Tipping in Rome

No, your extra euro is already generous, believe it or not. The coperto is prohibited in Lazio, i believe, the regione that includes Rome. The restaurant will have adjusted their prices to make up for the lack of the coperto.

Tipping is neither expected nor necessary in Italy

You are going to get all kinds of responses, likely devolving into an argument over tipping in general. Coperto, Bread charges, and service charges really do not go to the waiter anyway. I suppose in the grand scheme, all money coming into a restaurant helps to pay wages, but regardless of what they might add on (except for some outrageous 10% service charge that is clearly out of the norm) or not add on, just keep doing as you have. Many would not tip at all, many used to "round up" when paying cash...but now with paying by contactless or card, do not, but still, do what you wish, don't worry about it.

An edit: I guess that is a round-about way of saying, leave your "tip guilt" at home.

You are assuming that tipping is mandatory and appreciated in Italy as it is in America. It isn't, on the contrary it makes things easier for those who pay the staff under the table. And locals are forced to either tip or get a worse service than foreigners.

Incidentally, none of the charges you listed go to waiters. They only get their monthly wage and the money that customers from tipping countries give them

And locals are forced to either tip or get a worse service than
foreigners.

I love that sentence. Maybe it's my imagination, maybe not, but as a North American I often feel like the waiter is eyeing me differently than a local in anticipation of something extra coming their way. However I've never felt that the service has ever reached the attentive level that we are used to at home. I don't mean that as a complaint, just as a note of a difference.

As explained above, Italians don't have the custom of leaving a tip in restaurants. Actually Italians rarely even wait for the check at the table, but rather they pay the bill at the cash register on their way out of the restaurant.

Also, unless one leaves hard cash on the table (or on the bin next to the cash register, for those establishment that have it), none of the tip you leave will go to the waiters, who get only the wages.

In any case credit card slip in Italy do not have the extra line for the gratuity, therefore it is impossible for you to add a tip on the credit card. I discovered the reason why is so, is because otherwise the restaurateur would have to pay VAT (Value Added Tax) on that extra amount, and nobody wants to pay extra taxes.

If you want to pay hard cash and leave the extra buck to make it a round number is fine, but it is not expected.

It is true that in restaurants catering to American tourists, probably waiters now expect some extra hard cash from American customers. "Pecunia non olet" and now those waiters have acquired an addiction to a tip left by US visitors. They don't expect it from Italians or Europeans in general, but they probably expect it from you. You can thank your fellow American travelers who like to tip to having it spoiled for the rest of Americans. I make sure waiters know I'm Italian, so they don't expect a tip from me.

There was a huge discussion of tipping 3 weeks ago, which was deleted by the WM. It's actually too bad it was deleted.

Many Italian posters chimed in. People in Italy do not usually tip, and if they do tip, it is very small amounts, like a E1 or E2.

In addition, if servers do ask for a tip, it is probably because they are in popular place with a lot of US travelers who bring in US tipping practices, and create inappropriate expectations that US travelers can be "guilted" into tipping.

We didn't tip, except in 1 place.

as a North American I often feel like the waiter is eyeing me differently than a local

One thing that I learned from the RS Forum is that service in Italy is not like service in the US.

In the US, service relies on tips. So the servers are very servile, asking if things are going well, up-selling ("Do you want a dessert?") and so forth. Servers come to you with the check unasked in many cases.

In Italy, servers wait for the customer to ask for things. Up-selling and presenting the bill, even taking the order, unasked is considered rude.

So, for US customers, you have to request that your order be taken, and that you get the bill.

you have to request that your order be taken

Or, more simply, close all the menus and put them on the table. For old-school waiters that's still the best signal they can come at the table and take orders.

If it was for Italian waiters, customers should order via email before arriving and get the bill the moment they enter the restaurant.

We had gone to a restaurant within close proximity to the Vatican, and I knew it would be a tourist trap, but we were so hungry, we did not want to make the effort to walk further afield. Not only was there a coperto charge on our bill, the young waiter stood at the table and repeatedly said it did not include a tip. I had been to Italy numerous times before and knew tipping was not required. I just glared at the waiter and gave him the exact amount in cash. Don't let a pushy waiter intimidate you.

the young waiter stood at the table and repeatedly said it did not include a tip.

And this is exactly why the clueless US tourists who tip are damaging the restaurant experience in Italy. When tips are paid, the waiters learn to expect them.

