Why is the price in menu not compatible with the one on the receipt?

Hi everyone!

Today I’m coming to you with a bit sensitive issue since we will talk about money :P. Why did I choose this topic in my blog? Let me refer once again to my Italian travels. In all honesty, when I visit some restaurants in Italy and I observe customers from abroad, there will always be someone who will begin a small dispute with a waiter because of the price which has to be paid. Because of misunderstanding and “excessive price”, they write the restaurant off and they go to another. There, it turns out that it happens again and on and on…So what’s the deal with this price in the end? I'm inviting you to keep reading :D. 

In Italy, tipping in restaurants isn’t very common unless we’re talking about customers from abroad. They usually seek to give even some coins for waiter, inter alia in order to present their country on the positive side. The Italians don’t practise it in their place, but they cope with that in a different way. When you will go to the restaurant in Italy, pay attention to the word COPERTO on the menu. It should be at the end of the first page J. Next you will find the information that coperto is 1 or 2 euro, it always depends on the restaurant (in the expensive ones, it can be even 5 euro!). This small amount, it’s one that will be added to the price of a meal which you have ordered. Someone says that it’s simply customer’s grifting but the point is that this rule is applied in every Italian restaurant and it’s perfectly normal for them. The Mediterranean people say that it’s the charge for the place which is occupied by a client (in Italian language- posto coperto J) and also for the use of cutlery and plates. It seems a bit weird but then again, it helps to avoid embarrassing situations related to amount of the tip which we want to leave ;). We can judge it, of course but remember that if we want to be served in the restaurants in Italy, simply let’s keep that in mind J.

That’s all for today, see you next time! J