After a fun meal with a big group at a restaurant, it’s the last thing you want to deal with: how to split the check.
The etiquette, and the math, often prove baffling. Should the whole table divide the bill evenly if only a few ordered liquor? Who pays for the appetizers that some people ate, but not all? What if the restaurant places a limit on how many credit cards it will take?
The divvying-up process can damage friendships, as there’s always someone who feels forced to pay more than they should.
South Floridians voiced strong opinions about how to split a tab when the question was asked in Let’s Eat, South Florida, the Sun Sentinel’s foodie Facebook group.
“I don’t drink and I should not have to subsidize others’ bar bills,” Oakland Park resident Mary Damiano wrote.
“I have seen this go sideways so many times with large groups,” wrote Karen Schneider Cangelosi, of Fort Lauderdale. “Especially when there’s a big shot ordering 10 appetizers for the table and one person didn’t eat any.”
Even if there’s agreement on how to divide the check, other problems can arise with a big party. The inputting of multiple credit cards is time-consuming for serving staff, which has other tables impatiently waiting for orders to be taken.
“I once split a check 18 ways,” wrote Boca Raton resident Kaitlyn Doherty, a former server and manager at Ruth’s Chris Steak House. “The splitting is not the issue, as long as you know in advance. It’s the running 18 credit cards that takes 10 to 15 minutes, and waiting 10 minutes when you are ready to walk out the door can ruin the end of a lovely experience. I also never carried 18 pens. I have all the horror stories.”
There are ways to ease the tensions. Here are some strategies for carving up a large restaurant bill to minimize stress on wait staff and prevent fights among tablemates. Each will take some advance planning, but the effort will be worthwhile to ensure a satisfying dining experience and no hard feelings among friends.
Plan ahead. Start a pre-dinner texting group and discuss how to handle upcoming scenarios. Does the group want to divide the bill equally or get separate checks for each person/couple? Should the drinkers pay for their alcoholic beverages? How should shared appetizers and desserts be split? Expect a lively discussion to ensue, but hopefully it will be over before you arrive at the restaurant.
Ask the restaurant in advance if they have rules about check-splitting. Some place a maximum on the number of credit cards they will run.
Aliosha Stern, owner of Novecento restaurant in Delray Beach, said most large tables pay with three or four credit cards, although he has seen as many as 10.
“But these cases come rarely,” Stern said. “We would get way more complaints if we set a limit.”
Share your plan with your server at the very beginning. “My husband and I go out with two other couples and a single lady, so there are seven of us every Saturday night,” Boynton Beach resident Laura Sattler said. “As soon as we are greeted by a waitress, one of the couples announce that they will be on their own check. Then they point to the other couple and say they will be on their own check. And then one of us says the three of us will be on one check. We eat all over Boca, Delray, and Boynton Beach and have never had a problem.”
Sit next to the person on your check. This will make it easier on the servers to remember who’s with whom as they assemble the final tab.
How big should the table get? Some recommend limiting the size of your dining group to make it easier to calculate the bill. “I don’t go out with large groups of people. Four is optimal, six max,” said Mike Mayo, host of South Florida streaming show “Mike Mayo’s Lunchbox” and a former Sun Sentinel food columnist. With a smaller-size group, he recommends splitting the check “in half or thirds. No tallying, no hair splitting. In the end, after multiple meals, it should all even out. Or get new friends.”
There’s an app for this. Download Splitwise, Splid or Tricount, which can track expenses among friends, calculate who-owes-what and allow them to settle up.
Use a single card. In this scenario, one person is willing to front the full tab and get paid back by fellow diners. This is the best way to get out of the restaurant speedily and easiest on the wait staff. And there’s a reward: That credit card will get lots of points that night that can be used toward travel or the group’s next outing.
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