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How to quickly know how to split the bill at a restaurant
Imagine a group of relatives or friends decide to meet at a restaurant for a special meal. Since each person in the group has preferences about what to eat and what to drink, consider first how to you should pay. There are etiquette rules for splitting the bill quickly and fairly. In addition, each person must tip 15% or more for their order. Never pay for just the food and drinks without adding a tip. Don’t be caught at the end of the meal, sitting with a calculator in hand trying to figure out how to divide the bill to the exact penny. This takes the fun out of the well-meant celebration.
After checking the restaurant menu, you decide that you will spend less on your meal than the rest of the group, so you should ask the waiter when ordering for a separate check. If you know your party members are ordering salads and you want prime rib or something expensive, ask for a separate check. Practice some self-awareness here, and try to order in the ballpark of other diners at the table, generally speaking. If you’re really yearning for the prime rib—just don’t expect your friends to split the cost.
If you are the only one ordering a drink, ask for a separate check. If everyone else is ordering drinks or individual appetizers, ask for a separate check. And if you are the host, the one organizing an outing to a new restaurant, be sure everyone has a copy of menu in advance of arrival and knows the etiquette rules of how to pay. Sean Jung, assistant professor at Boston University School of Hospitality, also suggests that the one person who’s drinking could open a separate tab. In any case, “it would be a common courtesy for the person who is buying drinks to say that they will be paying on a separate check,” he says.
If you inviting someone to go out as a birthday treat, plan to pay for the person’s birthday meal and tip. If you are inviting everyone to your birthday party, announce before arriving that you plan to pay for everyone’s meal. If not paying for their drinks, tell the waiter when arriving that there are separate checks for each person’s drinks orders, says etiquette expert Diane Gottsman, owner of The Protocol School of Texas.
Eating together and splitting cost of meals, means everyone is going to spend approximately the same amount, yet not exactly the same amount. If you did not ask for a separate bill when ordering, you should go along with splitting the bill. Yes, have extra dollars to spend if in a group where the divide might be rounded up a bit. If your meal is only slightly less, split the bill evenly and not bicker over a few dollars, so you did not look cheap. Again, clear communication up front with the waiter is key, states Ms. Gottsman.
At the table, etiquette rule number one by Veranda.com, phones should never be on the table. This sends a message that it’s more important than the people you’re with right now. It is the most gossiped about bad table manner. Remember the bread plate to left, drink glass placed to the right, and napkin in your lap. Never put your elbows on the table, nor your purse or keys. Cut one piece of food at a time, spoon your soup forward and away from your body, pass both the salt and pepper shakers together even if asked for only one of them. To impress, do not order anything messy like spaghetti (Veranda.com). Wait until everyone is served their meal before you start eating.
Now you look like a pro at the table and know exactly how to order and split the bill when dining with a group. Make the occasion happier for all by following a few simple etiquette rules.