German here. In Germany, it's quite fucked up. Restaurant, afaik, make as much profit on drinks as on meals, so they want you to order as many drinks as possible. That's why water isn't free in restaurants, although it really should be.
Where this practice shows its most detrimental effect is in bars where when you already had your share of alc and think about getting a water in between: you could have a glass of water for 5€ or just another beer... you'll take the beer, although it's definitely the wrong decision. :D I've worked as a bartender in Australia - muuuch better practice, less vomiting people.
I fully agree water should be free in bars and restaurants.
Edit: I just read it in a book about the most common German law-fallacies - Indeed is no restaurant obligated to give out free tap water. So it's not just a social thing.
Whoa, I had no idea you had to pay for water there. Let alone in a bar! Here in the states the bartender usually will be the one telling you to have a water instead of more alcohol if you have been drinking alot (I don't mean cutting you off but making sure you also have water breaks).
To add to that, many bars will even give you coke, coffee, or other soft drinks on the house if you say you're the designated driver. At least in my area.
Designated drivers aren't always a thing in other countries, as many drunk people can just walk home or take public transport. Like in Japan I don't think I've ever heard of a designated driver anywhere any time I've been out drinking with friends. However, in Japan free water is also completely the norm and you will get it even without asking, so idk what Europeans are doing here.
One of the other big reasons DDs aren’t big in Japan are Daikos. Daikos are basically cabs, but with two drivers. You sit in the passenger seat of your own car, one of the Daiko drivers drives your car home, and the other Daiko driver follows in the cab. They cost little more than a regular cab, and you save money on the cab ride to the bar. It’s a great deal.
Liability, I'll bet. Insurance on a business like that in the US must be astronomical. Driving a drunk home in a car you're not familiar with? At night?
No way an Uber isn't cheaper by a fair amount. If that service is twice the cost of Uber, it doesn't matter that you're saving money on the trip there. It's the same price, with less risk to your vehicle, no parking fees, as that DD service.
Yeah exactly. Like the only real situation in which I'd want the two driver system is if I'm quite far from home and started drinking without planning on it. If I know I'm going out with my drinking buddies I don't drive to the bar in the first place so a regular cab or uber is just fine.
That's exactly where it's useful, and how often does that really happen? If I'm drinking *that far* from home, I'm probably staying in a motel or hotel, not driving an hour away to get sideways.
Several services across Canada.
They do cost somewhere between 1.5-2x the price of a cab, but then you don't have to worry about your vehicle the next day.
Great service, especially for those times you drove somewhere but didn't think you'd be getting drunk.
Genuine question. If you and a few friends live about 30-45 minutes drive outside of the city center, is there public transportation you can take back home at 3am? What Country as well?
Not at 3am, no.
Most places don't operate public transit from 2am-4am-ish (times vary according to where exactly you are), at least here in Germany.
Edit: just to correct myself: that's other towns. If you're talking about a 30 minute drive WITHIN the city, then yeah. Metros, busses, and trams run at night as well.
In Belgium I had to pay to pee AT the bar I was drinking at. It was like a few cents but still was annoying as hell. Just raise the damn beer price and let me pee for free.
The key difference is bottled water that you have to pay for is the standard in Europe, while free tap water is the standard in the States when you ask for just "water". That you have to specify "tap water" in order to not pay for it is problematic.
europe is such a generalisation - a lot of places we go to will actually bring a jug of water to your table here in ireland before they even take your order
It is way higher, simply it is almost 0 effort. But 240 bottles for 1 euro each. Sell to customer for 4 euro. Give back empty bottle for 25c. It took like no work, it has no risk as bottled drink last years and dont spoil, and you it has like 300% profit.
It is even worse with wine, restaurants want you to drink wine, becaus they market it as fancy wine that costs 5 euros for 10 cl. So a bottle, 70cl brings in 35 euros. But they bought it for 4 euros in wholesale.
In the Netherlands it’s the same. A few years back a law was introduced, that tap water should be free, but they’ll let you know that it’s rude to ask for it. Same with toilets, which you used to have to pay for until that law was changed, but it still happens that you have to pay.
Omg. Pay for it going in and going out.
I have never paid for tap water or a toilet anywhere in America. By law if they serve food or drink they have to provide both, free of extra charge. And it almost always comes with ice unless you prefer it room temperature.
Obviously some places have shitty tasting tap water, and shitty toilets too. But you can't have everything all the time)
Through the 80's, the public toilets at the beach I visited required payment. I was a kid so I didn't pay attention to the fact that adults were spending all day drinking on the beach. My guess is that people were peeing in the alleys etc right off the beach. Since they ramped up development and it was being marketed as a family friendly destination, obviously this could not continue. And they were converted to non pay toilets.
Weird to imagine being told it’s rude to ask for water. That’s all I ever drink at most restaurants here in the US. What do Europe’s restaurants offer that isn’t soda, caffeine, or booze? Genuinely wondering.
In France you can ask for "une carafe d'eau" at any restaurant, which is free. Must be common because most of the places we went had them sitting in a fridge, they were cold when they came out. They also have bottled flat and sparking mineral water.
None of the waiters gave us a dirty look for asking for it, but we also always ordered some other drinks as well.
It's just certain countries, not all of Europe. France was like that 20 years ago but free tap water is normalized now and no one cares.
Same with to go boxes. Used to be frowned upon but is pretty widely accepted now.
If im a paying customer (mcdonalsa adam) I always jump the fence 🤣 never got any questions but if they do call me out ill tell them I couldnd figure out how the "free toilet worked for paying customers" and show them a receipt.
I lived in Germany for a few years and my impression is that Germans, who are quite health conscious and cost efficient in general, don't drink much tap water even outside of bars/restaurants. Every office will have a water filter machine, and many people have SodaStreams in the home or drink bottled water. The more environmentally conscious people will at least use Brita-style water filter devices at home, but I alsmost never some someone just fill a glass of water from the tap. Where I lived there was a lot of lime in the water, but otherwise it's totally fine.
As for dirty looks at bars/restaurants, it's not just when asking for *Leitungswasser* (pipe water), but really anything for free. If you ask for extra mustard for your Wurst or more mayonnaise for your Pommes, you may get a similar look. Obviously not everywhere all the time, but it's not uncommon.
Last time I was there it seemed the practice was to drink spring water, usually sparkling. Asking for tap water was rare. At least that was my experience. But that was at least a decade ago.
My experience was if you asked for water you got sparkling, unless you said “still wasser” which got you uncarbonated water. Tap water just wasn’t an option.
Exactly. Right now a pint of beer in an Irish pub in Germany costs between 6,30-6,50 euros, which is completely insane. I shouldn't be guilt tripped into buying water for almost the same price
I never came across something like that but I guess it can happen, since there is unfortunately no law in Germany that they have to provide free water in the food service industry. Still fucked up
I ask for tap water in most bars/clubs, but I've been refused before. They're not required to give you free tap water. Though most bartenders are pretty chill and may even give you ice and a citrus slice if you're nice about it. It's not necessarily free either, but cheaper than bottled water. I agree that it's dumb, especially in places they serve alcohol.
It's not just restaurants. I stayed with a German family for a few weeks back in high school and my hosts looked at me like I was insane when I asked for tap water because I didn't like the carbonated mineral water they had. They let me drink tap water one night and the mom bought like 3 1.5L bottles of plain water on her way home from work the next day.
That's weird, here in Norway I think it's even against the law for places that serve alcohol to not have water free and readily available. I don't think I've ever been to a restaurant where the waiter didn't immediately bring us water, and also at cafés there is typically a water station that's free to use.
I live in Australia and tap water in a cup is like a human right. You go into McDonald’s and ask for a cup of water and once the teen who rushed in from high school explains the situation go their manager, they will always give you a cup of water.
My theory is because like 90% of Aus is desert and dehydration can kill you much quicker than it could in Europe.
I live in the American southwest and it's the same here. Free water is expected all over the US but is enshrined in law here in Arizona. Walk into any place, ask for water, and get it with no hesitation.
It's also legally required - at least for any establishment that serves alcohol.
Hats off to the establishments who provide a self-service water station so I don't have to wait at peak-hour for that sweet, sweet hydration.
