Dining Out Drama and Dilemmas

Dining out with others can sometimes be a challenge.  Recently I was engaged in a conversation with a group of people who had experienced some of the issues that can arise when dining out with others.  Perhaps you are dining out with close friends, family, acquaintances, or some sort of social group where people don’t know each other well if at all.  Then the bill comes.

What do you do when the bill comes?  You can decide to ask for separate checks, try to figure out who owes what and keep a mental tally in your head, or split the bill. Option one of asking for separate checks would make things fair and square.  However, it can also be viewed as an annoying thing to do to the server who is slammed on a Friday or Saturday night.  In my personal opinion I am not a fan.  Option two I think is a pain in the donkey and knit picky. Excuse me but you owe an extra $2.19 for the coffee you had after your dinner.  Don’t forget we owe Hank an extra $1.06 back in change. Does anyone have change for a twenty-dollar bill in all ones?  No thanks, not worth the hassle.  Option three is to just split the bill among the group of people you are with. Will it be exactly fair?  No, it probably won’t. However, I truly believe over the course of life it will all even out.  If you give to others at some point someone will give to you.

Maybe you and your hubby drank soda while Biff across the table and his wife Buffy drank top shelf dirty martinis all night.  Then there is Hank who split a bottle of wine with you but ordered the $35.00 stuffed lobster special when you only got a chicken Caesar salad.  Hopefully under these circumstances Hank, Biff, Buffy, or whomever you are with will be good friends and throw in some extra legal tender or offer to pay the tip. Hopefully this is how it goes. However, there is always that situation that you hear about when one couple orders a modest entrée and sips on iced tea. Then the other couple across the table also orders moderate priced entrees but orders an expensive bottle of wine.  Then the bill comes, they think its OK to split down the middle, and don’t offer to throw in some extra bills.  Sure, this is annoying and doesn’t sit well with you.  You complain about it on the way home and vent to your significant other that you never want to go out to eat with this couple again.  Maybe you shouldn’t…..or maybe you should let it go.  It depends.    Maybe the next time you get together with this couple they will invite you over to their house and treat you to a lobster dinner. Charlie is a lobster man after all. Or maybe Charlie hooks you up all summer long with lobsters he catches and never asks for a dime.  Perhaps Charlie is a stingy stooge and never “gives” and asks you to bring your own soft drinks and paper goods to his summer cookout after you served him sizzling filet mignons at your place last weekend.  Maybe then you should reevaluate whom you socialize with.

Regardless of the situation I am in favor of splitting the bill in almost all circumstances.  It is possible you may be out ten dollars or so but in the grand scheme of things who cares? It will all even out at some point.  If the person is a real stooge maybe another friend will invite you out on their boat for the day or will babysit your kids for free when you are in a bind. See what I mean?  In my opinion I say split the bill and if you are worried about being down a few bucks maybe you aren’t in a position to be going out in the first place. If you are with a group of people that don’t know each other such as a dining club kickoff, I can understand why some may want separate checks.  In this case have someone in the group call the restaurant in advance and let them know the group wishes to do separate checks.  Most likely the establishment will be happy to accommodate your needs and it’s a nice gesture to let them know ahead of time.   I say in the majority of circumstances split the bill.  It may not even out at the time but it will even out over the course of life.   Happy dining.

Here is my personal best of list when it comes to Scituate dinning:

Pizza: Riva’s  http://rivarestaurant.net/pizzahome.html

Beers on tap/apps: Dogwatch http://www.innatscituate.com/dogwatch/

Buffalo Chicken Sandwich: Mill Wharf Pub http://millwharf.com/

Burgers: Backyard Burger Bar

Date Night: Oro and Riva- They are both fantastic! http://www.restaurantoro.com/

http://rivarestaurant.net/

Cocktails: Riva Bar http://rivarestaurant.net/

Bakery: Morning Glories http://www.morninggloriesbakery.com/

Take Out: Front Street Gourmet http://www.frontstreetgourmet.com/ordereze/1000/Page.aspx

Ice cream: Nona’s is coming to town! Finally some homemade ice cream coming to Scituate! http://nonashomemade.com/

Kid Friendly (kid info has been provided by  local Scituate mom blogger; Danielle since I am clueless about this sort of stuff) : TK O'Malley's. - The wait staff are always great with kids.  They have loads of choices, coloring sheets, and crayons. A bit further afield: Whalburgers, Salsa's, andCafe tosca in Higham as well as Ayama (hibatchi) in Marshfield depending on what type of food you are looking for.

Time capsule/old school: Perhaps Grandma is coming to town and you want to go someplace nice.  I would suggest PJ’s.  Good food and atmosphere that she will like and will remind her of when her and Grandma used to go out for “date night” back in the day.  A historical establishment that dates back to when the only road to the cape was 3A.  http://pjscountryhouserestaurant.com/

Coffee- Scituate is lacking a good coffee shop.  If someone is itching to open one up please do so.  One of my favorite coffee shops is Daily Brew in Cataumet , Ma https://www.facebook.com/thedailybrew  as well as the Thinking Cup

 in Boston.  Something similar in Scituate would be great!