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Did anyone see Sunday night's Curb Your Enthusiasm episode? Sorry to bring up only a tangentially-related issue, but Jason Alexander and Larry David went to lunch and got into a big dispute about tipping when they split the bill, it was hilarious.

Anyway why do you have to be discreet about leaving a bigger tip? Or a smaller tip? Leave what you think is deserved, and to each his own. How often is this a problem anyway when most people pay by credit/debit card now? Write your tip on your half of the bill, fold it up, and put it in the leather folder, case closed.

I eat regularly at an authentic Mexican taco restaurant in Oklahoma City and I take friends there all the time for business lunches. I make it clear right up front when we get up to pay, "I eat here a lot so make sure you tip." I think the best way to go is to be up front with people

I don't think I would do anything, even if I felt bad. If you eat there all the time, which is why you leave great tips (probably the best reason to do such a thing)--you'll be back and can make up for it and they will understand, you are a good customer.

For any other reason, unless it was so egregious that you would confront your companion anyway, just don't worry about it.

I have no need to be discrete if I feel the need to leave a bigger tip. If anyone ever asked though, the honest answer is that I tip well because I used to wait tables, and it's hard work. I had a roommate who refused to tip because she didn't believe in it (stupid AND rude), and the one time we were out at a restaurant with a bunch of friends and I learned this, the tip itself wasn't an issue because the rest of us rounded up with our cash so the server wasn't getting stiffed because of the moron at the table.

Luckily, I don't know anyone anymore who doesn't tip at least 15% (if not more). My bf tips well, and after I waited tables in college, my parents moved from 15% to 20% as their standard.

I hate tipping...i feel like people only tip b/c they were servers at some point in thier lives. I say the restaurant needs to pay them more, not me.

Because of the reality of the situation I do tip these days. I only tip 10% though...no charity cases over here. Anyway, obviously I will not be slipping any extra money to the waiter. And in all truthfulness if they have a problem with not making whatever amount they expected that day, they should go get a job that pays by the hour where you know what you will be paid. No guarantees waiting those tables bud.

A Buddy should be throat punched.

i've done it. i used to always have dinner with my friend's parents, who adopted me as a second daughter. his dad was a great guy but tipped like it was 1964. i would just discreetly go find the waiter on my way to the ladies' after dinner and palm him a ten.

When I'm splitting a check with the other diners, I tip what I want to tip and if I think someone might be shorting the server, I might kick in another little bit.

Many years ago I was at a business dinner hosted by someone visiting from out of town. I happened to look over and see her signing the check and she tipped something egregiously low - like 5% or less. I bit my tongue but the next day I mentioned it to some co-workers who were also appalled. So we took up a collection and dropped off some money for the waitress with an apology. First of all, it was the right thing to do and the place was less than a mile from the office so it was likely we'd go there again.

My last boss, the Evil Troll, would get cranky and undertip for the most ridiculous - and mostly imaginary - slights. I got in the habit of slipping a few dollars under a plate or a glass as we got up from the table. It was bad enough having to be seen with him, I didn't want people to think I condoned his idiocy.

I have a brother-in-law who doesn't tip on alcohol which, when we're out with him, usually constitutes a hefty portion of the bill. I slip some extra $$ under the plate then, too.

Do nothing. If you agreed your companion pays the tip, let him/her do so. It's not your battle, seek help for your control issues. You know you will tip well the next time you are there, and you will also learn to pick up the tip next time while dining with your cheapskate friends.

Oh dear, the whole tipping thing is such a pain.

I think you should tip the standard.

However I understand that after a certain time or over a certain amount of people, some places automatically add in gratuity. This is usually not a problem either except for the following instance.

My girlfriend had a birthday dinner at a restaurant and there were six of us. We knew the gratuity was going to be included but we would've still left something anyway HAD the server not been such a deadbeat. It took us forever to get drinks (and not just alcohol, but plain water!), the food was over an hour wait, and then she disappeared after it was served. No refills, no coming back to see if everything was alright! We fumed the entire time and asked to speak to management. (She only returned to the table after we complained.) We didn't deny the gratuity, but expressed to her manager that she hadn't earned a dime of it and hated paying her. She apologized but it was too late. Our meal was ruined because of her service and I don't care if it's included or not, bad service is a no-no and will easily get you far less or if really bad, NOTHING, at all from what you expected!

