Timeline for Is it rude to bring bottled water into a restaurant in Germany?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
23 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Oct 4, 2022 at 12:39 | comment | added | Bernhard Döbler | You still order the water from the menu, not free tap water | |
| Jul 19, 2017 at 15:01 | comment | added | user428517 | @O.R.Mapper That may be true. Still, ordering water is okay too. | |
| Jul 19, 2017 at 4:21 | comment | added | O. R. Mapper | @sgroves: "the customer should order whatever they would like to drink." - absolutely. And, as far as I can observe, that often is something other than water. | |
| Jul 18, 2017 at 22:22 | comment | added | user428517 | This answer seems to imply that ordering water, as a main beverage to a meal, is somehow strange? Nonsense. This answer makes absolutely no sense at all ... the customer should order whatever they would like to drink. | |
| Jul 18, 2017 at 20:59 | comment | added | O. R. Mapper | @Avery: That's a very subjective opinion. Personally, I cannot understand why anyone would voluntarily drink water when there are other beverages available. That's probably also the reason why I remained entirely unaware of the "free tap water" service that seems to exist in plenty of countries that I have visited until reading about it online, because I always order at least one drink (such as juice, tea, soft drinks, ...), even if the waiter places some water on the table (which I will leave untouched). But your personal taste may well differ; to each their own. | |
| Jul 18, 2017 at 19:31 | comment | added | ave | @O.R.Mapper honestly nothing can hold the place of water in terms of refreshing one's thirst. | |
| Jul 18, 2017 at 13:15 | comment | added | Chris H - UK | @JarkoDubbeldam the tap water in France is perfectly drinkable, it's just not to everyone's taste | |
| Jul 17, 2017 at 20:50 | comment | added | rackandboneman | Not everyone in Germany has a habit of drinking tap water, even if it is potable and safe everywhere - bottled water still sells well around here. So there is still a low-end connotation to tap water, a restaurant would probably see it as below them to serve it. | |
| Jul 17, 2017 at 11:40 | comment | added | Fattie | "the tap water isn't of the highest quality everywhere" a remarkable comment, which specific place did you have in mind? (most places just use a cheap filter anyway) | |
| Jul 17, 2017 at 11:38 | comment | added | Fattie | "though my experience is in France, where they also didn't serve "free tap water" as a matter of course" confusion upon confusion - are you thinking of another country? In every single restaurant and cafe in France you will get a free carafe of tap water, and indeed you legally have to in France. | |
| Jul 17, 2017 at 8:48 | comment | added | O. R. Mapper | @JackAidley: "One drinks water so that you can refresh your thirst with the water and then slowly sip whatever drink you've ordered." - that doesn't match my experience. One drinks the ordered drink (for instance, apple juice, or whatever) to refresh one's thirst. And when the glass is empty, one orders another drink, and so on (that is why, for instance, as another answer describes, waiters sometimes ask for the next drink order when they notice an empty glass). | |
| Jul 17, 2017 at 8:28 | comment | added | Jack Aidley | Your answer is completely misunderstanding why water is ordered. One drinks water so that you can refresh your thirst with the water and then slowly sip whatever drink you've ordered. In most European countries, free tap water is provided for this purpose - e.g. in Denmark, they bring it when you sit down by default; in the UK, it's a legal obligation to provide it for free. The German exceptionalism for interesting or nice drinks you describe simply doesn't exist; the exception is only in charging for water. | |
| Jul 17, 2017 at 8:11 | history | edited | Dmitry Grigoryev | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jul 17, 2017 at 7:01 | history | edited | O. R. Mapper | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jul 17, 2017 at 0:11 | comment | added | davidbak | @JarkoDubbeldam - Quite so. I wasn't complaining. That's the way it was, and it was fine with me to go along with it. | |
| Jul 17, 2017 at 0:10 | comment | added | davidbak | @MassimoOrtolano - Yes, you can ask, but they don't just put it on the table as a matter of course. Then again, neither do they just lay the check down on the table to move you along as a matter of course - leaving you feeling very relaxed and in control. Then again, on the third hand, they allow dogs. Except for that latter bit I quite enjoyed French restaurant customs. | |
| Jul 16, 2017 at 19:48 | comment | added | JAD | @davidbak It depends a bit on where exactly you are in France, but the tap water isn't of the highest quality everywhere. France relies on bottled water, as you can see by the huge amount most supermarkets have in stock. | |
| Jul 16, 2017 at 19:32 | comment | added | O. R. Mapper | ... Then, of course, restaurants also consider the profit angle, but the thought you described could not work without the customer side playing along (instead of usually drinking nothing or ordering much soup), based upon cultural reasons (which I by no means claim to be exclusive to the German-speaking part of the world). | |
| Jul 16, 2017 at 19:29 | comment | added | O. R. Mapper | @dirkk: Well, there are also many other beverages beside beer and soft drinks (e.g. various teas, fruit juices, milk-based drinks in some places, ...). Of course, sparkling water is indeed quite a different thing (in taste and in "feeling" - although personally, I cannot understand why anyone would choose it over all the tasty fruit juices, but that may be just me ;) ) compared to the tap water that was mentioned in the beginning of the question. ... | |
| Jul 16, 2017 at 19:23 | comment | added | Massimo Ortolano | @davidbak In France, they serve free tap water virtually everywhere: just ask for une carafe d'eau. | |
| Jul 16, 2017 at 18:33 | comment | added | davidbak | Sounds right to me, though my experience is in France, where they also didn't serve "free tap water" as a matter of course. There I would order a bottle of water "sans gaz" (I dislike sparkling water) and a nice small bottle of mineral water would be brought to me and served and billed as appropriate. | |
| Jul 16, 2017 at 16:10 | comment | added | dirkk | As a German I often order water in restaurants (when not drinking beer...), simply because I like it (and I don't really care for soft drinks and such). I don't think it is at all irregular, especially sparkling water (soda) is quite popular in Germany. Additionally, to add some point to the German restaurant culture: For many restaurants it is simply a profit thing. Dishes are are quite cheap and profit margins for drinks are usually much higher. So the restaurant needs the money from drinks so their calculation works out. | |
| Jul 16, 2017 at 15:27 | history | answered | O. R. Mapper | CC BY-SA 3.0 |