Bread Dough
There is a growing nefarious trend in Sevilla of tapas bars charging up to 2 euros for a basket of bread. It started off small – say 50 cents – for your typical dried-out pre-sliced vienna with a tiny package of picos. But more often these days it’s a standard 1 euro charge for a small basket of bread, though recently my friend and I were charged 1 euro per person for two rolls and a handful of picos. And at one very posh and pricey establishment we were actually charged a whopping 8 euros per person for bread after forking out 70 euros each for their tasting menu. Scandalous!
What really irks is stopping off somewhere for a quick tapa and a beer and then finding out that I’ve been charged an extra 1.50€ for a basket of bread, especially when I only nibbled on a couple of picos or used a small chunk of bread to soak up a bit of sauce, and then later I see this bread being “recycled”… ewwww.
In some bars and restaurants this is referred to as a “servicio” or “cubierto” charge per person, but what does this mean? That no tip is required? Seems a bit cheesy as I usually leave more than a couple of euros when out having a meal anyhow. One restaurant owner recently told me that the “cubierto” charge was not only for bread but also because he uses cloth napkins which cost more than paper ones. I mean, what next? Extra charges for turning on the air-conditioning in summer? For putting toilet paper in the loos?
I say that tapas bars and restaurants should factor in these costs as they are clearly a part of their day-to-day operating expenses and thus should be easy to figure out. Tacking on an extra charge like this just feels, well, tacky. What do you think?
One day they will end up charging for tap water, like some do in Paris*.
If the overall prices were just a little higher but bread was “free” it would look better. This way it looks so, so, er, “gagne-petit”. Somehow not quite the way to go to make customers feel welcome.
* I wish it were a joke.
Somehow I find the paying for tapwater thing not hard to believe for Paris.
Totally agree that “add ons” feel less welcoming, especially when the bread is brought to the table automatically. Same with olives.
You should demand they price it by the nibble, to avoid paying for something you didn’t consume.
Imagine that! The worst thing is that when they bring sliced “barras” and I only eat one slice, and the rest gets put aside to be given to the next customer … who is also charged for it! Not only unhygienic but adds insult to injury.
So THIS is interesting. A comment by Juan Tarquini left on Facebook where I linked to this blog post. Since it’s already been made public I’m sure he won’t mind me quoting him here…
Juan’s comment is a real eye-opener. I had no idea it was actually illegal to attach extra charges like this. I also really dislike it when the 8% VAT isn’t included in the price, but now that I know it’s not legal to do this I can simply refuse to pay.
I have to say that when the menu states that bread is extra and when you order some (it isn’t just brought to the table) and you get a nice selection of freshly baked hot rolls then I don’t mind paying extra. But paying for your standard basket of bread is like being charged extra if you ask for salt or want sugar in your coffee.
Amazed to read that charging for bread is illegal in Seville. We must find out if that’s true for other parts of Spain!
Let’s go for it! Viva la Resistancia!
At the second stop on a Sevilla Tapas Tour this evening I asked for the cheque and was appalled to see that we were charged 3.20 euros for “bread & service for 4″. What we got was a metal tin with three slices of bread (that we didn’t eat) and a handful of picos. So I marched up to the bar and asked them to please remove the bread charge. Which they did. And then I left the 3.20 euros as our tip.
I know that in Portugal, if you so much as touch it, you pay for it. The golden rule there (or at least when I was there) was don’t touch the bread! Or the tiny dish of carrots you get. I guess their view is, you’ve accepted it as part of your meal – despite the fact it’ll be recycled (yes, ewwww).