I don't understand what's so hard to understand, and why some people on this forum insist on tipping. The Rick Steves' thing is, when in Rome, etc. So. You're in a different country. You should expect to do and see stuff that's different. The cars on the street are different and so are the buildings. So are social customs. You ain't in Kansas any more. Don't tip. Period. It's as simple as that. When you're done with your meal, get up and head for the door. Stop at the cash register. The person there might know which table you're from, or you can point. Sometimes there's even a number on the table. Tell that person. He or she will give you your bill. Pay it. That's it. No figuring stuff out, no doubling the tax, no figuring out percentages. Easy as pie. Chiaro? (Clear?) If you really enjoyed your meal, tell the owner and/or the cashier. They love to hear it.

Just here to say the previous poster, aponiata, nailed it.

ponygirl: Retired in Rome? How is that going for you?

Paul you are correct. Service in Italy is not like in the US. Waiters are not as servile like in the US, and certainly not as prompt. Maybe because TIP stands for “To Insure Promptness” and since Italian waiters get no tips they insure no promptness. Whether they are prompt or not all they get is the same wages, unless of course they work in a restaurant that caters to lots of US travelers. There is another reason that a restaurateur friend of mine who worked in the US and Italy told me (his name is Gino Noci, the owner of the Tratttoria I’cche c’è c’è in Florence, maybe some of you went there). He used to work at a country club resort in Georgia when his restaurant in Florence was closed in August. He told me that in the US, since the staff is basically paid nothing (their earnings are basically tips), restaurant owners can afford to hire a lot of staff. He said in Georgia he had a lot of kitchen help that in Italy would not be sustainable except for the most expensive restaurants. The waiting staff was plentiful too, with each waiter serving no more than 4 tables (16 customers) on average (that is the typical workload in US restaurants), That would be very hard in Italy. National Union contracts require minimum wages and hours that force most restaurant owners to make do with a lean staffing level. The Italian standard is apparently 25 customers per waiter on average, basically a workload that is 50% higher than in the US. I’m sure you have also noticed that Italian restaurants in Italy do not have any hosts standing at the podium greeting customers. That is an extra cost that only the most expensive restaurants could afford due to the stringent labor contracts. That job is shared by the waiters in Italy, on top of waiting tables.

Thank you Roberto for so clearly spelling out the differences between USA and Italian service.
“Hi, I’m Jan. I will greet you, ask how your day has been.
Hi, I’m David, I will show you to your table.
G’day, I’m Bruce, still or con-gas, mate.
Good evening, I am Shirley. Here are your menus.
Hello, I am George, here is your bread, no, Albert will be along to take your orders.
I am Avril, I’ll run you through the specials.
Hi, I am Albert, and what would you like to order.
Would you like fries with that?
Is everything all right?
Is everything all right?
Is everything all right?
Here is your bill, the credit card machine is available, note the line for tips!

Or in Italy.
Good evening, con-gas or still. Here are your menus.

It's always such a relief to be eating in Italy and not have to hear "Is everything all right?" and the even more obnoxious "Are you done with that?" and "Still working on that?" and "Did you enjoy your x?" and "Do you have room for dessert?"

Also there are no 'busboys' to clean up the tables in Italian restaurants. The waiter has to do it all.

So when you get impatient about the slow service in Italy, understand that their workload is heavy (so maybe they do deserve our tips :).

Every time I eat in the US I wonder why all waiters want me to know their names, If I must remember all of them and if I am supposed to reply providing our names and then shake hands before going away. Then I remember ABC of modern marketing: relationships sell.

Interesting how different everyone views the world. I must say, when I read about how the servers are in the US, I get a bit confused since my experiences are very different. Almost feels like I live in a different country then the one being described. I always thought I got great service and have enjoyed a few interesting conversations when things were not busy, but it seems that I have missed out on being asked if everything is okay multiple times, and being shown where the tip line is. Also haven't been introduced to everyone by name. I now know what I thought was great service, was actually me being neglected.

And, I actually like our tip culture. Pay based on how hard one works. And before everyone jumps on me for this viewpoint, I don't plan to bring that culture to Italy when I visit, since well, it's not the US. Also don't understand why when the no tipping is explained for Italy, there's a need to put down the American custom of tipping our servers in the US.

And, I actually like our tip culture. Pay based on how hard one works

If this was how it works, then I'd be OK with it, but I see it now as an expectation, not as a reward for going that extra mile.

I'm sure the city bus drivers or the subway engineers or the grocery store clerks and cashiers or hospital nurses work very hard too, but I don't know anyone tipping them.