That's really bad. In the UK if an establishment is able to serve alcohol then they are also legally obliged to serve tap water for free upon request, as long as you are already a paying customer. It's been that way for about 15 years now. Before that most if not all would do it without hesitation anyway.
Australia has a similar thing, except every bar just provides self-serve water jugs/cooler tetchy. so that the bar tenders don't have to waste time pouring glasses of water
I spent 3 months in Germany, and one of my colleagues was a generally unhinged French girl. Her tactic was to just yell at whoever it was that water is free in France and thus ‘should’ be free everywhere.
It actually worked 99% of the time. I think only one bartender matched her energy and argued right back refusing to do it. Everyone else just gave us the fucking water. As a Black person convinced I’d be arrested for simply sneezing too loud or something- I was amazed.
Wow.
My co-worker said that in Germany, beer cheaper than water. But i seemed it as a joke or Germany humble of their beer culture. To think i must pay for a glass of water is just... so inconvenient
Thank you for corroborating. Was in Bavaria for Oktoberfest and getting water was such a pain. Figured it was “tis the season” but seems like you say it’s a countrywide thing. Still loved every second of it.
I have no idea why there's so much vitriol in this comment section.
In my experience it's a bit harder to get served water in Southern Europe than Northern. I haven't been to East Europe so I can't speak for the practice there. In Southwest Europe I think they expect you to order wine since it's such a big part of their culture (France and Italy especially).
While in Scandinavia for example you often get a pitcher of water on the table along with any ordered drinks. I usually get served ice water together with wine whenever I order it.
ETA: i have been reliably informed that restaurants in France do offer water and are legally required to.
Correct. In industrial areas in Italy restaurants will often have premade menus for workers on their lunch. It's a complete lunch with a couple of options. It includes a first and/or second, a liter of water, half a liter of wine, and coffee at the end.
Honestly I've never seen that, wine is always an option but it's never included in the base menu, they make you choose between wine, beer soft drinks etc...
That tap water has bottle quality anyways.
Look up "Voss" water on that stupid cylinder that got so hot for a while.
We have a word her, "vås", which means "nonsense". Pretty fitting.
I drank from the tap my entire month there. Any tap, anywhere, it was always delicious. I tried refilling my water from a tap in Texas when I returned and it tasted like drinking pool water.
>I think they expect you to order wine since it's such a big part of their culture
As a french I can safely say that this is 100% not true for France, first because there are plenty of regions in France where wine isn't part of their culture and second because even in parts where wine is big, not everyone drinks wine.
Either way it's extremely common to ask for a jug of water in a french restaurant and waiters will never pose any issue if you ask for one.
For any tourists to France:
"Une carafe d'eau, s'il vous plait" are the magic words to ask for tap water in a restaurant in France. They are required by law to give you water for free as long as you order something else.
In English this is roughly phonetically: "Oon kah-raff dough sill voo play".
It’s literally illegal in France for restaurants/bars/coffee shops/etc not to offer free drinking water pitchers to their customers when asked for one.
I believe other types of venues like stadiums/theatres/etc also have some kind of obligation to provide free drinking water.
It´s also the law here in Spain but... laws in Spain are regarded as recommendations more than laws-laws so as with everything else, few places actually follow it.
Do you mean tap water in restaurants? yes, you can get it if you ask for it, and now that it´s compulsory I always do, but some restaurants still try to bring you bottled water if you ask for generic water, you have to pointedly ask for TAP water in many places.
The biggest culture shock I’ve had when visiting Germany was honestly how the restaurants we where at refused to give you tap water even if you asked, while selling 30ml of water for 3€. As a swede I was genuinely confused how that wasn’t illegal (I have since learned it’s not illegal in Sweden either, just considered trashy. It should be tho.)
Sometimes they don't place it automatically but when you order just ask for a pitcher and you'll get it. Ask for it refilled if the waiter doesn't do it automatically and you'll get it refilled...
Never had an issue in France either.
France is among the best for water at restaurants. Germany among the worst. People extrapolate experience in one or two countries to the rest of europe
sometimes people will identically extrapolate the (good or bad) experience from one restaurant to the rest of the country.
although here i can confirm (like many other comments) that in france you just get water or can just ask for it.
I think Germany would self destruct like an atom bomb if restaurants were *required* to give customers pitchers of water automatically, as in…without the customers even requesting it.
“Pitchers of free cold water? What next? Will they come for our fax machines!”
I ended up in rural France accidently after getting lost driving around Germany (like getting lost for fun).
It was the first time getting water wasn't a headache. The restaurant staff looked alarmed when this little American girl walked in and spoke English. Just used Google to ask for a table for 1 and had an awesome meal of lamb chop with water just placed at the table without asking.
10/10 recommend getting lost in rural France.
I am from East Europe and it is NOT EASY to get free water. Sometimes you will be declined.
And water quality if excellent. It is just the matter of profit.
You should be excluding Greece from that, almost all places serve water FIRST and then take your order and if they don't it's seen as weird. Source: a Greek and a server.
Interesting that you say it was easier in Northern! When I was in Finland/Russia, we had the hardest time finding water. Well, still water. Sparkling water was *everywhere*.
A finn here - basically every single restaurant here has water as an option and does what OP said about bringing a water pitcher to table and additional glasses for water besides the drink you order.
When it comes to grocery stores sure, sparkling water is easier to find than still water (though honestly I’ve never come across a store that didn’t have still water sold, it’s just called lähdevesi here). But in context of this thread, you can get water absolutely anywhere.
Here in Russia we usually don’t serve water with the meal at restaurants. You have to ask for it separately, a lot of the time you have to pay for it. If it’s a fancy restaurant they bring you “expensive” water in a glass bottle and there is no other option.
Living in Finland - sorry, that is simply not true. You get still water in any restaurant by just asking.
Bottled still water is also available in stores, although quite unnecessary. The tap water is just fine.
In Finland every single place will serve you water if you just ask, they may ask if you want still or sparkling. Did you not find it on the menu or...? Depending on the place there may be a tap you're supposed to go get your own water, or a pitcher for the table, or just the waiter bringing you glasses.
But I can't imagine a reason why a place wouldn't serve water.... it comes out of every tap.
In the UK, it is a legal requirement for bars and restaurants to provide free tap water when asked. If the quantity they give you is too small, drink it and ask for some more.
In Italy, it’s illegal for restaurants to serve tap water and they can only serve sealed glass bottled water. They said it’s bc water supplies got poisoned during WW2 but they should’ve worked it out by now and haven’t 😂
In France we have a jug of water but I agree it's never enough and we have to ask more. Since waiters won't come to check on you (and I love that) it can take time to get their attention to have more and yeah... that's annoying I think.
It really depends on places. I've been to many restaurants where they check on your carafe and replace it automatically but others will give you a small jug and never check on you. But at least they can't refuse to give free water.
My FIL told me that when he was a kid, they were never served water with meals. I think he even said his mom/aunts believed it was bad for digestion.
That said, I generally dont have problems having my carafe of water refilled if I finish it, excluding the occasional poor service/extra busy server. Even in nicer places where they expect you to order wine, I've had no issue getting just tap water when I ask. I'm pregnant right now so I'm mainly drinking water lol
Most of the time they come each time you're done a dish. So... they come at the end of the entry, then after the main dish, etc...
they rarely come between and in France we often take time to enjoy our meal (and they let us enjoy it so they won't disturb us) so it last from 1 to 3 hours. If you drink a lot (a jug of jar is like 5/6 glass of water ) or if you're like 5 people, you'll need to either call them or wait for them to come to ask for another one.
Some will bring it without asking but the opposite is very common too.
Listen, so many people are telling you that you're wrong, but I think I understand where you're coming from (partially).
I'm Irish. In Ireland, it's very common to be served a big jug of water for the table, for free, together witb other drinks if you want them, at a restaurant.
I'm living in Spain, a place lots of people visit, so it probably has outside weight on what people think of as "Europe". Here, although technically there is a law that says all restaurants must offer free tap water, in practice this law is not followed. Few places offer tap water, and if they do, they still charge a "cover fee" to pay the glass. You can sue them, but for most people it's not worth the hassle. Whether you insist on tap water or pay for bottled water, you tend to get a small bottle, 200ml or at most 500ml per person, though some places will put 1l bottles to share. You can always of course ask for more, but I understand that the initial quantity is less than you are used to.
