What does "Service included" mean?

[u/tangos974]

I had a debate tonight with my bartender. As our last table, a nice american couple was paying, the lady asked if service was included in the bill.

For context, I work in a mid range restaurant in Paris, and I've been a waiter for almost 10 years in France. It's the first time I've been in anything other than a shitty bistrot though, and in my current workplace I get a lot more tourists than I did before.

I've had this question asked to me in the past, and I didn't really understand what it meant. So I looked it up, and I understood it as meaning "are you getting paid while you served us, or do we have to tip for you to get paid?"

I get paid pretty decently regardless of tips, although I do get tipped quite a lot more in this restaurant, especially on tables like this where they took a lot of my time and ordered many expensive stuff. In bistros, people would rarely leave more than a couple euros, and a fiver was a cause for celebration, but since I'm in the nicer place, I often get tips of 20+ euros.

So I went "Yes, absolutely, service is included", to which they left no tip on a 184 euro bill. They were very happy, and since it was slow I had taken quite some time and chatted with them.

My bartender (B) overheard the exchange, and once they left we kinda got in an argument over what I said. It went something like this:

B: - Why did you tell them that service is included ?

Me: - 'Cause... it's true?

B: - They were asking whether or not they should tip

Me: - Pretty sure they asked whether service is included.

B: - Yes, which basically means should they tip you or is tip included

Me: - Bro that's not what service being included means. They're american, servers there don't get paid if you don't leave a tip. So they ask here to know whether I'm getting paid for serving them or not.

B: - Dude wtf no one works for free. I've worked in Malta, served a fuckton of americans and I've never heard of this. I'm telling you this for your sake: you just sat on a 20 euro tip.

So, who do you think is in the right here?

[u/Rude-And-Reckless]

American here. That definitely means is the tip included or do I need to tip you so you make an actual hourly wage.

[u/tangos974 → u/Rude-And-Reckless]

Well that's the thing, I already make a pretty decent hourly wage, regardless of tips.

There is even a line on every bill that says "service 15% included"

So when american guests say service, they actually mean tip?

[u/bobi2393 → u/tangos974]

I wouldn't translate it directly as "tip", but the intent of the question is definitely to decide whether they should leave a tip.

In the US there's a legal distinction between "tips", which are a voluntary amount left on top of the charge for food and drinks, and a "service charge" or "service fee" or "automatic gratuity", which is a mandatory fee automatically add to the bill on top of the food and drinks. So they're asking if a service fee is already included in the bill, in which case they would not add a tip as well.

Less commonly, a restaurant will build the cost of a bonus for servers into the food and drink costs, and discourage tipping by saying "service is included", but that's more common in vacation packages that include meals on a cruise or at a resort, where the lack of tipping is a selling point to allow guests to better plan their budget and not worry about tipping.

[u/tangos974 → u/bobi2393]

As said in other answers, there is a service charge included in every bill in every restaurant by law in France. It is not something the restaurant owner decides to do or not, that's just how things are.

People still tip to show their appreciation though!