CNN did a story today about the big difference between Europe and the United States when it comes to free tap water in the restaurant. Let’s check that out together. Hello, everybody. As Martin, your personal water summation. So before we diving into this topic, obviously Europe is a continent. No, it’s not a single country. We have 44 different countries in Europe. We’re all speaking different languages. And yes, the culture and the money, what stuff cost is totally different from north to south or from east to west. But I’m from Germany, so let’s make a little bit easier, compare Germany to the United States in prices.
So several people were interviewed, obviously in this CNN article. And for example, one person said, in the US, you sit down at the table and you’re giving a huge glass of water with ice, and it’s not even my question, it’s just plopped on the table. And that is a normal thing here in America. When I came over from Germany to America for my first time, I was like, what is this? Why we’re wasting so much water? Because I see a lot of waters has not been finished. So this wasting culture is way bigger in America than obviously in Europe.
Another person was interviewed and he said, Houston, Germany, if you serve tap water in Germany to every human, people would be like, oh, I don’t drink this water, so why would you serve it to me? And that’s might be a little confusing for a lot of Americans now because we Germans love sparkling water. So when we’re going into a restaurant and we ask for water, we actually mean sparkling water and not still water. And because sparkling water does not come from the taps, should we gonna pay for it?
In general, we believe that water has value, and I think that has something to do with the big cultural difference between United States and Europe. Now again, because in Europe we have the old spa and bathtowns. So in our culture, we always knew that water is not just water, that water can be so much more than just hydration. That you can find mineral stills, often water, but can actually heal you. Because let’s be honest, the first medication invented on this planet was nothing else than bottled water. So it’s not just hydration for us, we feel that water has the same, like, value, like a pile of wine. So here in the United States, this is what you’re getting in restaurants automatically. It’s a nice glass of water with thousands of ice cubes in it and a lemon slice. But in Europe, because we know that water has taste as well due to the minerals, when we would add thousands of ice cubes in it, we would dilute water with water. Sounds may be crazy, but you will change the taste of that water because the ice cubes are maybe made of unfilled at highly chlorinated tap and that’s not what we like.
The second reason we don’t want slices of lemon or limes in our water because why, when I’m eating like my nice steak, would I put a lemon slice on my steak? Now, nobody would come up with that idea. But you’re actually doing that by drinking this super acidic, lemony water right next to your steak. Your pellet will actually detect the acidic nodes of the lemons and will then have a weird impact on the omami taste of your steak. And that’s really the best pairing.
I think another big difference about Europe now again, and the United States is how much water you should drink. I see more and more advertising for this oversized, insanely big water, reusable water bottles. This is like a gallon. This is just crazy. There’s 3.7 liters. Like here in America, everybody thinks the more water you drink, the better it is. But that’s actually not healthy for you because you will dilute your sodium level in your body when you’re dumping all the time this water into your body. So in America, everybody thinks you need to drink all the time water versus in Europe. We don’t have that idea in our culture that you have to dump water all the time in it. This idea of drinking too much water actually comes from the 40s here in America. And they were talking back in the days about liquid intake. They never talked about water intake. So the big difference is you can actually eat your water by eating, for example, a butter lettuce. Tons of waters already dissolved in there. Your morning coffee actually adds into your maybe 8 glasses of water in the morning. So this idea of I have to drink all the time water is not true. And you don’t have to do that.
Additionally, when you want to carry your water bottle with you, you don’t have to carry this gallon 1. Get a regular, normal sized water bottle because in major cities in Europe, for example, here in Paris, we have water fountains and you can drink and you can refill your bottles everywhere. And even you can go to restaurants because that’s a myth that they don’t give you a tap water for free. Pretty much every restaurant in Europe will give you tap water for free. I, working since 30 years in the restaurant industry, I never said to a customer who came into the restaurant, said, I want some tap water, can I have some? I would always give it them for free. I never had a restaurant charging for tap water, by the way, that’s an American thing to charge for filter tap water. I see this more and more happening here in the United States. What is kind of like insane then I hear sometimes from tourists in Europe, I don’t want to pay for water. That’s crazy.
I get this for free in the United States. So let’s compare some prices. So this is a regular menu from a normal restaurant in Germany. That’s nothing super expensive. It’s nothing super cheap. It’s just a normal price point. These are the wines, €370s,€350. So we’re talking about like between four and five dollars for a glass of wine. Regular restaurant, Los Angeles, $12,$13,$10,$13 for a glass of wine. So we’re paying pretty much half of the price for wine in Europe. Then you guys paying here in the United States. By the way, in Europe, all prices including service, aka tip and tax. So what you see here, the price is for €370. That means that’s actually the price. You don’t have to pay another around 30% more of that, what you would have paid here in the United States, when you see a price point in a restaurant, because you’re adding around 20% tip or maybe even 25% tip plus 9.75% sales tax right now currently here Los Angeles.
So for restaurants in Europe, bottled water is part of the revenue stream and it’s extremely important. A lot of restaurants could not survive when they would not charge for bottled water and would give it to you for free, because the prices on all other beverages and even on food is way cheaper than the United States.
So my dear tourists from the United States, when you’re traveling to Europe, please pay for some high quality, good mineral water in restaurants that cost you around 3 to five dollars. It’s not crazy expensive. And be happy that you’re getting really good water as well with your incredible meal. And when you want to get free tap water, trust me, nobody will ever say to you, you’re not allowed to drink tap water in a restaurant. It’s just a different culture. Cheers, my friends. Remember, water is not just water. Cheers.