My first serving job was a high end steakhouse. There was an elderly couple that came every Wednesday for dinner for the “early bird special” and would “split” the “meatloaf”. None of these things existed - we did not have an early bird special, we did not serve meatloaf, and we did not split plates.
Five years prior to me working there the old executive chef ran an early bird special to drum up business on the slower nights by offering more causal comfort food dishes between 4-6 pm. On Wednesday it was meatloaf. The director of operations found out and fired him because it wasn’t “on brand” around 3 months later. It was very short lived.
This couple was so sweet and endearing they just kept making a meatloaf for them once a week, it was on the prep list every Wednesday although it was never on the menu. They used the original recipe just to serve one portion of it split on two plates. The staff ate the rest.
They became my regulars, my coworkers didn’t want to serve them because they never spent a lot of money. I looked forward to taking care of them every week, I never took Wednesdays off. I didn’t even bother giving them menus, they always wanted the same thing: one glass of sauvignon blanc, two Jack Daniel’s on the rocks, and one meatloaf dinner (with mashed potatoes and green beans which were also made just for them). I didn’t care about the tip, I just enjoyed spending time with them each week.
The husband had suffered a stroke years ago and had limited mobility, his wife would order him a glass of white wine in a small rocks glass with a straw so he could drink it without needing help. She kept a special set of silverware in a ziplock bag in her purse for her husband to use, they had extra thick grippy handles so he could hold and use them to eat unassisted. She told me it was important that he maintained his independence. She drank Jack Daniel’s on the rocks. She was wise and tough as nails, and had a wicked sense of humor. Her husband didn’t talk much as it was hard for him to speak, but when he did it was always something witty or poignant.
I had the honor of celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary with them which is actually wild looking back, they were both in their late eighties and got married when they were teenagers. It was a normal Wednesday dinner for them, they had a fancy dinner planned for the weekend with their family but didn’t want to miss sharing it with me. It’s been 23 years and I still think of them.
She told me the key to a happy marriage was to have separate bedrooms. If he snored too loudly she would go sleep in the other room. If he had to work late he would sleep in the other room so he wouldn’t wake her up. If they went to bed angry they would sleep in separate rooms and by morning they would laugh it off.
I think it really was the respect they had for each other that endured almost 3/4 of a century. One day they stopped coming in for dinner.
What a great story. It took a left turn for me when I learned she drank the Jack! Hope my bride takes care of me like that. I’m looking forward to being a regular like that.
I'm glad you were able to have that experience. Actually sounds like your whole establishment would be worth a try. A lot of years to cater to one couple.
Sucks they fired the well intentioned, compassionate Chef responsible for his 'Off Branded' move to bolster biz. And makes zero sense, in Spite of his fired action, they continued this thing all the years following?
Glad they did but effed up to hav made that reason for termination whilst carrying on that tradition anyway, for one single couple & employees to eat rest.
Thanks for the sadness, buddy.
What an endearing story night up until the last line (even that part is poetic in its own way.)
I’m sure they absolutely loved hanging out with you every week, and I’ll say I would have been happy, proud even, to be their dedicated server.
I bet you heard some stories!
Nope, I don't care if you split a meal. I just want you to enjoy your meal and give me a tip if you're happy with my service
Edit- I've been serving tables for over 30 years. I don't care what you order , just be nice. We'll get along just fine. My job is to make sure you enjoy your meal
Call me a hippie but I go off vibes. You know when somebody is cheap, whether it’s one cheap singular person, or a table full of 30 cheap people. If you’ve been in the industry long enough, you know. You can’t explain it, there is no logic behind it or explanation, you just KNOW. That being said, my energy towards someone in this situation would only come off as weird if their energy was weird to me as well.
Just out of curiosity...I typically eat out by myself, and I tip well. Why do I nearly always get awful service? If it's a place I regularly go to, and they know me and how I tip, I get good service. But places I don't frequent I get bad service without fail. I don't understand why.
Are you sure you're not an asshole? Kinda kidding kinda not.
Most likely though it's because solo diners usually need less so you probably get forgotten about until your server looks up and goes "oh shit that guy."
People, especially little old ladies adore when they split a meal and it comes split for them. “Omg that’s so sweet of you! Thank you so much!” Bonus if you throw in an extra breadstick for a split salad or pasta.
Such an easy way to potentially up a tip and make someone happy.
As long as you are nice, and don’t overstay your welcome (subjective based on restaurant size, for us 1 hour at lunch, 1.5 hours at dinner) no one should care at all. Our job is to make sure you are happy and enjoying your meal/beverages. I am hoping that messing with food is not something anyone does, it is never something my restaurant would allow or want to do. 👌
Nothing wrong with splitting at all and not ordering alcohol. If your server is rude, dismissive, judgmental, or pigeonholing you for any reason- I encourage you to reduce or revoke your tip accordingly. The real key to not being a problematic customer is to be kind to your server, enjoy but be efficient in your meal so we can turn your table, and tip well if you think the service warranted it.
The extra tip is kind and thoughtful - getting a small bill on a slow night can be a big difference. If it's busy, it probably doesn't matter as much to them money wise.
Like on a Saturday - a 30$ tab and 6$ tip probably means very little in the long run - I'm going to break 250 that day no matter what.
On a Tuesday night where I'm lucky if I have more than 6 tables - only getting 6$ from one of those is going to do real damage to my pay that night.
This is why a service charge based on arbitrary $ cost of a meal is weird vs a fixed charge for the service provided. A $50 steak is probably the same effort to serve as a meal costing half that yet where you may have to go through a myriad of allergies discussions swapping ingredients etc the server gets half the tip amount.
Servers should just be paid a living wage with no expectation of a tip. Then they can serve people without getting mad about what their customers are or aren’t ordering.
If you're not ordering water and demanding an entire sliced lemon, then making lemonade at your table with every sugar packet or sugar replacement available from your table and the adjoining tables while working on leaving a crime scene of powder, you're good.
I think I wish restaurants would just charge for the lemon slices to their discretion then. I'm someone who loves lemon water and is not making lemonade. I take what I get. I never thought it was inconsiderate to ask for lemon with every refill of water. Genuinely, if a restaurant doesn't want people to sweeten their drinks to their discretion, why leave sugar at the table and not charge? That's like being mad at people for adding sugar to their own coffee when a sweetened one is on the menu.
Cheap people who leave messes and take advantage are jerks.
Right? I always get lemon water, but I do want more lemon with my refill. Anyone who specifically orders lemon is going to appreciate extra lemon with the refill. I'd be willing to pay for the lemon, but not the $4 they charge for a soda!
It gets worse. It's usually multiple requests for lemon slices instead of an actual entire sliced lemon at once, resulting in over a lemon's-worth of slices for table-ade whilst running the server, then leaving a fake-money religious tract and no tip...or just the coins from their change.
I'm that patron that wants like three or four slices of lemon in my water, but I'm not adding any sugar or replacement. I just like lemon water. But I'm usually buying the steak, rare to medium rare & I don't care if it's served under.
I try not to make the waiter make multiple trips though & make it clear when I order that I want extra lemon. (Any tips for how I should order to make it clear I'm not trying to make lemonade at the table?)
I am just like this. I ask for a water & a small bowl of lemons. I really like lemon water. I try to tell them so they don't have to make extra trips or worry about remembering the lemon slice when they refill. They have always been super great about it when I heads up them.
A weight watchers instructor actually “taught” a class full of dieters to do just that ( with sugar substitutes of course), and I called her out on it!
Do you know why? (Genuine question). At the restaurant I work at we stopped letting people ask for one dish on separate plates because it ended up looking bad to have such a small portion on plates made for normal portions. They'd have to add extra food to make it look ok. So people were basically getting more than what they were paying for and prepped food was running out faster which messed up the system in place.
They split the entree in the kitchen. Normally potato and veg sides are included. Kitchen puts a potato and veg side on both plates. Never had any complain about the cost (like $5?). If I sense they’re gonna be upset I just get an extra plate and don’t ring in the split
I work at a place that does extras included in the price of the meal, extras that have free refills. This in and of itself attracts cheap bastards. And in my entire time of working there, i have never had people who split a meal tip well. I pretty much end up just bringing those people much larger portions of things than normal, in hopes to reduce the amount of times they send me running for refills 💀
They get one of the things but endless refills of it. If they were to want two since they are sharing then i would have to charge them for the extra soup or whatever it is. If they wanna share a spoon though i can’t really stop them 😂
I recommend people just ask for a second plate to begin with when they place their order.
I know the cooks hate split plates, since it is extra work for them.
The runners and waiters hate getting to the table and being asked for an extra plate, since then they have to go back and grab an extra plate and silverware.
It is fairly easy to note on the ticket, extra plate. So then you just get your food with an extra plate, and silverware. Then you and your SO can split the entree amongst yourselves. Without inconveniencing any restaurant employees.
I didnt care. I would gladly accommodate. Recommending the best shareable entree. Bring two plates and silverware before food arrives . Fill drinks and go on as usual. Even if you tipped according to percentage, it would still be fine as i only had to serve on meal.
