Separate checks please!

Often, a great meal with friends is spoiled because of the check splitting issue.  Many a time, in my younger years (and recently as well, as a matter of fact), I have gone to dinner with a bunch of friends (even though I probably could not really afford it) and ordered a salad and a soda while someone else ordered a filet mignon and a bottle of wine only to have the steak eater suggest an even split of the check.  When I have money, I’m not too worried about it.  Heck, if I hit the lottery, I’d just pick up the whole check every time.  However, normally it's just annoying because I’m put into the position of either seeming cheap (“I just ordered a salad and soda… “), or shutting up, paying up, and eating Ramen noodles until my next paycheck.  It has caused some moments of resentment and left a bad taste in my mouth.  In Montgomery, Alabama they have solved the problem of post-dinner check resentment.

Last night was my first night working at Roux (a wonderful, upscale Cajun style restaurant).  I was training.  I noticed that Mathew (my trainer) was entering orders by seat number on each check.  I assumed it was so that other people who were running the food might know who ordered what instead of auctioning off the plates.  It turns out that the real reason is that in Montgomery, Alabama, most diners prefer their own check.  At first I thought that it must be such a pain for the server to give everyone a separate check but then I realized that the guests expected separate checks and that separate checks are part of the service automatically offered by the restaurant.  No calculators needed.  No embarrassing admissions (Um, I only have $30…).  No reviewing the check and asking “who had the steak?”  And, no one is leaving feeling like they paid more than their fair share.  Genius!

A table of five young women came in and everyone ordered dinner and drinks.  Some of the women ordered a bit more extravagantly and some ordered a little more carefully.  At the end of the meal, Mathew printed out five checks and delivered them to each of the women.  There was no one pulling out calculators or explaining that they didn’t have the money to pay for food that wasn’t theirs.  There was not a cross face at the table.  Everyone left feeling satisfied that they paid for what they ordered and not a penny more or less.

Another table ordered appetizers and a bottle of wine to share. “Who to charge it to then” I wondered.   “Whoever orders,” Mathew explained.  It was that simple. Separate checks did not elicit an eye roll from him.  He did not act as if the guests were asking him to perform advanced math skills. It was a service he was happy to provide automatically.

I propose that we Northerners take another look at the way we dine out together.  Why enjoy a wonderful meal only to spoil it with someone feeling as though they were taken advantage of?  For what we all spend for meals out, dining should be an altogether stress-free and enjoyable experience. If restaurants are not automatically offering this service then request a separate check at the beginning of the meal and leave the bad taste behind.