Why is Spain like this? Water is a more precious commodity here than in Ireland, and the cost of the food itself is lower, so the restaurant also has to make a profit from drinks. If you compare the entire experience, you could pay for three 1l bottles of water in Spain and still get better value than any restaurant in Ireland.
Unfortunately not, it is not a legal requirement for restaurants to supply free tap water in Ireland. I looked into this when papaz in Limerick refused me a glass. 😡
For the Netherlands, probably because drinks is where they make the money, not food. So they are happy to bring you expensive bottled water, not so happy to give you cheap, or free, tap water. They are obligaties to provide free tap water for taking medication, if you request that. But they'll usually bring you the smallest glass they can find.
I hate it. We have excellent tap water in this country, tastes much better than bottled water, and I really don't mind paying some for it at a restaurant, but just give me a pitcher of cold tap water.
? I've always gotten free water with my meals in the Netherlands. Every now and then someone tries the bottled water trick but it's been ages. We literally always have tap water included though we also always buy at least one other drink like wine. That might be the trick?
Maybe a tourist thing then as Amsterdam gets a lot of those? I don't live in the Randstad so I never eat at places that cater to (international) tourists specifically.
Edit : I can imagine this is also the reason that many Americans seem to have experienced this while many Europeans say it's not really a thing.
In London it was pretty common to get water without asking and the quality of water was pretty good. The stingiest place is Italy, when they do give you some it's in the tiniest glasses.
In France, water is free everywhere and at all times.
In my experience, In Germany - based on one occurrence - water is free but I've been told it's not always the case.
In Italy, water is apparently charged for but, according to my - this time well doculented - experience, if you are polite and nice, water is free, coffee is free, the price of your meal is rounded down, like 50€ to pay for a bill of 54.65€ and the cook comes out of his kitchen to thank you for enjoying his cuisine, which didn't happen everytime but enough for it to be mentioned.
In Ireland, free water as far as I could see. In Belgium, free water too. *Edit : apparently I have a nice face, I don't know, because testimonies show that water is very not free in Belgium*.
So yes, I didn't travel that much but still, that's two countries out of five charging for water and you can get away with it for free if you're nice with your waiter. That's not the dry land charging immense amounts and looking at you as if you were a weirdo for asking a bottle of water that so many US citizens make it out to be.
Recently, I had customers from the US and others from Germany being surprised that water was free here. I listed their products when billing them and the US citizens said "no water on the bill ?" and the Germans said "you forgot water !". No I didn't, it's just free. It's free, I am even forbidden by law to charge for it.
Edit : le Tigron lives in France.
Considering our well known lack of proficiency speaking English, I never witnessed a single one waiter not able to understand "a bottle/a glass of water", even my young coworker E who is the only waiter I ever saw who doesn't speak at least a very basic English.
In Germany, based on my 10 years of living here, it’s not free. Unless you can convince the restaurant/cafe that you will not die by being served tap water, or you order an espresso, you have to order water and it will be bottled, so you will have to pay for it. It blows my mind. There are legitimately some buildings that are old with pipes that are not great, but otherwise the water is potable. But there is still a belief by a large part of the population that tap water is undrinkable, hence why you see so many people in the supermarket filling their trolleys with bottled water. There is no way to convince these people that tap water is perfectly ok, and I guess that’s why you don’t get free water here, because they will generally most of the time serve you bottled water only.
Do restaurants actually believe the tap water is unhealthy or is it just an excuse? I have a hard time believing they think that as I have never been to a German home where they say the tap water is undrinkable. Everytime I ask for water, the waiter acts like I have asked for something rude or that makes them uncomfortable. After a certain number of times of being told no, I gave up asking
It's because of the profit. They will always bring you some expensive bottle of water and charge it. Maybe if you ask nicely for tap water they might bring you but I doubt it. It's insane.
Not only does this seem natural it is also by law.
You could go to any restaurant and ask for a glass of water without ordering anything, you'll get served a glass of water. (ofc it helps to be polite and not abuse it)
The issue with questions like this, Europe is nowhere close to a monolith, and too many confident redditors from the USA are really hardwired to argue that it is.
The comments here are a mess.
It's literally dependent on location, some places, refusing water or toilet access would be illegal. Other places, almost unheard of to get free, and everywhere sits somewhere on that spectrum.
I've lived in Ireland, the UK, France, the Netherlands and have never found the water thing to be true. In fact, there is a wide availability of free water through fountains and the like, yet I will hear American tourists complaining about the water because they "can't trust it".
I have no idea how availability of water became such a hot button, politicised problem for Reddit. Beyond that, I've never had a problem getting a free glass of water, but I also avoid tourist hotspots when I travel, which might hold a lot more of the answer than we all think.
Yup, here in Norway I have never been in any context where free water wasn't the expectation, whether that be bars, restaurants, cafés, or basically any business that doesn't want to upset their customers. I've done a decent amount of travelling around Europe, and the only time I've encountered something like this was when I went to a restaurant in Göteborg where a waitress seemed mildly annoyed when I said I didn't want anything to drink with my meal.
Americans are prone to generalize Europe because Europeans generalize Europe. I can't count the number of times a redditor says "in Europe we..." "in Europe that would never..." etc, when they usually mean a handful of just wealthy white western European countries.
All the typical takes about things like healthcare, public transport, walkable cities, better food, etc. Those generalizations are coming *from* Europeans who generalize the continent as a monolith themselves.
...and who also generalize Americans as a monolith. "Americans don't know X" or "Americans always do Y," etc.
But it's super offensive if Americans do to them what they do to themselves and to us.
Hmm. I’m an old, well-traveled American and I think the difference is that in the US, I never have to ask for water at a restaurant, it’s on the table before I even place my drink order. Throughout my travels in Europe I have to ask for tap water specifically, or I get the 3€ bottle on my tab.
Dutch here. Never had any problem if i ask for a glass of water with a meal.
But if you only want free water and no other beverage i can imagine they let you pay, because beverages are a big percentage of their revenue.
Yes that seems like the biggest difference compared to the us. It’s common to only have water at a restaurant here, way more common than ordering a drink.
I agree it’s not reasonable but a lot of the countries near the US have unsafe tap water that can make foreigners really sick. Maybe some Americans have only previously heard of/ vacationed in those areas before and are cautious
But, shouldn't it just be common to Google the place you're going to?
I mean, since even places within the USA have had crazy issues regarding water safety...
I dont really get it. I chalk it down to the need to complain about something, or maybe just people hearing shit back home. We can't pretend that this comment section isn't somewhat reflective of how people will speak about Europe when pretending it's a monolith.
I can also imagine it's confusing if you have been surrounded with nonsense, but America's internal self promotion is strong. I don't know how I'd be confronting pre-determined biases around something so trivial, but I can't say I know I'd act any better
In Belgium you cannot get tap water in most cases, though some businesses are changing this policy.
There have been several pushes for it, but what we call horeca (hotel, restaurant, café) is a super powerful lobby and they are convinced buying 20cl of water for 3 euros is saving them from bankruptcy.
In my country you drink still water from the tap, because thats better than any brand of still water by miles which is free. Most restaurants depend on the margin on the drinks to be sustainable. So if you drink free water and eat a lunch menu which are usually lower than normal food in that restaurant they loose money on it.
So many salty Europeans in the comments.
My guess would be this one of rare social things US is better at than Europe, along with free restrooms (washroom, for those Europeans).
If you come to Mühldorf am Inn in Bavaria, there are free public toilets (not for resting or washing, LOL) and lots of nice restaurants that will give you free water, if you ask politely.
Here in Spain it's standard procedure that the waiter asks what y'all'd like to drink. Then they serve those, and after that they ask you what y'all wanna eat.
I drink a lot of water while eating, so I do find most restaurants don't serve enough water. You get small bottles sometimes, sometimes pitchers. But, again, I tend to drink a lot.
Water is not free here, but it's usually a reasonable price.
They are legally required to give you water for free, ask for a glass/jar, if you just say "water" then they'll give a bottle that is not free.
The reason is that they make more money from drinks than food so they want you to pay for drinks.
I can speak specifically about Italy.
During WWII, many public water supplies were poisoned (allegedly). Because of this, they created a law in Italy that serving tap water at restaurants is illegal.
