Submitted by Stephanie Billig on the 2017 winter session program in Italy sponsored by the Department of Psychology…
My first week in Rome, Italy has been very exhausting between dealing with the initial jet-lag and trekking from landmark to landmark. One thing that I noticed almost immediately that is different in Italy than in the United States is dining, First off, there is no such thing as tap water in a restaurant. They only give you bottled water which you have to pay for. There are also two options of bottled water; fizzy or natural.
Another difference is that it is rude to share a meal with someone else here. On the first day, some of us went to a pizza place and we were going to share a pizza pie, but the waitress said they were meant to be personal. When the pizzas came out they were very large and could have been shared if that was appropriate.
Next, Italians like to eat more than one course. They have the typical appetizers and desserts, but there are 2 main courses. The first one is normally pasta and the second one is meat.
Finally, you are not required to tip the waitstaff at all. Some places have a cover charge or table charge that covers the tip, but others don’t. If you were to tip, you would only need to do 5-10% for exceptional service compared to the 15-20% in America.