| Line on the bill | What it actually is | Goes to the waiter? |
|---|---|---|
| Coperto (cover charge) | A flat per-person fee for bread, table setting and seating — standard in much of Italy, unrelated to service quality | No, it is a restaurant fee |
| Servizio (service charge) | A percentage, usually 10-15%, sometimes already applied at tourist-area restaurants | Partly, depending on the business |
| Tip (mancia) | A genuinely optional extra, in cash, for service you were personally pleased with | Yes, directly |
If both coperto and servizio already appear on your bill, most Italians would add little or nothing further — rounding up a few euro at most. If neither appears, leaving 5-10% in cash for good service is a reasonable, appreciated gesture, though far from obligatory the way it is in the US.
Taxi drivers: round up to the nearest euro. Hotel porters: €1-2 per bag. Bar staff for a quick espresso at the counter: nothing at all is entirely normal.
In the south, around Rome and Naples, a cover charge is close to universal at any sit-down restaurant. Further north, in cities like Milan and Turin, it is somewhat less automatic, and a restaurant is more likely to fold any extra cost into the menu prices themselves rather than itemise it separately.
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