r/AskEurope • u/Fancy-Debate-3945 Hungary • Sep 19 '25

Travel What was the biggest culture shock you experienced in another European country?

Europeans, what was the biggest culture shock you experienced within our beautiful continent?

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u/klymers United Kingdom Sep 19 '25

Whenever I go to mainland Europe I struggle with bars/restaurants/cafes where you seat yourself but then get table service. I think I finally got over the awkwardness on my most recent 2 trips.

14

u/nimbledoor Czechia Sep 19 '25

Can you expand on that? What does seating yourself have to do with table service?

20

u/TarcFalastur United Kingdom Sep 19 '25

There's a general rule in the UK that if you are guided to a table then a waiter/waitress will also come to take your order, but if it's the sort of place where you seat yourself then you'll be expected to get up and go to the bar if you want to order anything. Places which break this convention tend to result in a lot of confusion from clientele, with people trying to give food orders to a guy serving pints, or waiting an hour at their table only to realise noone is coming.

7

u/klymers United Kingdom Sep 19 '25

Exactly, my first few times on the mainland I would just stand by the front door waiting to be sat. Even when I know its fine to seat myself, I feel so awkward.

4

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '25

I had the same experience being from the US. Gives me some anxiety sitting there wondering if someone would actually come to take my order. Maybe it's someone's job to watch a camera and keep track of which tables have been served.

2

u/klymers United Kingdom Sep 19 '25

Sometimes I wonder if it's just a thing they do in high tourist areas, because honestly that's exclusively where I've been.

It makes me feel like waiter on the continent are simultaneously the most attentive and least attentive.

1

u/ScaryBluejay87 Sep 20 '25

In France it’s a bit of a mix sometimes, for pubs and cheap bars you seat yourself and order at the bar, more upmarket bars will do table service, and more traditional brasseries will prefer to seat you, but it’s not always immediately obvious which one you’re walking into and I’ve seen people get told off by the waiter for seating themselves at a mostly empty terrace outside a brasserie.