large booking at restaurant- how to split the bill?

Kim_kim

duchy wrote: »

Tipping is another minefield and probably worthy of a thread of its own. I expect to tip if the service is anything from acceptable to excellent and when the service is good and someone refuses to chip in their share of an appropriate tip claiming they don't believe in tipping it tends to annoy. Usual solution is the rest of the party make up the shortfall and the next meal the tip refuser isn't invited in the same way someone who is rude to the wait staff wouldn't be invited again.

I think tipping is old fashioned & plays no part in a modern society.

The restaurant owners should set their prices at a rate needed to pay the staff a decent living wage - the waiting staff should then pay tax on it the same way the rest of the U.K. do.

That way the staff could be assured of a decent living wage even if they are off sick or on annual leave - which isn't the case when relying on tips!

Lunar_Eclipse

missbiggles1 wrote: »

If I go out with people who I know are on a tight budget (or when I was in that situation myself), you choose somewhere which serves a cheap set price meal and wine by the carafe, you don't go somewhere expensive and then just eat one course.

I would choose the expensive restaurant so as thoughtful as your intention is, it's not for everyone.

I like to eat one course meals of excellent food. And an expensive, lovely drink instead of a few glasses of cheap crap.

It's got nothing to do with money, though I expect people to pay their fair share of whatever they consume, as I do.

If I'm going to pay £30 for a meal out, I'd like a nice piece of fish/chicken with some fresh veg, not a plate of brushetta, pasta/pizza and a pudding.

I actually love puddings, but only eat chocolate ones - calories just aren't worth it for anything else! So many restaurants don't offer anything for chocolate lovers. Anything with fruit is an absolute no-no for me. Fruit is a healthyish snack or part of breakfast; not part of a 500 calorie dessert as far as I'm concerned. If I'm out in a group and puddings are consumed, I'm very happy to have a coffee.

I have no idea how people fit 3 courses, wine and coffee in their bodies without feeling ill. I would be so physically uncomfortable it would actually be painful, result in an awful night's sleep and then a zombie like day the next day. I did however have no problem doing all of this as a student or in my 20's: it's an age thing for me 20 years on.

Person_one

Kim_kim wrote: »

I think tipping is old fashioned & plays no part in a modern society.

The restaurant owners should set their prices at a rate needed to pay the staff a decent living wage - the waiting staff should then pay tax on it the same way the rest of the U.K. do.

That way the staff could be assured of a decent living wage even if they are off sick or on annual leave - which isn't the case when relying on tips!

I think this may well be the only post in the whole thread that everybody will agree on.

seven-day-weekend

To recap my stance on paying, I think everyone should pay for their own. If a couple or family group, then that family group should pay for their own.

If the bill is to be shared, then this should be made clear well before the group even gets into the restasurant!

Of coursed, one person might insist on paying for the whole lot, in which case you can return the compliment some other time.
I personally would not go to a restaurant if I could not afford the food I wanted, nor indeed if I only had twenty quid and my family to feed.

That's my stance.

Pollycat

Person_one wrote: »

Some people prefer not to share plates/cutlery/etc. Fair enough, but for most its not a health issue, just a personal boundary issue.

Yes, that's me.
But I really didn't think I was being hysterical or paranoid.

Feral_Moon wrote: »

Can't believe the sheer hysteria and paranoia displayed by some posters in this thread. Have you never kissed anyone? Anyone would think by sharing a forkful of food you were suddenly going to drop dead with some incurable disease :rotfl:

I guess I know better now.

SingleSue

PasturesNew wrote: »

OK - so, what if we now decide we're having such great fun we'll all meet up this coming Friday night at the local Wetherspoons.

How will we split the bill?

Some of you might bring somebody with you; others might bring kids of varying ages; some of you are more interested in sinking every ale they have at the bar; some of you are on a diet.

So .... how'd it work? Having got this far into this discussion, anybody got a clue?

I'm thinking: Wetherspoons, I'll take £20, should come home with £10, might come home with £5. Better pop to the launderette now and wash my jeans if I'm going out!

I'd probably take £30 to cover all eventualities and hope I come back with at least a tenner.

My meal would be the rump steak with an orange squash and possibly, only possibly depending on the portion size, how my health is etc, would have a pudding.