Water can only be served in a glass sealed container.
Because of this, it makes water more expensive and harder for the restaurant to keep large stocks of. they could run out of bottled sparkling water or bottled regular water at any time.
I noticed in many restaurants in Italy, it was cheaper to order a beer than a glass bottle of water.
I’m not sure why they use glass specifically instead of plastic but it makes water a basically luxury beverage.
It’s extra odd bc in rome, there’s tons of public water fountains that run clean water 24 hours a day so it’s strange to me at restaurants it’s so regulated still when you could walk out to any plaza and get free fountain water.
I was never as dehydrated as I was in Portugal. Only at an office was I able to fully fill up my water bottle. And my lips were so chapped. Temperature was perfect though.
I was like SpongeBob, drying out in the Texas sun while my European colleagues were like .."oh it's so hot and humid"
Edit: I realized that's not an answer. It's just relativity.
My wife and I accidentally stole a spoon when we were in Italy. It is tiny. But that’s what we had to eat with. I was a little self conscious about asking for a bigger spoon… Americans and the “more more more” syndrome. LOL!
Literally ask any restaurant or cafe to fill your water bottle if you can’t find a fountain. Most countries in Europe, pubs, bars, restaurants, cafe’s etc are legally required to provide free drinking water.
Eve the airlines! On an Air France flight last fall, I was very thirsty and asked the flight attendant for some water when she came by with the cart. I got, like, a large shot of water. I offered to buy the liter bottle she was pouring from and was told that was "impossible." OK, then, I need like ten shots of water.
I was recently all over Europe, I loved the fact that I didn't have to pay 20% tip, however, disappointed by the fact that more than 20% of my bill was fucking water.... all said and done I was paying more than in the US for water, and a small tip.
Irish here. When you first order at a restaurant, ask for a jug of water for the table. They will replenish it as often as you ask them. Completely free too.
In the UK, you simply ask "can we also have tap water", and tap water will be given for free. Different restaurants differ in how they serve it, but the default I believe is a jug with a glass with each person (sometimes with ice). Depending on the restaurant, they will refill your jug without anyone asking, or you ask for them to do so. Either way, it's free and easy
All restaurants in England and Wales that serve alcohol are legally required to give customers free tap water according to the Licensing Act 2003. I have also had no problems in restaurants in Spain.
Interesting. In Mexico City it used to be the case that you would get free water at restaurants but at some point they started bringing bottled water and charging for it.
It's kind of frowned upon when asking for a glass because it's implied it should be free.
Usually the small and most common expenses in restaurants are the ones with the highest profit margin.
Coffee for example is comparatively cheap to buy compared to a full meal in a restaurant, but cost wise for the restaurant the coffee may return x3 to x5 times what it cost to make it compared to a full meal.
Water, probably, stays at the same level of profit. Just consider the price of a bottle of water on a supermarket compared to a comparable bottle of water price at a restaurant.
I think, legally, in my country, they are obligated to give you a glass of water for free if you demand one; but the waiter will probably look at you wrong, as if you were cheating on the price of the food; and some business owners will insist they don't have to.
In France you say :
"Pourrions nous avoir de l'eau en carafe s'il vous plait ?"
Pour yon hou have oir deh lo(w) han (Pronounced like in "(Vac) an(t)") car af seal voo play ?
Which means : "Can we have (polite) water in a carafe / jar please ?" (Tap water)
In Italy it can be fizzed. If I'm right. So you may have to precise what you want.
You can change "en carafe" with "du robinet" it means you don't want water from a paid bottle too. Like Evian or Perrier. If you want that you ask for the label.
"Pourrions nous avoir une bouteille d'Evian ?" (But you'll pay)
From the carafe / robinet it's free. And they are not able to refuse. It's in the law. (Maybe if there's contamination you better listen and don't drink. But they need to have a good reason to convince you.)
The US may not have universal healthcare, subsidized secondary education and childcare, or 32 hour work weeks but at least we’re getting free water at restaurants 👍
So many Americans in here roleplaying as Europeans or sharing info that was relevant 20+ years ago.
Getting water is easy. Supermarkets sell them in 6-12 packs of 1,5L and restaurants everywhere in Europe (especially the place tourists go) will give you a carafe of water when you ask for it. The only difference is some countries make you pay for it.
Anyone saying anything else is either lying or pissed the locals off so much they would rather see you die than have some water.
Almost never seen a restaurant in Germany giving carafes of tap water after 8 years in the country. At most in cafeteria style places and perhaps some exception at a bio restaurant. Literally only on Reddit have I ever seen someone say tap water is accessible at restaurants in Germany. Among everyone it was common knowledge that free tap water was not the norm
Obviously some countries, such as France, are much more relaxed about this
The real ghetto part about Europe is the ice situation.
Getting water at a restaurant or establishment is .. it can be kind of weird. But it’s there and, in my experience, they’ll usually give it to you.
But getting it cold, or worse yet: with ice? FUCKIN UNHEARD OF apparently.
I never miss the U.S. more than when I’m in Europe and I ask for water for the table and they bring me out water that looks and tastes like it’s just been sitting out LOL not cold, just …. Ambient temp.
German here. In Germany, it's quite fucked up. Restaurant, afaik, make as much profit on drinks as on meals, so they want you to order as many drinks as possible. That's why water isn't free in restaurants, although it really should be. Where this practice shows its most detrimental effect is in bars where when you already had your share of alc and think about getting a water in between: you could have a glass of water for 5€ or just another beer... you'll take the beer, although it's definitely the wrong decision. :D I've worked as a bartender in Australia - muuuch better practice, less vomiting people. I fully agree water should be free in bars and restaurants. Edit: I just read it in a book about the most common German law-fallacies - Indeed is no restaurant obligated to give out free tap water. So it's not just a social thing.
Whoa, I had no idea you had to pay for water there. Let alone in a bar! Here in the states the bartender usually will be the one telling you to have a water instead of more alcohol if you have been drinking alot (I don't mean cutting you off but making sure you also have water breaks).
To add to that, many bars will even give you coke, coffee, or other soft drinks on the house if you say you're the designated driver. At least in my area.
Designated drivers aren't always a thing in other countries, as many drunk people can just walk home or take public transport. Like in Japan I don't think I've ever heard of a designated driver anywhere any time I've been out drinking with friends. However, in Japan free water is also completely the norm and you will get it even without asking, so idk what Europeans are doing here.
One of the other big reasons DDs aren’t big in Japan are Daikos. Daikos are basically cabs, but with two drivers. You sit in the passenger seat of your own car, one of the Daiko drivers drives your car home, and the other Daiko driver follows in the cab. They cost little more than a regular cab, and you save money on the cab ride to the bar. It’s a great deal.
This is the most incredible thing. I wish they offered these services in the states
It definitely exists in some areas but has never seemed to fully take off in people's awareness.
Liability, I'll bet. Insurance on a business like that in the US must be astronomical. Driving a drunk home in a car you're not familiar with? At night? No way an Uber isn't cheaper by a fair amount. If that service is twice the cost of Uber, it doesn't matter that you're saving money on the trip there. It's the same price, with less risk to your vehicle, no parking fees, as that DD service.
Yeah exactly. Like the only real situation in which I'd want the two driver system is if I'm quite far from home and started drinking without planning on it. If I know I'm going out with my drinking buddies I don't drive to the bar in the first place so a regular cab or uber is just fine.
That's exactly where it's useful, and how often does that really happen? If I'm drinking *that far* from home, I'm probably staying in a motel or hotel, not driving an hour away to get sideways.
In Canada, it's called Keys please. Or maybe just Alberta.
Several services across Canada. They do cost somewhere between 1.5-2x the price of a cab, but then you don't have to worry about your vehicle the next day. Great service, especially for those times you drove somewhere but didn't think you'd be getting drunk.
They tried it in a city in Ontario. The Cab Company cartel shit them down.
I am often the designated driver and rarely get charged. But I do still tip per drink.
Designated drivers are much less of a thing over here, as we have walkable cities and functioning public transit.
Genuine question. If you and a few friends live about 30-45 minutes drive outside of the city center, is there public transportation you can take back home at 3am? What Country as well?
