What are the differences you've personally seen or heard about for cultural differences? These are spot on! Apologies about my fellow Americans 😅 I'd like to hear more!
I am living in the land of the free - well, in my case I am talking 'bout Germany! ;) Beein' nude in a park or at a beach, smoking while drinking alcohol in public is not a big deal. You can do it, if you want to. I am not very sure about that in the US. I am pretty sure I would get arrested for several things and would end up in prison for quite a long time ... ^XD
Sorry to be rude but the US Beer he shows looks like... Piss Water.... Where is the nice "Crown"? And 15USD and you have to drink it froma PLASTIC-Whatever? And about the Toilets: Bars in Berlin and co have similiar Toiletts. And in Europe we do have Laws (not kidding) wich do demand Restrooms for a specific amount of Chairs/Tables (so basicly Persons). The Bigger your Bar/Cafe/Whatever: The more Restrooms you have to provide. Smal Backeries with like 3 Seats do not have to offer a Restroom at all (it starts about 5 People "sitting", or would be ABLE to sit...). For Discos (Dancefllors) and co other Messurements are used (m², so the plain SIZE of the Destination since it is less likely that most People do sit there)). :) But the guy from Czech does a very well Job! A great Video!
7:36: Of course, it is rude asking too much for customization. The chef composed the meal as it is. Cooking is a craft. If you wish too much altered, you tell the chef that he doesn't know his job, which is an insult. As a kid, you learn: you eat whatever comes on the table. No extra wishes.
@@Nikioko I hate mayonnaise, it makes me sick to look at it! If a burger originally comes with that on it, what's wrong with with telling them to leave that off or replace it with mustard or something else?
@@timothyreel716 I am talking about restaurants, and you are talking about fast food. Another difference. 😆 If you don't like mayonnaise, just have it without. That is one change, not half a dozen. Or choose another dish which doesn't have mayonnaise. It is ok to say that they should leave out one ingredient. But don't say: “Instead of mayonnaise, I want mustard, instead of mushrooms I want some pickles, and please give me an extra slice of cheese.” If you do that, they probably would answer: “If you don't like that dish, why don't you take something else on the menu?”
I think this is a human rights law in many countries. You can't be denied tap water in a public space, even if it's not a restaurant. If you go to a car dealership and ask for water, they have to serve you.
I live in Denmark. And one of the biggest differences in service at restaurants and drinking establishments, is the fact that it is the restaurateur who employs the staff and pay their wages. Which is a set (real) salary made between the employess union, and the employers association. They negotiate everything related to employer/employee in 2year agreements. All without interference from governmental influence. This means that staff is not reliant on tips to actually be able to survive. They’re paid a salary. That also means, they don’t have to be all over the customer trying to accomodate every single wish and desire (even ones not yet arisen). Most customers here will consider this as being _extremely_ rude. I don’t go to a restaurant to talk with my waiter the entire evening. I go there with friends and family to spend quality time with them. So only make yourself available when I call for you.
I’m Italian. One of the thing me and the people I go out with consider to be good, competent service is the waiters being discreet and leaving you alone unless needed. To have someone constantly all over your table starts out funny and ends up being quite rude for us. I know these people are trained to act this way and I also know they aren’t paid a living wage. Personally I feel sorry for them, because to me being forced to be iperactive with clients is an exercise in humiliation, and besides, at least from the likes of me, gets the opposite results than what is intended
Fully agree with you both. Waiters should get decent salaries and be discretely serviceable with customers. It is not ethical that you pay crap to your employees and use that to create hidden additional expense for your customers.
In Sweden the service industry unions ended tipping and it is now already included in the menu price, a serving fee, which you don't pay when getting takeout. The servers get a higher wage and the customers don't get pestered with false grace
Spot on. As an expat American in Sweden, I am happy that food servers are paid by the restaurant, it is included in the price. Food servers are not subject to sexual harassment and their wage isn't dependent on how young, cute and flirty they are.
I totally agree, my only issue is allergies, I personally would select something that fits my food preferences but wheat can be hard to avoid for gluten intolerant people (not me)
@@feldegastSome menus contain information about allergies. Or you can ask the waiter. In the end though,for how many different people should restaurants cater ? Gluten intolerant, diabetic, vegetarians, vegans, halal, kosher, etc ...
Fun fact - in Czechia we have a law which states that there must be at least one non-alcoholic drink on the menu which is cheaper than beer since beer is so cheap here people would just default to it in every non-driving scenario (The beer for 55czk he showed is actually overpriced like hell cuz its probably around the center of Prague - outside you can probably comfortably get a beer for 30czk or so (dollar and a half)
@@He.Mi35that prices are thing exclusive to the check republic, because in other parts of Europe, the prices are a lot more likely the USA, because usually a medium draft beer costs around 5€, and only if it is a regular beer, if it is some specialty craft can cost much more
Before ordering a drink with ice in Europe, keep in mind that soda contains far less sugar in Europe. Even the recipes for Coca-Cola and Pepsi are adjusted to the European market. So, if You add too much ice to a drink in Europe, it will taste like cold water with a hint of soda in it. Also, it's often considered a scam to fill up a glass with too much ice. After all, You pay for soda, not for frozen tap water. And that explains why there are no free refills: actually putting 100% soda in the glass is more expensive than 80% ice cubes and only 20% soda. And don't worry, it's usually cold enough as it is kept in a fridge until serving.
Coca cola and Pepsi, definitely not true, at least it isn't true of cans/bottles and the major chains that list nutrition. Exactly the same amounts of sugar per ml. Different type of sugar, same amount.
As you probably know, when it comes to beer choice in drinking establishments, the UK is more like the US. Although generally we would have more different styles of beer in a 'bog standard pub'. Beer in th Czech republic may be usually limited to one brewery per pub with a couple of styles of beer, however their Pilsners etc.... are vastly superior to the usual British and American efforts? They actually have flavour!
Many pubs and bars across Europe (inc UK) are "tied". They are owned by breweries and rented out to the landlord who runs them. So, these can offer a range of beers from that brewery, but few others (eg specialty ales/stouts such as Guiness). Free houses are owned by the licensee who runs them and he/she is free to offer any beer he wants, and to brew his/her own. I found the service at US eateries to be far too intrusive, spoiled by superficial smiles. I expect to take my time - it is a big part of eating out that there is no pressure to finish and start washing up! Finally, as my kids and grandkids were/are expected to eat what they're given (subject to firmly established dislikes - cooked spinach in my case), just as I was, to expect restauranteurs to change their well crafted menus just for me is absurd.
Thank you for more context to bars and pubs across Europe and some background on how they run, I had no idea! I unfortunately did not make it into a pub while in the UK last time I was there. Very much looking forward to the experience. That is a big difference between the US/North America and it seems like the rest of the world. Smiling (be it much over the top and not genuine whatsoever) is so very different. Here we are brought up to smile and nod when you make eye contact with anyone to come off as friendly. So now Americans including myself go to Europe and make people feel weird when we smile at everyone and everything in sight. Plus the customizing menu items exactly to how people want here is a very normal thing. I'm very easy going when it comes to the menu item only saying how I'd like meat cooked for example. Everything else I can simply take off or just eat if I don't like it. You should hear some orders over here, I'm shaking my head on how much people change/customize orders. "The customer's always right" is very big in the US.
My house is an inn, when we purchased it, it still had 10 years left on its licence with Whitbread brewery. Meaning if we turned it back into a pub in that time it would have to be under Whitbreads.
Thats not true that bars are owned by breweries and then rented out. I went and checked how many pubs or bars are Brewery owned in my country, which is Slovenia. Zilch,Zero, Nada. And the same goes to all of the Balkan countries. UK?? Shut up
What you just said is illegal (anti monopoly and conflict of interest laws are b!tches) in Portugal and, although i cant say for sure if it is illegal or not, not a thing in France, Belgium and Luxembourg.
As a northern European. A waiter coming with a product I havent ordered (1:20) will be a negative experiences as I would perceive it as a scam-attempt (which it is if they try to charge you for a product you havent ordered). (8:45) To build on the free water thing. In my experience that's a Germany, Czechia (there about), and not the whole Europe. On the topic of tipping (13:13). The whole culture of tipping seems to be based on greed and/or a totally ignorance to any sort of human decency from the owners of a resturant (a whole country/culture). Tipping can therefore be seen as a sort of humanitarian aid to a culture so heartless than cant take care of its own. With that said, rounding up id gladly do, tipping if for when things were above expected or of a extra high class/quality.
I was in a store in Florida and there was a sign saying queue here and wait for the next checkout. I dutifully queued where it said only to find Americans just going straight to the till. The checkout girl called me over and I said "Sorry, I just read the sign and did what it said." Apparently she found this to be funnier than anything Chris Rock, Robin Williams or Richard Pryor had ever said on stage. Queuing is second nature to us in the UK.
Thank you very much from Germany for this great open, honest and humble reaction! I love the Honest Guide channel and most things they say about cultural differences between the U.S. and Czech Republic are also true for the U.S. and Germany. (Importantly though: A generic cup of coffee in Germany is generally a bit larger and it's filter coffee, not espresso.) You do not need to apologise for your fellow Americans, though. As Janek points out, this is about cultural differences and in principal, there is no wrong or right (except perhaps regarding environmental decisions in these days). The key is in my opinion that if you visit a foreign country, don't expect it to be a copy of your own. Prepare for different and therefore interesting experiences, be a little bit humble and do some research before travelling.
As a German-Canadian, who has spent time on both continents, I can agree with everything that was covered. On the beer, I do like craft beers and trying many kinds, but having Coors, Coors Light, Bud, Bud Light, Michelob, Corona, etc. as options is just offering many brands of the same swill. In many German pubs, they will have a few varieties/styles, but from the same brewery. You usually order by style (“l’ll have a Pils/Hefeweizen” etc.) Even back in the mid-90s, we would bring our containers from home to the store for deli meats and they would stick the label to the lid. No plastic waste. It was considered pretty normal. I can’t believe how much unnecessary plastic waste we have in Canada today.
Important thing to WHY we have 1 brewery on tap: Flow makes taste. If there is something you DONT want, its to hit the tap that wasnt used for like an hour... Hour is long enough for a lager type beer to get spoiled in the pipes. Fewer taps there is, the more fresh and tasty its going to be.
Slavery was supposedly abolished in the USA in the 1860s but employers today can pay workers an absolute pittance if the workers can get tips. They treat their staff like slaves. In Australia we pay workers a wage they can live on so tipping is neither necessary or expected. You can tip if you want to for exceptional service but there is no requirement to do so. I do not consider it good service if the waiter is at your table every five minutes. I am quite capable of filling my own wine glass. Leave me alone. If I want you, I'll catch your eye.