Let's face it, it is just a custom that is pushed by restaurant owners (and their association) to ensure that don't have to pay workers more than minimum wage (if that). That ensures restaurants of being well staffed at minimum cost even on the days when customers don't show up in large numbers (which is hard to predict for a restaurant).

I wish we could do the same in our hospital. Pay nurses minimum wage instead of $60+ per hour, and make the hospital patients add a tip when they come to the hospital.

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/

Great article, Roberto. Thank you for posting it.

As someone who worked in restos for decades on this side of the pond I was screwed on tips by virtually 99.9% of all European tourists. Whenever they'd come in everyone would try to pawn them off on someone else. So when I finally went to Europe I was more than happy to not tip them back.

I was more than happy to not tip them back.

A textbook example of doing the right thing for the wrong reasons.

If American waiters want every customer to tip them, they should ask restaurants to write "XY% tipping is mandatory here" on The menus.

Or ask to be treated like all other workers whose salaries do not depend on the customers' mood.

Customers who judge what "hard work is" without knowing nothing about how work is organised in a restaurant. In US waiters are just lightning rods that pay the price of incompetent managers well before awful restaurants go bankrupt.

The underlying theme of these "tipping policy" discussions is that tourists should adopt local customs.

In Italy, tipping is not done. But in the US, tipping is now at 20%.

As someone who worked in restos for decades on this side of the pond I was screwed on tips by virtually 99.9% of all European tourists.

Those tourists from Europe did not read the info about US customs.

If American waiters want every customer to tip them, they should ask restaurants to write "XY% tipping is mandatory here" on The menus.

Those who come as tourists should learn about local customs. In many places in the US, suggested tips are listed, and it's pretty clear that tips are close to mandatory.

Don't be an ugly Italian in NY. Tip at 20%.

20%??!! Yikes. Who decides what local tipping customs are? Is it a case of the inmates running the asylum? I posted a link a few months ago about a restaurant in my area giving options of up to 28%. Is that how these things get decided now, by determining what is the maximum we can get away with before someone says enough is enough?

My crystal ball says a topic in 2023 that will go unresolved....Tipping. I'm really going out on a limb with that prediction...

all that arithmetic in the US must tax peoples' brains. How many folks are good with arithmetic anyway?

Why not take a fat wallet, and pay the bill in cash. Then count it out again, same amount, and leave that for the guy or gal in the shirt with the name badge? No arithmetic or percentages to work out, just pay twice. It will make you feel better.

or... I guess ... you could save up all that extra money and buy a vacation to Italy.

"close to mandatory" is the funniest idea of the day. If it's not mandatory it's optional and optional means a customer is free not to tip. If it's mandatory, it's a service charge not a tip.

If was written on the menus, tourists would always tip as required. It's the "close to mandatory" surprise that sounds like a scam. Like posted prices in stores that are different from what you are actually asked to pay at checkout.

And, incidentally, I tip more than 20% in US.

Showing my age, but I can remember in the U.S. in the early 1950s when tipping was 10%! Later it grew to 12, then 15, then 20, and now ??? Jeez! In the U.S. we need to just pay the people a good living wage and cut out all this nonsense.

A 20% tip is not mandatory in the US. But then, if you think about it, most cultural norms are not mandatory, no matter where you go. But when traveling, I believe, one should respect the norms of a country, unless of course, you have a strong moral issue with those norms. But if that is the case, I would question why you would even travel to that country.

If individuals want to change the tipping culture, go for it, but do it at the right level (changing laws, protests, writing articles etc. etc.). Those who choose not to tip on principle, yet take no other steps to make real change, I have to be honest, I wonder if you really have an issue with the culture or just want a cheaper meal. I should add, I very rarely eat out since it's just too expensive. So I get it, 20% of the top of an already expensive meal, doesn't help one's budget.

all that arithmetic in the US must tax peoples' brains. How many folks are good with arithmetic anyway?

If you cannot do 20% in your head, you need to practice. Sooooo easy. Take the bill BEFORE THE TAX, move the decimal one place to the left and double that. So, if the pre-tax bill is 52.45, you get 5.24 x 2 = 10.50. VERY easy.

Those tourists from Europe did not read the info about US customs.

True. That is similar to those tourists from America who did not read the info about Italian speed cameras or ZTL.

At least the ZTL or the speed limits are posted on a road sign. But there is no sign warning a clueless traveler from Europe that one needs to add a mandatory tip of 15% to 25%.

