Laartista said,"In the US servers get paid way below minimum wage"
Not true. In my state with a population of more than 36 million, it is against the law to pay less than minimum wage ,currently $7.00 per hour,for any job.No exceptions allowed.

Having served as a waiter, I feel qualified to wonder if the waitstaff smiles AT, rather than UPON,'aartista'.
I've smiled at people while thinking 'how ignorant can you be'. The comment about tipping the lawyer is relevant.If the waiter is getting 15€/hour, +10% SC from several tables, then gets "round-up" tips, why would a waiter NOT be inclined to think,"dumb Yank, doesn't even know our culture is different here"?

True, those minimum wage laws vary by state in the US, it isn't Federal. However, there are only a few that do require restaurant servers to be paid the minimum wage. Some do, however, I think that is very enlightened, but I know most US citizens don't even know that and tip the same regardless of state. I don't even know who all they are (but mine is not one), but I think they are all out West (California, Alaska, Oregon and Washington states used to be ones).

Trust me noone is thinking dumb yank! I am sure they are not thinking dumb yank or merely smiling AT my Hungarian mother when SHE is tipping them. Boy, maybe you all are afraid you'll just seem cheap. Believe me there are plenty of people here in the states that don't tip at home either because they are cheap or don't believe in gratuities. I don't judge them on this board. Yet I am being judged for being generous.LOL And Yes, sorry to say LOVEJOY in most states servers are paid way below minimum wage. I know that is the fact here in NY now and it was when I worked. I find it hysterical and laugh at those of you who must attack my charachter because I tip. That should be the worst thing I ever do is be A GOOD TIPPER!

Well, I know if I am the wait staff (fortunately, never had the privilege), I would appreciate a tip and a friendly smile.

It seems forgotten that the subject of this post is "tipping in Budapest", not 'tipping idiosyncracies of the American scene'.

laartista, do you think that I am attacking your character? I don't think that I am. I happen to disagree with you about a particular point of behaviour, that's all.

nibblette's post indicated how overtipping by some people can distort a situation. Gerbeaud's caters almost exclusively for tourists, and it seems that at least one person can testify that local customs can be messed up by tourists. [That particular one is not a problem for me because I don't much like Gerbeaud's. Been there, done that, not interested in going back.]

Kristina, you were probably mistaken. Whether or not it is separately detailed, the 10% SC is there. Where you saw it detailed, I suspect that it was not in addition to the price given on the menu, but the menu price broken down into its component parts. You are more likely to see it where the bill is produced by a machine that can be programmed to do the sums.

I agree with you about the rounding up. it can sometimes leave ridiculously small margins. But it's not that tight a protocol. If a bill comes to 19950 Ft, you can hand over 21000 Ft and that will be fine. Even handing over 20000 Ft is acceptable. Bear in mind always that servers are paid a living wage, and tips are extra and not needed.

Well I don't know, calling me culturally insensitive and my behavior vulgar is kind of attacking me and my character. Personally I don't care how others do it. I'm not saying that it should be done the American way here and there I'm saying I live and conduct myself with what makes me comfortable. I am well travelled and ALWAYS have great and interesting experiences when I am far from home and I attribute that to the way I handle myself, the fact that I'm open and THAT'S my character. I never said to use MY way of tipping as a guideline, I simply said that's what I do. For those that disagree, well too bad LOL, do what you want but I will not let anyone tell me how I should tip. It's my perogative.

laartista, I never called you culturally insenstive. I described one behaviour as culturally insensitive and said that some people would see it as vulgar. There is a difference between disagreeing with one aspect of a person's behaviour and attacking that person.

I'm not telling you what to do. I very rarely tell anybody what to do (and then usually when I am paying that person). What I am interested here is in helping kenav and others who go to Budapest to make their own decisions about tipping there. kenav clearly wants to do things in a way that would be considered appropriate in Hungary. I think that is a good starting point in deciding what to do.

Padraig-I'm going to respectfully disagree. I looked on both menus and checks for a 10% service charge and rarely saw one listed. If it was, we did not tip, or we just rounded up. If it wasn't, then we tipped about 10%.
If it was built into the menu prices, then wouldn't it say so on the menu?

It is possible that in some of the cafes where we just had pastry and coffee (and never saw a menu) that it was included and we "over tipped" by about $1, but honestly, I don't think that's going to shatter the natural order of things in Budapest.

However, I am going to check later today with my mother. For our more expensive meals, she paid with a creit card and has the detailed receipts. I will look to see what's on them.

I also have a feeling that it's possible things are changing there, especially in touristed areas. For example, we took a voucher taxi from the airport. There was a sign in the taxi in 4 languages that said, "tip for driver not included in price". And before you say it, yes, taxis are not resturants.

To put this in some sort of context, the adult minimum wage in the U.K. is currently £5.35, which is equivalent to about $10.38.

We basically rounded up. No bad looks, including at Gerbauds. By the way, we liked the quality and selection of pasteries just down the Vaci Utca, at the ground floor of the Hotel Taverna better than Gerbauds. I wrote the name of the shop down in a trip report, but can't remember it now It doesn't have that grand atmosphere but it had better service.

