Hey everyone, Dana here! It's a restaurant...they serve food.
Can't be that different in Germany and the U.S., right?
Well, actually…
I already made a video about the restaurant
experience in Germany, so now I'm going to look at the restaurant experience in the
U.S., and you quickly arrive at the first big difference as soon as you walk through the door.
In Germany I've noticed that, at least at restaurants that aren't so fancy, you're
often allowed to choose your own table from any of the tables that don't already have
a little reserved sign on them.
Not in the U.S.
In the U.S. you usually need to wait at the front of the restaurant for the host or hostess
to bring you to your table. Why?
Because in the U.S. there are strict server sections.
Each server has a particular section for their shift.
Good customer service is a part of the restaurant experience in the U.S., so they don't want
one server to get overwhelmed with too many tables all at once, and then not be able to
give each table that customer service, which might very well happen if the patrons were
just allowed to sit at whichever table they want.
And also servers make most of their money from tips in the U.S., so the job of the host
or the hostess at the front of the restaurant is to spread the people out around the restaurant
so that all the servers get a table and an opportunity to make some tips.
So if you show up at a restaurant and you see empty tables but you're told you're told
you can't sit there or you're told that there's a wait for a table, that would be why.
Either the server just got a table and so that server cannot take on another table at
the moment.
Or maybe for that particular shift, there's no server at the restaurant for that section
of tables.
If there's a wait at the restaurant, then you'll often be offered to put your name
on a waiting list.
You give them your name and then you can go wait at the bar sometimes if there's a bar,
or maybe walk around nearby for a few minutes, or sit in the waiting area.
Sometimes they will even give you a little buzzer that goes off and lets you know when
your table is ready.
And this in particular is something that I have never experienced in Germany.
I have never gotten a little buzzer.
Actually I've never waited for a table in Germany.
They just tell me, like, no I'm sorry, all the tables are full.
Goodbye.
Once you're seated at your table in the U.S., you order drinks first and then after
that you place your food order.
And just a heads up, tap water is usually free, and fountain sodas usually have free refills.
But: fountain sodas.
Not sodas that are brought to your table in a can.
If the soda comes in the can, then you do have to pay for each can that you get.
And unless you specify otherwise, the cold beverages will usually come with lots and
lots of ice cubes in them.
So if you don't want the ice cubes in your drink, be sure to say so when you order it.
Alright, so, you've got your drinks...now you need your food.
In Germany people often say "Guten Appetit" before eating, but in the U.S. not so much.
Sometimes someone will sporadically decide to say "bon appetit" or, like,
looks good, let's eat.
But it's definitely not "a thing" that has to happen in the U.S. for the meal to start.
Okay, so dig into your food.
Time to eat...with your hands? Yes, that's right.
I have noticed that in the U.S. it's a lot more common to eat certain things with your
fingers, rather than with a knife and fork.
Pizza, french fries, chicken wings; in English these things are in the category called finger
foods for a reason, after all. We eat them with our fingers.
Somewhere between around your first and fourth bite, your server will probably swing back
around just to quickly check up on you, make sure that everything is okay with your food,
you need any other sauces or napkins or another drink or a refill of your drink or anything
else with your meal.
So often you'll end up, like, with the food in your mouth like, uh-huhmmm!
If you need to get the attention of your server for whatever reason during your meal, it is
considered impolite in the U.S. to shout across the room at them or snap your finger at them.
No, no, no, don't do that.
Just make eye contact with them across the room, maybe a little, like, head nod, you know?
Just pretty subtle. You know, it's their job.
So as soon as they just, you make eye contact with them, they pretty much know you need
something and they'll come to see what you need as soon as they can.
Once you're done eating, if you haven't finished everything, you are more than welcome
to ask to take your leftovers with you.
Now, at some places, the server will take your plate and go into the back and pack your
food away and then bring the box back to you with your food in it.
Whereas at other places, the server will actually bring you a box, and then you have to pack
away your own food.
Then the server will usually ask you if you saved any room for dessert and coffee.
If you don't want any dessert then they'll bring you the check, usually hidden away in
a small black folder.
They leave it on the table saying something like, "I'll take this whenever you're ready."
And then you're pretty much supposed to pay and go at that point.
They're not rushing you...but, yeah, they're rushing you.
Like I said, servers get paid in tips, and restaurants make more money if they can seat
another group at your table, and sometimes there's a waiting list.
So there's a lot of talk in the restaurant business in the U.S. about turning tables
quickly, getting people in and out, and then a new group in.
And yeah, I do miss some of my favorite foods in the restaurants in the U.S., but I gotta
say, I absolutely love and appreciate the more laid-back restaurant style here in Germany.
There's no rush!
No rush to get you in, get you out here in Germany.
And, yeah, I just, I really do appreciate that.
But I do miss some of my favorite foods in the U.S. Mmm.
Okay, so, now it's time to pay.
Unlike in Germany, it's not usually very convenient to split the bill in the U.S.
That's actually another thing that I really like about eating out in Germany, super easy
to split the bill.
But unlike in Germany where sometimes you can't pay with a credit card. At some restaurants
they've told me no, in the U.S. you can almost always pay with credit or cash.
Either way though, you put the cash or the credit card in that little black folder thing,
hand it back to the server.
And then they bring it back to you with either your change or the credit card and credit
card slip for to go ahead and sign.
Reading up online for this video, I found that tipping is still often listed at 15 to
20 percent of the bill.
But I've heard some people saying that it's actually shifted up a little bit to more like
18 to 22 percent.
So I would love to hear from people working in U.S. restaurants: What would you say is
now the standard tip range?
You can add the tip to the credit card slip or make a line through that section and then leave
cash if you want.
But whatever you do, don't forget to tip your servers.
Like I said, that's most of their wage in the U.S. so it's really, really important
not to forget. Gotta leave a tip.
Sometimes restaurants will automatically add the tip to the bill, for example if it's
a larger table, and then from what I've seen it usually says on the menu that gratuity
will be added for example, for parties of 8 or more.
And then of course that is listed on the bill there, and you know, okay, the tip has already
been included. Um, I've often seen 18 percent.
And so then you know, like, you don't have to give more.
Of course you can if you'd like to.
I'm sure the server won't mind at all.
But it does say there on the bill if the gratuity has already been added.
So my question for you is: What's been your experience at restaurants in the U.S.
And for people who have worked in restaurants in the U.S., as servers or any other position,
what would you like people to know before eating out in the U.S.? Please let me know
in the comments below.
Thank you so much for watching.
I really hope that you enjoyed this video.
And also a really big thank you so much to our patrons on Patreon, who help makes these
videos possible.
Thank you so much for your support.
If you'd like to check out our Patreon page, you can find a link to that down in the description
box below.
Until next time, auf Wiedersehen!
Wait. Wait, wait, wait. I can't even snap. My snap sucks.
It's completely... Snap is, oh I snapped! Snapped when I didn't even need it.
This video's making me hungry!
For the host or hostest...hostess. The hostest... Host or hostess.
Testing, testing. Testing, testing. Getestet.
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