How to avoid a serious tipping mistake

[fraufruit 42,482]

Years ago, I worked in a nice restaurant in Munich. The wait staff put all of their tips together and shared them with the bartender and kitchen staff except for the main chef who had a good salary. That's how it works in a lot of restaurants. If I only sit at the bar, I tip the bartender. That restaurant didn't have a bar at which to sit.

 

Service fee is supposedly included in Germany but from many people I know, the wait staff doesn't get any of it. Only tips.

[john g. 37,776]

Here on Crete I've never seen a Greek leave a tip in a restaurant. The staff are on really low money. eg 3 euros an hour. Mind you, in the majority of cases, the businesses are family-run. But not always...

One reason the staff like foreign tourists... 

@Alex ( our Greek member ). Alex- do Greeks tip or am I misguided?

 

[LeonG 14,850]

46 minutes ago, fraufruit said:

Years ago, I worked in a nice restaurant in Munich. The wait staff put all of their tips together and shared them with the bartender and kitchen staff except for the main chef who had a good salary. That's how it works in a lot of restaurants. If I only sit at the bar, I tip the bartender. That restaurant didn't have a bar at which to sit.

 

Service fee is supposedly included in Germany but from many people I know, the wait staff doesn't get any of it. Only tips.

 

I know of small restaurants where the only person to take payment is the owner and he keeps all the tips.  This is actually illegal though.  There was a case in Bavaria where a waitress took her case to the union and they said either the waitstaff keep their tips or pool them and share with the kitchen. They shouldn't have to share with the owner.

[fraufruit 42,482]

Right, but the price of the food is supposed to include service which it doesn't.

[dessa_dangerous 13,315]

The division of tips is different in every establishment--from bartenders working one till and personally deciding how much to tip their barback, to tips simply going in at the Point of Sale (bartender) and being split with every person who does a job in the whole place, down to the toilet cleaners.  If you see more than one person using one register and multiple people putting tips into a tip jar, you can assume the tips will be pooled and shared among many people who worked that shift, depending on the establishment, including even people who worked behind the scenes or outside of operating hours.

 

Then there are different wage classes.  So, a cook in a restaurant is likely to get a much higher wage than a server, host/ess or bartender.  Managers may also make a higher wage and take either a reduced share of the tips or no tips at all.  

 

LukeSkywalker's method of tipping is the most common and the most "correct" way in Germany.

[Marianne013 546]

I tend to tip when I am on holiday (though I am aware about tipping in Japan, but I've never been there) and I don't care if they see me as a dumb tourist, because I basically am one.

As long as the service is OK, why worry about the odd Euro or two or three ?