That tipping part is so true. It is really not normal to leave a tip in Denmark. You do it if the service was really extra good or the meal was that extra above the average but else you thank for the meal to the staff and leave, same in any service really. In Czech it used to be normal to tip even in the hair dresser or to leave a small tip for the mailman who delivered your letter 4 flights of stairs without an elevator. It is changing for sure but it is normally around the 10%, I would feel odd giving more, or we still round it up. Lets say the bill was 79CZK it is sort of normal to round it up to the 100 because that is a number on the money bill so the waiter doesn't have to bother with change and small coins. But 25% tip would leave me personally uncomfortable, like I am trying too hard.
I totally agree. I tip when i am satisfied with the service I received, not to provide a waiter or waitress with a decent income. If this is the way these hardworking people have to make a decent living, it is proof, once more, that the USA is a very sick country. Far too many people West of the Atlantic Ocean (apart for Canadians, they are smart and have common sense) think they live in the Greatest Country in the World, but they are wrong! They live in the Ununited States of Moronia, and they'll probably stay as dumb as they are, thanks to the pityful level of education!
US Ex pat in Europe; I am happy that the price on the menu is the price paid. The restaurant pays the staff, food servers are not subjected to sexual harassment as much and their wages are dependent on how young cute and flirty they are, nor on how sober the cooks are. Do miss ice in drinks, heck my home refridgerator doesn't even have a place to put ice Cube trays.
Yes, here in Czechia you usually go to the pub that has the beer you like. And you can see the sign of the brewery in the front of the pub. One brewery makes more than one kind of beer, so you just choose the type you like. I worked here for a small old brewery (since 1379) and it does 14 different kinds of beer and a pub usually has 2 or 3 of them on tap. And some other specials in bottle. About the customizing the food - that´s why is the chef in the restaurant that makes the taste of the food. That´s why there are Michelin stars. And how do you know how it should taste if you never had the meal before?! So yes, it is not common to customize the food unless you realy don´t eat something and than is up to you to ask what does it contain or what you don´t want to have in your meal. They will not ask you - you have to ask. And why we don´t have the ice in our drinks? Because it is considered as steeling. If you want to have a 0,5L glass of juice, you want to have there the juice and not the ice. If you want the ice there, you can ask and they put it inside or they bring it separately. What I see in American movies they bring you a lot of ice with a small amount the drink you asked for. You don´t pay the dring but just the ice which is here free. Our small coffee is stronger that your brown watter. BTW, when I saw the pictures of American food from restaurants in this video, it all looks unhealthy and not tasty. I thing that even meal should look better on the plate. Even the bad meal.
Ther are massive differences even between different european countries, as a Czech, it's pretty similar in Germany or Austria, but when I go to southern europe or more north, it's a way different. It's very different even in Poland which is our neighbor. You can see cultural influences in other countries even after hundreds of years, in Poland, it was mainly France who had influence to them, for us it was Germany and Austria. Southern Europe is unique, some things are more close to US (like they drop bill in front of you without asking) but some things are totally different, like more south you are, the smaller coffee you will get. For example our Czech espresso is lungo in south, our lungo is americano for them etc....when I visited Latvia, it was exactly vice versa, even some coffee machine at train station is giving you like 10L of coffee so you have to drop half of it to the ground because you can't really drink it. Something similar happened to me at gas station in Poland, they asked if I want small or big coffee, I said big and it was 400 mL!!! Can you believe that? 0.4L of coffee in paper cup, I would normaly drink that for few hours. 😀
Sweden, where I live, seems to be very different to the Czech republic in many ways. Beer culture is much more like the US with lots of different beers, both on tap and very many bottles. We can't get a bottle at the "next store", it is only available in state sponsored special stores and not on Sundays. Water is available everywhere at restaurants (Except at fast food restaurants where you could get it for free in the past but now you have to pay for it). And our beer prices are much more like in the US. Well, except for amusement parks where they aren't as expensive. Otherwize, expect to pay $6 for a large beer on tap. We don't have a culture of espresso sized cooffee. Our "normal size" is about 200 ml and up (200 ml is a small coffee).
@@Magnus_Loov "it is only available in state sponsored special stores and not on Sundays" they should do it like that even here, alcoholism is really serious problem here and to drink all the time is considered standard and it's tolerated by society. Beer in pubs already cost almost the same as in western europe, but we have to remove those cheap beers from supermarkets, but it's very unpopular and it will be political suicide for government and also, next government would probably remove that ban, so it's wasting of time. Czech people mostly consider Scandinavian countries as socialist countries with a lot of bans and prohibitions, that would never pass here in our former communist country where every ban is considered evil and something which is against my freedom, but restrict alcohol like in your countries would be really usefull here. I still find it unfair that high volume alcohole is strongly taxed and it's very expensice, but you can buy a beer or boxed wine for less than 1 eur, so even homeless person can be drunken all the day.
@@Pidalin Maybe I should be more precise about it. Beer containing a maximum of 3.5% alcohol is actually allowed to be sold everywhere in normal grocery stores and the like. 3.5% is borderline pilsner territory and you can actually get kind of drink by drinking lot of them. And the cheapest ones on a can (not bottles) costs a bit less than an Euro if you buy a sixpack. But the normal stronger beer (usually 4.5% and up, normally around 5%) do cost a bit more than an Euro. Well, maybe , the cheapest almost undrinkable one costs around an Euro flat. There is another benefit of the state sponsored stores: The assortment of beer and other beverages is great.
@@Magnus_Loov 3.5%, that's some 10° festival watery beer, most of Czech beers have around those 4.5%, but I know that the worst alcoholics drink those 3.5% beers because they want to buy more of them. These beers were standard during communism, people were used to drink like 10 beers in pub during one visit. We mostly distinguish 3 basic kinds of lagers - 10°, 11° and 12° and it has nothing to do with temperature of beer ofcourse, 10° is good for festivals or cheap pubs (it's not nescesserly bad, but it's weak and watery), 11° is standard everyday beer and 12° are the best beers like pilsner urquel, but these beers are stronger and I mostly sleep after like 3 of them. 🙂
we come from sweden, and my opinion is that there are pros and cons to both the american and european type of service in a restaurant, for me the best imaginable service is the one based on the motto "operate without being seen" if everything is to your satisfaction I don't even want to perceive that the waitress is there, but as soon as I'm unhappy with something and look up to make contact, she should be there. in America I experience that I am constantly interrupted and disturbed unnecessarily, in Sweden it can be too difficult to get help when needed. I remember when my partner and I were in the USA and went out to have a romantic dinner at a nice restaurant, everything was perfect, good wine, great food and wonderful company, but the waiter kept coming and interrupting and disturbing, asking about everything was to our satisfaction, as if for some reason we were not able to complain if we were dissatisfied, then the bill came in the middle of the main course, and then it was very difficult to get in touch with them to order dessert, coffee drinks and snacks, they made it very clearly they wanted to get rid of us, even though the restaurant was half empty and it was several hours until closing, the dinner cost us 200 usd, and we were ready to pay up to 50 usd in tip, but we felt so badly treated that they only got 10 usd in tip
Europe is, of course, a very diverse continent with so many different countries and cultures, and no two are the same. So, for example, in the Nordic countries you always get free water with your food in any restaurant you go to, it's included in the meal (from Finland myself but have noticed this in other Nordic countries as well). Sometimes there are even choices of having regular water, lemon water, mint water, or water with lime and strawberries etc. And it's all tab and it's all free, because the tab water here is amazing. In buffets you usually pick and fetch your own water, but anywhere else, they automatically bring a jug of water to your table. So even though I'm European, in this detail, our culture is more similar to the Americans than the Czechs. Also, tipping. Not a thing at all in Finland, except as a sort of "trend" adopted from American culture. You might see tip jars at places but they are 100% optional and do not affect a waiter's paycheck in any way. They are paid the same proper salary regardless of what a customer tips or doesn't tip. It more on the same bar with "would like to make a donation, adds 2€ to your bill".
Just bringing you a new beer without asking used to be a thing in traditional pubs in Germany, too ... maybe not so much nowadays - therefore ways existed to give the waiter visual clues: - if complitly empty your glass it indicates you want a new one - if you leave a sip in it, it shows you are tacking a break - similar if you put the coaster on top it means you are done - no new one, please.
The Czech are known for their beer, especially pilsner, even among the Europeans. They are light, tasty and cheap, and we all love visiting the Czech Republic and getting a nice draft beer with a plate full of goulash and dumplings. But the multitap bars are appearing even there due to the craft beer revolution :D I personally don't like it, as I like light pils or lager beer and ability to just "order one", but I guess it's good that people who like other kinds of beer have more opportunities to drink at the pubs as well :)
Yes - carbonated water is big here .. so big that not only can you get carbonated water in a restaurant - you can usually choose between two different levels of carbonation. There is an interesting fact - in czech language soda means seltzer water - basically just that - carbonated water . And lemonade (limonáda) basically means what soda means in the US. The US meaning of lemonade would be " citronáda" -Citron is just another word for lemon in different languages. Anyway carbonated water is really popular in Europe - before Soda Streams, people had at home Soda Siphons - very heavy thick glass bottles with metalic valves on top and often a knitted wire mesh to protect the glass. You would buy metallic co2 containers that you could screw onto it and make carbonated water. It was very heavy but it feels so much sturdier and more premium than a plastic Soda Stream :D
Sparkling water are naturally found here in Italy due the high volcano's activities. So in Italy we drink sparkling water a lot. Sparkling water was so "easy" to find that when I was young in my granpa's house there was a well with a sparkling water at the bottom.
@@alxx1378 some do and some don’t. I can tell you that in Italy some public programs strongly suggest to business owners to give tap water to customers as base, especially in places where the quality of said water is excellent. It’s true that many of them want to make you pay for the water (it’s one of the products with most profit margin) but quite a few are less greedy (also, you generally pay a “coperto” in Italy which covers bread and tap water at the table)
Even my mother in law thought it's very gentle that we start with a glass of water and she said that in Italy it never happens, she is around 70 years old from Sardinia that lives in Toscana. Also I'm in the restaurant bar business since 87 so I check all these things around Europe or elsewhere. Half Greek half Swedish, my brother lives in Paris my ex was half Italian half German. I can safely say that I have traveled a lot in Europe. The other thing I don't like which you can see all over Europe is the price of the bottled water over 2 euro for a small one. In Greece by law small bottles are half a euro big ones one, it's a necessity not a commodity. And this is one of the few things I love in Greece.
Tap water is free if you ask for it in the UK. I've never had a problem ordering free tap water when dining in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium or most of the Scandinavian countries.
