How to handle this restaurant bill?

[Anonymous]

So you ask everybody for same flat amount

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you all for your advice. My sibling and I spoke about several options posted here, and decided we are just going to split the entire bill. We figure it'll be around $1500, possibly up to $2,000 at the most including tax and tip.

You need to factor gratuity.
That will be included and is typically higher than a tip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you all for your advice. My sibling and I spoke about several options posted here, and decided we are just going to split the entire bill. We figure it'll be around $1500, possibly up to $2,000 at the most including tax and tip.

You need to factor gratuity.
That will be included and is typically higher than a tip.

We are, don’t worry. We’re not cheap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does the restaurant know at least 22 people are going to descend upon it at once? Most places would not be able to seat you without a reservation, and would insist upon a fixed menu. Do not just roll up on them unannounced—you’ll be turned away.

Yep, we have a reservation.

[Anonymous]

Take total, including tip, divide by 22. Each person pays his share. Done.

That's the normal way to do it when you have normal people who are smart enough to not order the most expensive thing on the menu in hopes that others will subsidize this purchase.

Asking for separate checks or trying to figure out an exact total for every person is tacky.

[Anonymous]

We did this a lot with a sports team after a day of competition. From chain restaurants to medium level restaurants. There would be a large group comprised of parents, competitors, a few siblings, a few friends. Adults clumped together, kids on the other end of a long table. Waiters handled it perfectly. They would set up separate tickets for each family grouping. At the end of the meal they passed out the bills to the parents, and each group handled their bill/tips separately. It was handled professionally and without drama by the wait staff.

[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.

Of course the servers can handle the separate checks. I used to work as a server, and we would have had two of us serving a table for 22 people. Happens all the time.

[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.

Yes. Modern POS systems make this absolutely manageable like it wasn’t years ago. And no way is one person paying for 22 people and then expecting to be reimbursed correctly, including tax and tip. Everyone pays for their own family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you all for your advice. My sibling and I spoke about several options posted here, and decided we are just going to split the entire bill. We figure it'll be around $1500, possibly up to $2,000 at the most including tax and tip.

You need to factor gratuity.
That will be included and is typically higher than a tip.

Included gratuities are almost universally 18%. If you think that's lower than a standard tip you need to update your tipping practices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did this a lot with a sports team after a day of competition. From chain restaurants to medium level restaurants. There would be a large group comprised of parents, competitors, a few siblings, a few friends. Adults clumped together, kids on the other end of a long table. Waiters handled it perfectly. They would set up separate tickets for each family grouping. At the end of the meal they passed out the bills to the parents, and each group handled their bill/tips separately. It was handled professionally and without drama by the wait staff.

We've always done this as well. Typically the waiters would ask the boys their jersey number, and then the parents would give the waiter the same. That's how they tracked everyone, including siblings. have done this all over the US and Canada for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you all for your advice. My sibling and I spoke about several options posted here, and decided we are just going to split the entire bill. We figure it'll be around $1500, possibly up to $2,000 at the most including tax and tip.

You need to factor gratuity.
That will be included and is typically higher than a tip.

Included gratuities are almost universally 18%. If you think that's lower than a standard tip you need to update your tipping practices.

+1 Servers put this on for groups when they expect to get less than the minimum. They don’t always tack it on if they expect to get more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

This is how to do it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Separate checks per family.

Just make sure they all sit near each other. It's murder for a server to have to keep track of "I'm paying for me, the blond girl at the end of the table, the young boy at that table over there and half of the bill for the old couple."

Honestly, I would pay the bill myself and get Venmos from everyone. Lots of points!

We would normally do that also (just pay and Venmo) but if it’sa pricey restaurant could end up being quite expensive if folks don’t pay you back.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Maybe some people missed it because it's now condensed but I already updated saying my brother and I are just going to split the whole bill for everyone.

[Anonymous]

I would volunteer to put it on my card for the 3x points and then square away with other groups via Venmo/Zelle/cash.