HAVE you ever eaten out at a restaurant with a group on a full stomach?
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You order one course, while others settle on an entree and main or main and dessert or even go the whole hog if they haven't been out in a while (let's face it, it's been a long time between drinks!).
You order a glass of red while others mix things up with cocktails.
Afterwards, the group decides to split the bill evenly for simplicity, making your bowl of pasta and glass of vino the most expensive on the market at $108.
Now, you're shaken and a bit stirred!
You really should have ordered the margarita!! Possibly the jug.
Joyfully, dining out is back in full force this year after so many curve balls during the past two years.
With it, however, comes dining out in big groups.
And with that, comes sorting the bill at the end of the night when nine out of 10 players may be tipsy if not sloshed.
The "no split bill" policy embraced by most restaurants is a strangely Australian phenomenon compared with other developed countries such as the US and Britain.
There's no legally-backed consumer right to demand that a bill can be split in Australia.
Restaurants generally resist split bills because they take up lots of staff time (worse with hospitality staff shortages amid the pandemic), each person has to pay individually, and then the bill has to be checked to make sure everything has been covered. (We've all been the person who paid last and ended up with the others' leftovers!)
Some people are happy to divide the entire bill equally regardless of what they ordered, whereas others would opt to pay only for what they consumed.
To avoid awkward post-dinner talk, it's best to decide on this before you sit down.
There's a lot of different ways to manage the bill when dining out as a group without putting anyone out. Here's some food for thought:
- Going Dutch: "Going Dutch" taps into the idea that Holland has the custom of people of all genders being treated as equals. Therefore when two people go out and have a meal together, both of them pay equally, i.e., they split the bill or "Go Dutch". This works well if most diners spend roughly the same on the night out. Otherwise, it might even out over several dinners. I have an annual family trip to Melbourne, where we always divide the dinner bill evenly despite the fact the kids spend less. Over the years, the kids all grow up and will eventually drink us under the table. Either way, the teens are not paying their own bills now.
- The Banker: Let's just say, I never put up my hand to be the banker in Monopoly but everyone has that one friend who does. If your group wants to pay individually for what they've eaten and drank, it's handy to have someone at the table who can add up and handle everyone's cash and change. My Book Club has one and dining out in numbers is a cinch for us wordsmiths.
- Plastic fantastic: If someone in the group wants to put the whole bill on their credit card for the points, it's down to the other diners to cough up in cash. (See above for the benefits of having a numbers person at the table.)
- Crowd pleasers: Choose restaurants that offer a big variety of shared dishes. Think Asian banquets, Spanish tapas or a Mexican feast. Everyone can have their fill and splitting the bill will be a much easier pill to swallow.
- Happy app: Some restaurants - particularly since the global pandemic - offer ordering and pre-payment by an app or QR code. This simplifies everything. It also allows for a quick getaway at the end of the meal if you're doing dinner and a show.
- Date night: I have no idea what's kosher for singles now, but if you're married I assume you share more than your restaurant bills.
With most restaurants fully operational after the lifting of COVID restrictions, diners are picking up where we left off in early 2020.
We only need to remember how to sort the bill for big groups and to definitely book ahead.
Bon appetite!
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