@@ananovak1468 It's usually a consequence of people being assholes, really. Here in Denmark, tap water used to come free in restaurants but they had to abandon it when people simply stopped ordering drinks and just drank the water. Given that most restaurants compete on price with food, the drinks is where the profit is at - making it unviable to give away free water and only making tiny amounts of money on the food. Of course, YMMV as with anything else in life: If what you're eating is expensive enough it doesn't matter and some places won't mind giving you some water if you've also ordered drinks.
Free tap water in Belgium ? For the dog you brought along maybe. Pubs and restaurants are trying to make a profit, handing out free water is not part of that scheme. Besides, it could get them into trouble with the taxman for whom nothing is free.
Restrooms...as a Dutch citizen I don't mind that people can see my feet. I do mind the big gaps at the side of the door at a lot of places in the USA. It doesn't give me the privacy I like in a restroom. :)
Re: burger choices: it didn't used to be so confusing until the fast food chains messed everything up! When I was young (50's & 60's) a hamburger with everything meant ketchup pickles,& onions, then if you wanted a California burger, that meant lettuce tomato, mayonnaise. Now, you have to tell them to leave off what you don't want, such as mustard, for instance. I've actually pulled up to a drive up window and asked for a burger with ketchup pickles & onions and they invariably ask if I want cheese on that? 😂
in estonia, you first pay for ur meal, and then wait for it to be brought to the table.. and no check in the end , and no tipping no where. you pay, you ate you leave. :)
they ask you for tap or "minérale" water, in french restaurants, they also ask for flat or sparkled. tap water is free. beside that, I just LOVE Prague, one of the most beautiful city in Europe, would love to move there!
Here in the UK, it's illegal for health and safety reasons not to provide free tap water in any establishment where alcohol is served. I understand it's because of the dehydration effect of alcohol. You don't have to have bought any alcohol to be able to have free tap water.
You might be interested in Dream Prague channel. Many videos on cultural differences between life in US and the Czech Republic made by a native Californian with a great sense of humour!
Here in Finland at least in low and mid tier restaurants (never been to a fancy place) the water is in pitchers you get for you table. Either pick it up yourself from a fridge or its brought to the table when you order (depending on if you order at the register or at the table)
Plus here in Greece when new customers come we start by offering a glass of tap water. It's hot here and it's polite and I think no other European countrie does it.
From my experience, most places in Europe start out with a mug/caraf/bottle(filled with tapwater) either it already there or offered with first contact with the waiter. Its only German/Czech (and maybe some more) that dont
Here in the UK, many of us judge a place by its toilets. If they're not nice, we assume the kitchen is the same and won't eat there. This was very interesting. x
7:36: Of course, it is rude asking too much for customization. The chef composed the meal as it is. Cooking is a craft. If you wish too much altered, you tell the chef that he doesn't know his job, which is an insult. As a kid, you learn: you eat whatever comes on the table. No extra wishes.
Very often when you're having a meal in a Spanish "proper" restaurant (not a bar that serves meals) and wine is bought by the bottle (in many places you can also buy by the glass), the waiters will (re)fill people's glasses. You can still signal you don't want any wine from the start (flip the glass upside down, they'll take it away) or that you don't want more (hover your hand over the glass).
Water thing in europe differs country to country, restaurant to restaurant. A lot of times they will give you free tap water if you specify. If you just ask for water they might bring bottled. With coffee usually you get glass of water no questions asked for free. Also, feels like most of the US vs. Europe videos are actually US vs. rest of the world. We like to split the world to west vs. east (Turkey's longitude being kinda the splitting point), but in many cases it's actually just NA vs. rest of the world. Would be good to hear people from outside US/Europe in which camp they belong.
Also I think that in US you can sometimes just leave money under your bill or something and go if you dont want any change ? Or is that something only done in movies ? I have never done that - even if I am at a restaurant that brings your bill on a tray hidden from view .. even if I dont want any change .. I will put the cash inside and wait for them to actually count it and only leave once everything has been confirmed and I have said my goodbyes etc. Its actually a huge pain because usually even if they bring the bill in this way - you arent meant to write your tip anywhere .. so if you actually expect change you have to tell it to the waiter .. but the waiter may not have seen how much you put inside ... so they have to go back, count it .. usually bring you back full change without any tip .. HUGE PAIN IN THE BUTT btw. I much prefer simply saying how much I would like to pay with the tip included and then just do it right away in the open even if its near other customers - the staff will gladly calculate their tip themselves.
I hated sparkling water as a kid, but for a while you actually had to specify that you want regular water, not the sparkling stuff which was the default for some reason. It's not like that anymore thankfully.
Seriously? I'm from Croatia, and in our pubs (at least in my town) you have like 5 types of draught beer, and like 50 different other brands of bottled ones. Also, the water is pretty much free 🤷♂️, and I must have been in Czech Republic a long time ago, because I don't seem to remember a lot of those things. As for the USA - that was a whole another story. I was in Atlanta, Georgia back in 2005, and decided to take a walk in the suburb. I was stopped probably by 10-15 people, asking me: "Why don't you drive?" . That was one thing that really shocked me how many people drive cars instead just walking. But to conclude, I've had a great experience in both countries - Czech Republic as well as USA.
Regarding water, in the UK it is quite different. All restaurants, bars, pubs are obliged by law to provide tap water on for free on request. Most places now just put water on your table automatically.
In some places dont serve tap water because if get poisened by it for some reason, maybe because is somethin wrong with pipes or something, they can get sued or eve closed.
here in Sweden every pub has many different types of beer on tap but they always have one type of lager that is the default one. so if you just want a beer and don't really care about the brand you just say I would like (en stor stark) a large strong one and you get a 5 DL glas of draft beer.
What i think is funny about this kinds of videos is that its basicly the same allover the planet, its just the US that differs. And they call it culture shock or something.
In Italy you only tip for exceptional service. Waiters are paid full wages. If you look at your bill, you will find the cover charge which "covers" bread and the table setting but there is usually a "service" charge of 20%. This literally is the cost of the service.
Tips means To Insure Prompt Service it was given before dining and not after. The thing that the waiter has to wait at the end to see what he gets is wrong so it's better to have a good salary.
For me as czech is better to dont have option for customize any meal, because you can be almost 100% sure, if you have any meal from menu _( in __7:32__ daily menu for example)_ it s from fresh raw materials - fresh means buyed as not freezed. If I would see menu with 60 different meals or 30 another customizes, I would evade the restaurant and rather to go into fastfood, because I m very sceptical about freshness and if restaurant isnt super popular, its unsustainable to avoid raw materials from freezer or few days laying in refrigerator. Old Gordon Ramsay's show Kitchen Nightmares was nice proof, how it works. Same from above applies for beers on tap. You can be sure, the beer have best taste as possible, because it isnt stuck in pipes/barrels long time. Not all but many pubs/restaurants offers beers in bottle, but they are without alcohol or are special beers unable to buy in supermarket _(mostly time with high percent of alcohol)_ Different about tipping is workers in restaurants _(even when you are in no luxury ones)_ have full wage as any workers _(as sellers in the shops for example)_ and they dont rely on tipping.
I've seen this video a couple of times before (both the original and some reactions). The biggest failure about this video is that he compares the Czech Republic to the US, but he claimes it's Europe vs US. Over here in Belgium, we have a huge Beer Culture. Pubs that don't have a choice between - I don't know - a dozen (special) beers at the minimum is just considered unprofessional.
and yet your country is 26th in beer consumption per capita and Czech is 1st i guess we all are drinking while you still choosing which beer you drink :D :D :D just kidding :D ye Honest Guide should have named it differences between US and Czech. and i'm from small town / village in Czech and we usually have 2 or 3 beers on tap in pubs. in city i believe it's more simple to have just one beer at tap when you have plenty of customers
Service and tipping is different, due to the extremely low pay in the US, therefore the serving staff rely on the tips to survive. In the EU, there are minimum wages set by the EU that sets pay to ensure you can live on the pay without tips.
Gotta agree on the coffee thing. Now days it seems it's dominated by people who really don't like coffee...you can tell these people by all the stuff they put in it so they can drink it. Back in the day, you'd get a porcelain cup and endless refills.....for 10 cents, maybe even a nickel!!
I do not know the czech laws for restaurants but maybe they are forbidden to server tap water as long as they do not have a special tap - highly controlled for bacteriea and dirt x times a day, cleaned every half an hour with aggressive "kills everything" cleaner, needed special pipes (no old lead pipes), attached filters (that are costly) etc. And for the carbonated water: We (Germany) have good tap water in our homes, so why we should go to a restaurant to drink the same water we can drink at home? Additionally carbonated water is more "refreshing" than plain one.
We have very strictly controlled tap water in Czech lands and not many people are buying bottled water for home. Actualy i don´t know anybody who is doing that (except my friend who is originaly from Brasil). And the situation that you can´t ask for tap water in restaurants is changing here too. In many restaurants you can normaly ask for tap water and they bring it for free or for small fee.
It makes sense to charge a lot more at an event or family attraction as most people will not over indulge simply because of the price. Having said that, I'm sure that's not the main reason these places have for over pricing
In the UK, if you have a meal at a restaurant/cafe you're entitled to a glass (or more) of tap water, might not have ice. Some posh establuishments keen to sell overpriced alcohol might look down on you though. And sparkling water not so common unless you're at a posh place
I still love my timeshare on Loch Lomond in Scotland... if you try to tip staff, they will hand it back to you, and it is considered an insult. Tipping in general has become more and more common - copying the US, but is still a very voluntary thing. Many of my friends do not tip at all, on principle. But many do too. I like having the choice.
Tipping is classified as insulting in a lot of cultures. American restaurant staff are extremely poorly paid. Tax is included in the price in many countries.
Tipping in scotland should be done as you pay and left on the tray or added to the card payment. It is taboo to hand cash directly to wait staff over here.
@@robertmurray8763 tipping is insulting depending of context. from what i have been taught, tipping is there to reward an extraordinary conduct, where an employee do more than what he is expected to do. tipping someone that was doing what they were expected to do actually indicate that the customer expected the employee to be worse than normal. that's why it is considered insulting .
As someone who works in the service industry in the US, in the topic of TIPS, here's a couple of things most people might not know: 1) If you're working in a position where you are expected to make tips, it is factored in to how much your salary is. Most often you are paid *less* than the minimum wage because your tips are expected to make the difference. And that is why tips are very important to the employees and why we're very thankful if people tip above the norm. 2) Tips are taxable income. You are expected to report your tips when doing your taxes. Generally people report 70% of what they receive in tips.
To je šílené a měli by do toho zakročit odbory. Nikdo nesmí pracovat na hlavní pracovní poměr a dostávat míň, než minimální mzda. V Evropě číšníci dostávají normální průměrný plat a můžou se obejít bez spropitného.
