Before Sebastien landed in Los Angeles early Monday morning, he wanted to get the lay of the land. The Aussie, whose 2026 FIFA World Cup trip also includes a visit to Texas, wanted to better understand a custom that, for the most part, is foreign in his native Australia: tipping.
While many have talked up the first-time American experiences of barbecue and Tex-Mex, many visiting World Cup fans have already or will also undertake a crash course on American tipping culture. On Saturday, Sebastien queried the Houston subreddit to figure out how the whole thing worked: What businesses ask for a tip? Do you tip for up-charged beers at a stadium? Do you tip with cash or card?
“I’m a very frugal person and I wanted to respect the culture,” Sebastien told Chron. “I wanted to educate myself and not scam myself.”
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Tipping in Australia is not a thing, though it can happen in rare instances, Sebastien said. Instead, the country mandates a living wage for hospitality workers. For example: Bartenders in Australia roughly make between $17 and $25 (USD) per hour.
In comparison, tipped workers in the U.S. can earn a minimum $2.13 an hour before tips and however much an employer coughs up to make up the difference if the tipped amount falls short. Sebastien expressed shock and surprise when I briefly explained U.S. federal tip law.
“I dunno, it’s not in Australian culture. It’s something we don’t understand,” he said.
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Why the U.S. is so different
The culture shock or “lost in translation” moment is something foodservices companies had already predicted would happen ahead of the World Cup. Ryan Forth, president of Sysco’s South Texas region, told Chron in May that the company was working with its technology partners to supply handheld payment devices to its restaurant clients. That’s because, according to Forth, many Europeans aren’t accustomed to a server taking their credit card away from them to process it.
“Also, some European countries, from what I was told, they’re not accustomed to tipping. So, are our customers ready and aware? Should they be adding a surcharge to their checks if they don’t already have one to make sure that you’re covering for that?” Forth said. “Ultimately you don’t want your restaurants to be full and your waiter or waitress does not get any tips over the course of 39 days from the World Cup going on.”
Guests dine outside in Hamburg, Germany.
picture alliance/dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images
And it’s not just tipping that may be tripping people up. The way the U.S. displays prices has also been a bit of head scratcher. Sebastien noted that in Australia and the 30 other countries he’s visited in the past, the price you see is the price you pay. If a plate of salmon is $17, it’s $17.
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“It’s just like, in Australia, you see a price on the menu, that’s the price you pay. In America you pay the sales tax on top of it,” Sebastien said. “I’m not against it because it’s going to pay the workers, but in my mind it would make more sense if the tip was priced into the cost of the food.”
It’s a bit strange that America deviated so strongly from the rest of the world when it comes to paying for food. The practice of tipping, according to some experts, is rooted in racism exhibited during the U.S. Reconstruction period. Saru Jayaraman, founder of One Fair Wage, told business news website Marketplace in 2023 that some restaurant owners used tips to exclusively pay Black women as a way to avoid paying them an actual wage. Europe may have avoided some of what happened in the U.S. thanks to stronger union protections and minimum-wage laws.
When we spoke, Sebastien was taking a walk around L.A. and visiting the beach during an eight-hour layover. His destination is Houston, and he already has a list of places he wants to visit, including Ninfa’s on Navigation and Pinkerton’s Barbecue. Ultimately, he just wants to be a good guest.
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“From the Reddit post, some people said ‘Don’t tip. F–k em,’ but then you’re f—–g over the waiter,” Sebastien said.