That is why, as Dario says, I believe that in the US restaurants they should simply state in the menu that an 18% or 20% or whatever service charge will be added to the bill (like most restaurants do for parties of 6 or more, or, at least in NY or SF, even to European tourists regardless of size) and then add that amount to the check. That way there would be no discussions on this topic anymore.

I often tip a $$ amount, not a percentage, based on the friendliness and quality of service. If I choose to order a more expensive meal, I don't think I need to increase the tip to the server for bringing the same plate that would have been used regardless of what is sitting on top of it. If I order a $30 meal rather than a $15, the tip technically doubles when going by 20%. On that same note, if I eat at a restaurant with modest prices, and the server has been exceptional, I will typically give the server a substantial tip.. I don't think wait staff should be penalized for working at an inexpensive restaurant, and conversely, I don't think it should be a given that a waiter "deserves" a big tip just because the restaurant is pricey. Sometimes the service at the latter is not very good, but the waiter assumes he is going to "make bank" because of the pricey menu.

I know my comments are not on the original question, but that is how these threads seem to flow, lol! Also, I thought the acronym of TIPS derived from "To insure proper service".

Aloha lover I agree with you that we should tip a dollar amount instead of a percent of the bill because that practice penalizes waiters in less expensive establishments, who, more often than not, happen to be minorities and women.

The TIP etymology as an acronym from the phrase “To Insure Promptness” or similar, is an amusing theory, but, according to linguists, it is actually urban legend. English words formed from acronyms are something that started in the 20th century. Such practice did not exist in the English language before the 1900s. “To tip”, as in to leave a gratuity, actually find its origin in the English underworld slang of the 17th century. The word was basically part of the thieves’ cant of the time. English thieves used the slang “to tip” to mean “to hand over, to give, to share” often surreptitiously. That is also the origin of “to tip off” or to “give a tip” (a clue, like a tip for investing in the stock market). Later in the 18th century England the word found its way to mean to hand over a gratuity for a small service.

Thank you for the info, Roberto. I always enjoy learning something new on this forum.

careful about clicking on vague links by first timer spreading messages about something they are selling.

we'll let the Webmaster decide if they stay

This is such an interesting topic because it is one of the areas where we as travelers are most likely to insist on behaving in a manner that can come across as “cultural imperialism.” That might be the farthest from anyone’s thoughts or purpose for tipping, but insisting on using your cultural norms in another culture when you know it is not customary is just that.

This is a discussion between my sister and myself when we travel. She worked as a waitress in a coffee shop in the 70’s and remembers what a difference tips made on whether she could make the rent or not. She can’t help but leave generous tips due to that experience. I’ve learned to accept this when she pays……. I try to follow local customs when I pay.

There is a food marketplace in Castro Valley (SF Bay Area) with multiple shops and supermarket, where, when you are at the cash register of every shop or also the grocery supermarket, you are prompted in the POS display to select a tip amount to your total (with various suggested options). So far I always select the “no tip” option, but I guess in the future we will be expected to tip the cashiers for checking out our groceries at the grocery stores. I think that when that day comes, I’ll switch to online shopping for 100% of my needs. This tipping culture is getting out of hand,

Thanks for posting this question. I’ve enjoyed reading the comments. In Ontario, Canada, our servers (waiters/waitresses) are not even paid minimum wage. It’s the only industry in which this is allowed, and it’s because tipping is expected. No longer is tipping just considered a little extra for outstanding service. It’s expected. In addition to 13% tax on our meal service, we’re expected to leave a minimum of 18% gratuity. As a customer, I find it outrageous that I’m paying for my meal at a premium, and I’m also expected to pay the bulk of my server’s wage on top of that. How this became customary is beyond me.
So, as a tourist in another country, it’ll take me a few meals to lose the guilt of not tipping, but I imagine I’ll find it refreshing and freeing in no time.

I think that when that day comes, I’ll switch to online shopping for
100% of my needs. This tipping culture is getting out of hand,

I was watching a morning American talk show today and the guest was a self described financial etiquette expert. The topic got to tipping and one scenario was if a tip was required if someone delivered flowers to you from an admirer.

She suggested a "reasonable" tip in that scenario was $20. Really??!! For receiving an unrequested delivery??

If I supply my Paypal or Venmo account information will some of you tip me for answering your questions?

I'll double the tax the moment you start paying taxes on your answers.