You can just tell server, that you dont want the beer. It's not a big deal. And automatical new beer depends on pub. Somewhere server ask, somewhere you get one automaticaly or you just make eye contact with server and nod / raise you glass / raise finger. ;)
In Denmark service personnel gets a reasonable wage and tipping is offically included in the bill. You may well round up or reward particulary good service, but it is not unusual just to pay the exact bill.
As a brit I have experienced American customer service once and left the restaurant cause it felt predatory. I also absolutely hate ice in my drinks XD
Most notably, some American tourists seem to think that all of Europe has been waiting for them, rolling out the red carpet and catering to their every need. Cities like Prague or Munich are overrun with tourists, we won't wait for you and you don't have to come back. If you are in the Czech Republic, accept that they want to continue living there like in the Czech Republic and not like in Texas. And if you want to improve our recipes, then cook and eat at home.
Bravissimo! So very well said! Sometimes I am afraid, that we will loose our european culture in prostitute to tourists from usa! We are going to be americanized, started slowly since decades!!! I add another point: us tourists are dressed in our high culture cities like at a bbq at the beach:-(
Around here with exception of tourism heavy zones you are Not expected to tip, period, specially now that the majority of payments is made by card. Restaurant bill is 95$ that's what you pay unless you are paying cash and decide you don't want to wait for the change, that or you feel the service/meal/whatever was better than the norm and deserves that extra $$
Czech service workers are not rude. They are just not trying to pretend to be hyped or happy all the time. They do their work, they bring you food and when they share a smile with you you know it's genuine.
I hear what hes saying about coffee, but I'm a carpenter that from Canada that spends 10+ hours a day often 30+ min from anywhere I can get a coffee. I gladly take my 4L coffee thermos into the woods so everyone can have some coffee over the day.
Most cafes have more than one kind of beer and they will only bring you another one if you order one in the Netherlands. Some beers are on tap, some are in a bottle. Who the hell serves beer in a plastic container? 🥴 and plastic cutlery and plates etc. 😵💫 Customize food, forget it. Only minor changes can be made due to, for example, allergies. Free tap water depends on the restaurant. You only get the bill when you’re finished and ask for it. We only tip if service was good; 10% is normal amount. Size of the coffee cup depends on the part of the Netherlands you’re in. In the south and southeast you tend to get a bigger cup.
Well, the benefit of carbonated drinking water is actually quite simple to explain. In Germany, the low mountain ranges are often of volcanic origin and there are still numerous thermal springs there today. These were used early on and even in Roman times they built baths here and made use of the healthy water. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the benefits of mineral springs were rediscovered by the High Middle Ages at the latest, and mineral baths and the first spa facilities were established. At the end of the 16th century, drinking cures became popular in addition to bathing, although the same motto was followed. The bathers drank incessantly from the mineral fountains from dawn to dusk. Drinking medicinal water became so popular with the wealthy that in the 17th century the well water began to be filled into jars and shipped. Since the bottled mineral water was not cheap, doctors came up with the idea of producing artificial healing water. The decisive breakthrough came from the German doctor and pharmacist Friedrich Adolph August Struve. He managed to chemically analyze various waters, and also to imitate their smell and taste. In 1820 he opened his own mineral water establishment in Dresden. As far as it was good, this water was considered healthy and a luxury good. This goes hand in hand with the natural displacement of this spring water with carbonic acid. This, too, was finally integrated into industrial production and was ultimately regarded as a sign of quality. That is why the carbonated drinking water has now established itself as particularly desirable over the proverbially centuries.
Tipping is to show your appreciation of the service. And if the service was bad, there is nothing to appreciate. So you don't tip. And if they charge you extra service costs like for paying by card, you subtract that from the tip.
if you're finished with your beer and need a break, simply lay a coaster on the empty glass and the waiter won't bring another one. That's at least how it's here in Germany but I guess anywhere in Europe
I hate that customer always right mentality. When I’m in Italy, at a great pizza restaurant, I expect the pizzaiolo to know everything about pizza. I won‘t ask for pineapples. I also hate the fakeness of so many things in the US. Like the smiling waitress who will ask you if you want to order something else, in the hope that you immediately leave. I don’t want to tip for really bad food, even if the waitress was nice. Often the food in the US taste like chemicals, but you don’t know it before ordering. Why should I pay more for something I could only have a bite?
I would certainly object if brought another beer I had not ordered. For all the barman knows I might be driving and another beer could make me unsafe to drive. Here in Croatia if you order a coffee it will be the small cup as shown in the video but you are also given a glass of tap water.
we have zero tolerance of alcohol + driving in CR so we always do like servers to bring another beer. In local pubs it's nomal, in order to not get another beeer, you have to ask the server to stop bringing them. It's great imo
the interesting thing about Tap Water, it's common in Europe for people to drink Tap water, water is generally fine to drink from the taps, where I've always been under the impression in a lot of America you don't drink from the Taps. "In the UK all licensed premises are required by Law to provide “free potable water” to their customers upon request." I wonder if maybe in the Czech Republic, some tap water is not up to standards and cannot be served
An American friend of my daughter told me we don't have Indians in England. Indians are from America. When I pointed out that the chap who owned the small convenience shop just down the road was from India, she said, "then he is Asian".
Cultural class? Nope. They just need to go do some research on the restaurant/s they would like to visit. Learn the menu. Understand the menu is the menu. Understand that the food/meal/dish they serve is served in the way/style it is. If it wasn't, it wouldn't be the style of food/restaurant the advertise as, for one. Which means why bother going into business in the first place if people are constantly requesting / demanding food that is not served.
The USA don't include taxes because big business across interstate lines don't want to have to dub or modify advertising that states price, and sales tax varies from state to state... Big business is King in the USA so everybody has to calculate tax to save them some money...
They can just say "this is the price before taxes" in the advertisement and that's it. No need to keep all prices without taxes just because of the advertising.
@@RaduRadonys How long before a law suit that they didn't advertise the correct price. In a letigious environment like the USA you no doubt minimise the potential or risk for challenge by always assuming they will sue you... Plus what your forgetting is, it's not just one business, it's ALL businesses, and that means real lobbying power and money... But I'm interested, why do you think you don't include sales taxes in retail? You are very much the exception...
I really don't like this American behavior of the waiters. There's nothing worse than a fake smile saying "please give me money because I'm literally starving to death because my government hates low level employees"
I think we’re quite lucky in the UK (yes there is hope) - we tend to get the best of both worlds between the US and the rest of Europe. Moderate menu choice, emphasis on draft, free water, tipping discretionary.
F(u)ntastic presentation. Loved it, since we travel often to the States and confirm what you say. I stayed in Prague for six months, early'90s, and saw the T-34 tank being painted pink. Later visits saw many many changes for the better.
Nothing is wrong, here and there. A foreign behaviour can be when visiting. While crossing a border the first thing is to adapt and stop comparing manners. Make sure you'll feel comfy before you visit any place. If a tip or a drafted beer is a problem you better stay at home and do your day-to-day thing.
i think it is the visitors duty to inform themselves beforehand and try to adapt. the service industry also try to be nice, but if you want the same things than at home, just stay home
I`ll name the countries where i have been where tap water is for free.Italy Austria,Slovenia,Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina,Serbia,Montenegro,Romania,Bolgaria,Croatia,Slovakia,Spain and France.
A Waiter bringing a new beer when you're done...that is rude and this is coming from a german. We also generally have lots of beers available. You can absolutly get a restaurant to change something about the meal. Many meals have several sides you can choose. Also any good restaurant will ask you how you want your meat. Tap water is legally required to be provided for free as well. Important to remember, it's never US vs EU. It's US vs, Tchec, german, french, english, irish, scottish, swiss, hungarian, polish etc etc etc And while some are similar or identical, I get culture shock as well.
The difference is way more than he says. In the USA they are nice because they fully depend on tips. A waitresses salary in the United States is low as fuck. Can't rember how low but think other video I seen about it was some get as less as 3.50 an hour so ofc they are over nice I would even call it fake nice since they hope that u as customers tip well. Also the reason u get in the staates free water or free refills is that the restaurant or even fast food chains way underpay their workers. Plus what he said too tons ice in it so from the let's say 1liter cola U actually get 200 milliliters and 800 of that content is ice lol
What are the differences you've personally seen or heard about for cultural differences? These are spot on!
Apologies about my fellow Americans 😅 I'd like to hear more!
I am living in the land of the free - well, in my case I am talking 'bout Germany! ;)
Beein' nude in a park or at a beach, smoking while drinking alcohol in public is not a big deal. You can do it, if you want to. I am not very sure about that in the US. I am pretty sure I would get arrested for several things and would end up in prison for quite a long time ... ^XD
Sorry to be rude but the US Beer he shows looks like... Piss Water....
Where is the nice "Crown"? And 15USD and you have to drink it froma PLASTIC-Whatever?
And about the Toilets: Bars in Berlin and co have similiar Toiletts. And in Europe we do have Laws (not kidding) wich do demand Restrooms for a specific amount of Chairs/Tables (so basicly Persons). The Bigger your Bar/Cafe/Whatever: The more Restrooms you have to provide.
Smal Backeries with like 3 Seats do not have to offer a Restroom at all (it starts about 5 People "sitting", or would be ABLE to sit...). For Discos (Dancefllors) and co other Messurements are used (m², so the plain SIZE of the Destination since it is less likely that most People do sit there)). :)
But the guy from Czech does a very well Job! A great Video!
7:36: Of course, it is rude asking too much for customization. The chef composed the meal as it is. Cooking is a craft. If you wish too much altered, you tell the chef that he doesn't know his job, which is an insult. As a kid, you learn: you eat whatever comes on the table. No extra wishes.
@@Nikioko I hate mayonnaise, it makes me sick to look at it! If a burger originally comes with that on it, what's wrong with with telling them to leave that off or replace it with mustard or something else?
@@timothyreel716 I am talking about restaurants, and you are talking about fast food. Another difference. 😆
If you don't like mayonnaise, just have it without. That is one change, not half a dozen. Or choose another dish which doesn't have mayonnaise. It is ok to say that they should leave out one ingredient. But don't say: “Instead of mayonnaise, I want mustard, instead of mushrooms I want some pickles, and please give me an extra slice of cheese.” If you do that, they probably would answer: “If you don't like that dish, why don't you take something else on the menu?”
In Britain it is illegal not to provide tap water in licensed premises. Also tap water is provided free, if asked for, in all cafes.
Same in Portugal
And pubs. I’m not sure why though 😅
In the Czech republic, they usually do it because of exclusive contracts with companies that provide soft drinks.
Same in Croatia
I think this is a human rights law in many countries. You can't be denied tap water in a public space, even if it's not a restaurant. If you go to a car dealership and ask for water, they have to serve you.
