How to handle this restaurant bill?

[Anonymous]

A bunch of extended family/friends are getting together for a restaurant dinner. So far it's 22 people, ranging in size from 1 person to five people. How do you suggest we split this bill?

[Anonymous]

22 people is a lot when everyone is ordering their own dishes off the menu. Can you suggest talking with the restaurant about coming up with a prix fixe menu?

[Anonymous]

You let the waiter/waitress know that there will be a lot of separate bills and then as they take orders they note who is paying for what.

[Anonymous]

Can someone take responsibility for breaking down the bill at the end? send the bill around and have people initial their choices.

Family A - $100 + 20% tip
Family B -200+ 20% tip

Or just do a per person amount if people are not worried about exact cost.

[Anonymous]

You reserve your seats, and mention that there will be separate bills. Then you assess how many knowing the people. I suppose each family will designate one payer? The more separate bills there are, the greater the tips should be!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You let the waiter/waitress know that there will be a lot of separate bills and then as they take orders they note who is paying for what.

OMG, no.

[Anonymous]

Maybe the restaurant could offer you a limited menu with a set price, so the food cost is per person. Then the waitstaff would just have to track drink charges per group from there.

I’d speak to the restaurant and see what they think/want.

[Anonymous]

Oh man I hate these things. Last time, we went out with a huge group for father's day. We told the waiter we were paying for us, our kids, our dad and our grandpa. We thought we were being generous so our siblings didn't have to pay for dad and cousins didn't have to pay for grandpa. One of DH's siblings and her husband told the waiter they were also on our bill. wtf.

I would just send out an email beforehand stating that each family is paying for themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You let the waiter/waitress know that there will be a lot of separate bills and then as they take orders they note who is paying for what.

OMG, no.

I mean we've done this before and it's never been a problem. I think it would suck to try and do it at the end, but if you make it clear as you're ordering who is paying for what they can clearly note it. Obviously we all make sure to tip accordingly for the extra work.

[Anonymous]

One person pays the bill. Still divvy it up however necessary ($X for the family of 5, $X for this couple, $X for this single person, etc), but Venmo the amount (including min 20% tip) to the bill-payer. Much easier on the restaurant.

[Anonymous]

If the waiter knows at the time of ordering what orders go on what ticket, I think they are pretty used to that.

[Anonymous]

Consult with the family first. Some are ok to split by family. And some are ok to count just with adults. You know how some adults are. Then, you tell the person working there. They know what to do.

[Anonymous]

I think the solution depends on the people involved, their relationships, and whether they are trustworthy. In my family and social circle, we would pass the bill around, everyone would put in a bit too much to make sure tax and tip is covered, and the server would get the excess as an increased tip, and everyone would be fine. In other circles, that won’t work.

[Anonymous]

When you make the reservation- ask the restaurant for their help

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the waiter knows at the time of ordering what orders go on what ticket, I think they are pretty used to that.

This is what we find as well. Every now and then, a restaurant doesn't want to do separate bills, so it's best to ask when you do reservations. But, given that the alternative may be splitting the bill in unusual ways on multiple credit cards, it's pretty common for separate checks.