Scratch that, doing the sky is falling act, I would probably take £40 as a just in case!:rotfl:

suki1964

Blimey, that was an epic read

Me and he work by the rule of, if we invite we pay

As do any of our family and friends we are liable to socialise with


When eating out I might not eat a meal, instead I'll have a starter served the same time as everyone's mains, or in one place we go, he has the two course set price menu and I ask for an empty plate and share his main ( believe me, the portions are HUGE, not even he could do justice to a starter and main so neither of us are going hungry)

I don't like being fed at a table but if anyone wants to try what I'm eating, work away

Oh and my mother surely can't be the only women in the world who never allows the tines of a fork to pass her lips? Seriously she kind of inhales her food of the fork- makes me want to boak more then the thought of anyone using their fork to eat of my plate

( but then I've kissed a lot of men in my life:rotfl: )

With work colleagues, or not very close friends, we either pay our own, split the bill, or in the case where we are out for the day and I'm driving, my meal may even be paid for me

I personally wouldn't look down on someone who picked the cheap option or just had soup and water, I wouldn't think omg they can't afford to eat here, and no matter what they ate or didn't wouldn't put me off my meal ( hell I myself have even ordered a boiled egg and chips in a not too scruffy place as that's what I fancied there and then and I've had a friend ask for just mash and gravy)

For me eating out is something we do to ring in a change from cooking indoors and doing the dishes. It's not usually a special treat, usually more of a means to an end. We don't have the luxury of fine dining around here, its usually the same variant that everyone serves, just cost and view differ. Indeed it's often a treat to go to weatherspoons

As I said beginning of the thread, no resturaunt servers will bat an eye about splitting the bill ( we had one booking that was a wedding breakfast, each couple paid their own) and servers who work their tables usually know by looking at the bill who's had what. I really don't get why so many people are getting so hot under the collar about eating out. If you know you are dining out with free loaders which irks you so, why go? If you don't like people splitting the bill to what you consumed to the last penny, why eat with them?

Reading this thread has really surprised me as I never knew eating out was such a mine field

Pastures new I'd share a bottle of cider and a chippy with you any day of the week, eating out the paper with our fingers or plastic forks sitting on the floor in the dark no bother

SingleSue

Loanranger wrote: »

It's easy, PN, divide the bill by the total number of diners. Partners and children all pay the same as everyone else. Drinks are paid for separately at the bar if bought beforehand and all wine beer consumed at the table is also added to the bill and divided equally.

I would be mightily miffed at having to pay for loads of others having multiple expensive glasses of alcohol when I have had orange squash! Just like someone else would probably be mightily miffed I had had the steak (and forgetting about their multiple £5 glasses of wine)

Orange squash is at the most a pound maybe 1.50 in more elite places for a glass, I only have one otherwise it starts to impact on me actually being able to eat the meal.

SingleSue

Jagraf wrote: »

From a personal perspective if I was going to an occasion, I would make a calculated guess at what the cost would be, divvied up by number of guests. I have in the past turned down occasions because I simply couldn't afford to go based on this calculation (even if I cound afford my particular meal).

If I was inviting a friend to something or putting on a party I hope I would be experienced enough at being skint to ensure there was little cost for everyone. I know how stressful it can be.

I wouldn't want a friend to spend their last tenner on me in the first place.

If it was me, you would never know money was tight and I was going out on a budget, I wouldn't let on. If it was a bill splitting event that I didn't know about earlier, I would grin and bear it and move money about to make sure I paid the same as the others.

I can do a great poker face when needed, there would be no hint of panic or stress, I would smile, go to the toilet to go on my mobile or search through my purse, cancel a bill payment or something, come back and pay.

As I said, I always do a sky is falling assessment and take more than is needed anyway even if in reality, I could only afford to pay a smaller proportion of that out.

And then I would learn for the next time and make sure if an invite is received from the same party, that I save hard to make sure there is no panic.

duchy

missbiggles1 wrote: »

I don't mean to be either abstruse or argumentative but how many people would have "a visitor from abroad" drop in for the weekend - or at any time, for that matter?

I don't see the point of inventing unlikely scenarios and asking people "what if" unless you're inventing a new parlour game or comedy panel show.

Me

I have friends from all over -It isn't unusual to get a PM or message saying "Hey I'm in London this weekend - can we get together" This weekend however I'm in Devon and have plans to catch up with two different friends who live close to where we are staying - I *think* they know each other (one has recently moved to the area) -they certainly have mutual friends in common. It is fairly likely we'll get together for a meal together.Most people don't only have "local friends" only but have friends from wherever they have lived or worked and some of those people may go on to live and work abroad or in another part of the country. I suppose if you've always lived in the same town and have friends who don't move for work or other reasons it's possible .

I'm in Chicago next month -and we're trying to schedule dinner with a friend who lives there - My tschedule is pretty tight so again it's certainly possible I'll be invited to join an existing social arrangement like a preplanned meal so it works both ways .

It may be an unlikely scenario to you but it's not for many other people.