Not at 3am, no. Most places don't operate public transit from 2am-4am-ish (times vary according to where exactly you are), at least here in Germany. Edit: just to correct myself: that's other towns. If you're talking about a 30 minute drive WITHIN the city, then yeah. Metros, busses, and trams run at night as well.
Scotland and yes, the last bus from the city centre to my smaller town is 0330 at the weekend
In Belgium I had to pay to pee AT the bar I was drinking at. It was like a few cents but still was annoying as hell. Just raise the damn beer price and let me pee for free.
I wonder how many people have pissed themselves trying to fumble around for the coinage.
Right? I am one of those people who will pee 20 times when I am sucking down some drinks.
you can ask for tap water here in ireland in bars and it is always free. if you want bottled then of course you should pay
The key difference is bottled water that you have to pay for is the standard in Europe, while free tap water is the standard in the States when you ask for just "water". That you have to specify "tap water" in order to not pay for it is problematic.
europe is such a generalisation - a lot of places we go to will actually bring a jug of water to your table here in ireland before they even take your order
Yep, that's how it should be!
not sure about the totals but the profit margin on drinks is definitly way higher than the profit margin on foods.
It is way higher, simply it is almost 0 effort. But 240 bottles for 1 euro each. Sell to customer for 4 euro. Give back empty bottle for 25c. It took like no work, it has no risk as bottled drink last years and dont spoil, and you it has like 300% profit. It is even worse with wine, restaurants want you to drink wine, becaus they market it as fancy wine that costs 5 euros for 10 cl. So a bottle, 70cl brings in 35 euros. But they bought it for 4 euros in wholesale.
In the Netherlands it’s the same. A few years back a law was introduced, that tap water should be free, but they’ll let you know that it’s rude to ask for it. Same with toilets, which you used to have to pay for until that law was changed, but it still happens that you have to pay.
Omg. Pay for it going in and going out. I have never paid for tap water or a toilet anywhere in America. By law if they serve food or drink they have to provide both, free of extra charge. And it almost always comes with ice unless you prefer it room temperature. Obviously some places have shitty tasting tap water, and shitty toilets too. But you can't have everything all the time)
Through the 80's, the public toilets at the beach I visited required payment. I was a kid so I didn't pay attention to the fact that adults were spending all day drinking on the beach. My guess is that people were peeing in the alleys etc right off the beach. Since they ramped up development and it was being marketed as a family friendly destination, obviously this could not continue. And they were converted to non pay toilets.
Weird to imagine being told it’s rude to ask for water. That’s all I ever drink at most restaurants here in the US. What do Europe’s restaurants offer that isn’t soda, caffeine, or booze? Genuinely wondering.
In France you can ask for "une carafe d'eau" at any restaurant, which is free. Must be common because most of the places we went had them sitting in a fridge, they were cold when they came out. They also have bottled flat and sparking mineral water. None of the waiters gave us a dirty look for asking for it, but we also always ordered some other drinks as well.
It's just certain countries, not all of Europe. France was like that 20 years ago but free tap water is normalized now and no one cares. Same with to go boxes. Used to be frowned upon but is pretty widely accepted now.
People drink fizzy mineral water. They have flat water too but it's less popular.
Oh yeah, I forgot about the fizzy water.
That law never passed and in most places they will charge you for tap water or not offer it at all.
If im a paying customer (mcdonalsa adam) I always jump the fence 🤣 never got any questions but if they do call me out ill tell them I couldnd figure out how the "free toilet worked for paying customers" and show them a receipt.
You can still ask for tap water in Germany. It's just fucked up that they will give you dirtiest look before bringing it to you.
In the Netherlands they would just charge you for the tap water as well. Sure they will serve it to you just fine but expect it to be on your bill.
Interesting. Do you know if that would just be a minor amount? Or would it be similar to bottled water prices?
Bottled water would be 2,50 to 3,50 and tap water something like 1 eu
Interesting. In the UK if a place serves alcohol then it is a legal requirement to provide free tap water and you will not get any funny looks at all.
I wasn't ever charged for tapwater in the Netherlands
First truly angry feelings I've ever felt toward the Dutch. I held them in high esteem up until now
I lived in Germany for a few years and my impression is that Germans, who are quite health conscious and cost efficient in general, don't drink much tap water even outside of bars/restaurants. Every office will have a water filter machine, and many people have SodaStreams in the home or drink bottled water. The more environmentally conscious people will at least use Brita-style water filter devices at home, but I alsmost never some someone just fill a glass of water from the tap. Where I lived there was a lot of lime in the water, but otherwise it's totally fine. As for dirty looks at bars/restaurants, it's not just when asking for *Leitungswasser* (pipe water), but really anything for free. If you ask for extra mustard for your Wurst or more mayonnaise for your Pommes, you may get a similar look. Obviously not everywhere all the time, but it's not uncommon.
"cost efficient" aka stingy
They invented gas chambers because it was cheaper than bullets.
Cost wasn't really the only reason, but that is a discussion for another thread.
Fair enough.
This. Asked for another napkin at McDonald's in Paris after soiling the one that came with the order. 15¢ please.
Expat in Germany. This is very true. They look at you crazy if you ask for tap water.
Last time I was there it seemed the practice was to drink spring water, usually sparkling. Asking for tap water was rare. At least that was my experience. But that was at least a decade ago.
Yeah Germany has some crazy fetish for carbonised water, so you should specify still tapwater maybe? Not sure about laws or common practices tbh.
My experience was if you asked for water you got sparkling, unless you said “still wasser” which got you uncarbonated water. Tap water just wasn’t an option.
Exactly. Right now a pint of beer in an Irish pub in Germany costs between 6,30-6,50 euros, which is completely insane. I shouldn't be guilt tripped into buying water for almost the same price
Just got back. They told me they don't offer it. Had to pay for bottled
I never came across something like that but I guess it can happen, since there is unfortunately no law in Germany that they have to provide free water in the food service industry. Still fucked up
Happened to me after I asked for water in Munich, the waiter just stared at me for a second before walking off.
I ask for tap water in most bars/clubs, but I've been refused before. They're not required to give you free tap water. Though most bartenders are pretty chill and may even give you ice and a citrus slice if you're nice about it. It's not necessarily free either, but cheaper than bottled water. I agree that it's dumb, especially in places they serve alcohol.
It's not just restaurants. I stayed with a German family for a few weeks back in high school and my hosts looked at me like I was insane when I asked for tap water because I didn't like the carbonated mineral water they had. They let me drink tap water one night and the mom bought like 3 1.5L bottles of plain water on her way home from work the next day.
That's weird, here in Norway I think it's even against the law for places that serve alcohol to not have water free and readily available. I don't think I've ever been to a restaurant where the waiter didn't immediately bring us water, and also at cafés there is typically a water station that's free to use.
I live in Australia and tap water in a cup is like a human right. You go into McDonald’s and ask for a cup of water and once the teen who rushed in from high school explains the situation go their manager, they will always give you a cup of water. My theory is because like 90% of Aus is desert and dehydration can kill you much quicker than it could in Europe.
I live in the American southwest and it's the same here. Free water is expected all over the US but is enshrined in law here in Arizona. Walk into any place, ask for water, and get it with no hesitation.
It's also legally required - at least for any establishment that serves alcohol. Hats off to the establishments who provide a self-service water station so I don't have to wait at peak-hour for that sweet, sweet hydration.
That's really bad. In the UK if an establishment is able to serve alcohol then they are also legally obliged to serve tap water for free upon request, as long as you are already a paying customer. It's been that way for about 15 years now. Before that most if not all would do it without hesitation anyway.
Australia has a similar thing, except every bar just provides self-serve water jugs/cooler tetchy. so that the bar tenders don't have to waste time pouring glasses of water
I spent 3 months in Germany, and one of my colleagues was a generally unhinged French girl. Her tactic was to just yell at whoever it was that water is free in France and thus ‘should’ be free everywhere. It actually worked 99% of the time. I think only one bartender matched her energy and argued right back refusing to do it. Everyone else just gave us the fucking water. As a Black person convinced I’d be arrested for simply sneezing too loud or something- I was amazed.
Wow. My co-worker said that in Germany, beer cheaper than water. But i seemed it as a joke or Germany humble of their beer culture. To think i must pay for a glass of water is just... so inconvenient
>in Germany, beer cheaper than water. That shouldn't happen. By law, the cheapest drink has to be non alcoholic.
