Eddie's Cafe Regina — Restaurant in Valletta

Food ok, prices not expensive at all, quantity of food good but /Waiter urges you to leave a tip !/

I've been to this restaurant several times with friends before and we've always been made to feel very welcome.

Today I decided to bring some friends, When it was time to pay, the waiter gave us the bill and quickly told us that the service was not included (tips).

The waiter comes back and I tell him that we're splitting the bill and tell him the amount for my share. The waiter asked me if I wanted to add a tip and I said no. The waiter replied: why? Was there something wrong with the food or the service ?

Am a bit uncomfortable bc I work in an restaurant in Malta either and I've never asked a question like that and I don't ask for tips.

He Noticing that am French, he tells me that it's not like in France, in our country where service is included and that I need should have a good reason (using the word should) for not leaving a tip.

So dear waiter, you should know that here as in France (knowing that I work in Malta in a restaurant) we have a salary and IF the customers WANT to leave a tip of their own accord they can. You can ask them if they want, but it is strictly forbidden in hospitality to do this and make the customer feel guilty for giving a tip.

After that he was cold and just cashed us in because my friends and I didn't leave a tip. And after this attitude I don't think I'll be coming back and...

Not quite used to leaving bad reviews but then ... come on. The service was awful. Not a hello, antipathic guy just threw stuff on the table, showed signs of impatience when we were hesitating on the bottle of wine and didn't even dare to look at us or say any sort of kind and polite word. When we said we wanted to pay, he just said "computer". At the payment, he didn't even look at us and just tapped on the terminal with his finger like "come on madafaka, just pay already". We don't know what happened prior to our arrival but we've never seen such a bad service. He did not even adress a goodbye or anything. We're Belgian (french speaking) and we have had a feeling that had something to do with it. Nothing bad or impolite was shown on our side and it was pure disrespect from the crew. We've never been so disgusted about paying. You've got to deal with some problems inside the crew, dear boss. It's basic professionalism.

Edit: I saw your answer and I don't think blaming only one guy is the solution : they were all looking mad and depressed and seeing the comments, it's not a first. Yes the guy was a complete ** but you're the one in charge you're the one choosing and paying them. You should be the one thinking about it and not trying to find the one to blame. You are the one to blame. Keep...

Terrible service. Very dirty. Warm, flat beer. We had to find our own table. There was rubbish everywhere. This is what probably attracted the swarms of flies. After waiting about 8 minutes in squalor we tried to attract attention from the myriad of waiters. We made eye contact with a few and asked them politely over to take our order. It was like we were invisible. They looked at us, but didn't react. It was as though we were an inconvenience. I told my partner we should just leave, but it was boiling hot and she suggested we wait a few more minutes. After another 5 minutes we were unfortunately approached by a waiter to take our order. We ordered 2 pizzas, a beer and a cocktail. The pizza was basically bread with tomato puree plastered over it after the bread had been cooked. The flies were an added source of protein to be fair. The beer was flat and warm. Safe to say I didn't finish either (rare for me). Very disappointing. Perhaps this was a one off, but we wouldn't recommend. Interestingly we noticed several other would-be customers give up and just walk away after being ignored for 15 minutes. We should have too. Hire some better waiters who don't seem aggrieved by their customers, clean the place up, and put some effort into your food. Visited for lunch on Thu...