I live in Denmark. And one of the biggest differences in service at restaurants and drinking establishments, is the fact that it is the restaurateur who employs the staff and pay their wages. Which is a set (real) salary made between the employess union, and the employers association. They negotiate everything related to employer/employee in 2year agreements. All without interference from governmental influence.
This means that staff is not reliant on tips to actually be able to survive. They’re paid a salary. That also means, they don’t have to be all over the customer trying to accomodate every single wish and desire (even ones not yet arisen). Most customers here will consider this as being _extremely_ rude. I don’t go to a restaurant to talk with my waiter the entire evening. I go there with friends and family to spend quality time with them. So only make yourself available when I call for you.
I’m Italian. One of the thing me and the people I go out with consider to be good, competent service is the waiters being discreet and leaving you alone unless needed. To have someone constantly all over your table starts out funny and ends up being quite rude for us. I know these people are trained to act this way and I also know they aren’t paid a living wage. Personally I feel sorry for them, because to me being forced to be iperactive with clients is an exercise in humiliation, and besides, at least from the likes of me, gets the opposite results than what is intended
Fully agree with you both. Waiters should get decent salaries and be discretely serviceable with customers. It is not ethical that you pay crap to your employees and use that to create hidden additional expense for your customers.
In Sweden the service industry unions ended tipping and it is now already included in the menu price, a serving fee, which you don't pay when getting takeout. The servers get a higher wage and the customers don't get pestered with false grace
Spot on. As an expat American in Sweden, I am happy that food servers are paid by the restaurant, it is included in the price. Food servers are not subject to sexual harassment and their wage isn't dependent on how young, cute and flirty they are.
As a UK resident who has lived and worked in Ohio for 2yrs (1996/97) I think it's great here that the chef dictates the menu, not the customer
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We hire a pro to make the meals...
I totally agree, my only issue is allergies, I personally would select something that fits my food preferences but wheat can be hard to avoid for gluten intolerant people (not me)
@@feldegastSome menus contain information about allergies. Or you can ask the waiter. In the end though,for how many different people should restaurants cater ? Gluten intolerant, diabetic, vegetarians, vegans, halal, kosher, etc ...
@@flitsertheo oh I agree, even just finding vegetarian options at some places can be hard but people with glutin intolerances have it way worse...
Fun fact - in Czechia we have a law which states that there must be at least one non-alcoholic drink on the menu which is cheaper than beer since beer is so cheap here people would just default to it in every non-driving scenario (The beer for 55czk he showed is actually overpriced like hell cuz its probably around the center of Prague - outside you can probably comfortably get a beer for 30czk or so (dollar and a half)
Jak přijde chlapeček do hospody a říká, dal bych si malé pivo. Servírka říká a nechtěl bys radši limonádu? No chtěl bych, ale chybí mi 2 koruny 😀
@@He.Mi35that prices are thing exclusive to the check republic, because in other parts of Europe, the prices are a lot more likely the USA, because usually a medium draft beer costs around 5€, and only if it is a regular beer, if it is some specialty craft can cost much more
@@willy4170 Slovenia, beer (0,5 L) around 2 EUR.
Before ordering a drink with ice in Europe, keep in mind that soda contains far less sugar in Europe. Even the recipes for Coca-Cola and Pepsi are adjusted to the European market.
So, if You add too much ice to a drink in Europe, it will taste like cold water with a hint of soda in it.
Also, it's often considered a scam to fill up a glass with too much ice. After all, You pay for soda, not for frozen tap water. And that explains why there are no free refills: actually putting 100% soda in the glass is more expensive than 80% ice cubes and only 20% soda.
And don't worry, it's usually cold enough as it is kept in a fridge until serving.
Nah our soda also tastes best ice cold but I agree, it would be a scam without free refills.
There are places with unlimited refills, but it costs more and they usually adjust the syrup/water mix so its not the same as from a bottle
Coca cola and Pepsi, definitely not true, at least it isn't true of cans/bottles and the major chains that list nutrition. Exactly the same amounts of sugar per ml. Different type of sugar, same amount.
As you probably know, when it comes to beer choice in drinking establishments, the UK is more like the US. Although generally we would have more different styles of beer in a 'bog standard pub'. Beer in th Czech republic may be usually limited to one brewery per pub with a couple of styles of beer, however their Pilsners etc.... are vastly superior to the usual British and American efforts? They actually have flavour!
Also - the pub density in CZ cities is high, you don't like the brewery on tap? Walk 50 meters to the next one.
Many pubs and bars across Europe (inc UK) are "tied". They are owned by breweries and rented out to the landlord who runs them. So, these can offer a range of beers from that brewery, but few others (eg specialty ales/stouts such as Guiness). Free houses are owned by the licensee who runs them and he/she is free to offer any beer he wants, and to brew his/her own. I found the service at US eateries to be far too intrusive, spoiled by superficial smiles. I expect to take my time - it is a big part of eating out that there is no pressure to finish and start washing up! Finally, as my kids and grandkids were/are expected to eat what they're given (subject to firmly established dislikes - cooked spinach in my case), just as I was, to expect restauranteurs to change their well crafted menus just for me is absurd.
Thank you for more context to bars and pubs across Europe and some background on how they run, I had no idea! I unfortunately did not make it into a pub while in the UK last time I was there. Very much looking forward to the experience.
That is a big difference between the US/North America and it seems like the rest of the world. Smiling (be it much over the top and not genuine whatsoever) is so very different. Here we are brought up to smile and nod when you make eye contact with anyone to come off as friendly. So now Americans including myself go to Europe and make people feel weird when we smile at everyone and everything in sight.
Plus the customizing menu items exactly to how people want here is a very normal thing. I'm very easy going when it comes to the menu item only saying how I'd like meat cooked for example. Everything else I can simply take off or just eat if I don't like it. You should hear some orders over here, I'm shaking my head on how much people change/customize orders. "The customer's always right" is very big in the US.
My house is an inn, when we purchased it, it still had 10 years left on its licence with Whitbread brewery. Meaning if we turned it back into a pub in that time it would have to be under Whitbreads.
Thats not true that bars are owned by breweries and then rented out. I went and checked how many pubs or bars are Brewery owned in my country, which is Slovenia. Zilch,Zero, Nada. And the same goes to all of the Balkan countries. UK?? Shut up
@@baassbooster Yea Irish pubs / bars in Ireland are not run by Guinness, they might sell it , but the are mostly owned by a family
What you just said is illegal (anti monopoly and conflict of interest laws are b!tches) in Portugal and, although i cant say for sure if it is illegal or not, not a thing in France, Belgium and Luxembourg.
As a northern European. A waiter coming with a product I havent ordered (1:20) will be a negative experiences as I would perceive it as a scam-attempt (which it is if they try to charge you for a product you havent ordered). (8:45) To build on the free water thing. In my experience that's a Germany, Czechia (there about), and not the whole Europe. On the topic of tipping (13:13). The whole culture of tipping seems to be based on greed and/or a totally ignorance to any sort of human decency from the owners of a resturant (a whole country/culture). Tipping can therefore be seen as a sort of humanitarian aid to a culture so heartless than cant take care of its own. With that said, rounding up id gladly do, tipping if for when things were above expected or of a extra high class/quality.
I was in a store in Florida and there was a sign saying queue here and wait for the next checkout. I dutifully queued where it said only to find Americans just going straight to the till. The checkout girl called me over and I said "Sorry, I just read the sign and did what it said." Apparently she found this to be funnier than anything Chris Rock, Robin Williams or Richard Pryor had ever said on stage. Queuing is second nature to us in the UK.
Love how respectful you are, well done! We love you, you love us, share the knowledge and learn to be better!
Thank you very much from Germany for this great open, honest and humble reaction! I love the Honest Guide channel and most things they say about cultural differences between the U.S. and Czech Republic are also true for the U.S. and Germany. (Importantly though: A generic cup of coffee in Germany is generally a bit larger and it's filter coffee, not espresso.)
You do not need to apologise for your fellow Americans, though. As Janek points out, this is about cultural differences and in principal, there is no wrong or right (except perhaps regarding environmental decisions in these days). The key is in my opinion that if you visit a foreign country, don't expect it to be a copy of your own. Prepare for different and therefore interesting experiences, be a little bit humble and do some research before travelling.
As a German-Canadian, who has spent time on both continents, I can agree with everything that was covered. On the beer, I do like craft beers and trying many kinds, but having Coors, Coors Light, Bud, Bud Light, Michelob, Corona, etc. as options is just offering many brands of the same swill. In many German pubs, they will have a few varieties/styles, but from the same brewery. You usually order by style (“l’ll have a Pils/Hefeweizen” etc.)
Even back in the mid-90s, we would bring our containers from home to the store for deli meats and they would stick the label to the lid. No plastic waste. It was considered pretty normal. I can’t believe how much unnecessary plastic waste we have in Canada today.
The pb is that tap water is available in many, many European countries. The guy speak about Czech republic not about Europe...
The bill, service and tipping things in the USA are very crazy stuff for us.
Criminale to not pay your personal normal
Important thing to WHY we have 1 brewery on tap: Flow makes taste. If there is something you DONT want, its to hit the tap that wasnt used for like an hour... Hour is long enough for a lager type beer to get spoiled in the pipes. Fewer taps there is, the more fresh and tasty its going to be.
Slavery was supposedly abolished in the USA in the 1860s but employers today can pay workers an absolute pittance if the workers can get tips. They treat their staff like slaves. In Australia we pay workers a wage they can live on so tipping is neither necessary or expected. You can tip if you want to for exceptional service but there is no requirement to do so. I do not consider it good service if the waiter is at your table every five minutes. I am quite capable of filling my own wine glass. Leave me alone. If I want you, I'll catch your eye.
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Yes . I agree.
P.S. Always thought tipping was from the slavery era.
The need for tipping (in my view) is just a sort of humanitarian aid in cultures that arent developed enough to treat their citizens decently.
That tipping part is so true. It is really not normal to leave a tip in Denmark. You do it if the service was really extra good or the meal was that extra above the average but else you thank for the meal to the staff and leave, same in any service really. In Czech it used to be normal to tip even in the hair dresser or to leave a small tip for the mailman who delivered your letter 4 flights of stairs without an elevator. It is changing for sure but it is normally around the 10%, I would feel odd giving more, or we still round it up. Lets say the bill was 79CZK it is sort of normal to round it up to the 100 because that is a number on the money bill so the waiter doesn't have to bother with change and small coins. But 25% tip would leave me personally uncomfortable, like I am trying too hard.