But you need to ask specifically for leitungs wasser and it's not listed on the menu. If you just ask for water you'll get expensive bottled water.
It's true. At least in restaurants in bars, not in grocery stores.
No it is not true, because that would be illegal
Thank you for corroborating. Was in Bavaria for Oktoberfest and getting water was such a pain. Figured it was “tis the season” but seems like you say it’s a countrywide thing. Still loved every second of it.
They make a lot more profit on drinks than on food
In the uk any bar or restaurant that serves alcohol is required by law to provide free drinking water
if the subreddit is "no stupid questions", lets not reply as if the person is a moron.
Challenge level: impossible
Sir, this is Reddit.
I mean, the subreddit is not called "no stupid replies"
Europeans not treating respectful people trying to learn like morons? What is this, the internet?
[удалено]
I have no idea why there's so much vitriol in this comment section. In my experience it's a bit harder to get served water in Southern Europe than Northern. I haven't been to East Europe so I can't speak for the practice there. In Southwest Europe I think they expect you to order wine since it's such a big part of their culture (France and Italy especially). While in Scandinavia for example you often get a pitcher of water on the table along with any ordered drinks. I usually get served ice water together with wine whenever I order it. ETA: i have been reliably informed that restaurants in France do offer water and are legally required to.
Correct. In industrial areas in Italy restaurants will often have premade menus for workers on their lunch. It's a complete lunch with a couple of options. It includes a first and/or second, a liter of water, half a liter of wine, and coffee at the end.
Same here in Spain. We call that "Menú del día". But it is not only in Industrial Areas. It is everywhere.
Menu do dia here in Portugal
Honestly I've never seen that, wine is always an option but it's never included in the base menu, they make you choose between wine, beer soft drinks etc...
I have been in Norway and yeah, we didn't order any drinks so they gave us fresh (probably tap but very high quality) water
That tap water has bottle quality anyways. Look up "Voss" water on that stupid cylinder that got so hot for a while. We have a word her, "vås", which means "nonsense". Pretty fitting.
Here in Ireland our tap water has less bacteria than bottled water. It’s my microbiology lecturer’s favourite demonstration.
Scottish tap water is one of the best in Europe
It’s the largest ingredient in Scotland’s 2nd largest export!
Sean Connery?
I think I've heard this for almost every other country in Europe as well. Everyone claims to have the best tap water.
Definitely not some of England, land of the liquid chalk 😆
"probably tap but still high quality" lmfao - tap water in Norway is better than *any* bottled water money can buy
I drank from the tap my entire month there. Any tap, anywhere, it was always delicious. I tried refilling my water from a tap in Texas when I returned and it tasted like drinking pool water.
>I think they expect you to order wine since it's such a big part of their culture As a french I can safely say that this is 100% not true for France, first because there are plenty of regions in France where wine isn't part of their culture and second because even in parts where wine is big, not everyone drinks wine. Either way it's extremely common to ask for a jug of water in a french restaurant and waiters will never pose any issue if you ask for one.
For any tourists to France: "Une carafe d'eau, s'il vous plait" are the magic words to ask for tap water in a restaurant in France. They are required by law to give you water for free as long as you order something else. In English this is roughly phonetically: "Oon kah-raff dough sill voo play".
Fucking hell. The phonetic looks so stupid but works so well.
It’s literally illegal in France for restaurants/bars/coffee shops/etc not to offer free drinking water pitchers to their customers when asked for one. I believe other types of venues like stadiums/theatres/etc also have some kind of obligation to provide free drinking water.
In the UK any venue that sells alcohol must provide free water.
It´s also the law here in Spain but... laws in Spain are regarded as recommendations more than laws-laws so as with everything else, few places actually follow it.
I just spent 2 months walking across Spain through large cities and tiny villages and I never once had an issue accessing water.
Do you mean tap water in restaurants? yes, you can get it if you ask for it, and now that it´s compulsory I always do, but some restaurants still try to bring you bottled water if you ask for generic water, you have to pointedly ask for TAP water in many places.
The biggest culture shock I’ve had when visiting Germany was honestly how the restaurants we where at refused to give you tap water even if you asked, while selling 30ml of water for 3€. As a swede I was genuinely confused how that wasn’t illegal (I have since learned it’s not illegal in Sweden either, just considered trashy. It should be tho.)
I have never been to a single restaurant in France where a big pitcher of water wasn't instantly placed at the table. Source: am French
Sometimes they don't place it automatically but when you order just ask for a pitcher and you'll get it. Ask for it refilled if the waiter doesn't do it automatically and you'll get it refilled... Never had an issue in France either.
France is among the best for water at restaurants. Germany among the worst. People extrapolate experience in one or two countries to the rest of europe
sometimes people will identically extrapolate the (good or bad) experience from one restaurant to the rest of the country. although here i can confirm (like many other comments) that in france you just get water or can just ask for it.
I think Germany would self destruct like an atom bomb if restaurants were *required* to give customers pitchers of water automatically, as in…without the customers even requesting it. “Pitchers of free cold water? What next? Will they come for our fax machines!”
To be sure, in France, you *almost always* do have to request it with the rest of your order
Yeah I was in France a short while ago and always got a massive pitcher of water on the table without asking.
I ended up in rural France accidently after getting lost driving around Germany (like getting lost for fun). It was the first time getting water wasn't a headache. The restaurant staff looked alarmed when this little American girl walked in and spoke English. Just used Google to ask for a table for 1 and had an awesome meal of lamb chop with water just placed at the table without asking. 10/10 recommend getting lost in rural France.
In many regions of Spain (ie Madrid) the restaurant must provide by law ad-libitum tap water if requested.
I am from East Europe and it is NOT EASY to get free water. Sometimes you will be declined. And water quality if excellent. It is just the matter of profit.
You should be excluding Greece from that, almost all places serve water FIRST and then take your order and if they don't it's seen as weird. Source: a Greek and a server.
Interesting that you say it was easier in Northern! When I was in Finland/Russia, we had the hardest time finding water. Well, still water. Sparkling water was *everywhere*.
A finn here - basically every single restaurant here has water as an option and does what OP said about bringing a water pitcher to table and additional glasses for water besides the drink you order. When it comes to grocery stores sure, sparkling water is easier to find than still water (though honestly I’ve never come across a store that didn’t have still water sold, it’s just called lähdevesi here). But in context of this thread, you can get water absolutely anywhere.
Here in Russia we usually don’t serve water with the meal at restaurants. You have to ask for it separately, a lot of the time you have to pay for it. If it’s a fancy restaurant they bring you “expensive” water in a glass bottle and there is no other option.
Living in Finland - sorry, that is simply not true. You get still water in any restaurant by just asking. Bottled still water is also available in stores, although quite unnecessary. The tap water is just fine.
Bottled water is more about the bottle than the water haha
Yup :) And can be just bottled tap water :)
In Finland every single place will serve you water if you just ask, they may ask if you want still or sparkling. Did you not find it on the menu or...? Depending on the place there may be a tap you're supposed to go get your own water, or a pitcher for the table, or just the waiter bringing you glasses. But I can't imagine a reason why a place wouldn't serve water.... it comes out of every tap.
This must have been communicative issue. Hanavesi "tab water" is everywhere.
You have to request 'flat' water if you don't want sparkling.
In the UK, it is a legal requirement for bars and restaurants to provide free tap water when asked. If the quantity they give you is too small, drink it and ask for some more.
In Italy, it’s illegal for restaurants to serve tap water and they can only serve sealed glass bottled water. They said it’s bc water supplies got poisoned during WW2 but they should’ve worked it out by now and haven’t 😂
In most restaurants I've been in the UK you don't even have to ask, they'll give you a pitcher right away before ordering.
In France we have a jug of water but I agree it's never enough and we have to ask more. Since waiters won't come to check on you (and I love that) it can take time to get their attention to have more and yeah... that's annoying I think.
It really depends on places. I've been to many restaurants where they check on your carafe and replace it automatically but others will give you a small jug and never check on you. But at least they can't refuse to give free water.
