff are underpaid. Why doesn't he pay them more, moron?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/02/18/i-dare-you-to-read-this-and-still-feel-ok-about-tipping-in-the-united-states/

Laurel, use ApplePay to pay at US restaurants’ cash registers. You won’t have the risk of your card being compromised.

I use my Google Wallet to tap-and-pay where possible, but it is not always accepted locally. Often there are apologies for not being up-to-date but it is clearly a choice to keep doing things the old-fashioned way. Credit Card issuers would have to demand changes, I think, to minimize fraud in the US.

I fully agree with Roberto on this point: if businesses paid their employees more, and adequately, there would be no need to ask customers to make up the difference.
In Italy, displaying an all-inclusive price is mandatory.
The Consumer Code specifies that the displayed price must be the final amount the consumer pays, including VAT. It exists precisely to stop the game of advertising a low price that isn't what you actually end up paying.
That is why the coperto (cover charge) is listed on the menu in Italy, it is a cost declared upfront, not a percentage added on at the end.