If the establishment is sold out, you can be sure not only of reasonable prices, but also (which is very important, for example, in the fish menu) - of the guaranteed freshness of the products, because they barely have time to import them.
LOCAL ORDERS
Hence the situation with tips in Bulgaria: locals either don’t leave at all or coins that don’t amount to a tithe. There are countries where the generally accepted tip size is 25%. There are places where it’s only 5. Behind the scenes, the average amount of financial incentives is considered to be 10% of the bill, but not everywhere and not always such amounts of reward may be adequate to the efforts expended. So in Bulgaria, as in some other countries, it is accepted not so much to be tied to the amount of the check, but rather to the approximate amount of gratitude for the day or evening delivery of dishes from the kitchen to the table. And when ordering an expensive dish or alcohol, the client may not increase the size of the tip that is usual for the time of day.
In a cafe or small eatery, in the morning or in the middle of the day, it is completely acceptable to leave 1 lev. If there are more than two people, then 2 leva. For dinner in a restaurant - more, at your discretion... See locals who spend more than two during the day, and for dinner - more than 5 leva tips are very rare. Of course, there are men who hustle in front of invited ladies. There are ladies who like to please male waiters - both of them pay a lot, depending on their desire to impress.
There are fewer and fewer “fat” clients - life redirects them to countries with better service
UNREASONABLE GENEROSITY
Tourists pay more: some - according to the traditions of their country, some - “for fear of losing face”, some - not understanding the value of the local currency. That is why, during the high season, there is an influx in establishments unskilled employees who want to earn extra money. But tourists in Bulgaria are divided into two categories: those who can only afford Bulgaria, and those who are called “fat”. There are more and more people saving. Gone are the days when any tourists threw money around. Today they know how to read the Internet and know how to control expenses.
Service nuances
There is a category of establishments where the service is close to normal. Most often, these are chain restaurants. The staff there is friendly, efficient, and efficient. But here, too, the picture is spoiled by two traditional aspects in Bulgaria. First: for some reason, waiters consider it cool not to write down the order. They proudly claim that they remember everything. And, often, they forget part of the order, confuse the dishes, they don’t bring what was ordered or they don’t bring what you expect. In fairness, it should be noted that establishments have equipped waiters with a portable electronic ordering device - this is excluded there.
And the second: in such establishments there is usually an influx of visitors, there are too many tables for one employee of the hall. You wait for an infinitely long time, look at the poor, lathered girl who rushes between tables like mad and physically does not have time to please everyone on time and you feel how irritation at the delay in service is redirected from her to the establishment as a whole, that does not at all increase the desire to reward his employees.
As a rule, at the end of work, tips collected for a shift by all waiters and the bar are summed up and divided equally among all workers. Because of this, conflicts often arise within the team.
Staff turnover in establishments is especially high - careless people are squeezed out
TRICKS AND TRICKS
Professional waiters and bartenders have many techniques for motivating clients with rewards, based on a subtle knowledge of psychology. Simple (private, with caution) “I do not advise you to order THIS. It’s better - here’s THAT”, can be regarded as a personal favor and serve as a motive for additional tips, although, in fact, an order simply came from the kitchen: “THAT - it will spoil, if you don’t sell it today, recommend!”...
The rules of some establishments that claim to be “elite” look rude; without warning, they add 10 and even 15-20% in excess of the cost of dishes as a forced “tip” to the check as a separate item. As a rule, even wealthy clients remain dissatisfied with the fact that they were deprived of the right to voluntarily manage their money.
Sometimes the menu “recommends” leaving the waiter 20%, in the hope that this will hurt the client’s pride and he will leave more on principle. Often, the same provocative psychology works so well that the profit outweighs the losses from the reluctance of some clients to leave anything at all after such an arrogant recommendation.
There are hundreds of examples, it’s impossible to list them all here - those who work with the flow of people are the best experts on human nature. On the other hand: each of us has found ourselves in situations where a really warm, caring attitude, speed of service and the personal sympathy that arose as a result, encouraged us to leave the person more than planned.
In most cases, however, leaving a tip in the Balkans is simply pleasant
So how much should you tip?
If you have no complaints about the taste of the dishes and the time of serving, then 5 leva for tea will be a generous reward for the waiter. If you are not satisfied with something, but you do not want to seem impolite, leave 1-2 left. If you are completely unhappy with the service, leave a handful of “copper” stotinki. It is acceptable to leave nothing at all for the waiter in cases where the client is outraged and feels insulted or if the prices in the establishment are unreasonably inflated, which should guarantee its employees high salaries.
Despite all the shortcomings of the service, one cannot help but admit: the service staff in Bulgaria, for the most part, are friendly and nice, a considerable part of them try to serve with dignity... And, even if this does not work out very well, it is worth rewarding - salaries are ridiculously low, the work is hard, and people are sometimes very tired and defenseless. What is most amazing is how, in such conditions, they manage not to become aggressive and maintain warmth of soul - one of the main wealth of the Bulgarian people.