Jadzyah van D.
Google
We visited this bar two days ago to celebrate a friend’s birthday. While the music was great and the drinks were well-made, our overall experience was soured by how the staff handled tipping.
Here’s what happened: We started with table service, which was fine for the first hour, but then it stopped, and we had to go up to the bar to order our drinks. Again, we get it—places get busy, and it wasn’t a problem. What was weird, though, was what happened when it came time to pay. After we settled the tab (a big one, mind you), a staff member came over to us and basically scolded us for not leaving a 10% tip, claiming it’s “customary in Germany.” Apparently, the reasoning was that we had occupied a table for a while and prevented other guests from sitting.
First of all, this isn’t the U.S.—tipping isn’t mandatory here, and we already tipped on individual drinks throughout the night. Second, tipping should be about showing appreciation for great service, and honestly, we didn’t get that. Table service disappeared after an hour, and when we went to the bar, the staff just took orders, made the drinks, and gave us the price. That’s literally the bare minimum of the job description. There was no extra effort, no small talk, no “going above and beyond.”
In the end, we gave a €10 tip just to diffuse the situation, but even that wasn’t met with any grace or appreciation. The entire interaction felt entitled, awkward, and honestly left a bad taste in our mouths. If the staff feel underpaid, that’s an issue for management—not something to guilt customers over.
Overall, while the drinks and music were good, the way tipping was handled made us feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. Bars that rely on guilt-tripping their customers need to rethink their approach because this was an unnecessary and disappointing end to an otherwise fun night.
