Tipping in Italy

JR6

I'm having my wedding in Rome later this year. Small simple wedding with approximately 20 guests. We will book a restaurant a few weeks before we arrive, not really a wedding party just food and drink.
Had a look online and found a really nice place for about €50 per person.
So if the bill comes to €1000 how much should I tip if we imagine the food and service is very good?
I heard from a friend that Italians don't tip and tourists are not expected to either.
I always tip if the food and service is good but wonder is 10% too much or too little .

Cheers.

Dial Hard

Yeah, tipping isn't really a thing in Italy, people generally just leave whatever the loose change is when they pay cash. 10% will be considered amazingly generous and don't be surprised if they think you've made a mistake and try to give it back to you. Happened me pretty much every time when I was in Rome.

coylemj

Waiting in a restaurant is considered a real job in continental Europe unlike the UK and Ireland where it's assumed the person is a student or a foreign worker on the minimum wage. That means that they get paid properly and don't have to rely on tips, the same as most bar staff who work behind the counter in Ireland. The attitude of waiters in continental Europe is that if tipping become part of the culture, employers will simply reduce their wages as happens all over the US where waiting staff are chronically underpaid and are even more reliant on tips than they are here.

JR6

That's mad. Never would have thought that the case anywhere. The last couple of holidays I have been on is to the states where it's embedded in you to tip.

Charles Babbage

Americans and the like have spread this odious baksheesh to some tourist infested parts of Rome etc, but otherwise just round off the bill. 10% would be ridiculous.

Bananaleaf

JR6 wrote: »

That's mad. Never would have thought that the case anywhere. The last couple of holidays I have been on is to the states where it's embedded in you to tip.

That really annoys me about America to be honest.

They can't be bothered to pay their workers a decent wage so they decide to guilt the customer into supplementing. It's wrong.

I remember here in Ireland as a waitress asking for a pay rise and being told that I was lucky I was on the minimum wage as that strictly speaking he didn't have to even pay me that! Pretty sure that isn't right here.

OP - While tipping in a restaurant may not be customary in Italy maybe it may be expected at weddings? I don't know, just a suggestion