• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

How do you manage the bill at a restaurant

Usually only eat out with friends with similar dining habits....split the bill all the time....unless a special occasion where one or the other picks up the bill.
 
Callen said:
...when out with friends. Used to be my husband and I leaned to splitting the bill but in the last few years we have asked for separate bills. I want what I want and when splitting the bill I tended to keep my choices on the less expensive side. Now if I want the lobster, I'm ordering the lobster! Unless of course we are dining out with the kids...then Daddy picks up the tab.
Click to expand...
seperate bills are the standard in Germany
 
I do not understand. I've never seen separate checks. When I worked as a bartender, we served food and no one ever asked for separate checks. We just look at the check, figure out how much every body owes, more or less, and pile up money till it's covered.

I guess now that everybody uses plastic, you need to split checks so people can use their cards, but I've still never seen it. If someone doesn't have cash, they use their card and everybody else throws money at him.

I've seen restaurants with signs saying they don't split checks. Seriously, never once in my life have I seen separate checks.
 
Loulit01 said:
I do not understand. I've never seen separate checks. When I worked as a bartender, we served food and no one ever asked for separate checks. We just look at the check, figure out how much every body owes, more or less, and pile up money till it's covered.

I guess now that everybody uses plastic, you need to split checks so people can use their cards, but I've still never seen it. If someone doesn't have cash, they use their card and everybody else throws money at him.

I've seen restaurants with signs saying they don't split checks. Seriously, never once in my life have I seen separate checks.
Click to expand...
For real? That's strange. I think about any time I've been out to eat with family for a birthday or whatever, and it’s not obvious that it's, say, just wife and I, they always ask if this will be one check or separate.
 
Loulit01 said:
I do not understand. I've never seen separate checks. When I worked as a bartender, we served food and no one ever asked for separate checks. We just look at the check, figure out how much every body owes, more or less, and pile up money till it's covered.

I guess now that everybody uses plastic, you need to split checks so people can use their cards, but I've still never seen it. If someone doesn't have cash, they use their card and everybody else throws money at him.

I've seen restaurants with signs saying they don't split checks. Seriously, never once in my life have I seen separate checks.
Click to expand...

I'm from NJ, worked and played in NYC, and live in WA St and lived a few places in between and have "seen" split checks for decades, at least back to the 80s. Also been a waitress.
 
Depends on who I'm out with. If it's a group with more than 2 couples, probably ask for separate checks so that nobody gets annoyed with excessive alcohol or appetizer charges. I often try to just pick up the tab myself to avoid conflict in that arena. I will not look over a check to see who ordered what. Either it's just getting evenly divided, or it's separate. If I feel like I ordered more than others I will offer to pay more, and at least throw in extra on the tip to compensate.
 
We used to just get one bill and divide it by however many people were in the group. But that was when everyone carried cash. Now everyone but one or two people pull out credit or debit cards so we just went to separate bills.
 
Fletch said:
We used to just get one bill and divide it by however many people were in the group. But that was when everyone carried cash. Now everyone but one or two people pull out credit or debit cards so we just went to separate bills.
Click to expand...
separate bills is the fairest
 
Loulit01 said:
I do not understand. I've never seen separate checks. When I worked as a bartender, we served food and no one ever asked for separate checks. We just look at the check, figure out how much every body owes, more or less, and pile up money till it's covered.

I guess now that everybody uses plastic, you need to split checks so people can use their cards, but I've still never seen it. If someone doesn't have cash, they use their card and everybody else throws money at him.

I've seen restaurants with signs saying they don't split checks. Seriously, never once in my life have I seen separate checks.
Click to expand...
I have seen many
 
I usually just split it evenly unless someone clearly ordered way more. If someone insists on paying their exact part, we go through the receipt and figure it out together.
 
That makes sense—Germany seems very straightforward about it. I like the idea of separate bills too; it avoids confusion and lets everyone order what they actually want without worrying about the price.
 
Thanks! Honestly, I never realized how different the culture around this is depending on the country. Where I grew up, it was always either everyone throws in cash and hopes it evens out, or one person pays and others settle later. Separate checks weren’t even an option most of the time.

The German way feels more fair and less awkward. No one ends up feeling like they subsidized the table, and you don’t have to do mental math at the end of a nice evening.
 
I just go with the flow and I always tip generously and in cash unless the service was really and truly abysmal, and even then I still leave something half-decent.
If people want separate, okay....if they want to divvy up, okay.
Whatevs, I'm out to eat and have fun and I am not about to stand on ceremony, whatever folks want is fine by me, just keep having fun, it's all good.
 
Saturday we were out to lunch with friends. We didn't say anything to the server about the bill but when he came to the table at the end he asked how we wanted the bill dealt with. We told him to do it by couples and he hit max a few buttons and separate bills were spit out. Clearly mechanization makes bill splitting by order easy.
 
Lycanthrope said:
There's always one tool who takes advantage of a split bill.
Click to expand...
Mostly a Trump type who has inherited daddy's construction business and has the kind of money you can only dream of.
 
Callen said:
...when out with friends. Used to be my husband and I leaned to splitting the bill but in the last few years we have asked for separate bills. I want what I want and when splitting the bill I tended to keep my choices on the less expensive side. Now if I want the lobster, I'm ordering the lobster! Unless of course we are dining out with the kids...then Daddy picks up the tab.
Click to expand...
If I invite folks out to dinner, i pay.
If someone asks me out to dinner, they pay.
Family, I pay.
I'll pay the check with a card, and pay the tip in cash. 20-25% gratuity or more if the service is exceptional.
 
I usually just ask for separate checks up front, makes everything smoother and no guesswork later. If someone gets way more expensive stuff, it feels fairer that way too. One place we go to a lot has solid craft beer deals during happy hour, so we sometimes just split drinks evenly and sort the food part separately. Keeps it easy and no awkward math at the end of the meal.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom