A Le Parisien report suggests that American tourists are being targeted with higher prices than locals in some Paris restaurants. Is this a widespread problem…or a problem at all?

How To Avoid Tourist Traps In Paris Restaurants

Two French reporters experimented to see if Parisian restaurants were actually charging Americans more for food and drinks, as many had alleged in online forums like TripAdvisor.

Here’s a video report of what happened:

In short, the “American” was charged the same for food, but charged extra for bread and water.

How To Avoid Being Treated Like A Stupid American Tourist

One Mile At A Time says, “I think it’s actually not totally unreasonable for establishments in areas popular with tourists to have different pricing for locals than tourists.”

Call it a hot take, but I think that’s a bad take.

The issue is not that discounts for locals are inherently bad, but that is not what seems to be going on here. Rather, the issue here is that clueless Americans are being deliberately preyed upon with bottled water or larger cans they do not need…plus a more aggressive push to tip.

Furthermore, the issue is that under French law, restaurants are legally required to offer free tap water (“carafe d’eau“) and free bread (“pain“) to customers who are having a meal. In 2022, France even began requiring restaurants to make this more prominent (in an effort to eliminate plastic waste).

But that doesn’t mean restaurants are playing along. If you can’t read French or the restaurant obscures the messaging, when you ask for water, the response will be “still or with gas?” (or something like that). If you say still, you’ll be brought a bottle of still water. If you want tap water, you have to explicitly ask for it.

And to my American readers, for goodness’ sake, the tap water in France is not only adequate, but excellent. Just ask for it.

Then when the bill comes, you’ll be asked to tip. For Americans who do not know better, you may feel compelled to do so. Don’t. The locals don’t do it. When you tip, it’s like spreading cancer. Europe doesn’t need the pathetic American tipping culture, especially when its workers are all paid a living wage and given six weeks of paid vacation each year.

A Rant About Germany…

Regular readers know I married a German and travel to Germany three times per year for family visits. I cannot stand the “water culture” in Germany and particularly the push to serve overpriced water in small 0,5L bottles. Sadly, tap water is not a right in Germany.

It’s a tragedy to drop €8 for a bottle of water that is under €1 in Aldi or Rewe, especially when you order Stilleswasser (still water) and get served a bottle of “still” water from Lieler Schlossbrunnen Sattler (a brand that seems ubiquitous in Baden-Württemberg) which still has some bubbles in it…it tastes like flat Sprudelwasser…

Hint: Ask for “nature” water, not “still” water, if you do not want bubbles…

If I ask for “tap water” in English, the answer is generally no…water is too much of a revenue source for restaurants. But if I speak in German and say it’s for my kids, there is usually no issue.

What is with the obligatory bottled water in a land where the tap water is delicious?!

CONCLUSION

I quite understand and can sympathize with the outrage over American tourists in Paris being pushed into bottled water over tap, larger cans of soda than the French receive, and being steered away from bread, even though it must be offered statutorily. We’d still need a larger sample size to properly understand how pervasive this practice is, but the takeaway here is to ask for tap water and bread in France…