On the tipping customs across various countries - aren't you pretty much paying the tip regardless of what system it is? You can pay it seperately or it's built into the cost of the bill anyway (either cost of food or a service charge). It's not like anyone is getting off paying the cost of labor, no matter where you eat. In the US, the choice is yours and so favors the customer. In Europe, the wages of the employee (and frankly, the restaurant owner), are protected. Although I see both sides, I think I like the Euro way better on this one, as the pay what you owe system works just fine for other services. I'd hate to see tipping get so commonplace here in the US that other types of employers use the same rationale to become exempt from the minimum wage laws.

In the US, for those states that don't have a mandatory state minimum, I believe that federal law requires that the employer make up the difference when an employee's wages + declared tips fall short of the federal minimum wage. A prime reason you often see a little mini-version of socialism within capitalism, with mandatory tip pooling being common here. Of course, none of that has anything at all to do with Budapest.

Clifton - Was the cafe the Zsolnay? (I think that's the spelling)

kenav - yes, that was it. Zsolnay Kave Haz

Just came back form Budapest. Had a wonderful time.

OK - the tipping. We found that if the tip was included, on the receipt/bill it would generally say "service" and have an amount that would be equal to 10% of the bill. For example: Total = 3800 HUF, Service = 380 HUF. If it didn't have this, the service wasn't included. It was really easy. Only in one restaurant, when the service fee was included, did it amount to 12%.

If we had any questions, we would just ask if the service was included.

No problems.

kenav, I'm glad you had a great time, and that tipping did not cause you any headaches.

Are you going to give us a more detailed report on how you enjoyed your visit to one of my favourite European cities?

I'll give a summary of our (my husband and my) trip to Budapest.

It's a much bigger city than I thought it would be. Arriving by taxi from the airport to see the Buda hills coming ever closer (we stayed at the Bellevue B&B in Buda) was a "wow" factor. Pictures don't do it justice.

After a week, I feel I just scratched the surface of this city. (Well, we did spend 1 1/2 days in Eger, a town 2 1/2 hours outside of Budapest, during that time.) There is so much to see and do.

The thing that impressed both of us the most was the architecture. There are thousands of beautiful buildings, with many still in dire need of restoration. But you can see the loveliness of those through the grime. Many have been or are in the process of being restored. We saw so much work being done all over the city.

People were very nice to us and the food portions were enormous.

I do have to put a plug in for a small restaurant in the Buda/Castle Hill section that was near our B&B. We decided on a whim (and from being very tired from our long day) to just eat near "home". So we went into this little restaurant called "Hunydai ". All I have to say is that it was perhaps the best meal we have ever had. The quality was exceptional. A meal like this in NYC (my home town) would probably be prohibitively expensive. Here, two drinks, one appetizer, 2 entrees and one dessert came to US$58 including service and tax. Conversely, our last night we ate at "Spoon", a restaurant on the Danube and pretty damn expensive. The food was just so-so (although the dessert was really something else - sour cherry ice cream in a nest of flakey pastry with honey and raspberry culee.) Not worth the money even though you get a great view. Go there for drinks, not dinner.

We saw much, but do have to tell you all of the following (especially as we are Americans): We went to the Opera House and saw the National Ballet doing their version of "Gone with the Wind" - we kid you not! Hungarians in black face playing Mammy and another slave were a bit too much. And the Confederate soldiers doing a line dance with Russian folk steps was more than amusing. (Did the Russians invade the South we wondered?) Otherwise, the dancing, especially by "Scarlett" was on the whole very good and just to view anything in this amazing House was a treat. (I'm a former professional dancer.)

I hope we get a chance to go back to Budapest and do things we never got to do. Again, so much to do, so little (one week) time.

If you haven't been there - go! But give yourself time.

Kenav, do you remember the address for Hunydai?

Hi - It's actually on a street of the same name: Hunyadi J. (I spelled it incorrectly in my last post, sorry). This street is a continuation of Szabo Ilonica Utca which runs parallel and below Fisherman's Bastion. If you look on a map of that area you should see it.

It's such a charming neighborhood. Are you staying around there? They also serve lunch - when we were there they had a sign that said 30% off at lunch.

By the way - I tried looking the restaurant up on the web - but there's no web site for it. (It's a small restaurant.) There is a pension which has a restaurant by the same name in Hungary, but that's not it.

Each one can do what he feels .., But I go with the old proverb in Rome do as Romans do.
I would like to tell a short real story of something that happened to my parents while visiting Spain after World War II. (1948 to be exact)
They were driving in Castille, it was very hot, suddenly they see this girl about 12 years old, by a lonely house in a small village and she was selling lemonade.
Of course they stopped and took several glasses of delicious home made lemonade. When my Father asked how much it was, she asked for such a small amount that my Father left much more. One would call it a generous tip.-
My parents were about to leave when the Fahter of the girl knocked their car's window and very simply with some hand language invited them into the very humble house. There he opened a cupboard and poured them a glass of anis. It was all he had, that and his PRIDE.
This TRUE story I believe is a wonderful story that many of us should try to understand.