Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
You and your significant other invite another couple to go out and eat one night. You all have a couple drinks, order an appetizer, and enjoy a great meal. You're all stuffed and then the bill comes, who pays what? Do you pay it because you invited this couple? Do you just pay your share?
If I make the invitation, I'm buying. That's a given. If I'm invited, I'm expecting my tab is being picked up. I'm prepared to pay if it isn't, but that hasn't happened yet
The way i see it you invite you pay & tip, and what happens you keep your tab down as much as you can while the other party runs it right on up, as you look at the bill in shock , unless you write it off as business expense but that's illegal
I agree; the couple who extends the invitation should pay. On the other hand, if you know them real well, you could say something like, "There's this great new restaurant, but it's pretty expensive" and somehow lead in to asking them to pay their share. Then again, though, I don't invite people out to eat very often, so this situation never comes up for me!
You got to be kidding me here. Or maybe I'm just missing something. How was the invitation worded:
"Would you like to go out to dinner with us?"
At least that's the way I word my invitations.
Quote:
I would think that, ordinarily, a couple going out for dinner would split the bill.
Really? Most of the time when you're inviting another couple out it's understood that you will be paying. At least that's the way I always understand it. I'll pay the bill if I invite someone else out and I expect them to do likewise if they invite me.
I'm with johnycakes. If I said to them, "Hey, it's your anniversary! We'd love to take you out to dinner!" then of course we would pay. But if I said to them, "Let's get together Saturday night! Want to do dinner or something?" and they agreed, I would assume we're splitting the check. By the same token, if friends asked us to go out to eat with them, I would assume we will pay our share.
With close friends, what we seem to have done for the last couple of years is take turns paying. Not sure how it started. They picked up the tab, so next time we picked up the tab, next time they did, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SpeedyAZ
I'll pay the bill if I invite someone else out and I expect them to do likewise if they invite me.
With some of our friends, I am always the one to initiate plans, do the coordinating, etc. If I had to pay for everyone, every time I got the ball rolling with plans, I'd be broke!
I'm with Christina. If I invited them somewhere to celebrate a specific occasion that pertained to them like a birthday or anniversary, I think it would be understood that I expect to pay.
If I simply say "wanna try that Indian restaurant on Franklin Street tonight?" and they say yes, no, I expect them to pay their share and I'll pay mine.
With some friends we take turns sometimes paying for each other, but those are very special friends. I never expect someone else to pay my way, even when I'm invited.
If it's your general run-of-the-mill informal dinner with friends along the lines of "hey, wanna grab a bite to eat?", then I expect for the bill to be split with both of us paying for whatever we ordered. This is how it's always worked out for me and there's never been any misunderstanding, and I would be surprised (and it would be very awkward) if I did so and the other person then expected me to pay for both of our meals. But like others have said, for special occasions (notably birthdays), or other times where it's made clear that I am "taking out" the person, I would expect to pay for the whole thing, and for the reverse to hold true as well, although as others have said, I'm always prepared to pay for myself if that situation arises (which it rarely does).
we are friends with a couple and we meet for breakfast every Sunday. we take turns paying
We also go out for dinner a few times a month with this same couple, these we split the check.
There are times when I will ask for seperate checks, really expensive places where everything is ala carte, I don't eat salads or veggie sides and am not a big drinker(i am usually the DD in our family) these things can add easily a extra $50 to $75 to the check I am not a cheap person I just don't feel I should have to pay for their extras.
Oh yeah If we say "we would like to take you out for dinner" we pick up the tab.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
, unless you write it off as business expense but that's illegal 
