Italian waitress calls out Aussie bill-splitting habit
An Italian waitress working in Melbourne has called out what she sees as one of the most “shocking” Australian dining habits – the way some groups split the bill.
Alice Burattini, who recently moved from Tuscany to Melbourne, jumped on TikTok to vent about tables who “weirdly” insist on splitting the bill line-by-line based on exactly what each person ordered.
“As an Italian waitress working for an Italian restaurant here in Australia, here’s the thing that shocked me the most...and the reason why we don’t do them in Italy,” she said in a brutally honest video.
“I’m talking about the annoying part of the night where people are like ‘oh, I had three glasses of wine, you had four, so I should pay less.
“Or I ate two chips less than you so I’m going to put $5 less.”
Back home, she explained, the standard is “alla romana”, or ‘Roman way’, where the total is simply divided evenly between everyone at the table.
“You’re having dinner with six people, the amount is the total you just divide it in six,” Alice said.
“The reason why we do this is because, especially if you’re going out with a group of friends that you are usually hanging out with this is not the only time you’re going to have dinner with those people, right?"
Plenty of commenters backed her up, using the rant to slam what they see as a uniquely Aussie approach to money and mateship.
“The pettiness with money here is embarrassing,” one person said.
“Maybe it’s just the ethnic in me, I love taking care of my people, even strangers, money always comes back one way or another,” another person said.
“You need better friends if they’re doing that,” one more person said.
Another person called the habit “very embarrassing indeed!!”, suggesting groups should lean into shared plates to keep things fair and simple.
But a big chunk of diners pushed back, arguing itemised splitting is essential when everyone’s ordering their own mains – and some people are going much bigger than others.
"If the meal is a shared meal, then yes. Split it down the middle. But I'm not going to pay for Joanna's $30 cocktail, John's $50 steak and Jason's $60 lobster," one person said.
"There's always people who have three courses or expensive dishes and expensive drinks. Why should others have to pay for them?" another person said.
"Unfortunately, in Australia, as you've probably seen, a main meal might be $24 and something from the grill might be $58. How is that remotely OK to split between people fairly?" a third disgruntled commentator said.
Others reminded expats that dining culture changes from country to country – and that sometimes, you’ve just got to roll with the local rules.
Jonathan Jackson, 1st December 2025