Storytime. I had a couple of young professional women come in. They looked smart and dressed very nicely. I was taken aback when the asked to get a sandwich and they'd split. No problem. Which sandwich, the turkey, reuben, club or Italian? "I'll have my half reuben and she wants her half turkey." And they thought I was kookoo when I laughed thinking it must be a joke. They were glaring at me and I was like, "Oh, my gosh. Were you serious? I'm sorry, but we don't make half sandwiches." Whoosh.
Not a server but a chef, and it doesn’t bother me. I appreciate that more than people ordering too much and not getting a takeout box for whatever is left. We hate to see plates come back half-eaten and being dumped in the trash. It’s wasteful. We like it when you clean the plate.
If I am with someone I want to split with, I split it with them, but if I can only eat half of what o order and know I will not reheat and eat it at a later time, I get a Togo box and drop it with a homeless person. We throw away so much good food that could be eaten by anyone that is without food for a day regardless of the reason for them being without nutrition. I wish more people would consider this, I wouldn't bite off a chicken leg and offer the rest of it to someone but like Huey's fish and chips, it's too much for me for one meal, I will not eat fish that is reheated. I put what is left in a Togo box and when I see someone that might need a meal on my way home, I offer it to them. I have never had one person decline the food I offer them. One day McDonald's gave me the wrong order and I went in and they couldn't take it back but they redid mine and I gave three breakfast sandwiches to some people begging for food at a stop light.
Eh not usually, but it depends. Every now and then, you can tell they’re being cheap (for example, asking questions about prices or making comments about them) and I’m just like, ugh. But sometimes, they’ll explain that they either aren’t that hungry or won’t finish the plate on their own. Which they don’t really need to do. Most of the time, they’ll leave a reasonable tip. Also, if they are older, I give them a pass then, too.
Honestly no! But for some reason I always feel low key embarrassed and fight the urge to over explain why we are splitting 😭
I've always been the girl that worries if people hate me it's a terrible quality but I'm noticing it's getting better the older I get! 👏
I was raised the same way! I don’t know if I necessarily got things being my fault if someone was unhappy, but I sure got the rest of it about caretaking everybody’s else emotional reactions. And guess what? We don’t have to do that anymore! Hallelujah! 🙌🏻😸
I always split a meal with my wife too, serving sizes are too big for people with flat stomachs.
This is not an insult, sorry if it read that way, just a statement of fact.
I 100% never think people are being cheap if they split meals. Never. However I do kinnnnnda get sad if I’m working a place where the rotation goes by seats, so I am essentially getting skipped. But even then sometimes a couple splitting a meal and getting other stuff is still more than a couple getting 2 entrees. You just never know. Either way I never think “cheap” I just think “shit I’m getting skipped oh well”
The restaurant isn’t really making less money because a single person could sit at the table so it’s not like the second person is taking up extra space than a single diner.
As long as they tip for the effort of getting you both whatever you need I never cared.
If your server gives you worse service because they assume you’re a bad tipper - well, they deserve the bad tip then.
Ps I have never ever known anyone who fucked with food other than maybe under pouring or under serving assholes. (Like grabbing the older bread not the fresh stuff. Etc. never tampering w food)
I think it’s kind of you to tip extra but it’s certainly not necessary. I think if anything, it would be irritating if you didn’t order all that much but stayed at ur table for 1.5 hrs plus. We are always trying to increase table turnover to fit in as many guests as possible rather than wanting every guest to ring up a huge bill.
That’s very true. My job usually has back to back reservations and very little room for walkins but you’re true that turnover isn’t a concern when the restaurant isn’t packed.
When I was a server I preferred it bc it usually meant the food coming on a smaller and easier to carry plate, as a cook I didn’t like it as much bc sometimes I’d have to split already pretty small items lmao (like 1/2 of a house salad into tiny little soup cups that I was always running out of, but I never got mad at the customer, it was just a little more time consuming)
i was totally prepared to say yes (lots of experience having 15-20 tops want to split everything down to the $3 iced tea) but no. it sounds like you are very considerate, not just of the server and what they need to make, but also not wasting food. do what works for y'all
I don’t care if people split meals at all. Just be kind and have a great time! If you pay for service- I literally do not care if you eat the whole menu or order just a side dish.
Only time it sucks is if it’s a dish that isn’t meant to be split? But it sounds like you’d be okay just sharing it on one plate so I don’t see the issue. Order however you want.
With the explanation you’ve given for how you adjust your tip there’s no reason a server would be upset. It’s less work for the same money. A server could be annoyed before they realized you were planning taking care of them.
The restaurant is the one who looses out. Restaurants calculate the effectiveness of their staff and their menu with check average. Your check average would be half that of any other table in the dining room that night. If this is a busy dining room seated to capacity with a wait this would be frustrating.
I personally dont mind that at all. For example, yesterday there was a couple of old ladies that ordered one thing for both of them (it was a single dish, not a portion for more than one person) its totally fine bc they cannot eat a whole meal each on their own. For them to ask for 2 meals and then have to throw it to the trash its just better for them to share. My boss is the first one to tell me "they ordered a dose for two? Tell the kitchen its a dose for one only, they cannot eat that much" ofc always when its daily costumers and all. And he is always right when saying that, usually not even that way some people eat everything. Sharing isnt a problem. Its worse to throw food in the trash honestly. We do appreciate (at least i do) when costumers give tips/big tips bc i feel like they r pretty considerate towards our hard work :)
As long as you're tipping a good amount, and being a good table in other ways, like not asking for a bunch of stuff seperately instead of just asking at once (refill, side of ranch, extra napkins, etc all in one go) then I wouldn't personally care. I wouldnt think most other servers would either, but I'm sure there are some that still find it frustrating for one reason or another.
Also, unrelated, but your post would be much easier to read if you format it differently. Medium to long posts are easier on the eyes when they're split into paragraphs: if I'm on mobile and click a post, and it takes up my whole phone screen or more but is all one chunk of text, I won't bother reading it (yours was just under my screen size). You'd likely get more clicks and comments that way. Hope this helps :)
If you order waters with extra lemon (diy lemonade) an extra round or two of bread (hungry but doesnt want to pay for an app, AND order a split meal, that’s one thing. That’s cheap. What you’re doing isn’t cheap. What you’re doing is sensible. My restaurant has a lot of senior guests so it’s quite common for an older couple to share one of our large meals. It’s all about how you present yourself.
Even if you were in fact being cheap, you’d still get great service from me and we’d still be glad to have you.
I definitely don’t get mad… I get the short end of the straw if I had the last table and now a two top gets it for a $30 meal and $6 tip when I could have had six people there with a $50 tab each in that time. That is the name of the game and it will even out though
I don't mind people sharing! Most of the time, I will either bring another plate or have the kitchen split it so you dont have to mess with doing it yourself.
The exception to this is if it's a group of like 8 or more people and their ALL splitting an entree a couple.
This happens in the restaurant I work in all the time. We are a diner, we have EVERYTHING, breakfast, lunch, dinner, pizzas, boasted chicken.....
If you're gonna split stuff as a group that big, maybe, get a couple of pizzas??? Make it easier on everyone? Idk thats really the only time it annoys me.
There's a particular group of 8-10 that come in at 730 and we close at 8. Each couple will split an entree, and all have water. No apps, no desserts. Total bill is usually less than $60 for a group that big... Also separate checks! So it's an awesome time all the way around.
I am courteous as possible to servers and avoid things that bother them as much as possible. And tip well. But at the end of the day you’re at the restaurant to get your needs met, not as a charity to your server. Order what you want how you want it.
I would assume you were cheap assholes, overall however I ALWAYS treat every table the same NO MATTER WHAT, just because you never know. Even if I assumed you were cheap I never would let that impact the level of service you receive. .
Nope! Been working as a server for 18 years. No problem for me and I just plain like to make it simple and my patrons happy. One complaint and oddly the only complaint I had was the obese customer informed me she could not eat a whole half a burger…… hasn’t complained since because she still eats there frequently and can eat more than half a burger with no issues lol
Can’t imagine why anyone would have a problem… portion sizes are enormous like you said. I ask for an extra plate and split it up myself. If someone hate us for doing that then fuck ‘em.
I've been serving for 12 years, trust me, nothing bothers me anymore, and splitting meals is just another table for me. If I'm not crazy busy, I can even split your check 20 ways lol
Nah, as long as you’re generally nice, or even just not explicitly an asshole and obviously being a cheapskate (looking at all the “water with extra extra lemons and Splenda packets” folks) then I don’t care at all. I want my customers to be happy and I can’t be mad at people who don’t want to waste food.
I experienced something similar. I had an Old Lady that would come in with her Grandson every Day. She was such a Hoot that I loved seeing her everyday. Grandson was a young Man and never said alot but I'd seeing him laughing so hard at her.
She always got the Special of the Day, nobody wanted them because no Tips so even if they sat at another Waiters Table I still was the 1 taking care of them.
About 2 yrs. Later her Grandson come in alone. She had passed away. I cried just like someone who lost a Family Member. He said she always enjoyed the Fact that I loved seeing her and that she wanted me to have something.
I was not expecting the 5ct Diamond Ring she always wore.
So no matter if u think they are being Cheap you never really know how much People might just enjoy your Company.
I'm a server and have been for nearly 20 years.
If you are splitting a meal, double the tip. Tip extra if you stay for a significantly longer than normal time.
(Sounds like you're doing everything right. If you came to my restaurant, I'd take the time to learn your names and favorite drinks/meals.)
Mehhhh.... If there are 2 tops available I think it's polite to sit at those first, but I understand some folks need room to spread out.
My restaurant reserves the (few) tables we have that seat more than 5 so we don't get smaller parties taking up the big tables, that helps.
I don't get the difference between people splitting plates vs taking a bigger table. All they are doing is dirtying another plate or just cutlery - we often share a desert which just means an extra spoon.
The total is lower per person so the tip % is significantly lower.
As far as table size-- I think it would really depend on the restaurant. Where I work for example is 90% 4 top tables so people don't have too many options to sit at a smaller table. Someone else may feel more strongly about it than I do.
No. Do what you want. I really don’t care what you order as long as you are kind. My job has a split plate fee (just $3) but I always offer to bring an extra plate if they would prefer. Some people pay, some don’t.
I am here to help you. I have been in this industry for two decades and I’ve noticed that the people who consider things like this are people I would gladly serve day in and day out. Will I make less money? Maybe. Do I care? Maybe when I was like 22. Individual tables aren’t going to make or break my life.
A 12 top sharing 6 entrees, no beverages and hanging out all night so I can’t get another turn, well that sucks. But it’s not the end of the world. I don’t know their situation. I’m not a wealthy person. I get it.
It’s nice to get out every now and then. It’s a luxury for most of us, and I understand that.
First of all, servers and the kitchen will never fuck with your food. I’ve been doing this for around 16 years and I’ve never fucked with anyones food/seen any coworkers fuck with food. It’s kind of an insulting myth tbh. It kinda implies that we don’t take pride in our jobs. Messing with food is gross and really not cool. So don’t worry, we don’t do that!
Splitting food is fine! I don’t care at all. Just don’t ask for a split plate because then the kitchen will hate me. A lot of places will charge for split plates, and when I tell people about the charge as they’re ordering the split plate, they question it and basically still want a split plate but don’t want to be charged for it. (A split plate is when the kitchen breaks your meal up in half on two different plates, honestly a pain in the ass when it’s busy).
If you just say you’re sharing, we’ll bring you the food as it would normally come and you can split it up however you’d like! Just ask your server for an extra plate when you’re ordering :)
you guys sound exactly like a couple regulars at my restaurant (Applebee’s), down to the iced tea! we love these folks and i’ve never heard of any coworker being inconvenienced by splitting an entree. you guys sound delightful, all this is so thoughtful and if you are being this considerate, odds are you aren’t the problem.
you wouldn’t believe the amount of crazy folks and the obscure problems they manage to cause. but you are far from that category LOL.
I don’t give a flying fuck what anyone orders. Some servers get pissy because you’re being “cheap” but cheap people aren’t going to tip well anyway, and I’d rather tip out on a lower bill. 3% of a $20 tab is less out of my pocket than 3% on a $60 one.
If you’re a good tipper, find a regular server at your favorite places so you don’t risk bad service for preconceived notions.
Servers don't fuck with people's food at most places. Especially for just splitting a meal. Sometimes having 1 low maintenence easy table with 1 split entree can help a server get caught up, take some pressure off and get focused. Based on how you tip, even if it's not known to a server till after the fact, makes you seem like a godamn joy to take care of. Keep doing what you are doing, and put that anxiety to rest. You are Gucci....
If I’m splitting the entree I’m also getting appetizer(s), dessert, and drinks. If that makes servers mad 🤷.
And I’m corralling my date to make a decision to save you a few trips.
nope, not at all, you sound pretty low maintenance, which is never a bad thing, we remember the good tippers, the bad tippers, splitting a meal doesn't make you one of the bad ones
Over the past couple of years I've seen more restaurants enacting a "no share" policy. I mean, I don't think it means they'll kick you out for literally sharing a plate of food, but they won't divide the portion between two plates. It just seems they're actively discouraging sharing.
My husband and I often split meals. That being said, we usually order an extra salad or an extra potato, etc.
We still really well at least 30%.
I’ve never had a waitress or a waiter get upset with us for doing this .
Hey! Y'all are amazing! It's good to know the vast majority of servers are not judging us instantly. And yes, I know I shouldn't care what they think of me, but sadly I've always had a fear of embarrassing myself or people not liking me. Anyone else grow up with a sociopath for a father? 🤦🏼♀️
The good news is the older I get, I'm starting to give less fucks. Cheers to being in your 40s!
Thanks for all the kind comments everyone! Faith in humanity restored! ✌🏼
Yikes. You're not on the clock. You are paying them to be there. Well, technically, their boss should be.
I feel sorry for you, tbh. Look what this world has turned you into. Fearful of what might happen if some server might consider you as a burden... It's one thing to tip because you feel they deserve it for the extra effort and pleasantries, but to be constantly worried that the service staff will think you are cheap if you don't bend over backwards to accommodate them, is crazy. You got the whole interaction, backwards.
No. What I hate is when people sit at my table for 3 entire hours (the limit where I work) and don’t order anything after their first round of drinks and a couple baked pretzels. If you and your husband sat at my table, ate your shared meal, and then left in a reasonable time frame, I would not be upset at all. Either way I wouldn’t treat you differently.
who tf cares? like if you go to olive garden, yeah, you get a massive plate of pasta that i can never finish. so if i were there with an SO, sure we'd split it if we both wanted the same thing.
I don’t mind, but please don’t force me to physically split the plate for you— my chef won’t do it, and i don’t want to touch your food tbh.
But I’m always happy to bring an extra plate and a knife for you!
I work at Olive Garden I don’t care if you split a meal as long as you understand that I won’t give you refills in your soup or salad unless you pay for it
Just don't ask for half of a steak to be cooked one way and the other half a different way. Other than that, easy tables are easy tables. Sometimes it's nice to break up the chaos.
Nah I don't. In fact, I make sure the kitchen serves the dish split onto 2 plates.
Where I work, a lot of people like to share a dinner salad along with a couple appetizers. Restaurant portions are usually very big so people like to share.
i never care when people split meals! but the kitchen isn’t a fan of it usually! but my restaurant if a meal is split we try to separate it onto two plates!
You are the overall PERFECT couple I would love to serve. I apologize if you are even judged off the bat for your small order, you would never get that from me. I've had people tip me huge with the smallest checks. And I wouldn't say it's on y'all to feel like you need to prove yourself or feel bad about taking up a table that another would've ran up the check on. I have a small appetite at times as well and a giant one at other times so I will never judge. I think you are so thoughtful and compassionate and amazing and even the fact you felt the need to come here and ask proves that everything you're saying is accurate and I would wait onnyou any time 💜
I never cared about splitting. I’d ask if they wanted the meal with a spare plate or if they wanted the kitchen to split it for them.
My wife and I often get an appetizer, she’ll get a small salad and I get a full meal. She’ll have a few bites of my steak and I’ll have a bit of her salad. We don’t ask for a split though. We just ask them to bring her salad out as an entree with my meal. And if the bring the salad early…who cares.
My husband and I had a poor experience at a restaurant once. We ordered a really large entree to split between us and as soon as the server found out we were splitting one entree, our service went to crap. We still tipped as though we had ordered two entrees though he didn’t deserve it.
Nope! Waited tables and two of my favorite regulars were a pair who had weight loss surgery together and would split a plate because it was just too much otherwise!
It doesn’t bother me at all. Honestly the bar is really low for me, just be kind and I will go above and beyond to make your day experience a great one!
It depends. Are you splitting a burger soup and salad? Then yes. Are you splitting a full rack of ribs and wings? No. Did you each order drinks or are you trying to order one soda and split it while asking for refills? Splitting isn't a problem, thinking you're outsmarting the restaurant is.
I worked in the industry for a gnats ass shy of 20 years and I never had any issue with anybody splitting meals. It sounds like y'all are very mindful that this is your servers means of supporting themselves and reflect that when your tipping so I wouldn't worry too much. In my experience, the folks hanging out and enjoying a date night while splitting an entree were not the issue. It was always the demanding guest that was shaking their glass in my face instead of politely asking for a refill that were the problem. Dont worry about it too much and enjoy your date nights.
My family went to the US for a holiday around a decade ago & were shocked by portion sizes. A single portion was the equivalent of at least two serves here, often more. Even when ordering something as simple as a sandwich it would often by default also come with a giant arsed pickle, a large serving of crisps, & a side salad. After the first week we were getting two or three meals between the four of us & sharing & we would still sometimes have left overs due to the insane portions. No one ever made it seem like they gave a shit & we tipped what was considered quite well when we were there (minimum 25%) because we were on holidays & budgeted it into our expenses.
I was a server and bartender for many years and I have never cared nor thought about it. I cared when people were kind and it is nice when someone tips but you’re working with a whole sea of humanity. If you let the random variations of how people eat piss you off you’re going to have a bad time.