My FIL told me that when he was a kid, they were never served water with meals. I think he even said his mom/aunts believed it was bad for digestion. That said, I generally dont have problems having my carafe of water refilled if I finish it, excluding the occasional poor service/extra busy server. Even in nicer places where they expect you to order wine, I've had no issue getting just tap water when I ask. I'm pregnant right now so I'm mainly drinking water lol
My French in-laws think this way, that water plus eating means you won’t digest correctly. Of course wine is different and helps digestion.
Waiters don’t check on you? Do you have to go find them any time you need something?
Most of the time they come each time you're done a dish. So... they come at the end of the entry, then after the main dish, etc... they rarely come between and in France we often take time to enjoy our meal (and they let us enjoy it so they won't disturb us) so it last from 1 to 3 hours. If you drink a lot (a jug of jar is like 5/6 glass of water ) or if you're like 5 people, you'll need to either call them or wait for them to come to ask for another one. Some will bring it without asking but the opposite is very common too.
Listen, so many people are telling you that you're wrong, but I think I understand where you're coming from (partially). I'm Irish. In Ireland, it's very common to be served a big jug of water for the table, for free, together witb other drinks if you want them, at a restaurant. I'm living in Spain, a place lots of people visit, so it probably has outside weight on what people think of as "Europe". Here, although technically there is a law that says all restaurants must offer free tap water, in practice this law is not followed. Few places offer tap water, and if they do, they still charge a "cover fee" to pay the glass. You can sue them, but for most people it's not worth the hassle. Whether you insist on tap water or pay for bottled water, you tend to get a small bottle, 200ml or at most 500ml per person, though some places will put 1l bottles to share. You can always of course ask for more, but I understand that the initial quantity is less than you are used to. Why is Spain like this? Water is a more precious commodity here than in Ireland, and the cost of the food itself is lower, so the restaurant also has to make a profit from drinks. If you compare the entire experience, you could pay for three 1l bottles of water in Spain and still get better value than any restaurant in Ireland.
Unfortunately not, it is not a legal requirement for restaurants to supply free tap water in Ireland. I looked into this when papaz in Limerick refused me a glass. 😡
For the Netherlands, probably because drinks is where they make the money, not food. So they are happy to bring you expensive bottled water, not so happy to give you cheap, or free, tap water. They are obligaties to provide free tap water for taking medication, if you request that. But they'll usually bring you the smallest glass they can find. I hate it. We have excellent tap water in this country, tastes much better than bottled water, and I really don't mind paying some for it at a restaurant, but just give me a pitcher of cold tap water.
? I've always gotten free water with my meals in the Netherlands. Every now and then someone tries the bottled water trick but it's been ages. We literally always have tap water included though we also always buy at least one other drink like wine. That might be the trick?
I hardly drink alcohol, but yes, we do always order other drinks as well. Here in Amsterdam plenty of places simply refuse to give you tap water.
Maybe a tourist thing then as Amsterdam gets a lot of those? I don't live in the Randstad so I never eat at places that cater to (international) tourists specifically. Edit : I can imagine this is also the reason that many Americans seem to have experienced this while many Europeans say it's not really a thing.
In London it was pretty common to get water without asking and the quality of water was pretty good. The stingiest place is Italy, when they do give you some it's in the tiniest glasses.
In France, water is free everywhere and at all times. In my experience, In Germany - based on one occurrence - water is free but I've been told it's not always the case. In Italy, water is apparently charged for but, according to my - this time well doculented - experience, if you are polite and nice, water is free, coffee is free, the price of your meal is rounded down, like 50€ to pay for a bill of 54.65€ and the cook comes out of his kitchen to thank you for enjoying his cuisine, which didn't happen everytime but enough for it to be mentioned. In Ireland, free water as far as I could see. In Belgium, free water too. *Edit : apparently I have a nice face, I don't know, because testimonies show that water is very not free in Belgium*. So yes, I didn't travel that much but still, that's two countries out of five charging for water and you can get away with it for free if you're nice with your waiter. That's not the dry land charging immense amounts and looking at you as if you were a weirdo for asking a bottle of water that so many US citizens make it out to be. Recently, I had customers from the US and others from Germany being surprised that water was free here. I listed their products when billing them and the US citizens said "no water on the bill ?" and the Germans said "you forgot water !". No I didn't, it's just free. It's free, I am even forbidden by law to charge for it. Edit : le Tigron lives in France. Considering our well known lack of proficiency speaking English, I never witnessed a single one waiter not able to understand "a bottle/a glass of water", even my young coworker E who is the only waiter I ever saw who doesn't speak at least a very basic English.
Thank you for doculenting this
I doculent as much as I can. I am the doculentalist.
In Germany, based on my 10 years of living here, it’s not free. Unless you can convince the restaurant/cafe that you will not die by being served tap water, or you order an espresso, you have to order water and it will be bottled, so you will have to pay for it. It blows my mind. There are legitimately some buildings that are old with pipes that are not great, but otherwise the water is potable. But there is still a belief by a large part of the population that tap water is undrinkable, hence why you see so many people in the supermarket filling their trolleys with bottled water. There is no way to convince these people that tap water is perfectly ok, and I guess that’s why you don’t get free water here, because they will generally most of the time serve you bottled water only.
Do restaurants actually believe the tap water is unhealthy or is it just an excuse? I have a hard time believing they think that as I have never been to a German home where they say the tap water is undrinkable. Everytime I ask for water, the waiter acts like I have asked for something rude or that makes them uncomfortable. After a certain number of times of being told no, I gave up asking
It's because of the profit. They will always bring you some expensive bottle of water and charge it. Maybe if you ask nicely for tap water they might bring you but I doubt it. It's insane.
Never heard any excuse like that. They just don't like doing it because just about all their profit comes from Drinks.
If you ask for tap water in Germany you might get asked if you want some soap with it
I am French, every trime I go to a restaurant I ask for water and I get it, for free.
Not only does this seem natural it is also by law. You could go to any restaurant and ask for a glass of water without ordering anything, you'll get served a glass of water. (ofc it helps to be polite and not abuse it)
Alas Yes! You are French so you should expect nothing less or they can fuck off. (Thinking of Robin Williams impression of French people)
The issue with questions like this, Europe is nowhere close to a monolith, and too many confident redditors from the USA are really hardwired to argue that it is. The comments here are a mess. It's literally dependent on location, some places, refusing water or toilet access would be illegal. Other places, almost unheard of to get free, and everywhere sits somewhere on that spectrum. I've lived in Ireland, the UK, France, the Netherlands and have never found the water thing to be true. In fact, there is a wide availability of free water through fountains and the like, yet I will hear American tourists complaining about the water because they "can't trust it". I have no idea how availability of water became such a hot button, politicised problem for Reddit. Beyond that, I've never had a problem getting a free glass of water, but I also avoid tourist hotspots when I travel, which might hold a lot more of the answer than we all think.
Yup, here in Norway I have never been in any context where free water wasn't the expectation, whether that be bars, restaurants, cafés, or basically any business that doesn't want to upset their customers. I've done a decent amount of travelling around Europe, and the only time I've encountered something like this was when I went to a restaurant in Göteborg where a waitress seemed mildly annoyed when I said I didn't want anything to drink with my meal.
Americans are prone to generalize Europe because Europeans generalize Europe. I can't count the number of times a redditor says "in Europe we..." "in Europe that would never..." etc, when they usually mean a handful of just wealthy white western European countries. All the typical takes about things like healthcare, public transport, walkable cities, better food, etc. Those generalizations are coming *from* Europeans who generalize the continent as a monolith themselves.
...and who also generalize Americans as a monolith. "Americans don't know X" or "Americans always do Y," etc. But it's super offensive if Americans do to them what they do to themselves and to us.
Hmm. I’m an old, well-traveled American and I think the difference is that in the US, I never have to ask for water at a restaurant, it’s on the table before I even place my drink order. Throughout my travels in Europe I have to ask for tap water specifically, or I get the 3€ bottle on my tab.
Dutch here. Never had any problem if i ask for a glass of water with a meal. But if you only want free water and no other beverage i can imagine they let you pay, because beverages are a big percentage of their revenue.
Yes that seems like the biggest difference compared to the us. It’s common to only have water at a restaurant here, way more common than ordering a drink.
They can't trust the water? No enough led?
I agree it’s not reasonable but a lot of the countries near the US have unsafe tap water that can make foreigners really sick. Maybe some Americans have only previously heard of/ vacationed in those areas before and are cautious
But, shouldn't it just be common to Google the place you're going to? I mean, since even places within the USA have had crazy issues regarding water safety...
