At the table
Coperto, servizio and the bill
What the cover charge is, what it is not, and whether you are expected to tip.
The line on the bill that surprises visitors most is the one they were never told about, and it is not a scam.
Coperto
The coperto is a per-person cover charge. It pays for the table: the linen, the bread, the cutlery, the washing up, the fact that you are occupying a seat.
Three things worth knowing about it.
It is per person, not per table, so it scales with your party rather than with what you order.
It must be shown on the menu. A restaurant charging a coperto has to state it where you can see it before you order. If you cannot find it on the menu, look at the bottom of the first page, and if it is genuinely absent you can query it.
It is not a service charge and not a tip. Nobody's wages depend on it in the way an American tip does.
Amounts vary by city and by the kind of place, and they drift, so this page does not quote a figure it would have to keep correcting. Read it off the menu; it is printed there for exactly that reason.
Servizio
Separate from the coperto, and much less common. Where a service charge is applied it is usually a percentage, and it is usually a group booking, a tourist area, or a hotel restaurant. It must also be declared in advance.
Some places charge one, some the other, occasionally both. What is not permitted is charging you for something the menu never mentioned.
Tipping
Italy is not a tipping culture in the American sense. Staff are paid a wage rather than living on gratuities, and no one will chase you down the street.
What people actually do: round up. Leave the coins from the change, or a couple of euro on a good meal, or nothing at all on an ordinary one. Ten per cent is a generous gesture rather than a baseline, and twenty per cent marks you out as a tourist more clearly than almost anything else you could do.
If the service was genuinely good, say so. It lands better than the money.
Getting the bill
It will not come on its own. In Italy the table is yours until you give it up, and bringing the bill unasked would be hurrying you out.
Catch someone's eye and ask: il conto, per favore. Expect it to take a minute; expect nobody to hover while you pay.
Card is accepted almost everywhere by law, including for small amounts, though you will still meet the occasional broken terminal. Carrying some cash removes the question.