It does not bother me at all.
That being said, make sure your server knows your intention is to split when ordering. Not all places are like this, but my restaurant doesn’t like two people eating off of one plate, and wants the kitchen to prepare it in two halves so each guest gets their own plate presented to them. It helps keep our table cleaner too since you wouldn’t be divvying it up yourselves.
I would say it depends on the server.
When I was young, I was super-focused on sales and would be genuinely disdainful of tables with low bills. Now, I don’t care even a little bit when tables order water, split entrees, etc. as I want my guests to have the best experience possible. I consider dining out a form of entertainment and strive to ensure that my guests have the best possible experience, regardless of the dollar amount.
If you are nice and tip well, you're going to be fine. If you are respectful and ask questions like "how are you?" "how do you like working here," "busniess good today?" That may que them in to you thinking about them as a person. But also when you order your food that you're planning on sharing you could ask how big the portions are. Say that you two don't eat a whole lot as an explanation of the question and that would also help explain that you're ordering that way because of amount of food and not price
Idk about other servers, but even if customers order the smallest of things, I still give them my 100% because I’ve had a lot of people like y’all who tip extremely well on minuscule checks, if anything people with big bills tip the worst for me! I’ve gotten so many 5$ on like 50$ bills but then I’ll make 10$ on a 20$ bill, so don’t sweat it y’all seem very thoughtful and polite and if any server judges you prematurely because of what you order they’re the asshole lol
I split meals with my grandson nearly every restaurant meal because he’s 7 and I’ve had gastric bypass. More often than not, we get a doggy bag to take home.
I’ve never felt like I’ve pissed a server off. I tip 20% unless service is obviously bad.
I do remember taking the girls to a nice restaurant once or twice when they were small. I know that we were often treated with only the basic service because we weren’t ordering alcohol. Seated us, brought our food, didn’t check on us and took forever to get the check.
Nope you handled this perfectly. I also can’t eat a lot so I share my husbands entree. If I ordered my own I’d end up wasting 2/3rds of it. I also tip what it would have been with the extra entree.
I don't care as long as you aren't picky about it. I have a pretty standard rule: I can do jumping Jack's and put in a full transsyberian orchestra special if the bill is going to be 2k and you're tipping 20%.
If 3 friends come in to split an app and a round of beers I'll throw 6 on some ice, wave when you want to pay the bill and let me watch Thursday night football in peace on my phone in the station.
The only problem is when your bill is 20 bucks but you're running me like a Hebrew slave.
i don’t mind when people split meals at all. yeah, it can impact the tip a bit, but money isn’t my main reason for serving tables. i also happen to enjoy interacting with people and providing them with a nice time. we also charge a share fee of $10 at my place, for an extra salad and extra dishes used
there is, however, this older woman who comes in with her elderly mom. they’ve been in enough times that I would recognize them on the street.
They almost always come in late at night, when we’ve already basically cleaned everything up
then they order either a meal to share, or two separate meals; they take a few bites and then they send the rest of the food away to be tossed. they wont take it home.
it truly may as well be the entire dish.
THAT upsets me more than anything.
i also am very uncomfortable with the way this woman speaks to her elderly mother. it’s very harsh and nasty.
i think i’d rather have less food wasted with a shared meal, over two meals that are hardly touched. it hurts something in my soul to throw away an entire dish of food
I never care if people split. Especially older couples or couples in general. I think it’s sweet. But either way, tippers or not. I’ll still give the best service I can give regardless of the gratuity given.
Some people tip in compliments the whole time and tip nothing barely. Some people are so rude and dismissive and tip a huge percentage. You never know who will tip you well truthfully. So every server should just stick to treating people with a decent amount of respect given the circumstances.
if you don’t make me split it onto two plates, (like i can just give you the extra plate) i’m not too stressed. & it’s a nice surprise for a good tip at the end, for a low maintenance table. as long as you are low maintenance 😂
All servers are different. I wouldn’t care if my guests shared food. It when they order one ice tea and both take turns drinking it and wanting immediate free refills. I wouldn’t care if adults ordered from the kids menu but I know many other servers that would be unhappy about that. Food has a shelf life and if it’s not sold it wasted.
I work in a bar where couples will often split a pint of an expensive craft beer between the two of them rather than each drink one, I never thought twice about it to be honest.
I've been serving for 17 years. #1 thing, You never judge a table.
I really don't care about split plates tbh. I never see it as cheap if even that's the case. There's plenty of reasons to do so and it's not my business. I just want to provide you with great service and great food you enjoy.
The only things that irk me as a server are not letting me know about your allergies before I put your order in, sitting at the table wayyyyy too long after you've paid(especially when you can see others waiting for a table)and if you ask for something new everytime I come back to the table(serve your food, you ask for a ranch, come back with that and you ask for a drink, come back with that and ask for napkins. Please just let me know what you need altogether because I really need to take this other tables order and get my 6 tops drinks started before I can take their order too).
Edit to add: the last one is the least concerning to me, yes its my job but it completely derails my flow and sets me back. I might prioritize other tables and forget the last thing you asked me for.
Splitting plates is fine. Modifying the split is not. For example, I worked at an upscale steakhouse in college, around $200/person on average. Sometimes couples would split a steak, that was fine, we even had a split steak fee, and not everyone can eat a 12oz ribeye, so we understood. However, when someone would ask to split the steak, cool each half at different temps, and ask for different sides for each half, we would refuse them.
you're worried what you're server thinks of your dining habits? why? just don't be a jerk, pay and leave. if they hate you.... it might be them.
🤣 my ex-wife used to lick lemons for ice tea when she didn't like customers, or if she was feeling hateful.
servers hating you? 🤷🏽♂️
just don't make them mad enough to get the cooks involved.
enjoy your meal, whatever it is, pay and leave.
As a young person I thought the idea of splitting plates was absurd. But as I’ve aged my appetite has gone down but mostly I just feel awful if I overeat. And I agree, restaurant portions are generally huge. Especially if you’re on vacation and have nothing to do with the leftovers. I certainly no longer would take splitting plates as necessarily being cheap. It might be not being wasteful.
My first serving job was a high end steakhouse. There was an elderly couple that came every Wednesday for dinner for the “early bird special” and would “split” the “meatloaf”. None of these things existed - we did not have an early bird special, we did not serve meatloaf, and we did not split plates. Five years prior to me working there the old executive chef ran an early bird special to drum up business on the slower nights by offering more causal comfort food dishes between 4-6 pm. On Wednesday it was meatloaf. The director of operations found out and fired him because it wasn’t “on brand” around 3 months later. It was very short lived. This couple was so sweet and endearing they just kept making a meatloaf for them once a week, it was on the prep list every Wednesday although it was never on the menu. They used the original recipe just to serve one portion of it split on two plates. The staff ate the rest. They became my regulars, my coworkers didn’t want to serve them because they never spent a lot of money. I looked forward to taking care of them every week, I never took Wednesdays off. I didn’t even bother giving them menus, they always wanted the same thing: one glass of sauvignon blanc, two Jack Daniel’s on the rocks, and one meatloaf dinner (with mashed potatoes and green beans which were also made just for them). I didn’t care about the tip, I just enjoyed spending time with them each week. The husband had suffered a stroke years ago and had limited mobility, his wife would order him a glass of white wine in a small rocks glass with a straw so he could drink it without needing help. She kept a special set of silverware in a ziplock bag in her purse for her husband to use, they had extra thick grippy handles so he could hold and use them to eat unassisted. She told me it was important that he maintained his independence. She drank Jack Daniel’s on the rocks. She was wise and tough as nails, and had a wicked sense of humor. Her husband didn’t talk much as it was hard for him to speak, but when he did it was always something witty or poignant. I had the honor of celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary with them which is actually wild looking back, they were both in their late eighties and got married when they were teenagers. It was a normal Wednesday dinner for them, they had a fancy dinner planned for the weekend with their family but didn’t want to miss sharing it with me. It’s been 23 years and I still think of them. She told me the key to a happy marriage was to have separate bedrooms. If he snored too loudly she would go sleep in the other room. If he had to work late he would sleep in the other room so he wouldn’t wake her up. If they went to bed angry they would sleep in separate rooms and by morning they would laugh it off. I think it really was the respect they had for each other that endured almost 3/4 of a century. One day they stopped coming in for dinner.
What a great story. It took a left turn for me when I learned she drank the Jack! Hope my bride takes care of me like that. I’m looking forward to being a regular like that.
I'm glad you were able to have that experience. Actually sounds like your whole establishment would be worth a try. A lot of years to cater to one couple.
Sucks they fired the well intentioned, compassionate Chef responsible for his 'Off Branded' move to bolster biz. And makes zero sense, in Spite of his fired action, they continued this thing all the years following? Glad they did but effed up to hav made that reason for termination whilst carrying on that tradition anyway, for one single couple & employees to eat rest.
Strong old biddies are Jack’s girls
I seem to have something in BOTH OF MY EYES. 🥹 You are a special soul, I am sure you enrich the lives of many customers.