Maybe because TIP stands for “To Insure Promptness”

That's an urban myth: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/tip-sheet/

As for the 20% expected tip in the US, I've just come back from a trip to the US where for the most part the suggested tip amounts on the bill were 18%, 20% and 22%. I generally tipped 18% but occasionally 20% if I thought the staff deserved it. This is much more than I would ever consider anywhere else and then I saw an advertisement for staff in the window of a newly opening restaurant. $60,000 PA for a manager and $15 per hour for wait staff. This is more than the minimum wage in the UK which for 18-20 year olds is £6.83 ($8.26) and £9.18 for 21-22 year old ($11.11). If this is the going rate for wait staff in the US then perhaps it's time to re-evaluate the tipping culture.

It was very pleasant in Spain last month. It seemed to me that most places expected you to pay by credit card. When it came time to pay, the restaurant punched in the exact amount of the bill in the credit card machine and there was no tip line. Just tap and pay.

Here in Canada, tipping has gotten ridiculous. It used to be that you could get a 10% discount for takeout. That has mostly disappeared especially during the pandemic. What gets me is that restaurants expect a tip for take-out. The suggested tip line on the credit card machines is now 15/20/25% for takeout. I have seen as high as 30%. And as noted above, we are also tipping on top of the tax on the food.

The other shoe that is about to drop in Canada is that vendors are now allowed to charge the credit card commission back to the customer. One of the food court vendors has started charging an extra 2% if you use a credit card instead of paying by cash or debit.

Roberto, JC, and funpig are right! Things have gotten out of hand (especially in this country), and the entire tipping culture should be reexamined in the United States. In the early 1950s tipping was 10%! Later it grew to 12, then 15, then 20, and now ??? Everyone should be paid a good living wage in this country so we can cut out all this nonsense. Having said that, however, one should still follow the customs on the country where one is a guest.

Well, the practice will continue because restaurant owners (and their Associations) love this custom. It allows them to pay the staff next to nothing, or at least much less than they would if the staff were compensated with wages only, and basically shifts the burden to pay the staff directly to the customer.

PS: JC, I know the TIP etymology based on “To Insure Promptness” is a myth. I explained the true origin in a comment above.

I was at our baseball stadium last summer, which has been contactless since COVID. I went to a food concession stand, where I placed my order at a computer kiosk. The kiosk displayed my payment with tip options of 0-30% before my order would be placed. The server handed me a cup (so I could fill my own drink) then turned around and pulled a hotdog from a tray and handed it to me wordlessly, pointing to the condiment rack. So service was a slight turn at the waist and and a sullen look. Thats our tipping culture. It's all guilt, and expected, not a judgement on service. I tipped 0 by the way, but I doubt the server cared.

Well, the practice will continue because restaurant owners (and their Associations) love this custom. It allows them to pay the staff next to nothing, or at least much less than they would if the staff were compensated with wages only

But this doesn't tally with what I observed with the advert for wait staff where the wage was $15 an hour. This is a relatively high wage in comparison to similar Western countries for the same job. I doubt that the pay scale was unique and whilst it's double the federal minimum wage it was in Arizona, a state that doesn't have the $15 minimum wage. If wait staff are earning a reasonable wage should it negate the expectation to tip?

I'll double the tax the moment you start paying taxes on your answers.

You have it backwards.....I have to get paid first so I can pay taxes on it. Taxes are not prepaid. (Estimated taxes are but I have to first earn money.)

If you read up on tipping you will find that there is a master/servant relationship and that in the US post civil war there is a slavery aspect to it.
Now all of this is buried in tradition and it has benefited (?) the entire service system, especially restaurants.
Many people tip out of obligation. A forced transaction. There is history that shows that a tip is a way to establish your own superiority. Although we do not think of the master and servant anymore, the act of tipping ingratiates that person to us, and puts a charitable air on yourself. That ingratiation starts before the end of the meal and the check.
Of late, it sees that ingratiation has been trounced by great expectation. And, that in some way, the servant has become the master.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/douggollan/2019/09/30/private-jet-tipping-etiquette/?sh=422b2b62cb4d

JC: the minimum wage is between $13 and $15 in many States now, I think Arizona’s is just under $13 but set to increase by one dollar tomorrow on Jan 1. But regardless of what the minimum wage is, restaurant owners will pay as little as possible in wages, and, thanks to the tip practice, they can shift the burden of compensating the staff upon the customer. It would be as if the hospital where I work started paying nurses at close to minimum wage, instead of the current $60-$75 per hour nurses now earn in California, and expected that patients left a hefty tip during every day of their stay. This practice has now moved to other services, for example many hotels now encourage guests to leave at least $5-10 a night in tips to the chamber maid, because, they have the nerve to say, chamber maids are low earners. And why are they low earners, I would ask? They are low earners because their employers don’t pay them enough and they expect me to pay their salaries when I use the service. Soon it will become a common practice to be required to tip cashiers at Walmart, since they pay low wages.