I totally agree. I tip when i am satisfied with the service I received, not to provide a waiter or waitress with a decent income. If this is the way these hardworking people have to make a decent living, it is proof, once more, that the USA is a very sick country. Far too many people West of the Atlantic Ocean (apart for Canadians, they are smart and have common sense) think they live in the Greatest Country in the World, but they are wrong! They live in the Ununited States of Moronia, and they'll probably stay as dumb as they are, thanks to the pityful level of education!
US Ex pat in Europe; I am happy that the price on the menu is the price paid. The restaurant pays the staff, food servers are not subjected to sexual harassment as much and their wages are dependent on how young cute and flirty they are, nor on how sober the cooks are.
Do miss ice in drinks, heck my home refridgerator doesn't even have a place to put ice Cube trays.
Yes, here in Czechia you usually go to the pub that has the beer you like. And you can see the sign of the brewery in the front of the pub. One brewery makes more than one kind of beer, so you just choose the type you like. I worked here for a small old brewery (since 1379) and it does 14 different kinds of beer and a pub usually has 2 or 3 of them on tap. And some other specials in bottle.
About the customizing the food - that´s why is the chef in the restaurant that makes the taste of the food. That´s why there are Michelin stars. And how do you know how it should taste if you never had the meal before?! So yes, it is not common to customize the food unless you realy don´t eat something and than is up to you to ask what does it contain or what you don´t want to have in your meal. They will not ask you - you have to ask.
And why we don´t have the ice in our drinks? Because it is considered as steeling. If you want to have a 0,5L glass of juice, you want to have there the juice and not the ice. If you want the ice there, you can ask and they put it inside or they bring it separately. What I see in American movies they bring you a lot of ice with a small amount the drink you asked for. You don´t pay the dring but just the ice which is here free.
Our small coffee is stronger that your brown watter.
BTW, when I saw the pictures of American food from restaurants in this video, it all looks unhealthy and not tasty. I thing that even meal should look better on the plate. Even the bad meal.
Ther are massive differences even between different european countries, as a Czech, it's pretty similar in Germany or Austria, but when I go to southern europe or more north, it's a way different. It's very different even in Poland which is our neighbor. You can see cultural influences in other countries even after hundreds of years, in Poland, it was mainly France who had influence to them, for us it was Germany and Austria. Southern Europe is unique, some things are more close to US (like they drop bill in front of you without asking) but some things are totally different, like more south you are, the smaller coffee you will get. For example our Czech espresso is lungo in south, our lungo is americano for them etc....when I visited Latvia, it was exactly vice versa, even some coffee machine at train station is giving you like 10L of coffee so you have to drop half of it to the ground because you can't really drink it. Something similar happened to me at gas station in Poland, they asked if I want small or big coffee, I said big and it was 400 mL!!! Can you believe that? 0.4L of coffee in paper cup, I would normaly drink that for few hours. 😀
Sweden, where I live, seems to be very different to the Czech republic in many ways. Beer culture is much more like the US with lots of different beers, both on tap and very many bottles. We can't get a bottle at the "next store", it is only available in state sponsored special stores and not on Sundays. Water is available everywhere at restaurants (Except at fast food restaurants where you could get it for free in the past but now you have to pay for it).
And our beer prices are much more like in the US. Well, except for amusement parks where they aren't as expensive. Otherwize, expect to pay $6 for a large beer on tap.
We don't have a culture of espresso sized cooffee. Our "normal size" is about 200 ml and up (200 ml is a small coffee).
@@Magnus_Loov "it is only available in state sponsored special stores and not on Sundays"
they should do it like that even here, alcoholism is really serious problem here and to drink all the time is considered standard and it's tolerated by society. Beer in pubs already cost almost the same as in western europe, but we have to remove those cheap beers from supermarkets, but it's very unpopular and it will be political suicide for government and also, next government would probably remove that ban, so it's wasting of time. Czech people mostly consider Scandinavian countries as socialist countries with a lot of bans and prohibitions, that would never pass here in our former communist country where every ban is considered evil and something which is against my freedom, but restrict alcohol like in your countries would be really usefull here. I still find it unfair that high volume alcohole is strongly taxed and it's very expensice, but you can buy a beer or boxed wine for less than 1 eur, so even homeless person can be drunken all the day.
@@Pidalin Maybe I should be more precise about it. Beer containing a maximum of 3.5% alcohol is actually allowed to be sold everywhere in normal grocery stores and the like. 3.5% is borderline pilsner territory and you can actually get kind of drink by drinking lot of them. And the cheapest ones on a can (not bottles) costs a bit less than an Euro if you buy a sixpack.
But the normal stronger beer (usually 4.5% and up, normally around 5%) do cost a bit more than an Euro. Well, maybe , the cheapest almost undrinkable one costs around an Euro flat.
There is another benefit of the state sponsored stores: The assortment of beer and other beverages is great.
@@Magnus_Loov 3.5%, that's some 10° festival watery beer, most of Czech beers have around those 4.5%, but I know that the worst alcoholics drink those 3.5% beers because they want to buy more of them. These beers were standard during communism, people were used to drink like 10 beers in pub during one visit. We mostly distinguish 3 basic kinds of lagers - 10°, 11° and 12° and it has nothing to do with temperature of beer ofcourse, 10° is good for festivals or cheap pubs (it's not nescesserly bad, but it's weak and watery), 11° is standard everyday beer and 12° are the best beers like pilsner urquel, but these beers are stronger and I mostly sleep after like 3 of them. 🙂
we come from sweden, and my opinion is that there are pros and cons to both the american and european type of service in a restaurant, for me the best imaginable service is the one based on the motto "operate without being seen" if everything is to your satisfaction I don't even want to perceive that the waitress is there, but as soon as I'm unhappy with something and look up to make contact, she should be there.
in America I experience that I am constantly interrupted and disturbed unnecessarily, in Sweden it can be too difficult to get help when needed.
I remember when my partner and I were in the USA and went out to have a romantic dinner at a nice restaurant, everything was perfect, good wine, great food and wonderful company, but the waiter kept coming and interrupting and disturbing, asking about everything was to our satisfaction, as if for some reason we were not able to complain if we were dissatisfied, then the bill came in the middle of the main course, and then it was very difficult to get in touch with them to order dessert, coffee drinks and snacks, they made it very clearly they wanted to get rid of us, even though the restaurant was half empty and it was several hours until closing, the dinner cost us 200 usd, and we were ready to pay up to 50 usd in tip, but we felt so badly treated that they only got 10 usd in tip
Europe is, of course, a very diverse continent with so many different countries and cultures, and no two are the same. So, for example, in the Nordic countries you always get free water with your food in any restaurant you go to, it's included in the meal (from Finland myself but have noticed this in other Nordic countries as well). Sometimes there are even choices of having regular water, lemon water, mint water, or water with lime and strawberries etc. And it's all tab and it's all free, because the tab water here is amazing.
In buffets you usually pick and fetch your own water, but anywhere else, they automatically bring a jug of water to your table.
So even though I'm European, in this detail, our culture is more similar to the Americans than the Czechs.
Also, tipping. Not a thing at all in Finland, except as a sort of "trend" adopted from American culture. You might see tip jars at places but they are 100% optional and do not affect a waiter's paycheck in any way. They are paid the same proper salary regardless of what a customer tips or doesn't tip. It more on the same bar with "would like to make a donation, adds 2€ to your bill".
The chef makes the dish to be enjoyed not to be ruined by us changing ingredients not knowing what we do.
Just bringing you a new beer without asking used to be a thing in traditional pubs in Germany, too ... maybe not so much nowadays - therefore ways existed to give the waiter visual clues:
- if complitly empty your glass it indicates you want a new one
- if you leave a sip in it, it shows you are tacking a break
- similar if you put the coaster on top it means you are done - no new one, please.
The Czech are known for their beer, especially pilsner, even among the Europeans. They are light, tasty and cheap, and we all love visiting the Czech Republic and getting a nice draft beer with a plate full of goulash and dumplings. But the multitap bars are appearing even there due to the craft beer revolution :D I personally don't like it, as I like light pils or lager beer and ability to just "order one", but I guess it's good that people who like other kinds of beer have more opportunities to drink at the pubs as well :)
Yes - carbonated water is big here .. so big that not only can you get carbonated water in a restaurant - you can usually choose between two different levels of carbonation. There is an interesting fact - in czech language soda means seltzer water - basically just that - carbonated water . And lemonade (limonáda) basically means what soda means in the US. The US meaning of lemonade would be " citronáda" -Citron is just another word for lemon in different languages. Anyway carbonated water is really popular in Europe - before Soda Streams, people had at home Soda Siphons - very heavy thick glass bottles with metalic valves on top and often a knitted wire mesh to protect the glass. You would buy metallic co2 containers that you could screw onto it and make carbonated water. It was very heavy but it feels so much sturdier and more premium than a plastic Soda Stream :D
Sparkling water are naturally found here in Italy due the high volcano's activities. So in Italy we drink sparkling water a lot. Sparkling water was so "easy" to find that when I was young in my granpa's house there was a well with a sparkling water at the bottom.
Sicuro che sia proprio così? 😂
Yes but they get angry when you ask for a glass of tap water. I was married to a Italian so I know.
@@alxx1378 some do and some don’t. I can tell you that in Italy some public programs strongly suggest to business owners to give tap water to customers as base, especially in places where the quality of said water is excellent. It’s true that many of them want to make you pay for the water (it’s one of the products with most profit margin) but quite a few are less greedy (also, you generally pay a “coperto” in Italy which covers bread and tap water at the table)
I've never had tap water without asking and if i asked the looked at me in a very hostile way. that's why i loved the city water taps all over Rome.
Even my mother in law thought it's very gentle that we start with a glass of water and she said that in Italy it never happens, she is around 70 years old from Sardinia that lives in Toscana. Also I'm in the restaurant bar business since 87 so I check all these things around Europe or elsewhere. Half Greek half Swedish, my brother lives in Paris my ex was half Italian half German. I can safely say that I have traveled a lot in Europe. The other thing I don't like which you can see all over Europe is the price of the bottled water over 2 euro for a small one. In Greece by law small bottles are half a euro big ones one, it's a necessity not a commodity. And this is one of the few things I love in Greece.
Tap water is free if you ask for it in the UK. I've never had a problem ordering free tap water when dining in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium or most of the Scandinavian countries.
Maybe it is just in Prague 🤷♀️. I was there last year and was supposed since I didn’t get tapped water.
@@ananovak1468 It's usually a consequence of people being assholes, really. Here in Denmark, tap water used to come free in restaurants but they had to abandon it when people simply stopped ordering drinks and just drank the water. Given that most restaurants compete on price with food, the drinks is where the profit is at - making it unviable to give away free water and only making tiny amounts of money on the food. Of course, YMMV as with anything else in life: If what you're eating is expensive enough it doesn't matter and some places won't mind giving you some water if you've also ordered drinks.