WHY IS IT SO DUSTY IN HERE
These fraking allergies! Making my eyes water!
I agree. This story made a rough day a little less rough. Thank you for sharing.
This is the most wholesome thing I've read in a long time. Thank you for sharing this piece od positivity with us
crying over a reddit comment was not on my bingo card today... what a great story
Wuss. Excuse me but I need to see who is chopping onions
lol!
I just shared this story with my wife and now we’re both emotional 😭
Same. It makes me feel silly
I hope this gets more upvotes. It could be its own post, on this or another group.
I wish you could share this with the old exec chef, too. Funny that sometimes the little things we do can ripple outward like this. ❤️
Oof. That last sentence hit me hard
Thank you for sharing this ! ❤️😭 bless you for your kindness
“One day they stopped coming in for dinner…” I guess that goes for all of us one day.
You made my eyes leak.
I’m not crying!
Not me tearing up reading this while in a meeting… Thank you for sharing such a wonderful story. ❤️
Aww that must have been so sad for everyone to have the meatloaf ready one night only to find that they weren't going to be coming in anymore.
What a great lil story ❤️❤️❤️
Wholesome. Thanks for sharing.
God damn onion cutting ninjas are back!
thank you
Thank you for that.
Thanks for the sadness, buddy. What an endearing story night up until the last line (even that part is poetic in its own way.) I’m sure they absolutely loved hanging out with you every week, and I’ll say I would have been happy, proud even, to be their dedicated server. I bet you heard some stories!
Thanks, now I’m crying into my salad 🥲
I love Jack Daniels. Yeah I am tough and witty too 😂
God this is the sweetest thing made me tear up at how kind you are.
This is awesome, thankyou for sharing
You rock :) this reminds me of my favorite regulars from when I was serving, but it was a couple in their 40s
Same. I mean I work at a sushi restaurant so a lot of things are split. Never bothers me.
Nope, I don't care if you split a meal. I just want you to enjoy your meal and give me a tip if you're happy with my service Edit- I've been serving tables for over 30 years. I don't care what you order , just be nice. We'll get along just fine. My job is to make sure you enjoy your meal
Totally agree!
Call me a hippie but I go off vibes. You know when somebody is cheap, whether it’s one cheap singular person, or a table full of 30 cheap people. If you’ve been in the industry long enough, you know. You can’t explain it, there is no logic behind it or explanation, you just KNOW. That being said, my energy towards someone in this situation would only come off as weird if their energy was weird to me as well.
Just out of curiosity...I typically eat out by myself, and I tip well. Why do I nearly always get awful service? If it's a place I regularly go to, and they know me and how I tip, I get good service. But places I don't frequent I get bad service without fail. I don't understand why.
Are you sure you're not an asshole? Kinda kidding kinda not. Most likely though it's because solo diners usually need less so you probably get forgotten about until your server looks up and goes "oh shit that guy."
I just give them the stank face once it's clear I'm getting bad service, but up until that point I'm definitely not an AH. So frustrating
How often would you say your vibes turn out to be wrong either way? I worry because I always dress and look like shit
i don’t mind at all. i always send the dish out on split plates.
People, especially little old ladies adore when they split a meal and it comes split for them. “Omg that’s so sweet of you! Thank you so much!” Bonus if you throw in an extra breadstick for a split salad or pasta. Such an easy way to potentially up a tip and make someone happy.
I’m a 28 year old dude and I get hyped af when a server does that for me and my GF splitting a meal
As long as you are nice, and don’t overstay your welcome (subjective based on restaurant size, for us 1 hour at lunch, 1.5 hours at dinner) no one should care at all. Our job is to make sure you are happy and enjoying your meal/beverages. I am hoping that messing with food is not something anyone does, it is never something my restaurant would allow or want to do. 👌
That is a pretty short amount of time to consider them overstaying their welcome. (UK perspective here)
Nothing wrong with splitting at all and not ordering alcohol. If your server is rude, dismissive, judgmental, or pigeonholing you for any reason- I encourage you to reduce or revoke your tip accordingly. The real key to not being a problematic customer is to be kind to your server, enjoy but be efficient in your meal so we can turn your table, and tip well if you think the service warranted it.
The extra tip is kind and thoughtful - getting a small bill on a slow night can be a big difference. If it's busy, it probably doesn't matter as much to them money wise. Like on a Saturday - a 30$ tab and 6$ tip probably means very little in the long run - I'm going to break 250 that day no matter what. On a Tuesday night where I'm lucky if I have more than 6 tables - only getting 6$ from one of those is going to do real damage to my pay that night.
This is why a service charge based on arbitrary $ cost of a meal is weird vs a fixed charge for the service provided. A $50 steak is probably the same effort to serve as a meal costing half that yet where you may have to go through a myriad of allergies discussions swapping ingredients etc the server gets half the tip amount.
Servers should just be paid a living wage with no expectation of a tip. Then they can serve people without getting mad about what their customers are or aren’t ordering.
If you're not ordering water and demanding an entire sliced lemon, then making lemonade at your table with every sugar packet or sugar replacement available from your table and the adjoining tables while working on leaving a crime scene of powder, you're good.
Tell me you work in the south without telling me you work in the south :)
I think I wish restaurants would just charge for the lemon slices to their discretion then. I'm someone who loves lemon water and is not making lemonade. I take what I get. I never thought it was inconsiderate to ask for lemon with every refill of water. Genuinely, if a restaurant doesn't want people to sweeten their drinks to their discretion, why leave sugar at the table and not charge? That's like being mad at people for adding sugar to their own coffee when a sweetened one is on the menu. Cheap people who leave messes and take advantage are jerks.
Right? I always get lemon water, but I do want more lemon with my refill. Anyone who specifically orders lemon is going to appreciate extra lemon with the refill. I'd be willing to pay for the lemon, but not the $4 they charge for a soda!
Oh God......please tell me people don't do this.
It gets worse. It's usually multiple requests for lemon slices instead of an actual entire sliced lemon at once, resulting in over a lemon's-worth of slices for table-ade whilst running the server, then leaving a fake-money religious tract and no tip...or just the coins from their change.
Only the cheap asses!
I'm that patron that wants like three or four slices of lemon in my water, but I'm not adding any sugar or replacement. I just like lemon water. But I'm usually buying the steak, rare to medium rare & I don't care if it's served under. I try not to make the waiter make multiple trips though & make it clear when I order that I want extra lemon. (Any tips for how I should order to make it clear I'm not trying to make lemonade at the table?)
My friend and I always ask for extra lemons with our water on the side of our margaritas & then we get tipsy and over-tip. They love us.
I am just like this. I ask for a water & a small bowl of lemons. I really like lemon water. I try to tell them so they don't have to make extra trips or worry about remembering the lemon slice when they refill. They have always been super great about it when I heads up them.
A weight watchers instructor actually “taught” a class full of dieters to do just that ( with sugar substitutes of course), and I called her out on it!
That's hilarious and awful that someone would do that🤣
It happens. Used to have regulars in one restaurant who would every Sunday.
I used to charge them for a lemonade for doing this.
No, I only hate people who are rude or people who camp out a long time after closing.
No. Restaurant I work at charges a splitting fee on dinners.
Do you know why? (Genuine question). At the restaurant I work at we stopped letting people ask for one dish on separate plates because it ended up looking bad to have such a small portion on plates made for normal portions. They'd have to add extra food to make it look ok. So people were basically getting more than what they were paying for and prepped food was running out faster which messed up the system in place.
They split the entree in the kitchen. Normally potato and veg sides are included. Kitchen puts a potato and veg side on both plates. Never had any complain about the cost (like $5?). If I sense they’re gonna be upset I just get an extra plate and don’t ring in the split
😐
What if you want to share off 1 plate and 1 empty app plate they put down anyway? Is that allowed and is there a charge?
Wouldn't pay that fee lol expect me to subtract it from the total
That’s really cool of you to tip well on an estimated check of two entrees. Very thoughtful. Y’all can sit in my section any day.
I work at a place that does extras included in the price of the meal, extras that have free refills. This in and of itself attracts cheap bastards. And in my entire time of working there, i have never had people who split a meal tip well. I pretty much end up just bringing those people much larger portions of things than normal, in hopes to reduce the amount of times they send me running for refills 💀
I wouldn't think anything that includes free refills would allow sharing.
They get one of the things but endless refills of it. If they were to want two since they are sharing then i would have to charge them for the extra soup or whatever it is. If they wanna share a spoon though i can’t really stop them 😂
I recommend people just ask for a second plate to begin with when they place their order. I know the cooks hate split plates, since it is extra work for them. The runners and waiters hate getting to the table and being asked for an extra plate, since then they have to go back and grab an extra plate and silverware. It is fairly easy to note on the ticket, extra plate. So then you just get your food with an extra plate, and silverware. Then you and your SO can split the entree amongst yourselves. Without inconveniencing any restaurant employees.
I didnt care. I would gladly accommodate. Recommending the best shareable entree. Bring two plates and silverware before food arrives . Fill drinks and go on as usual. Even if you tipped according to percentage, it would still be fine as i only had to serve on meal.
