Originally Posted by
Kalboz
Here you go again scroogeboy making assumptions again ... oops ... I meant to say bizclassboy. FYI, I lived and worked in Italy for 2 years in the late 70's (when you were sucking on your thumb, I presume) and yes my Italian is a bit rusty now but the last time I was there (Valentine's week 2004) the tip was still called coperta (or coperto) and it was listed at the bottom of the menu. Liked the service or not, you paid the service charge pal. The same goes for Europe, often the gratuity (15%) is figured with the total and it will be stated at the bottom of the menu. There are no assumptions on my part and no "lonely travelers guide" information here either but real life experiences.
My understanding is that the coperta is not a service charge, but a cover charge (coperta literally translated means blanket or cover). It's essentially a minimum charge which covers the restaurant for things like bread, butter, condiments, olive oil, salad dressing etc. It is often referred to by the French term 'couvert'. It does not go directly to the wait staff as I have learned from my own experience waiting tables :-(