When I ask for the bill / check
 

[Note: I am specifically excluding restaurants in the US, where the service is almost universally quick and efficient]

When I ask for the bill / check...

... it means I'm ready to pay and leave. I'm finished. I'm not ordering anything else. I want to go. And once I do pay and leave, the restaurant can get another diner seated at my table.

All things considered, it seems like a good idea to present the bill / check (I'm going to use "bill" from now on), take the payment and get me on my way.

Over the last couple of years I have noticed that I am often kept waiting once I ask for the bill and when I do get it, I am kept waiting again for someone to accept payment. This seems counterproductive. And I find it frustrating.

Yesterday, just to see how long it would take, I waited 20 minutes after I received the bill before I actually got up and asked if someone would take my payment as my saint-like patience had run out. (Yes, it was a pay-the-waiter/waitress place)

At one restaurant that I frequent (because the food is the best in the locality), I have taken to asking for the bill as soon as my meal arrives. This way, I have a fighting chance of being able to leave at a time of my choosing.

Wait staff seem to avoid passing near the table and go to seemingly comical lengths to avoid eye contact.

It doesn't seem to matter if the restaurant is busy or quiet, or if I am in a window seat making the place look busy, or in an out of the way corner and I always make it obvious that I am ready to pay - with credit card on the table / dish / poking out of the bill holder.

This happens so often, I wonder if it is becoming a trend? Or maybe it's just me?

What I'd like: When I ask for the bill, that it is presented within a few minutes of being asked and that payment is taken a minute or two later. Is that too much to ask?

<insert snotty comment about the value of making people work for tips>

:)

If you don't want to wait, you should not ask for your bill from the "wait" staff!
:p

I understand your frustration and have experienced intolerable waits in European restaurants much more so than in the US. However, it does occur here in the US as well.

In my mind, the ideal situation is for the server to come to the table regularly and after dessert has been served or declined, ask if there would be anything else or would I like the check now. After the check has been presented, I am as obvious as possible when I am ready to pay. I usually stand the portfolio (I'm stuggling for the right word to describe the thing the bill comes in) on end with the credit card sticking up out of the top.

The opposite side of the coin is being rushed. This is equally frustrating. Do not ask the table about dessert as long as one diner is still obviously working on the entree. Do not bring the entrees while one or more diners are working on a salad. Don't put the check on the table without asking about dessert or another round of drinks. Etc.

I like what I experience in Chile and Argentina, which is typically that the bill comes when you ask, it doesn't come before you ask, and when you ask for it, you are expected to pay and leave right away. It might be hard to get someone's attention to get the bill, but if you're talking and otherwise enjoying, it would be rude to bring a bill in an attempt to rush a patron. Also, CC transactions are done in full at once, i.e., the service charge is placed in the CC machine at the table during the transaction, so there is no waiting for a returned card and a tip space.

Ha, good one!

When I ask for the bill / check
 

Agree that this seems to be a (North??) European problem.

Never experienced in East Asia/ASEAN.

I loved the system they had when I last visited Bavaria.

Each waitstaff has a little personal machine (bit bigger than iPhone sized)

You said you were ready, they showed you the total on the machine, you entered tip (a little in Germany, 5 odd % for decent service) and paid then and there (also meant you could use tap to pay)..

There's also the United States of Mexico. I'm going to assume you meant that...

I first saw Wagamama (a British pan-East Asian restaurant chain) use those in 2001. Quite surprised then. Since then, it has been at random restaurants in East Asia too.

What's the problem? If you want the bill and no one has brought it to you unass your comfy chair and go and get it.

If you have the bill and no one has come around to take your payment unass your comfy chair and go an pay it.

Do not accept, "I will be there in just a minute." Stand there until you get what you want. Any decisions regarding gratuity should reflect your inconvenience.

Restaurants want customers out of there as soon as possible to make room for the next one. Sitting at a table for 20 minutes, taking up space while not ordering is just bad for business. I blame restaurant managers more than waiters for this.

Several restaurants where I live here in flyover country USA also use this system.

Yep, this is the best strategy. Tried several times in Scandinavia :p

Get up and walk out the door; they'll be with you faster than they moved all day.;)

+1

I can't imagine sitting there and stewing if you want the bill and need to be somewhere. All you need do is put your jacket on, go stand by the till and say you would like to pay. Problem solved

Having lived in the US my entire life, I don't think of table service as universally quick and efficient here. There are some cities and regions where wait staff tend to be snappy, but there are plenty of other places where slow, disinterested service is the norm. Having visited numerous other countries I've seen the same range of variation with table service in most. Is there a specific country or set of countries where you've found the problem to be especially bad?

I agree with the OP - it's a frustrating issue, especially it seems with Italian restaurants in London. I remember one where I had to ask five times and it took over an hour from asking for the bill to getting out of the door.

Having said that, it's better than at so many US restaurants where they hand you the bill while you are still eating, desperate to shoo you out of the restaurant. That really irritates me and deserves a far bigger reduction in the tip.

This - I HATE being given the bill before I ask for it. I often have another drink after my meal, be it a coffee, or another glass of wine. Don't assume that just because I finished my pudding I am finished.

Are the words, "I'll just take this when you're ready," restaurant code for "GTFO, we've got people waiting." ;)

I don't care. It's their problem if I want to order another drink and they'll just have to reprint the bill accordingly.

The more I deal with current restaurant service the more I wish the British pub style of service was more common on this side of the pond.

This is just a cultural difference. Diners in the US expect to have the bill presented so the diner can decide when to pay and leave. The restaurant is not attempting to "push them out the door." Please look at it as a convenience to you, and just the usual practice here. lhrsfo, would you really prefer to wait long periods for a bill rather than have it presented on time or, in your perception, a little early?