One restaurant group in NYC tried an experiment. They raised the wages of their servers. They then told their customers they no longer had to tip. Customers hated it and left tips. The restaurant group went back to the old ways.

But what makes me chuckle is that people yelling for higher wages for staff don't realize that if the restaurant raises wages they then have to raise prices.So the customer pays either way. Or do you think restaurant owners shouldn't make money?

While I agree that the tipping culture has extended way beyond what it was meant to be--tip jars are everywhere--it is still left up to our discretion. No one is forcing anyone to tip.

In the US., I still tip servers I know are making less than the going minimum wage. I grew up understanding this as the way things are and know that the price I read on the menu is going to be, on average, 25-30% more when including tax and tip. I don't tip those that are making a decent wage.

Why doesn't the US have an included VAT rather than an additonal sales tax? Why do they pay their serving staff less and expect customers to make up the difference. Because business owners want to "show" the lowest price possible. It's not your final price. Sort of the way discount airlines might show a 10 Euro fare but by the time you add all the extras, it's a lot more. But in many people's minds they only paid 10 Euro for the ticket.

But what makes me chuckle is that people yelling for higher wages for staff don't realize that if the restaurant raises wages they then have to raise prices.So the customer pays either way. Or do you think restaurant owners shouldn't make money?

Restaurants will continue to make money. I was shocked at the prices for eating out and groceries on my recent trip to the US which encompassed Arizona, Nevada and California, all more expensive than the UK or Western Europe (inflation taken into account) and that's before tips are factored in (I went to buy a piece of ribeye steak from a supermarket butcher counter but they wanted $27!!!! That same piece of steak would be $10 at most in the UK) Restaurants in the Uk and Europe manage to pay their staff at least the minimum wage and make a profit and it would appear that most restaurants in the US are now paying a minimum wage and continue to make a profit, a loss of tips is not going to dent their profits and there is no reason to increase prices.

...they can shift the burden of compensating the staff upon the customer.

There have recently been ads in some McClatchy newspapers asking readers to contribute to a tax deductable "Local Impact Journalism Fund" to "...strengthen our coverage to provide you with the essential local news you need to know". Color me stupid, but I thought that's what I was paying for when I bought the paper.

Color me stupid, but I thought that's what I was paying for when I bought the paper.

The cost of the paper basically covers the printing and circulation charges. Newspapers make the bulk of their revenue from advertising.

Frank you are correct. The tipping practice, the taxes and fees add ons (like airline tickets) and the sales tax added later at the register allows business to show prices lower that what they actually are. It’s a marketing gimmick. In California there are several high end restaurants that add another 5-8% add on which they call “living wage charge”. As a justification they say in the menu that is to pay the staff more than minimum wage. They could of course pay them more and simply raise the prices of the dishes in the menu, but by doing so the menu prices are unchanged and they make you feel good about paying an extra 8% on top of tax and tip.

JC. Prices are higher in the US because salaries are higher in most categories, and labor is an important factor in the food industry. Restaurants don’t pay staff much, without considering tips, but as you pointed out a minimum wage of $14 or $15 is still substantially higher than what alters get paid in Europe. In Italy waiters are lucky if they earn 7 or 8€ per hour. Higher wages across the board will eventually reflect on the price level across the board. My Registered Nurses colleagues in California (I’m just a hospital finance guy) get paid $60 to $90 per hour. That rate is at least 3 or 4 times what my nurses friends make in Italy. Labor is an important portion of health care cost (at least 60% of hospital costs) hence the high cost of health care in America.

In Australia, by law, the ticket price is what you pay at the register. Ticket price must include taxes.

Frank II, you are right; most of their revenue does come from advertising. The point I was trying to make, however, was that after I paid the going rate for the product, why should I be asked to contribute to paying part of their ordinary cost of doing business.

why should I be asked to contribute to paying part of their ordinary cost of doing business.

Because experience-based Capital's wet dream is to minimize their labour cost below the subsistence level while, at the same time, changing it into a variable cost. Waiters paid like youtubers, wages based on the number of customers and "thumbs up".