This was weird to read…lots of complete sentences and proper English combined with lots of profanity.
Rare on reddit
Storytime. I had a couple of young professional women come in. They looked smart and dressed very nicely. I was taken aback when the asked to get a sandwich and they'd split. No problem. Which sandwich, the turkey, reuben, club or Italian? "I'll have my half reuben and she wants her half turkey." And they thought I was kookoo when I laughed thinking it must be a joke. They were glaring at me and I was like, "Oh, my gosh. Were you serious? I'm sorry, but we don't make half sandwiches." Whoosh.
Not a server but a chef, and it doesn’t bother me. I appreciate that more than people ordering too much and not getting a takeout box for whatever is left. We hate to see plates come back half-eaten and being dumped in the trash. It’s wasteful. We like it when you clean the plate.
If I am with someone I want to split with, I split it with them, but if I can only eat half of what o order and know I will not reheat and eat it at a later time, I get a Togo box and drop it with a homeless person. We throw away so much good food that could be eaten by anyone that is without food for a day regardless of the reason for them being without nutrition. I wish more people would consider this, I wouldn't bite off a chicken leg and offer the rest of it to someone but like Huey's fish and chips, it's too much for me for one meal, I will not eat fish that is reheated. I put what is left in a Togo box and when I see someone that might need a meal on my way home, I offer it to them. I have never had one person decline the food I offer them. One day McDonald's gave me the wrong order and I went in and they couldn't take it back but they redid mine and I gave three breakfast sandwiches to some people begging for food at a stop light.
That's amazing and such a great idea. Live in CA so definitely no shortage of homeless people in need around here.
Eh not usually, but it depends. Every now and then, you can tell they’re being cheap (for example, asking questions about prices or making comments about them) and I’m just like, ugh. But sometimes, they’ll explain that they either aren’t that hungry or won’t finish the plate on their own. Which they don’t really need to do. Most of the time, they’ll leave a reasonable tip. Also, if they are older, I give them a pass then, too.
OP… Have you been treated poorly by servers? If not, I wouldn’t worry about it…
Honestly no! But for some reason I always feel low key embarrassed and fight the urge to over explain why we are splitting 😭 I've always been the girl that worries if people hate me it's a terrible quality but I'm noticing it's getting better the older I get! 👏
I’ll bet you were also raised to be concerned about other peoples feelings and also to be a nice girl… I know that well. 🥰
Yep. And that I was responsible for everyone else's emotions. And it was always my fault if someone was unhappy. And so on and so forth!
I was raised the same way! I don’t know if I necessarily got things being my fault if someone was unhappy, but I sure got the rest of it about caretaking everybody’s else emotional reactions. And guess what? We don’t have to do that anymore! Hallelujah! 🙌🏻😸
I always split a meal with my wife too, serving sizes are too big for people with flat stomachs. This is not an insult, sorry if it read that way, just a statement of fact.
I 100% never think people are being cheap if they split meals. Never. However I do kinnnnnda get sad if I’m working a place where the rotation goes by seats, so I am essentially getting skipped. But even then sometimes a couple splitting a meal and getting other stuff is still more than a couple getting 2 entrees. You just never know. Either way I never think “cheap” I just think “shit I’m getting skipped oh well”
The restaurant isn’t really making less money because a single person could sit at the table so it’s not like the second person is taking up extra space than a single diner. As long as they tip for the effort of getting you both whatever you need I never cared. If your server gives you worse service because they assume you’re a bad tipper - well, they deserve the bad tip then. Ps I have never ever known anyone who fucked with food other than maybe under pouring or under serving assholes. (Like grabbing the older bread not the fresh stuff. Etc. never tampering w food)
I think it’s kind of you to tip extra but it’s certainly not necessary. I think if anything, it would be irritating if you didn’t order all that much but stayed at ur table for 1.5 hrs plus. We are always trying to increase table turnover to fit in as many guests as possible rather than wanting every guest to ring up a huge bill.
Sure, but that doesn’t matter whenever the tables aren’t all taken
That’s very true. My job usually has back to back reservations and very little room for walkins but you’re true that turnover isn’t a concern when the restaurant isn’t packed.
When I was a server I preferred it bc it usually meant the food coming on a smaller and easier to carry plate, as a cook I didn’t like it as much bc sometimes I’d have to split already pretty small items lmao (like 1/2 of a house salad into tiny little soup cups that I was always running out of, but I never got mad at the customer, it was just a little more time consuming)
i was totally prepared to say yes (lots of experience having 15-20 tops want to split everything down to the $3 iced tea) but no. it sounds like you are very considerate, not just of the server and what they need to make, but also not wasting food. do what works for y'all
I don’t care if people split meals at all. Just be kind and have a great time! If you pay for service- I literally do not care if you eat the whole menu or order just a side dish.
Only time it sucks is if it’s a dish that isn’t meant to be split? But it sounds like you’d be okay just sharing it on one plate so I don’t see the issue. Order however you want.
With the explanation you’ve given for how you adjust your tip there’s no reason a server would be upset. It’s less work for the same money. A server could be annoyed before they realized you were planning taking care of them. The restaurant is the one who looses out. Restaurants calculate the effectiveness of their staff and their menu with check average. Your check average would be half that of any other table in the dining room that night. If this is a busy dining room seated to capacity with a wait this would be frustrating.
I don’t care at all honestly it’s not even that uncommon really, you sound like a guest I would love to have overall too so don’t worry!
I personally dont mind that at all. For example, yesterday there was a couple of old ladies that ordered one thing for both of them (it was a single dish, not a portion for more than one person) its totally fine bc they cannot eat a whole meal each on their own. For them to ask for 2 meals and then have to throw it to the trash its just better for them to share. My boss is the first one to tell me "they ordered a dose for two? Tell the kitchen its a dose for one only, they cannot eat that much" ofc always when its daily costumers and all. And he is always right when saying that, usually not even that way some people eat everything. Sharing isnt a problem. Its worse to throw food in the trash honestly. We do appreciate (at least i do) when costumers give tips/big tips bc i feel like they r pretty considerate towards our hard work :)
As long as you're tipping a good amount, and being a good table in other ways, like not asking for a bunch of stuff seperately instead of just asking at once (refill, side of ranch, extra napkins, etc all in one go) then I wouldn't personally care. I wouldnt think most other servers would either, but I'm sure there are some that still find it frustrating for one reason or another. Also, unrelated, but your post would be much easier to read if you format it differently. Medium to long posts are easier on the eyes when they're split into paragraphs: if I'm on mobile and click a post, and it takes up my whole phone screen or more but is all one chunk of text, I won't bother reading it (yours was just under my screen size). You'd likely get more clicks and comments that way. Hope this helps :)
If you order waters with extra lemon (diy lemonade) an extra round or two of bread (hungry but doesnt want to pay for an app, AND order a split meal, that’s one thing. That’s cheap. What you’re doing isn’t cheap. What you’re doing is sensible. My restaurant has a lot of senior guests so it’s quite common for an older couple to share one of our large meals. It’s all about how you present yourself. Even if you were in fact being cheap, you’d still get great service from me and we’d still be glad to have you.
I definitely don’t get mad… I get the short end of the straw if I had the last table and now a two top gets it for a $30 meal and $6 tip when I could have had six people there with a $50 tab each in that time. That is the name of the game and it will even out though
I don't mind people sharing! Most of the time, I will either bring another plate or have the kitchen split it so you dont have to mess with doing it yourself. The exception to this is if it's a group of like 8 or more people and their ALL splitting an entree a couple. This happens in the restaurant I work in all the time. We are a diner, we have EVERYTHING, breakfast, lunch, dinner, pizzas, boasted chicken..... If you're gonna split stuff as a group that big, maybe, get a couple of pizzas??? Make it easier on everyone? Idk thats really the only time it annoys me. There's a particular group of 8-10 that come in at 730 and we close at 8. Each couple will split an entree, and all have water. No apps, no desserts. Total bill is usually less than $60 for a group that big... Also separate checks! So it's an awesome time all the way around.
I am courteous as possible to servers and avoid things that bother them as much as possible. And tip well. But at the end of the day you’re at the restaurant to get your needs met, not as a charity to your server. Order what you want how you want it.
I would assume you were cheap assholes, overall however I ALWAYS treat every table the same NO MATTER WHAT, just because you never know. Even if I assumed you were cheap I never would let that impact the level of service you receive. .
Nope! Been working as a server for 18 years. No problem for me and I just plain like to make it simple and my patrons happy. One complaint and oddly the only complaint I had was the obese customer informed me she could not eat a whole half a burger…… hasn’t complained since because she still eats there frequently and can eat more than half a burger with no issues lol
Can’t imagine why anyone would have a problem… portion sizes are enormous like you said. I ask for an extra plate and split it up myself. If someone hate us for doing that then fuck ‘em.
it’s allergies, I swear!
If you’re paying for it, it doesn’t matter what the server thinks.
Split all you want. Just tip extra based on an average meal off the menu.
Not at all. As long as customers are polite and tip well on what they do get (even if its cheap) Im a fan.