Sometimes I do the pre-emptive strike -- like, if we're slow ordering, I'll say (in a jokey tone), "We've kept the server waiting a long time, we need to tip extra well," or something like that.

Among good friends, if we're splitting the bill, we usually calculate 20% off the total and all chip in. If it's just acquaintances, everyone leaves what they think is right; sometimes I'll leave more to make up for any low tips on the other side.

When we go out with my notoriously high-maintenance and low-tipping mother, I always snag the leather folder after she's done signing the credit card, and I slip extra cash inside. I figure, if she won't let us pay for our meal, my addition to her idea of a tip is just our contribution towards the cost of dinner.

@climbinghighak, you've just given @countchocula a non pg-13 rated name. LOL

Arrgh, this is one of my biggest pet peeves. I do make up others' short tips by slipping extra money under a plate or some other way, but believe me, I resent it. I used to go out quite a bit with a good friend when we were still in school. I enjoyed spending time with her, until the check would come. She always managed to avoid the check by being extra engrossed in conversation, going to the bathroom, etc. If directly confronted with her share of the bill, she would pay the bare minimum tip, which someone else would make up. She was a great person, but exceedingly cheap. It's been years and I still resent the fact that she always managed to get someone to cover for her. This is another issue, but she also managed to get fabulous dinners out quite a bit during dates. Essentially, I think people who don't leave a fair tip (taking into consideration egregiously bad service, etc) are cheap and taking advantage of their friends by either expecting them to make up the difference or stiffing the server. If you can't afford the tip, order something cheaper or another option.

Also, another concept that I cannot wrap my head around is picking-and-choosing what you do and do not "tip on" from the check. It's tallied up at the end with taxes added on. My tips are based on the last number on the check, which includes alcohol, parts of the meal served slower than others, "that one entree that tasted not as great as I was hoping" and tax. I'm no Rockefeller, but fair is fair.

@LiveToEat - many people never master the simple method of math for tipping. In college, I was out with some friends who were engineering students who whipped out their cell phones to calculate the tip! I actually made fun of them (as an English major who hasn't taken a real math class since 11th grade), and walked them through your method. easypeasy.

I just say in an offhand way, "Oh, let me put some in," add the cash, close the bill folder, and start talking about something else. If you don't say it judgmentally, no one will even realize that you are "correcting" them.

Some years ago I was a director at an athletic club. About every six week I would put a sign up sheet for a dinner out with club members. I'd make reservations and we would usually have 12-15 diners. We always had a good time during dinner. There would be drinks, apps, and entres and when it came time to pay there would be a lot of haranguing about who got what and how much they owed. Some times there wasn't even a 10% tip. The wait staff had done a lot of work on our part and deserved 20%. I would ask for more and I might get closer to 12%. Sometimes I would just give in and make up the difference.

I got tired of that after awhile and when the stingy ones asked why I discontinued the dinner I told them that I didn't get paid enough to pay their way through dinner and they were welcomed to go without me.

I can recall only once tipping less that 20% and that was for incredibly poor service.

I worked at a place where one of my regulars was always eating with various friends whose tips he felt were inadequate. He did a number of things to redress this. The return inside to use the bathroom was always a classic, but then sometimes he'd say that he needed another quick drink of water or a sample from the pastry counter, or, my favorite, because he was a regular, he'd just tell his dining companion that he'd be right back because he needed to say a proper goodbye to me.

I've only had one friend with home this was actually an issue, and we're not friends anymore, because, not surprisingly, the bad-tipper-friend has a lot of other selfish and self-entitled issues that made him not pleasant to be around. @A-buddy: is that you, my old ex-buddy?

if you don't anticipate your dinner companion cheaping out, walk out the door and then immediately say 'i think i forgot cell/wallet/something' and go back in to make up the tip.

if you know you are going to eat with someone cheap, drink all the water or something, say you are gonna go to the washroom and find the waiter instead...tell him/her your friend is notoriously cheap but you don't want bring it up at the dinner table, here's part of your tip beforehand.
alternate solution: just let the other person think you are a ridiculously generous tipper.

and also, don't get mad at cheap friends, they are who they are. don't invite them out to eat if it bothers you so much. i just consider it part of the cost of the meal....