How to handle a large bill at dinner?

[bacon333]

I looked around and i didn't see this posted so if this is a repost i apologize

I'm throwing a party on saturday at Joe's Crab Shack. There's going to be 25+ ppl there and a problem that always comes up is the check. Some ppl forget that they bought a drink and some forget to include the tip. At the end we always come up short of the bill.

Is there a fool proof way of handling this problem? I would do seperate checks but I"m not sure they do taht for such a large group.

 

[His Lord Uberdude]

Pay for the extra, and stop looking like a scrooge. :thumbsup:

 

[Lola]

yes, they will do seperate checks as long as you let them know ahead of time, also, they may tack an extra % since there will be over 8 people, but thats the best way to do it, that or give the final check responsibilty to someone else

 

[bobbybe01]

Offer teh sex to the waitress?

 

[nwfsnake]

They are going to charge you a minimum tip anyway, so make them split it up!

 

[n0cmonkey]

If you're throwing the party, shouldn't you be paying?

 

[Colt45]

pay, phone them up a week later and demand you $3,50 for the drink they forgot to pay for.

oh - and those people didn't forget to tip.

 

[Juno]

Throw a LAN party there and you'll be fine.

Otherwise, ignore my first line. Think twice before you attempt to do something. For me, I'd earn money first, maybe 25% more than the estimated price for that party so I wouldn't be in debt.

 

[FlyLice]

Bring a calculator and be meticulous. Everyone will try to screw you. Esp at a crab restaurant.

 

[MrChad]

Your options are:

1. Separate checks
2. Split the check evenly among all 25 people

 

[SpunkyJones]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
If you're throwing the party, shouldn't you be paying?

 

[jagec]

Decide which of the guests everyone likes the least, and discuss the plan with everyone but him/her. Then, when the bill comes, have everyone suddenly sprint out the door and into a waiting van, leaving the unliked guest to pay the bill.

 

[Jzero]

For that many people, you really need to use a banquet facility with a per-person charge.

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: bacon333
Is there a fool proof way of handling this problem?

2 options

1- invite a really rich guy to pay the bill him/herself

2- make people prepay you/whoever is handling the bill, if they think they'll get $25 of stuff, make them give you $30 and tell them they'll get a refund afterwards

 

[captains]

split the entire food bill with all the people evenly.....If they want to drink they pay for it them selves on a seperate tab or cash

 

[cKGunslinger]

I like Joe's Crab Shack - can I come to this party?

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: nwfsnake
They are going to charge you a minimum tip anyway, so make them split it up!

It is illegal to require a minimum tip. If you ask, by law, they have to take it off the bill. Then you can tip whatever you deem is appropriate for the service provided. I've done it before when service was awful. No way I was paying 18% tip (I think I left ~10%).

Its odd. In my situation, everyone always overestimates what they ate. This is with all of my friends and family (except one who uses a calculator to figure it out to the penny, no tip). Then they always round up to the nearest $1 or $5 to make change easy. By the time the bill comes to me, there is more money in there than is required and I haven't even paid. Your friends are just cheapskates.

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: Lola
yes, they will do seperate checks as long as you let them know ahead of time, also, they may tack an extra % since there will be over 8 people, but thats the best way to do it, that or give the final check responsibilty to someone else

:thumbsup:

They might not like the idea of seperate checks, but if you call ahead and let them know you are coming with a large group and that you would like seperate checks, they won't be pissed.

People who work in restaurants don't mind large orders or large parties as long as you give them warning equivlent to the size of the situation. Showing up with out any previous contact with a group of 25 really fouls things up for EVERYONE in the restaurant, so likewise they are angry. Calling ahead a day or two and letting them know, and confirming in the morning might seem stupid, but it makes things so much better. They can plan on having on or two people on their wait staff tied up with your table(s), have some tables set aside, and can call in an extra staff member or two if need be.

When I used to work at a restaurant, we'd give a 10% discount on large parties if they called ahead just because it was so much easier for us to serve them faster and get organized. That's basically like saying the restaurant is covering the tip, which at a big restaurant can be upwords of 30 to 50 bucks off for party that size.

 

[RaDragon]

Ask them to have separate the checks (maybe in groups of 5 or summit). I know what you mean, though. I've been a scenario where someone didn't pay for their drink AND didn't include gratuity in their share. >.<

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: nwfsnake
They are going to charge you a minimum tip anyway, so make them split it up!

It is illegal to require a minimum tip. If you ask, by law, they have to take it off the bill. Then you can tip whatever you deem is appropriate for the service provided. I've done it before when service was awful. No way I was paying 18% tip (I think I left ~10%).

Its odd. In my situation, everyone always overestimates what they ate. This is with all of my friends and family (except one who uses a calculator to figure it out to the penny, no tip). Then they always round up to the nearest $1 or $5 to make change easy. By the time the bill comes to me, there is more money in there than is required and I haven't even paid. Your friends are just cheapskates.

Yeah, your friends are cheap. When we have work lunches with about 12 people, by the time everyone throws in their money, there is always more than needed.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Well, does everyone usually eat/drink the same amount? I would just divide it up evenly and be done with it.

 

[ggavinmoss]

I always end up paying the difference because people are retarded... but you should never let people calculate their share if you are sober enough to do it. Cheapskates undoubtedly forget to include drinks, tip, tax, shared items, etc. so not allowing them to do fuzzy math will make it equitable.

-geoff

 

[intogamer]

In Chinese way or my way. Always almost always 1 person pays the entire bill. If you are the one who started to get people to go out to eat you have to pay. Other times 1 person pays and then next time another person pays the entire bill:laugh:

 

[Kelemvor]

WHen we go out with a large group, we just make the policy beforehand that we will take the total bill, divide by the number of people, and every pays an even amount. If one person has drinks and one person has water, that's their choice but we just divide it up. It's so much easiesr than bickering over $5 because someone just had water.

If it's a smaller group and you can get separate checks per couple or whatever, that makes it even easier.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Whenever I go out with friends in a large group we usually all throw too much money in. Figure it this way though. If the bill is $500 that's $20 per person, if it's $600 that's $24 per person, $700 it's $28 per person. What's $4 among friends?