When an American goes out for dinner in Barcelona: 6 cultural differences

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When you go out for dinner in Barcelona, you probably have noticed some of these 6 cultural differences, when comparing this experience to going out for dinner in the United States. You might have given a generous tip without being aware of it, or have felt a bit shocked when discovering which is the rush hour in restaurants at dinner (10 pm. What the heck?). Here we describe them:

1. It’s dinner time! (Yes, it actually is)

If you go out for dinner as you used to do in the United States, around 7pm, you might find the doors of the restaurant still closed. We have different mealtimes compared to the ones in the United States. A cultural difference in terms of schedule that leads us to the second point. 

2. Lunch and dinner schedules in Barcelona

Eating at 3pm? That’s right. We use to do that in Spain, specially on Sundays when we might lose track of time while sharing this meal with family or friends (Sunday is unofficially considered “family paella day”, a family gathering in many Spanish homes). So this mealtime set up at around 2pm-3pm leads us to having dinner at around 9pm (or even 10pm, crazy right?). 

3. Tipping in Barcelona restaurants

Here is one of the main big differences when you go out to have dinner in Barcelona: tipping in Barcelona restaurants is not mandatory. So you won’t have to pay that extra 15%-20% amount that is required in restaurants in the United States. But if the service has been nice, in Spain we usually tip a little amount to show some gratitude for the attention received.

4. Staff service and attention

“Is everything ok?”, or “Does it taste good?”, these are some of the questions that were kindly made to me one of my first nights out for dinner in Missoula. I remember one of those “first times” specially because I had (literally) my mouth plenty of noodles and I wasn’t able to answer right after the question was popped up. So I nodded and smiled. That amount of attention while eating is barely given in Barcelona, so I guess this could be another relevant difference.

5. Tap water vs. a bottle of water

I usually order water most of the time I go out for lunch or dinner, and a bottle of water is served. When I ordered “water” in restaurants in the US, a glass of water (sometimes even accompanied by a jug of water) was served on the table. From that moment on, I learned the concept of “tap water”, which is how water is usually served in US restaurants, and you don’t have to pay for this drink (actually is tap water). This same thing happens in European countries such as the United Kingdom, but not in Spain.   

6. Ordering a beer or a glass of wine is (in general) cheaper in a restaurant in Barcelona

If you go out for dinner to a local restaurant in Barcelona (those who are not aimed basically at tourists), you will notice how ordering drinks like beer or wine is a bit cheaper than in the United States (in general terms). 

Do these differences ring a bell? Did you know that tipping in Barcelona restaurants is optional? If you have had a funny (or embarrassing) experience, feel free to share it with us ;-)

And if you want to keep diving into the cultural differences between the United States and Spain we recommend you to keep reading the article: Cultural differences between the United States and Spain.

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