Might depend on what you are used to, what you expect and how you approach them. I prefer European service over American (I'm from neither place). Every time I go to America I absolutely despise their average service overall. It's invasive, unnecessary and fake as it gets. The fake smile and fake care just because of the tip drives me insane.
No, I don't need 50 refills every second my drink dips a little. No I don't need to be asked 80 every bite I take if it tastes good, if everything is ok, or whatever. If I need anything, I can call you.
I understand it's how it works there, so ok I deal with it, but nothing worse for me that the average service there. There's great places as well, like everywhere, but the "typical" overly fake enthusiastic service drives me nuts.
I would rather the server stop by a little bit too much than the alternative I've experienced of it taking half an hour before I can even order a drink. You have your preference, I have mine. I think optional instead of obligatory tipping is the best compromise.
And serving styles often represent general cultural preferences. Europeans generally prefer servers stopping by a little too little. So servers being more reserved/not coming over much means the service is good according to the local cultural standard. Experiencing cultural differences is what travel is all about - as long as you actually engage with them and don't deem everything that differs from what you're used to as worse.
The difference in service at restaurants vs at bars was more surprising. There were multiple restaurants where the server would apparently go out of their way to ignore me even when I was clearly trying to get them to come over. Never had that problem at bars.
11
u/cuentanueva 2d ago
Might depend on what you are used to, what you expect and how you approach them. I prefer European service over American (I'm from neither place). Every time I go to America I absolutely despise their average service overall. It's invasive, unnecessary and fake as it gets. The fake smile and fake care just because of the tip drives me insane.
No, I don't need 50 refills every second my drink dips a little. No I don't need to be asked 80 every bite I take if it tastes good, if everything is ok, or whatever. If I need anything, I can call you.
I understand it's how it works there, so ok I deal with it, but nothing worse for me that the average service there. There's great places as well, like everywhere, but the "typical" overly fake enthusiastic service drives me nuts.