Dining in Cannes: Tipgate!

The other night, Variety staffers had dinner at Mantel, one of the better restaurants in Cannes' old town district. (The chef, Noel Mantel, is a Alain Ducasse disciple.) The menu didn't say service compris (tip included), so they asked: Was service compris?

No, they were told. And to tip, we'll have to charge your card separately.

As a local told me, "That's absolute crap."

Of course, leaving a only buck or two in the U.S. is like asking a waiter to key your car. But if you've bought a meal in France, you've already paid a 15% tip. Under French law, a 15% tip is built into the price. Menus should read "service compris" (service included); that's a law, too. Throw down a few Euros for an exemplary experience and you're in good standing.

Some restaurants are even more aggressive than Mantel; the local said Caffe Roma, across the street from the Palais, "used to write something ambiguous on the receipt until it got picked up by the restauranteurs assocation and they were forced to change it."

Actually, it wasn't ambiguous: As you can see in the above photo, the receipts used to read "TIPS NO INCLUDED," right above "sce compris." (Note that this link goes to a blog post written during the Cannes Film Festival four years ago. And, to be fair, this blogger points out that tipping in France can seem baffling to locals, too.)

So, to be clear: Tipping isn't a French dining tradition. Unfortunately, at some Cannes restaurants, that's led to another tradition: Ripping off customers who don't know the difference.

Comments

[padawan]

The ticket you show here DOES say, in French, that service (Sce, abbrev.) is included. Which is the law. So, yes, printing "Tips no included" in bad English, or asking for tips is indeed what it seems: rip-off. You can always leave one, if you feel like it and are happy with the service, but the waiters will get their 15% from the bill anyhow.

I know people here whose job is to fight consumer fraud, they would be interested in having the whole ticket.

FYI, ripping off tourists is actually the main business model of the whole region. Consider yourself warned ;-).

[Lynn Harris]

Your sister taught me that French etiquette dictates that some complimentary euros left on the table AFTER paying the service-included bill, if you like the service, are always welcome. Gotta say though, that restaurant seems to be purposefully confusing the patrons.

[padawan]

French etiquette (if there is such a thing) dictates that no one will complain if a patron doesn't leave a tip.

However, yes, when you're happy it's customary to leave some change, but even locals are out on how much (but certainly not near what you're used to when service isn't included by default).

[jb]

Happen to be in France at the moment, though in Burgundy. Film Festival going days are behind me...in any case, there seems to be no issue here with pushy establishments duping tourists to tip above and beyond what's on the bill.

As for wines, I've also been trying to figure out what is a bargain here and what isn't, and wine-searcher.com is a valuable tool for that. Though I'm assuming that any restaurant in Cannes during the film festival knows they can charge 80 Euros for an Ott Rosé and probably get away with it...