faux pas after the foie gras?

Last night we attended a surprise birthday party at a swanky restaurant for a very dear friend. It was one of those birthdays that “ends in zero” so a very fun reason to celebrate…and surprised she was! Her husband said he nearly told her earlier in the week because she seemed depressed that her birthday was going to be low-key and she wanted a party. He was on the fence between spilling the beans to lift her spirits and congratulating himself on pulling it off. Ultimately, he kept mum and her reaction is what every surprise-party-thrower wants. The night was lovely, the guest of honor was happy and she had tears of joy from time to time throughout the night.

It was understood that each couple was paying their own dinner. We were to tell the waiter what orders belonged on each check. So after the cake was finished, we figured we should get the bill and get home to relieve the babysitter so Donnie asked the waiter for our check.

We followed up a couple of times but it was fifty minutes (yes, ten minutes shy of an hour!) from the initial request until we received our check. There was no “I’m sorry for the delay—we’re working on it” or anything just a disappearing trick by our waiter. When the checks were finally delivered put on a nearby table for the attendees to sort through on their own--some were duplicates, others were incorrect and at least one (ours) was nowhere to be found.


When we were finally able to get a check by repeating our order to the waiter, he said, "you don't know what it's like to be in my position." But I do. I've been a waitress before at a few different restaurants and I know it's a hard job, which is why I generally tip well (although this wasn't an issue last night--18% was automatically added on because we were part of a large group). I know that separate checks can be time consuming and annoying (but it wasn't a surprise and each couple pointed out what should be on their individual check when ordering). I know that technology can be a help and a hindrance in these situations (the waiter seemed to be having a hard time entering separate orders into the computer).

It was a fun night with a very happy birthday girl and good food...yet I feel like I left with a bad taste in my mouth.