On the opposite side of the coin, inexperienced American travelers sometimes become quite annoyed when they are not presented the bill in places like Latin America where the norm is for the diner to request it first, "La cuenta, por favor!" I've had to explain this to a number of people.

That is the problem with the assumption. It assumes I have finished, and on more than one occasion when I have said that I would like to order something else, I have been told 'we've closed the bill, I will have to start another one' as if it is somehow my fault. I mind far less if the waitress says "Would you like anything else, or may I get you the bill' as it gives me the choice (my preference is still that I will ask for it when I am ready, however).

I also find that 'whenever you are ready' means they will return in about a nano second with a credit card machine in hand, rather than actually being when I am ready.

Although by no means is that my biggest 'bill being brought' peeve - that is reserved for when 'Kelli' comes and tells me her shift is finished so would I please settle my bill (ignoring the fact I am still eating my meal, no where near finished). She smiles and says 'oh well just settle up to where you are and 'Staci' will open a new one for anything else'. No. Stuff off. It is not MY issue that your shift is finishing. Restaurants should ban their staff from such tip-grab behavior, and maybe have an internal policy that if two waitresses share a table like that they split the tip the following shift or something. I'm not trying to stiff anyone on their tip, but approaching me as my fork is entering my mouth to pay is just damn rude.

In China, we say "mai dan" or "check please" in a loud voice and stand up after we are finished our meal.

It solves this problem.

I have been given the check with a comment like, "I've prepared the check, but if you'd like something else, no problem". I can't recall being told the check was closed. How do they fit in the tip, if it's "closed"? That sounds like someone trying to get rid of the last few diners and go home early.

I have experienced the premature "end of shift" check presentation and I don't like it any more than you do. It may be an indication of 1) untrustworthy co-workers and 2) living hand to mouth on a server's income. I think it would be discouraged by more restaurant managers if they were aware of it, which I assume they aren't. BamaVol Jr #3 manages in a restaurant - I will have to ask what their policy is.

The term you want is "cover".

Assuming more than ten tables, restaurants can get a quick measure of profit per nights by the number of covers they generate. The amounts tend to average very closely over time, so the cover count is surprisingly accurate for measuring sales total.

Usually, you can just walk to the bar and pay if you are annoyed with waiting time. Sure, it's less elegant, but so is a waiter, who makes you wait so long.

No, they say "we'd like to offer you a nightcap or coffee in our bar."

I wonder how much of the variation can be explained by restaurant policies regarding the booking and timing of reservations. In good French restaurants, the tradition is that you "own" the table for the evening; they don't do two dinner sittings. Elsewhere, there may be early and late or staggered reservation times even in very expensive restaurants, so that there's pressure to turn tables on time.

I've been told that in Germany, if you ask to pay three times but nothing happens, you're entitled to leave without paying. Usually standing, putting coats on, and starting to move toward the door will bring the waiter/waitress running with the bill.

I too downgrade the tip when the waiter/waitress or bus person removes dinner plates while someone is still eating the main course or presents the dessert menu prematurely. I've checked with professionals who evaluate top restaurants and the rule is supposed to be that all dishes from a course are cleared at the same time from a table. [At a banquet or large function, this would be partly based on when the key person finished eating, sort of like the etiquette of not leaving before royalty or the President.]

Solution to the bill dilemma
 

As mentioned here prior, there is often an issue with the bill. After you have been presented with the tab, there is that wait until someone comes to collect your credit card or cash.

I realized tonight that many restaurants place a bottle of water on your table. That way you can refill it at your leisure, decide how empty it has to be before you get another refill, etc.

Shouldn't there be an easier way for the bill? I know in some Korean restaurants there is a button you can press to get the waiter's attention.

Almost everywhere in Japan too. Best. Idea. Ever. If you are in control of the button. Everyone is different. Personally there is nothing I dislike more regarding eating in restaurants, than spending a lot of time doing so. 1.5 hrs. MAX if it's something special with my wife, otherwise 45 minutes and I'm ready to leave. Countless miserable nights in Korea and Japan in 3-5 hour group dinner settings to the point where I broke all local social rules and opted out most of the time. Bars are for socializing, not dinner tables. [/rant]

I wouldn't recommend trying that. I lived there quite a long time and never once heard that one

And do they react to the bell the same way a flight attendant does (ignore or scowl)?

No, it usually works very good.

Some restaurants also have standard buttons for what you want to order more of, so you'll have buttons for:
- Waiter
- Soju
- Beer

Awesome.

I would like to purchase a "more beer" button for personal use, please.

Not true in huge swaths of Europe where I think they'd let you sit there until they close up for the evening.

When we dine in Europeans with locals they seem to be able to get the check through some secret signal that we haven't figured out.

The most amazing thing to us are the places where once they've served your last course its like you no longer exist - impossible to even make eye contact to let them know you need something. One could scream, I guess. Waving one's arms around won't work since you "don't exist".

Budlight delivery app.
http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/15/b...-delivery-app/

He said "beer".

Well, maybe the offerings will expand over time to include something I might drink. Wouldn't it be great to have it delivered to your table in a restaurant so you could explain to the server that he had allowed your glass to sit empty for too long and you got tired of looking for him.

Seriously, one of my pet peeves is having to stop another server and say "if you see my server anywhere, could you have him/her stop by my table when he/she is finished with his/ her 30 minute long smoke break".

My favourite are the izakaya-style places with touchscreen menus. Push a few buttons and more booze and fried chicken are delivered a minute or two later. Another button to request the bill. ^