Tipping in Serbia
In the US when the bill comes at a restaurant most people leave a tip. Depending on the restaurant and the people and how many times I would eat there I tipped heavy. My wife didn’t understand it at first but then she saw the extra service, perhaps a few drinks on the house, or a heavy pour from the bar and she started to get it Most of us have some rules that we use for tipping. Unless it is an exceptional restaurant the servers get less than the US minimum wage. They will usually use a portion of their tips to tip the bartender who made the drinks they served and the bus staff that cleaned the tables. Also, almost no service staff gets health care or retirement, no vacation, paid sick leave, life insurance, or any benefits other than perhaps a free meal during their shift.
So especially when American’s come to Serbia, they sort of expect to do the same. But the situation is entirely different here. Here they are paid a living wage. In some cases, close to what a nurse might make. They are employees in the full sense of the word. The restaurant pays for their taxes, therefore, giving them health care the same as the bus driver or schoolteacher. Everyone is covered. There is private insurance companies now as well, my mother in law thinks you are going to die there, with one of them, old practices are hard to get over but there are several options. They also get the standard retirement that everyone else gets when they retire. This leads to the waiters, most of them male which fascinates me, works for the same establishment for their whole careers. I know several who have been working at restaurants close by us that have been there for the fifteen years since I have been coming. So tipping was never a practice here until the fall of communism and the influx of tourists especially those from the US. In fact, even today if you pay by credit card there is no way for them to add the tip onto the bill.
So here are a few rules of thumb that might help you. Most Serbs rarely tip except for if the bill is 950 dinars they will leave the 50 from the 1000 dinars. Same with a taxis by the way. Just round up to what you have. I will still leave a tip on occasions. If it is a restaurant that we go to regularly I will leave 200 which is essentially $2.00 USD. At big parties where there are a number of people, I will get to around ten percent, which is the same at the very nice restaurants. One reason I hear voiced from the US is “I am not tipping because the service was so bad.” I have mentioned this before in the US turning over tables is the goal. Get them in, sell them as much as you can, get them out. In Serbia, it is relaxed, why would you want to go anywhere else, nothing really pressing to do now. You would notice people sipping on the same espresso for hours. You are in no hurry as a patron, they are in no hurry to make you feel rushed.
One note I have yet to find out why, as I mentioned above, most of the servers are men. Except at the bars where you will find women servers. If I ever get a good explanation of why I will pass it on.