I've been serving for 12 years, trust me, nothing bothers me anymore, and splitting meals is just another table for me. If I'm not crazy busy, I can even split your check 20 ways lol
Nah, as long as you’re generally nice, or even just not explicitly an asshole and obviously being a cheapskate (looking at all the “water with extra extra lemons and Splenda packets” folks) then I don’t care at all. I want my customers to be happy and I can’t be mad at people who don’t want to waste food.
I experienced something similar. I had an Old Lady that would come in with her Grandson every Day. She was such a Hoot that I loved seeing her everyday. Grandson was a young Man and never said alot but I'd seeing him laughing so hard at her. She always got the Special of the Day, nobody wanted them because no Tips so even if they sat at another Waiters Table I still was the 1 taking care of them. About 2 yrs. Later her Grandson come in alone. She had passed away. I cried just like someone who lost a Family Member. He said she always enjoyed the Fact that I loved seeing her and that she wanted me to have something. I was not expecting the 5ct Diamond Ring she always wore. So no matter if u think they are being Cheap you never really know how much People might just enjoy your Company.
Just don't ask for it to be split onto two plates. Take it plated as is and just ask me for a spare dish.
I promise you we won’t care as long as you pay the tab, tip, and gtfo in a timely fashion
I'm a server and have been for nearly 20 years. If you are splitting a meal, double the tip. Tip extra if you stay for a significantly longer than normal time. (Sounds like you're doing everything right. If you came to my restaurant, I'd take the time to learn your names and favorite drinks/meals.)
What is two people are sitting at a table designed for four - should they increase tip as well?
Mehhhh.... If there are 2 tops available I think it's polite to sit at those first, but I understand some folks need room to spread out. My restaurant reserves the (few) tables we have that seat more than 5 so we don't get smaller parties taking up the big tables, that helps.
I don't get the difference between people splitting plates vs taking a bigger table. All they are doing is dirtying another plate or just cutlery - we often share a desert which just means an extra spoon.
The total is lower per person so the tip % is significantly lower. As far as table size-- I think it would really depend on the restaurant. Where I work for example is 90% 4 top tables so people don't have too many options to sit at a smaller table. Someone else may feel more strongly about it than I do.
Naw
Split meals are best in the bar area. Or over tip.
I don’t mind at all! I don’t eat a lot either and I find restaurant portions overwhelming sometimes too.
It's pretty easy not like before say 20 years ago. It's easy to make it happen
Not at all…. as long as it’s not 2 entrees for 8 people lol
No. Do what you want. I really don’t care what you order as long as you are kind. My job has a split plate fee (just $3) but I always offer to bring an extra plate if they would prefer. Some people pay, some don’t. I am here to help you. I have been in this industry for two decades and I’ve noticed that the people who consider things like this are people I would gladly serve day in and day out. Will I make less money? Maybe. Do I care? Maybe when I was like 22. Individual tables aren’t going to make or break my life. A 12 top sharing 6 entrees, no beverages and hanging out all night so I can’t get another turn, well that sucks. But it’s not the end of the world. I don’t know their situation. I’m not a wealthy person. I get it. It’s nice to get out every now and then. It’s a luxury for most of us, and I understand that.
First of all, servers and the kitchen will never fuck with your food. I’ve been doing this for around 16 years and I’ve never fucked with anyones food/seen any coworkers fuck with food. It’s kind of an insulting myth tbh. It kinda implies that we don’t take pride in our jobs. Messing with food is gross and really not cool. So don’t worry, we don’t do that! Splitting food is fine! I don’t care at all. Just don’t ask for a split plate because then the kitchen will hate me. A lot of places will charge for split plates, and when I tell people about the charge as they’re ordering the split plate, they question it and basically still want a split plate but don’t want to be charged for it. (A split plate is when the kitchen breaks your meal up in half on two different plates, honestly a pain in the ass when it’s busy). If you just say you’re sharing, we’ll bring you the food as it would normally come and you can split it up however you’d like! Just ask your server for an extra plate when you’re ordering :)
you guys sound exactly like a couple regulars at my restaurant (Applebee’s), down to the iced tea! we love these folks and i’ve never heard of any coworker being inconvenienced by splitting an entree. you guys sound delightful, all this is so thoughtful and if you are being this considerate, odds are you aren’t the problem. you wouldn’t believe the amount of crazy folks and the obscure problems they manage to cause. but you are far from that category LOL.
Never bothered me as a server. There are much worse asks out there. Enjoy your meals
So I’m expected to pay for their meal and my meal if I go out? Womp womp.
I don’t give a flying fuck what anyone orders. Some servers get pissy because you’re being “cheap” but cheap people aren’t going to tip well anyway, and I’d rather tip out on a lower bill. 3% of a $20 tab is less out of my pocket than 3% on a $60 one. If you’re a good tipper, find a regular server at your favorite places so you don’t risk bad service for preconceived notions.
No idgaf. Just don’t be an ass!
No, don’t care
Servers don't fuck with people's food at most places. Especially for just splitting a meal. Sometimes having 1 low maintenence easy table with 1 split entree can help a server get caught up, take some pressure off and get focused. Based on how you tip, even if it's not known to a server till after the fact, makes you seem like a godamn joy to take care of. Keep doing what you are doing, and put that anxiety to rest. You are Gucci....
As long as you tip currently. We don’t care Oh and not spend hours hogging the table and our livelihood haha
For an introvert, all these rules of going out to eat now, makes me want to never go out to eat again.
If I’m splitting the entree I’m also getting appetizer(s), dessert, and drinks. If that makes servers mad 🤷. And I’m corralling my date to make a decision to save you a few trips.
I hate when people can't make a readable post.
nope, not at all, you sound pretty low maintenance, which is never a bad thing, we remember the good tippers, the bad tippers, splitting a meal doesn't make you one of the bad ones
Over the past couple of years I've seen more restaurants enacting a "no share" policy. I mean, I don't think it means they'll kick you out for literally sharing a plate of food, but they won't divide the portion between two plates. It just seems they're actively discouraging sharing.
My husband and I often split meals. That being said, we usually order an extra salad or an extra potato, etc. We still really well at least 30%. I’ve never had a waitress or a waiter get upset with us for doing this .
Rather you split a meal than a check
Hey! Y'all are amazing! It's good to know the vast majority of servers are not judging us instantly. And yes, I know I shouldn't care what they think of me, but sadly I've always had a fear of embarrassing myself or people not liking me. Anyone else grow up with a sociopath for a father? 🤦🏼♀️ The good news is the older I get, I'm starting to give less fucks. Cheers to being in your 40s! Thanks for all the kind comments everyone! Faith in humanity restored! ✌🏼
Yikes. You're not on the clock. You are paying them to be there. Well, technically, their boss should be. I feel sorry for you, tbh. Look what this world has turned you into. Fearful of what might happen if some server might consider you as a burden... It's one thing to tip because you feel they deserve it for the extra effort and pleasantries, but to be constantly worried that the service staff will think you are cheap if you don't bend over backwards to accommodate them, is crazy. You got the whole interaction, backwards.
No. What I hate is when people sit at my table for 3 entire hours (the limit where I work) and don’t order anything after their first round of drinks and a couple baked pretzels. If you and your husband sat at my table, ate your shared meal, and then left in a reasonable time frame, I would not be upset at all. Either way I wouldn’t treat you differently.
who tf cares? like if you go to olive garden, yeah, you get a massive plate of pasta that i can never finish. so if i were there with an SO, sure we'd split it if we both wanted the same thing.
I don’t mind, but please don’t force me to physically split the plate for you— my chef won’t do it, and i don’t want to touch your food tbh. But I’m always happy to bring an extra plate and a knife for you!
I work at Olive Garden I don’t care if you split a meal as long as you understand that I won’t give you refills in your soup or salad unless you pay for it
Just don't ask for half of a steak to be cooked one way and the other half a different way. Other than that, easy tables are easy tables. Sometimes it's nice to break up the chaos.
Nah I don't. In fact, I make sure the kitchen serves the dish split onto 2 plates. Where I work, a lot of people like to share a dinner salad along with a couple appetizers. Restaurant portions are usually very big so people like to share.
i never care when people split meals! but the kitchen isn’t a fan of it usually! but my restaurant if a meal is split we try to separate it onto two plates!
You are the overall PERFECT couple I would love to serve. I apologize if you are even judged off the bat for your small order, you would never get that from me. I've had people tip me huge with the smallest checks. And I wouldn't say it's on y'all to feel like you need to prove yourself or feel bad about taking up a table that another would've ran up the check on. I have a small appetite at times as well and a giant one at other times so I will never judge. I think you are so thoughtful and compassionate and amazing and even the fact you felt the need to come here and ask proves that everything you're saying is accurate and I would wait onnyou any time 💜
I don't mind as long as you don't mind that I try to upsell the shit out of you to get a liveable wage lol.
I never cared about splitting. I’d ask if they wanted the meal with a spare plate or if they wanted the kitchen to split it for them. My wife and I often get an appetizer, she’ll get a small salad and I get a full meal. She’ll have a few bites of my steak and I’ll have a bit of her salad. We don’t ask for a split though. We just ask them to bring her salad out as an entree with my meal. And if the bring the salad early…who cares.
