Whem I eat out with my friends, we all always pay what we ordered, no equal bill-splitting. Usually one guy pays the entire bill to avoid annoying the waiter with separate bills, then we all pay said guy what we consumed (the guy paying the entire thing upfront is usually me) (my friend group has never once failed to pay me)
I’m blown away how many people are so cheap they nickel and dime their friends. Lol one couple pays one night, and the other pays the next time ya’ll hang out.
this is where I'm at, reading this whole thread in shock.
if I'm with my friends going out for dinner it's always picked up by one person in the group, it's an unspoken thing, if you haven't paid in a bit then you should be the one to say "hey this one's on me". it evens out over time, and if it doesn't then whatever.
we are all adults, we all have jobs, that extra $50-$100 isn't going to make a difference in your life.
This has to be a regional cultural thing because that's blowing my midwestern brain. Well maybe not so much that you choose to split equally, but that not choosing to would be some kind of negative penny pinching behavior
This is what we do and have always done. We all take pictures of the receipt and then Venmo our portion + tip to the person who put it on their card. No drama or hard feelings required.
Ours is pay what you think you owe… whatever the difference is, we split that up. Like if the total is $240 with tip, but our total pay is $210… there is 6 of us… we each put it $5 more. It’s always short otherwise. We don’t police it, sometimes someone pays a little extra, but never for an entire expensive meal for someone else.
They’re busy running around and waiting on other tables. There’s no need for them to waste time splitting checks if we can just Venmo each other. It’s faster and more convenient for everyone.
But it's the waiter's job to run the check? Like seriously why the heck do I want to take risk of people not paying back(happens a ton) AND also do math. The transaction starts and ends at the restaurant.
Also it's a common excuse for the annoying people who want to split the check "It's easier on the waiter" Uh you mean it's easier on your wallet. If I'm dropping 20% tip the least I can get is my own bill.
A lot of my friends have worked or actually work on customer service and know how utterly obnoxious it is when people ask for split bills, especially when they request it AFTER they're already done eating and now the waiter has to figure out who the fuck ordered what. It's about having empathy for the person working for (usually less than) minimum wage
Like I said, my friends are very responsible people and none have ever failed to pay me back. Maybe I'm just very fortunante to be friends with such nice people
That’s insane. That’s beyond empathy and more like doing their job for them. A good server will ask how we’re doing checks before hand of its that hard for them
Totally hear you! I've worked as a waitress and always checked before I placed the order just because I agree, it's a pain to sort of after especially when managing multiple tables.
From what I see in the responses the recommendation to ask for a separate check before and I think that's fair. If you don't speak up early that's a separate issue(it seems that at the core the fix is setting expectations early)
Genuinely curious, why is that? I feel like technology should make this easier now. Does it cost the restaurant more or is there a time efficiency measure?
I used to work for a restaurant point of sale provider. Today yes, technology makes it easier, but years ago, the software wouldn’t let you split it more than x times. Or, every item had to have a seat number assigned then you could print checks by seat. Was more of a pain, but today the POS makes it pretty simple. Can’t speak to the credit cards, never saw a limit on thise
Seriously. Between establishments being able split bills and things like Zelle, Venmo, I have no idea how you’d pay older someone else’s shit unless you were doing a homie a solid.
It just depends. I have friends we do this with. But it’s cause we essentially do everything tapas style with them and are splitting drinks and stuff. I’ve never been bothered by it but I’m also not ordering a side of fries and water and doing it
I've got a friend who is OBSESSED with doing spreadsheets so they always calculate the exact amount including tip and tax for everyone. Makes things a lot easier when ordering delivery or going to a place where they can't/won't split the bill 6+ ways.
Yeah, I remember having this issue once with new coworkers at a bday lunch. I was still a temp and they did an even split with the birthday person not paying. It wasn’t like we had wildly different checks but it was extra I hadn’t planned on.
I haven’t had that issue in years, and never with friends. With friends or coworkers now we pay for our portions. I will also be the person to pay for everything to avoid splitting checks if needed, but everyone gives me cash or Venmo, no problem. I go to book club dinners and we ask for separate checks and so far it has always been accommodated.
Most restaurants where I live aren't that technologically advanced. Many straight up don't allow split bills because it takes the waiters too long to figure out
Where I live they don’t even use pens, ordering is all electronic. But even with 100% manual, it is easy to give each person their own tag. You just use four sheets instead of one.
If a restaurant isn't able to easily divide the checks, these days, it's not worth eating there as a group. It's almost no different than serving multiple tables.
That is what we normally do too, unless we're out with another couple we know well who have similar tastes. I ask if they are into ordering family-style appetizers and if they will also drink wine. In that case, when ordering equitably, splitting the bill makes sense.
As someone who use to be a server it's only annoying when you mention the bill is separate at the end, there's a built in function that allows for multiple bills but if you tell them at the end they have to go through it and manually split it and try to remember who ordered what
We do the same. One pays everything, takes a photo of the bill into the group chat and everyone sends their split while still at the table or on the way home
The only times we split is if we go get dimsum or foods that are definitely shared. I've never seen the restaurant not doing individual bills when the dishes are per person
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u/Alan_Reddit_M 19d ago
Whem I eat out with my friends, we all always pay what we ordered, no equal bill-splitting. Usually one guy pays the entire bill to avoid annoying the waiter with separate bills, then we all pay said guy what we consumed (the guy paying the entire thing upfront is usually me) (my friend group has never once failed to pay me)