@@Zinras that! Most profit is made with drinks. I dont know if that is not the case in the US?!
Nobody in Germany expects free water from a restaurant so I wouldn't count on it.
Free tap water in Belgium ? For the dog you brought along maybe. Pubs and restaurants are trying to make a profit, handing out free water is not part of that scheme.
Besides, it could get them into trouble with the taxman for whom nothing is free.
Restrooms...as a Dutch citizen I don't mind that people can see my feet. I do mind the big gaps at the side of the door at a lot of places in the USA. It doesn't give me the privacy I like in a restroom. :)
Re: burger choices: it didn't used to be so confusing until the fast food chains messed everything up! When I was young (50's & 60's) a hamburger with everything meant ketchup pickles,& onions, then if you wanted a California burger, that meant lettuce tomato, mayonnaise. Now, you have to tell them to leave off what you don't want, such as mustard, for instance.
I've actually pulled up to a drive up window and asked for a burger with ketchup pickles & onions and they invariably ask if I want cheese on that? 😂
in estonia, you first pay for ur meal, and then wait for it to be brought to the table.. and no check in the end , and no tipping no where. you pay, you ate you leave. :)
they ask you for tap or "minérale" water, in french restaurants, they also ask for flat or sparkled. tap water is free. beside that, I just LOVE Prague, one of the most beautiful city in Europe, would love to move there!
Here in the UK, it's illegal for health and safety reasons not to provide free tap water in any establishment where alcohol is served.
I understand it's because of the dehydration effect of alcohol. You don't have to have bought any alcohol to be able to have free tap water.
You might be interested in Dream Prague channel. Many videos on cultural differences between life in US and the Czech Republic made by a native Californian with a great sense of humour!
this is not USA vs Europe. This is USA vs Czech Republic. BIG difference.
Most of the points are valid though.
Yea I was going to say the same as this guy...most the points are still relatable
90% of what he said is valid for all of Europe
I'm British and most (not all) applies to the UK too so although it's specific to the Czech Republic it is relevant.
@@aqidon not for the water
Here in Finland at least in low and mid tier restaurants (never been to a fancy place) the water is in pitchers you get for you table. Either pick it up yourself from a fridge or its brought to the table when you order (depending on if you order at the register or at the table)
In the UK you can get free tap water if you ask. It is usual to have multiple draft beers on offer and many allow local beers to be available as well.
Plus here in Greece when new customers come we start by offering a glass of tap water. It's hot here and it's polite and I think no other European countrie does it.
From my experience, most places in Europe start out with a mug/caraf/bottle(filled with tapwater) either it already there or offered with first contact with the waiter. Its only German/Czech (and maybe some more) that dont
Here in the UK, many of us judge a place by its toilets. If they're not nice, we assume the kitchen is the same and won't eat there. This was very interesting. x
7:36: Of course, it is rude asking too much for customization. The chef composed the meal as it is. Cooking is a craft. If you wish too much altered, you tell the chef that he doesn't know his job, which is an insult. As a kid, you learn: you eat whatever comes on the table. No extra wishes.
Note the people commenting that tap water is free in the UK, avoid it in London area it's vile. And recently it's been fluorinated too.
12:00 actually the studies on tips say that the diffrence in tips with a bad vs good waiter is like 1% aka nothing. It barley makes a diffrence
Very often when you're having a meal in a Spanish "proper" restaurant (not a bar that serves meals) and wine is bought by the bottle (in many places you can also buy by the glass), the waiters will (re)fill people's glasses. You can still signal you don't want any wine from the start (flip the glass upside down, they'll take it away) or that you don't want more (hover your hand over the glass).
Water thing in europe differs country to country, restaurant to restaurant. A lot of times they will give you free tap water if you specify. If you just ask for water they might bring bottled. With coffee usually you get glass of water no questions asked for free.
Also, feels like most of the US vs. Europe videos are actually US vs. rest of the world. We like to split the world to west vs. east (Turkey's longitude being kinda the splitting point), but in many cases it's actually just NA vs. rest of the world. Would be good to hear people from outside US/Europe in which camp they belong.
Also I think that in US you can sometimes just leave money under your bill or something and go if you dont want any change ? Or is that something only done in movies ? I have never done that - even if I am at a restaurant that brings your bill on a tray hidden from view .. even if I dont want any change .. I will put the cash inside and wait for them to actually count it and only leave once everything has been confirmed and I have said my goodbyes etc. Its actually a huge pain because usually even if they bring the bill in this way - you arent meant to write your tip anywhere .. so if you actually expect change you have to tell it to the waiter .. but the waiter may not have seen how much you put inside ... so they have to go back, count it .. usually bring you back full change without any tip .. HUGE PAIN IN THE BUTT btw. I much prefer simply saying how much I would like to pay with the tip included and then just do it right away in the open even if its near other customers - the staff will gladly calculate their tip themselves.
What pay with cash. I live in Australia 🇦🇺 and cash is rarely used.
Many places tables have a small credit card. We touch and go.
I hated sparkling water as a kid, but for a while you actually had to specify that you want regular water, not the sparkling stuff which was the default for some reason. It's not like that anymore thankfully.
how being multilingual it is normal to speak multiple languages, while knowing a few phrases for north american is a wow moment
Seriously? I'm from Croatia, and in our pubs (at least in my town) you have like 5 types of draught beer, and like 50 different other brands of bottled ones. Also, the water is pretty much free 🤷♂️, and I must have been in Czech Republic a long time ago, because I don't seem to remember a lot of those things. As for the USA - that was a whole another story. I was in Atlanta, Georgia back in 2005, and decided to take a walk in the suburb. I was stopped probably by 10-15 people, asking me: "Why don't you drive?" . That was one thing that really shocked me how many people drive cars instead just walking. But to conclude, I've had a great experience in both countries - Czech Republic as well as USA.
Regarding water, in the UK it is quite different. All restaurants, bars, pubs are obliged by law to provide tap water on for free on request. Most places now just put water on your table automatically.
Finland: tip = 0%
tipping is taxation nightmare and no one wants all that extra paperwork just for few euros.
In some places dont serve tap water because if get poisened by it for some reason, maybe because is somethin wrong with pipes or something,
they can get sued or eve closed.
here in Sweden every pub has many different types of beer on tap but they always have one type of lager that is the default one. so if you just want a beer and don't really care about the brand you just say I would like (en stor stark) a large strong one and you get a 5 DL glas of draft beer.
What i think is funny about this kinds of videos is that its basicly the same allover the planet, its just the US that differs. And they call it culture shock or something.
In Italy you only tip for exceptional service. Waiters are paid full wages. If you look at your bill, you will find the cover charge which "covers" bread and the table setting but there is usually a "service" charge of 20%. This literally is the cost of the service.
Tips means To Insure Prompt Service it was given before dining and not after. The thing that the waiter has to wait at the end to see what he gets is wrong so it's better to have a good salary.
For me as czech is better to dont have option for customize any meal, because you can be almost 100% sure, if you have any meal from menu _( in __7:32__ daily menu for example)_ it s from fresh raw materials - fresh means buyed as not freezed.
If I would see menu with 60 different meals or 30 another customizes, I would evade the restaurant and rather to go into fastfood, because I m very sceptical about freshness and if restaurant isnt super popular, its unsustainable to avoid raw materials from freezer or few days laying in refrigerator.
Old Gordon Ramsay's show Kitchen Nightmares was nice proof, how it works.
Same from above applies for beers on tap. You can be sure, the beer have best taste as possible, because it isnt stuck in pipes/barrels long time.
Not all but many pubs/restaurants offers beers in bottle, but they are without alcohol or are special beers unable to buy in supermarket _(mostly time with high percent of alcohol)_
Different about tipping is workers in restaurants _(even when you are in no luxury ones)_ have full wage as any workers _(as sellers in the shops for example)_ and they dont rely on tipping.
I've seen this video a couple of times before (both the original and some reactions).
The biggest failure about this video is that he compares the Czech Republic to the US, but he claimes it's Europe vs US. Over here in Belgium, we have a huge Beer Culture. Pubs that don't have a choice between - I don't know - a dozen (special) beers at the minimum is just considered unprofessional.
and yet your country is 26th in beer consumption per capita and Czech is 1st
i guess we all are drinking while you still choosing which beer you drink :D :D :D
just kidding :D ye Honest Guide should have named it differences between US and Czech.
and i'm from small town / village in Czech and we usually have 2 or 3 beers on tap in pubs.
in city i believe it's more simple to have just one beer at tap when you have plenty of customers
@@doposud Considering a lot of the Belgian beers are closing in on 10% alcohol, I don't think it's very strange they drink less. :)
@@doposud probably bc Czechia had cheaper beer too
9:09 I should have mentioned it before, beneath the original video:: water is good for the cattle.
about beer : go to belgium there are pubs with more than 100 different beers, but not on tap. and the price ? from 3-5 $
is that Runescape music in the background at the end? nice video and hi from Czech republic
Haha thanks! Someone noticed! Thankfully RS music is free to use and they have some good music.
Greetings from California :)
Service and tipping is different, due to the extremely low pay in the US, therefore the serving staff rely on the tips to survive. In the EU, there are minimum wages set by the EU that sets pay to ensure you can live on the pay without tips.
Gotta agree on the coffee thing. Now days it seems it's dominated by people who really don't like coffee...you can tell these people by all the stuff they put in it so they can drink it.
Back in the day, you'd get a porcelain cup and endless refills.....for 10 cents, maybe even a nickel!!
I do not know the czech laws for restaurants but maybe they are forbidden to server tap water as long as they do not have a special tap - highly controlled for bacteriea and dirt x times a day, cleaned every half an hour with aggressive "kills everything" cleaner, needed special pipes (no old lead pipes), attached filters (that are costly) etc.
And for the carbonated water: We (Germany) have good tap water in our homes, so why we should go to a restaurant to drink the same water we can drink at home? Additionally carbonated water is more "refreshing" than plain one.
We have very strictly controlled tap water in Czech lands and not many people are buying bottled water for home. Actualy i don´t know anybody who is doing that (except my friend who is originaly from Brasil). And the situation that you can´t ask for tap water in restaurants is changing here too. In many restaurants you can normaly ask for tap water and they bring it for free or for small fee.
We don't usually tip in the UK. Restaurants should pay their staff proper wages and just charge more.
In Spain, bars and restaurants are obliged by law to supply water for free if the customer does not want bottled water.
It makes sense to charge a lot more at an event or family attraction as most people will not over indulge simply because of the price. Having said that, I'm sure that's not the main reason these places have for over pricing
In the UK, if you have a meal at a restaurant/cafe you're entitled to a glass (or more) of tap water, might not have ice. Some posh establuishments keen to sell overpriced alcohol might look down on you though. And sparkling water not so common unless you're at a posh place
What? Sparkling water is available everywhere.