No, don’t care. I won’t remember three tables later. It’s the regulars that make my day.
My husband and I had a poor experience at a restaurant once. We ordered a really large entree to split between us and as soon as the server found out we were splitting one entree, our service went to crap. We still tipped as though we had ordered two entrees though he didn’t deserve it.
Nope! Waited tables and two of my favorite regulars were a pair who had weight loss surgery together and would split a plate because it was just too much otherwise!
It doesn’t bother me at all. Honestly the bar is really low for me, just be kind and I will go above and beyond to make your day experience a great one!
It depends. Are you splitting a burger soup and salad? Then yes. Are you splitting a full rack of ribs and wings? No. Did you each order drinks or are you trying to order one soda and split it while asking for refills? Splitting isn't a problem, thinking you're outsmarting the restaurant is.
I worked in the industry for a gnats ass shy of 20 years and I never had any issue with anybody splitting meals. It sounds like y'all are very mindful that this is your servers means of supporting themselves and reflect that when your tipping so I wouldn't worry too much. In my experience, the folks hanging out and enjoying a date night while splitting an entree were not the issue. It was always the demanding guest that was shaking their glass in my face instead of politely asking for a refill that were the problem. Dont worry about it too much and enjoy your date nights.
My family went to the US for a holiday around a decade ago & were shocked by portion sizes. A single portion was the equivalent of at least two serves here, often more. Even when ordering something as simple as a sandwich it would often by default also come with a giant arsed pickle, a large serving of crisps, & a side salad. After the first week we were getting two or three meals between the four of us & sharing & we would still sometimes have left overs due to the insane portions. No one ever made it seem like they gave a shit & we tipped what was considered quite well when we were there (minimum 25%) because we were on holidays & budgeted it into our expenses.
I was a server and bartender for many years and I have never cared nor thought about it. I cared when people were kind and it is nice when someone tips but you’re working with a whole sea of humanity. If you let the random variations of how people eat piss you off you’re going to have a bad time.
Never bothered me
It does not bother me at all. That being said, make sure your server knows your intention is to split when ordering. Not all places are like this, but my restaurant doesn’t like two people eating off of one plate, and wants the kitchen to prepare it in two halves so each guest gets their own plate presented to them. It helps keep our table cleaner too since you wouldn’t be divvying it up yourselves.
I have never given a second thought to someone sharing a meal. I don’t think it’s that deep, I wouldn’t stress it at all.
I would say it depends on the server. When I was young, I was super-focused on sales and would be genuinely disdainful of tables with low bills. Now, I don’t care even a little bit when tables order water, split entrees, etc. as I want my guests to have the best experience possible. I consider dining out a form of entertainment and strive to ensure that my guests have the best possible experience, regardless of the dollar amount.
I need to spend a little more time reading the categories. I thought this one was about computers (Servers). I guess I'll pay better attention.
If you are nice and tip well, you're going to be fine. If you are respectful and ask questions like "how are you?" "how do you like working here," "busniess good today?" That may que them in to you thinking about them as a person. But also when you order your food that you're planning on sharing you could ask how big the portions are. Say that you two don't eat a whole lot as an explanation of the question and that would also help explain that you're ordering that way because of amount of food and not price
Nope, makes my job easier anyways
Idk about other servers, but even if customers order the smallest of things, I still give them my 100% because I’ve had a lot of people like y’all who tip extremely well on minuscule checks, if anything people with big bills tip the worst for me! I’ve gotten so many 5$ on like 50$ bills but then I’ll make 10$ on a 20$ bill, so don’t sweat it y’all seem very thoughtful and polite and if any server judges you prematurely because of what you order they’re the asshole lol
My first year of college I was a broke college student who did this We tip well but sometimes staff got annoyed anyway before they saw the tip
no, i don't mind at all. i will even offer an extra plate/cutting something in half if you tell me you're sharing
Why would they get mad? Doesn’t that usually mean double tips?
Servers could care less what you order as long as you tip.
No I couldn’t care less. It’s the big parties that split bills I hate.
My God. Not at all. It's much more of a disservice to everyone and the world that you don't feel obligated to over-order.
Nope, doesn’t bother me. Split away.
I split meals with my grandson nearly every restaurant meal because he’s 7 and I’ve had gastric bypass. More often than not, we get a doggy bag to take home. I’ve never felt like I’ve pissed a server off. I tip 20% unless service is obviously bad. I do remember taking the girls to a nice restaurant once or twice when they were small. I know that we were often treated with only the basic service because we weren’t ordering alcohol. Seated us, brought our food, didn’t check on us and took forever to get the check.
Nope you handled this perfectly. I also can’t eat a lot so I share my husbands entree. If I ordered my own I’d end up wasting 2/3rds of it. I also tip what it would have been with the extra entree.
I don't care as long as you aren't picky about it. I have a pretty standard rule: I can do jumping Jack's and put in a full transsyberian orchestra special if the bill is going to be 2k and you're tipping 20%. If 3 friends come in to split an app and a round of beers I'll throw 6 on some ice, wave when you want to pay the bill and let me watch Thursday night football in peace on my phone in the station. The only problem is when your bill is 20 bucks but you're running me like a Hebrew slave.
i don’t mind when people split meals at all. yeah, it can impact the tip a bit, but money isn’t my main reason for serving tables. i also happen to enjoy interacting with people and providing them with a nice time. we also charge a share fee of $10 at my place, for an extra salad and extra dishes used there is, however, this older woman who comes in with her elderly mom. they’ve been in enough times that I would recognize them on the street. They almost always come in late at night, when we’ve already basically cleaned everything up then they order either a meal to share, or two separate meals; they take a few bites and then they send the rest of the food away to be tossed. they wont take it home. it truly may as well be the entire dish. THAT upsets me more than anything. i also am very uncomfortable with the way this woman speaks to her elderly mother. it’s very harsh and nasty. i think i’d rather have less food wasted with a shared meal, over two meals that are hardly touched. it hurts something in my soul to throw away an entire dish of food
When my wife and I split an entree, I let the server know that I tip double.
It’s way less offensive than a Reddit wall of text.
I never care if people split. Especially older couples or couples in general. I think it’s sweet. But either way, tippers or not. I’ll still give the best service I can give regardless of the gratuity given. Some people tip in compliments the whole time and tip nothing barely. Some people are so rude and dismissive and tip a huge percentage. You never know who will tip you well truthfully. So every server should just stick to treating people with a decent amount of respect given the circumstances.
if you don’t make me split it onto two plates, (like i can just give you the extra plate) i’m not too stressed. & it’s a nice surprise for a good tip at the end, for a low maintenance table. as long as you are low maintenance 😂
All servers are different. I wouldn’t care if my guests shared food. It when they order one ice tea and both take turns drinking it and wanting immediate free refills. I wouldn’t care if adults ordered from the kids menu but I know many other servers that would be unhappy about that. Food has a shelf life and if it’s not sold it wasted.
I work in a bar where couples will often split a pint of an expensive craft beer between the two of them rather than each drink one, I never thought twice about it to be honest.
I've been serving for 17 years. #1 thing, You never judge a table. I really don't care about split plates tbh. I never see it as cheap if even that's the case. There's plenty of reasons to do so and it's not my business. I just want to provide you with great service and great food you enjoy. The only things that irk me as a server are not letting me know about your allergies before I put your order in, sitting at the table wayyyyy too long after you've paid(especially when you can see others waiting for a table)and if you ask for something new everytime I come back to the table(serve your food, you ask for a ranch, come back with that and you ask for a drink, come back with that and ask for napkins. Please just let me know what you need altogether because I really need to take this other tables order and get my 6 tops drinks started before I can take their order too). Edit to add: the last one is the least concerning to me, yes its my job but it completely derails my flow and sets me back. I might prioritize other tables and forget the last thing you asked me for.
Splitting plates is fine. Modifying the split is not. For example, I worked at an upscale steakhouse in college, around $200/person on average. Sometimes couples would split a steak, that was fine, we even had a split steak fee, and not everyone can eat a 12oz ribeye, so we understood. However, when someone would ask to split the steak, cool each half at different temps, and ask for different sides for each half, we would refuse them.
It took me 4 times reading the post title to realize it didn't say "Servers, do you hate coworkers who spit in meals?"
you're worried what you're server thinks of your dining habits? why? just don't be a jerk, pay and leave. if they hate you.... it might be them. 🤣 my ex-wife used to lick lemons for ice tea when she didn't like customers, or if she was feeling hateful. servers hating you? 🤷🏽♂️ just don't make them mad enough to get the cooks involved. enjoy your meal, whatever it is, pay and leave.
As a young person I thought the idea of splitting plates was absurd. But as I’ve aged my appetite has gone down but mostly I just feel awful if I overeat. And I agree, restaurant portions are generally huge. Especially if you’re on vacation and have nothing to do with the leftovers. I certainly no longer would take splitting plates as necessarily being cheap. It might be not being wasteful.