Why does restaurant service always seem to be worse for large groups?

Based on my experience dining in restaurants across the UK, it seems that service is inversely proportional to the number of people at my table.



When 8 or more of us turn up, with or without a reservation, we can say goodbye to good service... we start getting unreasonable demands from the restaurant (pay deposit or everyone has to order two or more courses, no sharing allowed, etc. etc.), restrictions on our enjoyment (need to leave in an hour, doesn't matter if we order more stuff), ugly glares and scowls from waitresses, and just a bad attitude in general - like banging dishes on the table, huffing when we ask for water, and making us go to the counter to pay the bill (which, of course, has service charge included).



Now, whenever I dine alone or with a few friends, I generally experience much more pleasant service: waitresses who make us feel comfortable (or at least let us dine in peace), no unreasonable demands or restrictions, and at the end of it all, graciously giving us a student discount.



I don't know whether it's something to do with my attitude, my friends' attitude, the restaurant staff or restaurant policy? Why do large parties get poor service despite being good for the restaurant's business and having service charge included on the bill? Or is it *because* there is a service charge, so staff do not need to be nice for a tip??



And it's not just me and my friends. Reading online reviews of restaurants, the positive reviews always come from couples, the negative reviews come from dinner party hosts and big families.



Thanks for quenching my curiosity :)Why does restaurant service always seem to be worse for large groups?
I've never been asked to pay in advance or give a time limit when in a group. That's pretty appalling. Restaurants sometime change you a dollar to share and they don't always want to give you separate checks, but in general this really isn't a problem. I've been out with people who aren't nice to servers, but having done it myself when I was in college, I make a special effort to be nice to them. You have to really be incompetent or rude to me to get any bad attitude in return.



As a former waitress, getting a large table is usually a real pain. If there are children, they don't always watch the kids, and put them together at one end of the table. I've been tripped more than once. A lot of the things they want you make yourself, like chocolate milk or cocoa, desserts, and they're frequently impatient. Then they tend to tip poorly, no matter how good the service was. The tip gets included these days because the party ties up all that server's tables at once and usually for a long period of time. If the server does have other tables, those diners get annoyed to see that person trying to handle a big table and the smaller ones too. People in restaurants tend to be unaware there are other people in the room. You have to get other servers to help you deliver the food which annoys them and in some places you're expected to split your tips with anyone who helped you.



Waiting tables is a very hard way to earn a living. I'm glad I don't have to do it anymore.
Well when you have a large party it puts stress on the kitchen as well as staff. It makes the restaurant busy but unlike when there are many tables spread out all the orders are condensed. I would just try to be patient. and at least with a big party you have plenty of company and entertainment.Why does restaurant service always seem to be worse for large groups?
sadly just things do happen, I know when we travel with our staff we ask for a private dining room and very explicit wait staff assigned to us, key wait staff we will employ for the whole evening with a fixed minimum tip of 100.00 per server, our staff and my spouse make up a party of 12
I can see how they may feel like there are too many demands for perhaps a small number of staff to handle groups.



I have also noticed that in groups some of the diners will tend to play up with the staff.Why does restaurant service always seem to be worse for large groups?
Now I can only speak from my experience of waiting tables in the US. But most waitstaff HATE large groups. We used to play rock, paper, scissors to determine who would have to wait on the table. Most waiters would much rather wait on 4 tables of 2 than 1 table of 8. The tip usually left by large groups is a smaller percentage of the check than smaller groups. And the larger groups always have more demands than a table for two. You have to wait for 8 meals to be ready before bringing them out as opposed to just two. It's harder to match up who ordered what on the check.