There's an essential unfairness in the fact that chefs will make their night's wage regardless of how good and how timely the food is, and that waiters' tips will often depend on how good and how timely the food is. Gentle Diner, remember this and try to distinguish between what the server did well or poorly, and what was beyond his or her control. Chintzy, chintzy, chintzy . Gloria Steinem, forgive me. And that's if they've had the good grace not to ask for separate checks.
Separate checks are a ridiculous annoyance when a busy waitperson is trying to juggle a full room.
Or round out the bill and split it, easily and evenly. Busy, busy, busy . If you're tight for time, tell the waiter. The kitchen will be jamming, and an order that might take ten minutes on a slow day will take longer on a busy one. This is especially true during lunch when it sometimes seems that all the world wants to eat at the same time.