The Ritz Carlton of the Epe area, Schepers enjoys a prominent and high profile location overlooking…read morethe edge of downtown Epe. Atmosphere is relaxed and wait staff were as attentive and professional as I have come to expect in this region. A dual language menu was offered immediately upon my being seated. I arrived without a reservation on a Sunday evening and was quickly seated in my requested smoking area. The smoking section looks to be comprised of the five booths in the bar area, four of which were occupied by the time I finished eating. A reservation might be required on a busier evening than Sunday to insure table availability
This is my first post-Yelp member visit, though I have eaten here once before. We brought our two dogs with us on the previous visit. They were welcomed and, as is customary in all dog friendly venues here, were provided with a bowl of water. If memory serves, they were also treated to a couple doggie biscuits by the jovial German woman who seated us on that occasion.
My dinner this evening consisted of a starter bowl of Tomato soup, which arrived shortly after a small basket of bread and butter were delivered to my table. It was served piping hot and made for a delicious pre-meal appetizer. My sirloin (rumpsteak) was cooked as ordered (medium). It was covered in a mustard/peppercorn sauce and set atop a bed of crisp-cooked French style green beans. The hotel/bar restaurant sits on a very pastoral and well manicured bit of land with ample parking.
About the bill, and the standards of Germans in regard to tipping:
Tomato soup, one beer, one Coke and one latte, along with the sirloin ordered as main course (and served with fried potatoes in a side dish) was under €34. Tipping ten percent makes you a bit prominent in an area where locals often leave half that. Tipping at a fifteen percent or more on any consistent basis as a regular customer is likely to get you treated with God status in most places by staff while saddled with lunatic American spendthrift status by the indigenous population. Being a waiter in Germany is a career path that starts late in high school and ends in a respectable job with a living wage and affordable healthcare as a minimum. In the US, the Federal Minimum wage law for waiters who receive tips is $2.13 per hour (€1.55/hour!). I'm almost certain that such a compensation system would be considered a criminal enterprise around here. When you leave a tip here, it's going to fund the waiters next travel vacation. In the US, it's something I always left a bit more of because I knew the waitstaff needed it as a large part of their basic economic survival. At the end of the day, I tip a bit less here in Germany, but I feel a whole lot better about doing it.
Enjoy.
