Liz2005

I probably should have asked this before we went, but what is the norm for tipping in restaurants in Greece? My husband feels strongly about always tipping 20% here in the US so he did that in Greece. I didn't think the service merited that amount (what I found to be typical Greek service of bring you your food and leave you alone for as long as you like). We checked our bills and most places charged a service charge of 1-5 Euro per person, but no gratuity.

Just wondering what other people do in Greece?

Liz

Patrick

"I didn't think the service merited that amount (what I found to be typical Greek service of bring you your food and leave you alone for as long as you like)."

Gee, that's the kind of service I'd be happy to pay 20% for! LOL

It's been a couple years, but I think my studies led me to believe that 10% in Greece is considered quite generous.

GeoffHamer

Greek restaurants used to list two prices: the higher price included service and is paid to the waiter. A tip left on the table was for the man (or often a boy) who brought cutlery, bread, etc, to the table, and this would be a small amount (certainly less than 10%).

Caravaggista

Service is usually included, but it's nice to leave a little something extra if the service was extra good.

Matrexx

Everywhere we ate charged a cover charge as well as included a 13% service charge in all the prices. We never left a tip as we thought that between the cover and service charge the tipping was covered. Admittedly we were not in highscale restaurants and we were in mostly tourist areas, but I think this was the norms as it also held for small towns in norther Greece.

kenderina

"I didn't think the service merited that amount (what I found to be typical Greek service of bring you your food and leave you alone for as long as you like)."

I don't mean to be rude, but if it that's not the normal thing in US I see myself giving the waiter the tip before the meal to see if he/she leaves me alone I'm sure I couldn't stand a waiter round my table all the time...

smalti

kenderina--

The motto of many US restaurants is, "Eat it and get out."

chobby100

So then it is customary to round up to nearest euro or so for real good service but that is unecessary as service is included?

thanks!

chobby100

BTW - in Fodor's tipping guide they say to add 8 - 10% which seems like more than rounding up or leaving an extra euro or two (of course depending on the total amount).

murphy89

Lol! I like that they don't bug you but it would be nice if they came back occasionally (or just made a point of looking at you occasionally) to see if you'd like dessert or more wine. If they are busy it can be really hard to leave. Bless'em, but there is no such thing in Greece as a quick in and out lunch.
Cheers,

Murphy

TexasAggie

We spent a couple weeks in Greece in May and we normally tipped 10%. However we didn't eat at expensive establishments so the 10% was usually only 2 to 3€.
Service in Athens was mediocre but not bad per se, service elsewhere in Greece was wonderful. Unobtrusive but my water/wine glass never went empty