Feature 1: Tipping in the U.S. Well, of course all restaurants in the world have tips, and most people leave them. But the problem is that in America they are very big: 10-20%, most often they leave 15%. It’s often written in restaurants that if there are, for example, 5 or 6 people there, they automatically take 20% of the tip. At least 10%. That’s a pretty substantial tip, especially if you go to a not-so-expensive restaurant. If you eat there for $100, you have to leave at least 10-15% for a tip.
Feature 2: In America there is no coffee culture. You know, in Europe a lot of people sit in cafes and have tea and eat cake and drink coffee and socialize. There is no such thing here. It’s very difficult to find a cafe to just go drink tea, sit, talk, eat cake. There are cafes like that, where most people go to work, it’s something like Starbucks. It’s a completely different vibe than the cafes we’re used to. Not that kind of spirit, let’s put it that way. And it doesn’t feel the same either. I think it has to do with the fact that America has a work culture and everyone is constantly on the run. And here Starbucks places are very popular, because you go in, get a coffee, go, get in the car and drink on the go. Everything is done on the go. There’s no such thing as someone sitting down and having coffee.
There’s no coziness in American cafes.
I’m not talking about restaurants specifically. Naturally, restaurants are fine. But if we’re talking about some common inexpensive cafes, here in most cases it’s just awful: just some iron tables and chairs, it’s often dirty, some small incomprehensible place.
Feature 3: The habit of taking food to go
In America people often order take-out food. That is you call on the phone or you come and say: “I want to order for to go”, and you order from the menu and they pack it in boxes and give you plastic spoons and forks if you want, and you take it away and you eat it at home or in the office somewhere.
Feature 4: extra portions
The next unusual thing is that there are so-called refills. They’re mostly drinks, but in some places it can be some kind of a meal. I mean, they bring you, for example, a Coke (mostly carbonated drinks: Coke, Sprite, ginger ale, not juice), you drink it, they bring you more, more, more. As long as you’re sitting there, they’ll bring it to you, and they don’t take money for that, they only take money for the first drink, the first coke you drink, they’ll include that in the bill, and the rest, even if you drink ten glasses, will be free.
Feature 5: Self-service
Another interesting thing is self-service with drinks. This is mostly in fast food restaurants. Naturally, in restaurants they bring it to you. But if it’s a fast food place or more or less a non-luxury eatery, there’s a machine, they give you a glass, you pour yourself different drinks as you want. Again, it turns out kind of like a refill, because you can use it a lot, and it’s kind of like you choose what you want. You just say to them, “I want a drink.” That’s it, they give you a glass, you do it yourself from there. That’s also unusual.