I still love my timeshare on Loch Lomond in Scotland... if you try to tip staff, they will hand it back to you, and it is considered an insult. Tipping in general has become more and more common - copying the US, but is still a very voluntary thing. Many of my friends do not tip at all, on principle. But many do too. I like having the choice.
Tipping is classified as insulting in a lot of cultures.
American restaurant staff are extremely poorly paid.
Tax is included in the price in many countries.
Tipping in scotland should be done as you pay and left on the tray or added to the card payment. It is taboo to hand cash directly to wait staff over here.
@@robertmurray8763 tipping is insulting depending of context.
from what i have been taught, tipping is there to reward an extraordinary conduct, where an employee do more than what he is expected to do.
tipping someone that was doing what they were expected to do actually indicate that the customer expected the employee to be worse than normal. that's why it is considered insulting .
Todos los europeos estamos de acuerdo que la cerveza es muy cara en Usa. Y que las taxas han de estar incluidas.😂😅🤗🇪🇸
As someone who works in the service industry in the US, in the topic of TIPS, here's a couple of things most people might not know:
1) If you're working in a position where you are expected to make tips, it is factored in to how much your salary is. Most often you are paid *less* than the minimum wage because your tips are expected to make the difference. And that is why tips are very important to the employees and why we're very thankful if people tip above the norm.
2) Tips are taxable income. You are expected to report your tips when doing your taxes. Generally people report 70% of what they receive in tips.
To je šílené a měli by do toho zakročit odbory. Nikdo nesmí pracovat na hlavní pracovní poměr a dostávat míň, než minimální mzda. V Evropě číšníci dostávají normální průměrný plat a můžou se obejít bez spropitného.
I'm puzzled over the beer thing, automatically being served another beer. How do I signal that I'm done!?
You can just tell server, that you dont want the beer. It's not a big deal. And automatical new beer depends on pub. Somewhere server ask, somewhere you get one automaticaly or you just make eye contact with server and nod / raise you glass / raise finger. ;)
@@grellik Czech guy? Thank you for your response!
Greetings from Sweden.
In Denmark service personnel gets a reasonable wage and tipping is offically included in the bill. You may well round up or reward particulary good service, but it is not unusual just to pay the exact bill.
8:50 this is not the rules though. In many countries it is forbiden by law to charge for tap water (as long as you also order something else).
As a brit I have experienced American customer service once and left the restaurant cause it felt predatory. I also absolutely hate ice in my drinks XD
Most notably, some American tourists seem to think that all of Europe has been waiting for them, rolling out the red carpet and catering to their every need.
Cities like Prague or Munich are overrun with tourists, we won't wait for you and you don't have to come back.
If you are in the Czech Republic, accept that they want to continue living there like in the Czech Republic and not like in Texas.
And if you want to improve our recipes, then cook and eat at home.
Bravissimo!
So very well said!
Sometimes I am afraid, that we will loose our european culture in prostitute to tourists from usa!
We are going to be americanized, started slowly since decades!!!
I add another point: us tourists are dressed in our high culture cities like at a bbq at the beach:-(
Around here with exception of tourism heavy zones you are Not expected to tip, period, specially now that the majority of payments is made by card. Restaurant bill is 95$ that's what you pay unless you are paying cash and decide you don't want to wait for the change, that or you feel the service/meal/whatever was better than the norm and deserves that extra $$
Czech service workers are not rude. They are just not trying to pretend to be hyped or happy all the time. They do their work, they bring you food and when they share a smile with you you know it's genuine.
I hear what hes saying about coffee, but I'm a carpenter that from Canada that spends 10+ hours a day often 30+ min from anywhere I can get a coffee. I gladly take my 4L coffee thermos into the woods so everyone can have some coffee over the day.
Most cafes have more than one kind of beer and they will only bring you another one if you order one in the Netherlands.
Some beers are on tap, some are in a bottle.
Who the hell serves beer in a plastic container? 🥴 and plastic cutlery and plates etc. 😵💫
Customize food, forget it. Only minor changes can be made due to, for example, allergies.
Free tap water depends on the restaurant. You only get the bill when you’re finished and ask for it.
We only tip if service was good; 10% is normal amount.
Size of the coffee cup depends on the part of the Netherlands you’re in. In the south and southeast you tend to get a bigger cup.
Well, the benefit of carbonated drinking water is actually quite simple to explain. In Germany, the low mountain ranges are often of volcanic origin and there are still numerous thermal springs there today. These were used early on and even in Roman times they built baths here and made use of the healthy water. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the benefits of mineral springs were rediscovered by the High Middle Ages at the latest, and mineral baths and the first spa facilities were established. At the end of the 16th century, drinking cures became popular in addition to bathing, although the same motto was followed. The bathers drank incessantly from the mineral fountains from dawn to dusk. Drinking medicinal water became so popular with the wealthy that in the 17th century the well water began to be filled into jars and shipped. Since the bottled mineral water was not cheap, doctors came up with the idea of producing artificial healing water. The decisive breakthrough came from the German doctor and pharmacist Friedrich Adolph August Struve. He managed to chemically analyze various waters, and also to imitate their smell and taste. In 1820 he opened his own mineral water establishment in Dresden.
As far as it was good, this water was considered healthy and a luxury good. This goes hand in hand with the natural displacement of this spring water with carbonic acid. This, too, was finally integrated into industrial production and was ultimately regarded as a sign of quality. That is why the carbonated drinking water has now established itself as particularly desirable over the proverbially centuries.
Tipping is to show your appreciation of the service. And if the service was bad, there is nothing to appreciate. So you don't tip. And if they charge you extra service costs like for paying by card, you subtract that from the tip.
if you're finished with your beer and need a break, simply lay a coaster on the empty glass and the waiter won't bring another one. That's at least how it's here in Germany but I guess anywhere in Europe
I hate that customer always right mentality. When I’m in Italy, at a great pizza restaurant, I expect the pizzaiolo to know everything about pizza. I won‘t ask for pineapples.
I also hate the fakeness of so many things in the US. Like the smiling waitress who will ask you if you want to order something else, in the hope that you immediately leave.
I don’t want to tip for really bad food, even if the waitress was nice. Often the food in the US taste like chemicals, but you don’t know it before ordering. Why should I pay more for something I could only have a bite?
I would certainly object if brought another beer I had not ordered. For all the barman knows I might be driving and another beer could make me unsafe to drive. Here in Croatia if you order a coffee it will be the small cup as shown in the video but you are also given a glass of tap water.
we have zero tolerance of alcohol + driving in CR so we always do like servers to bring another beer. In local pubs it's nomal, in order to not get another beeer, you have to ask the server to stop bringing them. It's great imo
In Sweden you don't tip. You can do it if you really insist. But it's not really a thing.
the interesting thing about Tap Water, it's common in Europe for people to drink Tap water, water is generally fine to drink from the taps, where I've always been under the impression in a lot of America you don't drink from the Taps.
"In the UK all licensed premises are required by Law to provide “free potable water” to their customers upon request."
I wonder if maybe in the Czech Republic, some tap water is not up to standards and cannot be served
POW: I doN'r want a super smile service asking how dish was etc.. I want invisible service, who just doing their job
An American friend of my daughter told me we don't have Indians in England. Indians are from America. When I pointed out that the chap who owned the small convenience shop just down the road was from India, she said, "then he is Asian".
Well, neither of you were wrong.
Cultural class?
Nope. They just need to go do some research on the restaurant/s they would like to visit. Learn the menu. Understand the menu is the menu.
Understand that the food/meal/dish they serve is served in the way/style it is. If it wasn't, it wouldn't be the style of food/restaurant the advertise as, for one.
Which means why bother going into business in the first place if people are constantly requesting / demanding food that is not served.
taxes and service or gratuities or tips are included in ticket prices
The USA don't include taxes because big business across interstate lines don't want to have to dub or modify advertising that states price, and sales tax varies from state to state... Big business is King in the USA so everybody has to calculate tax to save them some money...
They can just say "this is the price before taxes" in the advertisement and that's it. No need to keep all prices without taxes just because of the advertising.
@@RaduRadonys How long before a law suit that they didn't advertise the correct price. In a letigious environment like the USA you no doubt minimise the potential or risk for challenge by always assuming they will sue you...
Plus what your forgetting is, it's not just one business, it's ALL businesses, and that means real lobbying power and money...
But I'm interested, why do you think you don't include sales taxes in retail? You are very much the exception...
I really don't like this American behavior of the waiters. There's nothing worse than a fake smile saying "please give me money because I'm literally starving to death because my government hates low level employees"
I think we’re quite lucky in the UK (yes there is hope) - we tend to get the best of both worlds between the US and the rest of Europe.
Moderate menu choice, emphasis on draft, free water, tipping discretionary.
F(u)ntastic presentation. Loved it, since we travel often to the States and confirm what you say. I stayed in Prague for six months, early'90s, and saw the T-34 tank being painted pink. Later visits saw many many changes for the better.
Nothing is wrong, here and there. A foreign behaviour can be when visiting. While crossing a border the first thing is to adapt and stop comparing manners. Make sure you'll feel comfy before you visit any place. If a tip or a drafted beer is a problem you better stay at home and do your day-to-day thing.
i think it is the visitors duty to inform themselves beforehand and try to adapt. the service industry also try to be nice, but if you want the same things than at home, just stay home
I love your chanel 🙂 . . . and yeah, there is a life outside the US 😀
The water thing isn't the same in all Europe. In Greece most places will serve you tap water for free without asking.
I`ll name the countries where i have been where tap water is for free.Italy Austria,Slovenia,Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina,Serbia,Montenegro,Romania,Bolgaria,Croatia,Slovakia,Spain and France.
A Waiter bringing a new beer when you're done...that is rude and this is coming from a german. We also generally have lots of beers available.
You can absolutly get a restaurant to change something about the meal. Many meals have several sides you can choose. Also any good restaurant will ask you how you want your meat.
Tap water is legally required to be provided for free as well.
Important to remember, it's never US vs EU. It's US vs, Tchec, german, french, english, irish, scottish, swiss, hungarian, polish etc etc etc
And while some are similar or identical, I get culture shock as well.
The difference is way more than he says. In the USA they are nice because they fully depend on tips. A waitresses salary in the United States is low as fuck. Can't rember how low but think other video I seen about it was some get as less as 3.50 an hour so ofc they are over nice I would even call it fake nice since they hope that u as customers tip well. Also the reason u get in the staates free water or free refills is that the restaurant or even fast food chains way underpay their workers. Plus what he said too tons ice in it so from the let's say 1liter cola U actually get 200 milliliters and 800 of that content is ice lol