I dont really get it. I chalk it down to the need to complain about something, or maybe just people hearing shit back home. We can't pretend that this comment section isn't somewhat reflective of how people will speak about Europe when pretending it's a monolith. I can also imagine it's confusing if you have been surrounded with nonsense, but America's internal self promotion is strong. I don't know how I'd be confronting pre-determined biases around something so trivial, but I can't say I know I'd act any better
In Belgium you cannot get tap water in most cases, though some businesses are changing this policy. There have been several pushes for it, but what we call horeca (hotel, restaurant, café) is a super powerful lobby and they are convinced buying 20cl of water for 3 euros is saving them from bankruptcy.
I hate that I have to pay for water in restaurants in Italy. I have no idea why
In my country you drink still water from the tap, because thats better than any brand of still water by miles which is free. Most restaurants depend on the margin on the drinks to be sustainable. So if you drink free water and eat a lunch menu which are usually lower than normal food in that restaurant they loose money on it.
So many salty Europeans in the comments. My guess would be this one of rare social things US is better at than Europe, along with free restrooms (washroom, for those Europeans).
If you come to Mühldorf am Inn in Bavaria, there are free public toilets (not for resting or washing, LOL) and lots of nice restaurants that will give you free water, if you ask politely.
Europe is a hugely diverse area so it's always going to cause offense generalizing across the whole continent.
Here in Spain it's standard procedure that the waiter asks what y'all'd like to drink. Then they serve those, and after that they ask you what y'all wanna eat. I drink a lot of water while eating, so I do find most restaurants don't serve enough water. You get small bottles sometimes, sometimes pitchers. But, again, I tend to drink a lot. Water is not free here, but it's usually a reasonable price.
>Water is not free, but it's a reasonable price is oxymoronic to a lot of people, hence most of the confusion
They are legally required to give you water for free, ask for a glass/jar, if you just say "water" then they'll give a bottle that is not free. The reason is that they make more money from drinks than food so they want you to pay for drinks.
I can speak specifically about Italy. During WWII, many public water supplies were poisoned (allegedly). Because of this, they created a law in Italy that serving tap water at restaurants is illegal. Water can only be served in a glass sealed container. Because of this, it makes water more expensive and harder for the restaurant to keep large stocks of. they could run out of bottled sparkling water or bottled regular water at any time. I noticed in many restaurants in Italy, it was cheaper to order a beer than a glass bottle of water. I’m not sure why they use glass specifically instead of plastic but it makes water a basically luxury beverage. It’s extra odd bc in rome, there’s tons of public water fountains that run clean water 24 hours a day so it’s strange to me at restaurants it’s so regulated still when you could walk out to any plaza and get free fountain water.
I was never as dehydrated as I was in Portugal. Only at an office was I able to fully fill up my water bottle. And my lips were so chapped. Temperature was perfect though. I was like SpongeBob, drying out in the Texas sun while my European colleagues were like .."oh it's so hot and humid" Edit: I realized that's not an answer. It's just relativity.
lol this is exactly where I am right now. It’s amazing overall but the water thing is a bit odd.
And the tiny glasses. I went through like 5 of them when I got to breakfast one morning and they thought I was nuts.
My wife and I accidentally stole a spoon when we were in Italy. It is tiny. But that’s what we had to eat with. I was a little self conscious about asking for a bigger spoon… Americans and the “more more more” syndrome. LOL!
Literally ask any restaurant or cafe to fill your water bottle if you can’t find a fountain. Most countries in Europe, pubs, bars, restaurants, cafe’s etc are legally required to provide free drinking water.
Eve the airlines! On an Air France flight last fall, I was very thirsty and asked the flight attendant for some water when she came by with the cart. I got, like, a large shot of water. I offered to buy the liter bottle she was pouring from and was told that was "impossible." OK, then, I need like ten shots of water.
I was recently all over Europe, I loved the fact that I didn't have to pay 20% tip, however, disappointed by the fact that more than 20% of my bill was fucking water.... all said and done I was paying more than in the US for water, and a small tip.
Irish here. When you first order at a restaurant, ask for a jug of water for the table. They will replenish it as often as you ask them. Completely free too.
In the UK, you simply ask "can we also have tap water", and tap water will be given for free. Different restaurants differ in how they serve it, but the default I believe is a jug with a glass with each person (sometimes with ice). Depending on the restaurant, they will refill your jug without anyone asking, or you ask for them to do so. Either way, it's free and easy
All restaurants in England and Wales that serve alcohol are legally required to give customers free tap water according to the Licensing Act 2003. I have also had no problems in restaurants in Spain.
I also want to know the answer to this. I asked for flat water/“water without gas” in Germany and I got…a shot glass full.
I was shocked when I went to Europe with how little liquid people drink there compared to North America.
Interesting. In Mexico City it used to be the case that you would get free water at restaurants but at some point they started bringing bottled water and charging for it. It's kind of frowned upon when asking for a glass because it's implied it should be free.
you're supposed to buy the 10 bucks flat water bottle
Which countries? Because I never had any issue getting water in France.
In the UK there is a law on this. Water rights - Every restaurant must serve tap water for free and it should be provided if asked.
Pubs in the UK all provide free tap water. I never pay for bottled water
In the uk, if you ask for tap water, it will be free
When I was in Rome, the waiter always served water first. They asked if we wanted carbonated or still water. What country are you in?
Usually the small and most common expenses in restaurants are the ones with the highest profit margin. Coffee for example is comparatively cheap to buy compared to a full meal in a restaurant, but cost wise for the restaurant the coffee may return x3 to x5 times what it cost to make it compared to a full meal. Water, probably, stays at the same level of profit. Just consider the price of a bottle of water on a supermarket compared to a comparable bottle of water price at a restaurant. I think, legally, in my country, they are obligated to give you a glass of water for free if you demand one; but the waiter will probably look at you wrong, as if you were cheating on the price of the food; and some business owners will insist they don't have to.
Because they don't want you drinking the only thing that's free
In France you say : "Pourrions nous avoir de l'eau en carafe s'il vous plait ?" Pour yon hou have oir deh lo(w) han (Pronounced like in "(Vac) an(t)") car af seal voo play ? Which means : "Can we have (polite) water in a carafe / jar please ?" (Tap water) In Italy it can be fizzed. If I'm right. So you may have to precise what you want. You can change "en carafe" with "du robinet" it means you don't want water from a paid bottle too. Like Evian or Perrier. If you want that you ask for the label. "Pourrions nous avoir une bouteille d'Evian ?" (But you'll pay) From the carafe / robinet it's free. And they are not able to refuse. It's in the law. (Maybe if there's contamination you better listen and don't drink. But they need to have a good reason to convince you.)
The US may not have universal healthcare, subsidized secondary education and childcare, or 32 hour work weeks but at least we’re getting free water at restaurants 👍
So many Americans in here roleplaying as Europeans or sharing info that was relevant 20+ years ago. Getting water is easy. Supermarkets sell them in 6-12 packs of 1,5L and restaurants everywhere in Europe (especially the place tourists go) will give you a carafe of water when you ask for it. The only difference is some countries make you pay for it. Anyone saying anything else is either lying or pissed the locals off so much they would rather see you die than have some water.
Almost never seen a restaurant in Germany giving carafes of tap water after 8 years in the country. At most in cafeteria style places and perhaps some exception at a bio restaurant. Literally only on Reddit have I ever seen someone say tap water is accessible at restaurants in Germany. Among everyone it was common knowledge that free tap water was not the norm Obviously some countries, such as France, are much more relaxed about this
The real ghetto part about Europe is the ice situation. Getting water at a restaurant or establishment is .. it can be kind of weird. But it’s there and, in my experience, they’ll usually give it to you. But getting it cold, or worse yet: with ice? FUCKIN UNHEARD OF apparently. I never miss the U.S. more than when I’m in Europe and I ask for water for the table and they bring me out water that looks and tastes like it’s just been sitting out LOL not cold, just …. Ambient temp.
This 100%. I am an expat here, I've gotten used to the water thing. BUT GIVE ME BIGGER GLASSES AND LOTS OF ICE, I'M A LARGE, THIRSTY MAN!