Cyprus-Forum.com

[36510]

How much are you expected to tip a waiter/waitress in a restaurant? Are they dependent on tips or are they paid a salary? Excuse my ignorance, but where I'm from restaurant prices include the price of waitressing (usually 10-15%; tips are still welcome though).

[Tim Drayton]

Speaking personally, I tend to give something in the range you have mentioned (10-15%) but I don't really know how widespread that is. Unfortunately, people who work in restaurants in Cyprus don't earn very much.

[DrCyprus]

Tip culture in restaurants in Cyprus is the exact same as in Germany.

[cypriotnado]

Tip culture in restaurants in Cyprus is the exact same as in Germany.

Stimmt So

[DrCyprus]

Tip culture in restaurants in Cyprus is the exact same as in Germany.

Stimmt So

genau

[dodo]

Wages = Very low , 6-700€/month

As for the tips, depends firstly on what kind of service you receive. If service is poor, maybe 5%. If you get good service, I would think 10-15% or more would be a nice way to reward the person.

From what I've seen going on with Cypriot colleagues, sometimes families, they don't tip too much, sometimes to the point of making me feel embarrassed, we had an episode at one tavern where the person was intending to leave a 2€ tip for a +100€ bill so I slipped a tenner in the hand of the waiter, the guy who invited us saw me and he wasn't very happy. Well, I'd still do it again though, I was once doing the same job in my young days and I know how hard it can be, if you do it right. I have to say on the other hand that the service here is usually way below the threshold of acceptability, especially outside of the 4-5 star hotels or posh places, plus the small village taverns which are usually family owned have great service from what I have experienced.

If you go places like Pizza Hut, tourist-area joints and similar, expect the worse.

[GreekIslandGirl]

It used to be that all restaurants were family owned. And people usually went to restaurants whose owners they knew. The habit was that the bill was rounded off, usually down, before being given to you to pay. Free fruit and liquors/brandy at the end were another must-do (less so now) by the owners. So, it was viewed as offensive if you tried to leave more money (i.e. a tip) because it suggested something like you were better/wealthier and acting as if you were giving money to a beggar or someone who needed the money.

So tipping was not the cultural norm.

Of course now, restaurants, even if family owned, use foreign staff to serve and, like everywhere else, they are not paid highly.

So be as generous as you feel the staff deserve and that you can afford.

[cypriotnado]

It used to be that all restaurants were family owned. And people usually went to restaurants whose owners they knew. The habit was that the bill was rounded off, usually down, before being given to you to pay. Free fruit and liquors/brandy at the end were another must-do (less so now) by the owners. So, it was viewed as offensive if you tried to leave more money (i.e. a tip) because it suggested something like you were better/wealthier and acting as if you were giving money to a beggar or someone who needed the money.

So tipping was not the cultural norm.

Of course now, restaurants, even if family owned, use foreign staff to serve and, like everywhere else, they are not paid highly.

So be as generous as you feel the staff deserve and that you can afford.

I thought you just drank baby blood.......... hic

[GreekIslandGirl]

It used to be that all restaurants were family owned. And people usually went to restaurants whose owners they knew. The habit was that the bill was rounded off, usually down, before being given to you to pay. Free fruit and liquors/brandy at the end were another must-do (less so now) by the owners. So, it was viewed as offensive if you tried to leave more money (i.e. a tip) because it suggested something like you were better/wealthier and acting as if you were giving money to a beggar or someone who needed the money.

So tipping was not the cultural norm.

Of course now, restaurants, even if family owned, use foreign staff to serve and, like everywhere else, they are not paid highly.

So be as generous as you feel the staff deserve and that you can afford.

I thought you just drank baby blood.......... hic

Is that a Turkish cocktail?

[cypriotnado]

It used to be that all restaurants were family owned. And people usually went to restaurants whose owners they knew. The habit was that the bill was rounded off, usually down, before being given to you to pay. Free fruit and liquors/brandy at the end were another must-do (less so now) by the owners. So, it was viewed as offensive if you tried to leave more money (i.e. a tip) because it suggested something like you were better/wealthier and acting as if you were giving money to a beggar or someone who needed the money.

So tipping was not the cultural norm.

Of course now, restaurants, even if family owned, use foreign staff to serve and, like everywhere else, they are not paid highly.

So be as generous as you feel the staff deserve and that you can afford.

I thought you just drank baby blood.......... hic

Is that a Turkish cocktail?

Only when mixed with RAKI